What A Day

{"_":"If you’re looking for hype, fake outrage, and groupthink, kindly keep moving. Our mission at What a Day is simple: to be your guide to what truly matters each morning (and the fun stuff you might have missed) in just 20 minutes. Host Jane Coaston brings you in-depth reporting and substantive analysis on the big stories shaping today and the creeping trends shaping tomorrow—and when she doesn’t know the answers, she asks someone even smarter to fill us all in. Radical, right? New episodes at 5:00 a.m. EST, Monday–Friday in your favorite podcast app and on YouTube. Being informed was never this easy.","$":{"audioboom:html":"1"}}

Last refreshed: June 15th, 2026 at 10:02 PM

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Episodes

America 250? More Like: Trump 80

If you didn’t tune into Paramount+ to watch the UFC Freedom 250 fight on the White House lawn, because you had better things to do, you're not alone. The entire 250th celebration of America’s founding has felt remarkably Trumpian, implying that the only way to be an American is to be a Trump supporter. So how can those of us who love this country, but hate this bullshit respond? To find out, we talked to Alex Wagner, host of Crooked Media’s Runaway Country. And in headlines, we get limited detai...

Jun 15, 2026•20 min

Trump’s Senioritis

On today’s show, we are diving into the tough week our commander in chief just had. From MMA fights no one seems very excited about… to the potential end of warrantless surveillance because of an unpopular Trump hire, our dear president has been taking some big losses. Oh, and not to mention, the war with Iran is still going on. But Trump doesn’t seem to care about any of it! So to talk more about Donald Trump’s apparent case of senioritis, we called up Tim Miller, host of The Bulwark Podcast. A...

Jun 12, 2026•20 min

Trump Keeps Promising Peace

President Donald Trump has changed a lot about American foreign policy – and to many, America itself. But a lot of the issues facing this country were around long before he became president. Ben Rhodes’ new book, All We Say: The Battle for American Identity: A History in 15 Speeches , tells the story of this country through speeches by figures like Ben Franklin, Martin Luther King, and yes, Donald Trump. We spoke with Ben about what those speeches reveal about being American, and what Trump’s ac...

Jun 11, 2026•21 min

America Icing Out World Cup Fans

The World Cup is the biggest annual sporting event in the world. And the first game is tomorrow . This year’s competition is being hosted by three countries for the first time: the US, Canada, and Mexico. Already, fans of Argentina , Cote d’Ivoire , and other countries have flooded social media with their journeys to watch their favorite teams play. But with the World Cup, as with most things, comes… a lot of politics. We spoke with Bill Connelly to find out how politics is impacting the event. ...

Jun 10, 2026•18 min

Can Blanche Do What Bondi Couldn't?

President Donald Trump officially nominated Todd Blanche to serve as Attorney General. After firing Pam Bondi back in April, Trump went with his former defense attorney to lead more than 10,000 attorneys. And it seems pretty clear why: Trump wants someone to do exactly what he wants. Like prosecute his political enemies or set up a 1.776 billion dollar MAGA "anti-weaponization" fund . But by doing Trump's bidding, Blanche has made many of his own enemies. So what does that mean for Trump's legal...

Jun 09, 2026•21 min

Democrats' Platner Problem

Maine voters will head to the polls tomorrow to decide who will take on five-term Republican Senator Susan Collins. And somehow, Graham Platner still has a sizable lead in the Democratic primary. You probably know a few things about the presumptive Democratic nominee for Maine’s Senate seat. He served in the Marine Corps and now runs an oyster farm . And you’ve probably heard a lot of other things about Platner over the last few weeks – like about a Nazi tattoo, or his allegedly abusive behavior...

Jun 08, 2026•20 min

Are The Killer Robots Inevitable?

Artificial Intelligence isn't just clogging up your Instagram feed with cartoon cat romance-revenge videos or helping your cousin pass AP European History class. Artificial Intelligence is on the battlefield. The Trump administration has been pushing to supercharge the U.S. military with A.I., and the military is leaning into the powerful new technology, from Venezuela to Iran . But not everyone is so gung-ho about it. So to learn more, we spoke with Mike Horowitz, who worked in the Pentagon on ...

Jun 05, 2026•22 min

The CBS News Crisis

CBS News, under the leadership of Bari Weiss, continues to devolve into chaos. On Tuesday, CBS News fired longtime "60 Minutes" correspondent Scott Pelley. It came a day after Pelley reportedly said Weiss was "murdering the show" and accused its new producer of having "slender qualifications" for the job. Here to talk about it all is Jeremy Barr, media reporter for The Guardian US. And in headlines, the House for the first time Wednesday approves a war powers resolution that would halt the US mi...

Jun 04, 2026•23 min

Trump’s Dangerous New Spy Boss

President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he's appointing the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Bill Pulte , as acting Director of National Intelligence. The news comes after Tulsi Gabbard announced she was resigning from the position amid her husband's battle with cancer. So who is Bill Pulte? From what we know, Pulte is another Trump-henchman type whose only qualification for the high-stakes position seems to be the ability to do just about anything Trump wants him to do. And ...

Jun 03, 2026•17 min

Californians Vote With New Map

California politics is experiencing a rare moment on the national stage as wacky candidates and local scandals have become a microcosm for the country as a whole, as well as a potential preview of what November’s midterms have in store. We talk to KQED’s Marisa Lagos about what the hell is going on with California politics right now. And in headlines, primary season kicks off nationwide, Trump's Iran War negotiations hit another setback, an appeals court rules Trump's ban on transgender troops i...

Jun 02, 2026•21 min

Is Social Media Hype Even Real?

It’s no secret that what we see on social media is highly choreographed. But a recent article in New York Magazine by Lane Brown confirms it by uncovering the world of artificial hype that drives what we perceive as buzz. The piece dominated the groupchats these last few days, and for good reason: it taps into a general unease about how we’ve ceded our reality to platforms that are manipulated by shadowy ad campaigns. Brown joins the show to lay it all out for us. And in headlines, Trump’s “walk...

Jun 01, 2026•22 min

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