The Daily Whatever

Special Note: We hit 101 paid subscribers yesterday, and are #53 on the New Bestsellers list! A dream come true—thank you!! Never before on The Daily Whatever Show have we had a chance to break news, and with Melissa Corrigan, she/her joining us live from Washington, D.C. this morning we got to do it on multiple fronts. First, Melissa told us about the eerie emptiness of the nation’s capital, and...

Huge thanks to Frederic Poag and The Opinionated Ogre for jumping in last minute when we had a last minute cancellation. (And aside to Erika Lee Sears —HMU so we can reschedule!) There’s never a dull moment when Frederic and Ogre get going, and today was no exception—we ranted about the media biases in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s murder, and the lynchings in Mississippi, and the atrocity that...

Today on The Daily Whatever Show , our topic was Writers on Writing, and for once, we actually got to talk about it rather than be usurped by some piece of breaking news or another. We spent most of the show talking about Dana’s triptych of pieces about re-entering the world of dating after a long relationship. Check them out, and give the episode a listen! Thank you Sheryl- smarieblanca , Linda S...

It was such a joy to welcome playwright and political writer Stephen Robinson to The Daily Whatever Show ! We covered a lot of ground! We discussed Charlie Kirk’s murder, of course. But we also dug into Wicked and how “Popular” is a villain’s song, one that demonstrates the power of evil to infiltrate the good in heroes. We got into the Simpsons and their amazing Halloween episodes. We discussed S...

Having Julie Roginsky join us for Fucked-up Friday was a dream come true for us. And what a week to meet Julie. With Charlie Kirk’s murder (and the subsequent media spin-out,) Russia invading Polish airspace, and Senate Republicans destroying the Epstein bill, the news this week felt like a flood, one that’s left all of our nervous systems a bit rattled. Discussing these issues with Julie made eve...

Welp. We were gonna talk about Dana DuBois ’ latest series on her return to dating life, and Lawrence’s latest for Banner & Backbone about amending the Constitution, but other topics skewed all that planning. Take a listen and let us know what you think. In the meantime, read Lawrence’s piece, and ponder this—do we propose a 28th Amendment called the “Charlie Kirk Gun Reform Amendment”? I think so...

Sometimes here at The Daily Whatever Show we try new things. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t. Today, prime example. We were super excited to do our celebration for 90 paid subscribers (thank you!), and we had this brilliant idea that it would be fun to do an ASMR episode. We bought special dongles for our Yeti mics, and we were all set to jingle change, crunch rice cakes, and brush hair...

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We had the incomparable Füsun Aydın on this morning, ostensibly to talk about sex work in Amsterdam. But because she is amazing and an incredible writer, we spoke as much about writing and language as we did about anything else. We started by talking about Füsun’s most recent story, about the silence, absence, and mourning of early mornings. It’s a deeply felt and vividly rendered piece, which, ac...

Huge thanks to Shane Yirak for joining Dana DuBois and me on The Daily Whatever Show this morning! We spoke about the way the conversation around all issues in this country get framed, and how that frame is often right-wing and biased against any left-leaning perspectives. We spoke about the Overton Window , and Shane’s latest article: Not to be missed, I brought up my friend Grey Galaxie ’s recen...

Ugh, it was SO AMAZING to chat with KiKi Walter today, my cheeks still hurt from smiling so hard. Thanks to everyone who joined us for this fabulous conversation about writing memoir and personal essays, and how storytelling can help move the world. And especially thanks for being such an engaging chat this morning: Robin Wilding , Jo , Karen Marie Shelton , The One Minute Daily Boost , Leena Mari...

Welcoming Carlyn Beccia to The Daily Whatever Show was a bit of a dream come true for me. I’ve long been a fan of her writing and was eager to meet the woman behind the clever words in all those sex and politics stories I’ve been reading on Medium and Substack. To our great delight, Carlyn exceeded our (already very high) expectations, and after we resolved a few technical hurdles, we had a fascin...

It was so great to welcome The Momster back to The Daily Whatever Show , and to meet baby Grace! We didn’t realize how much we needed some baby time in our lives till we saw her cute face, and especially as we discussed a heady topic like how to integrate work into our full-to-overflowing lives. Thank you Karen Marie Shelton , The One Minute Daily Boost , Marney , Sheryl , Robin Wilding , The Bath...

So Dana DuBois and I were planning to talk about our most recent essays. But then with the Epstein press conference starting halfway through our typical podcast time, we decided to cut our time short, and to shift topics to talk about things to know about this historic press conference. Please know we don’t change our programming or timing lightly. This was an exception—and a worthwhile one. It wa...

This morning, we had the chance to meet the amazing Margaret Williams, MS, ACC , who joined us to talk about her journey, her work as a coach, and how to stay centered in a time of ceaseless change and political news overload. Margaret, thanks so much for joining Dana DuBois and me on The Daily Whatever Show ! Please go subscribe to Margaret so we can get her to her November goal! We hit 90 paid s...

Happy September! We love the transition to autumn so much. But summer isn’t quite done for us. See, we’ve got Summer Pledge Drive goals, and we’re getting really close to meeting them—but we’re not quite there. As of this writing, we’re at 89 paid subscribers for GenXy , and we’re so grateful for each and every one. Our goal is 100 paid subscribers by the 21st night of September (the official end...

There are lots of amazing ways to spend a Saturday morning of a three-day weekend, but talking with Stephanie Drury might be our new favorite. We knew we’d discuss her social media take-down of Mars Hill church back in the day and the rise of her popular Stuff Christian Culture Likes social media identity. But it was so much more. Today’s show covered the grief of losing one’s parents to the Evang...

It was an absolute joy to host Samantha Paige (she/they) for today’s Fucked-up Friday. Huge thanks to Accidentally Sideways™ , Alex the Defender , Adrian , Angie , Artings & Inklings , ✨🌸Aurora🏳️‍⚧️✨ , Beth Cruz , BJ Roberts , Brain of J-Hawk (he/him) , Bud Jones , Jeanne Elbe , Caro Henry , Carolyn Maietta , Carrie , Cat , OldHenCharlie , C Wallis , cynmac , Damon Kenner , Dana DuBois , Dorie...

Holy cow. HUGE THANKS to everyone who helped us hit 80 paid subscribers as part of our genXy Summer Pledge Drive !! To express our thanks, we give you “Freaky Thursday.” Dana DuBois and Lawrence Winnerman awoke this morning and had magically switched bodies! And Karen Marie Shelton was here to interview us all through it. Learn secrets from our 46-year friendship, like about how Lawrence secretly...

Whenever Melissa Corrigan, she/her joins us for The Daily Whatever Show, we know the conversation will run deep. Today we dove into Christian nationalism, so yeah—we plunged in, heads first. Christian nationalism isn’t just an abstract threat; it’s a movement reshaping politics, education, and even our sense of community in America. Melissa, with her research and advocacy background, didn’t waste...

Well, goddamn. So a gay dude, a bi dude, and a pansexual dude try to get into a podcast to talk about sexuality, and what happens? Substack crashes. Won’t let any of us start the Live or join one. What the actual fuck? Thanks to Nick Paro and Restream, we did it anyway! Thanks, Nick! For today only, The Daily Whatever was hosted by Sick of This Show . 😁 And thanks to Dana DuBois who had another t...

Y’all. Real talk, we could not have been more honored and happy to welcome longtime friend and all-around brilliant person Ariel Meadow Stallings to the show today. We talked about ALL THE THINGS—too much to legit summarize here. Please watch the recap, and if you want to know more about Ariel, check out her links: * Ariel’s consultancy, Offbeat Empire * Offbeat Empire’s AI offering * Ariel on Bee...

The very best part of Substack is meeting amazing writers who feel like best friends. That’s how we both feel about Ally Hamilton . We first met Ally when she commented on Dana DuBois ’ viral essay, “ Middle-Aged Men Keep Ogling My 16-Year-Old ,” offering her firm-yet-empathetic wisdom to a troll who in no way deserved it. What she shared in today’s podcast about her experiences with men while gro...

Huge thanks to our incredible guest for today’s Fucked-up Friday, the amazing Ellie Leonard ! If you’re not already subscribed, well, you totally should. Like, right now. Then come back and finish reading this… OK—now let’s jump into this week’s Fucked-up Friday! Here were today’s fucked-up stories for the competition: * Ellie: MAGA’s Cracker-Barrel Meltdown Because while the world is melting down...

It’s always a pleasure when Mr. Troy Ford joins us all the way from Sitges! Today we chatted about the first three months of his novel, Lamb: a novel in snapshots , being released in the world. He shared his successes, his favorite reviews, and his plans for a sequel (!!). We also chatted about the potential overturning of Obergefell, and how Europeans DGAF about what’s happening in the US, even a...