

What A Day
Crooked Media
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.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Apr 18, 2022 • 16min
South Carolina Sets An Execution By Firing Squad
The city of Mariupol has been one of the worst sites of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. While Ukrainian forces have held their ground, reports are now saying that Mariupol is likely to fall to Russian forces soon.A man named Richard Moore in South Carolina is scheduled to become the fourth person executed in the United States this year. Moore was given the option of being killed by the electric chair or by a firing squad, and last Friday he announced that he chose the firing squad.And in headlines: Protestors gathered to demand the release of Palestinians being held in Israeli jails, the Wisconsin Supreme Court voted to adopt GOP-drawn legislative maps, and Florida officials said they rejected 54 math textbooks from next year’s school curriculum.Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/whataday/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

Apr 15, 2022 • 20min
Defending Trans Youth in Alabama
Alabama became the first state to criminalize the act of providing gender-affirming medical care to trans youth, last week. The bill makes it a felony to prescribe puberty blockers or hormones to trans kids under the age of 19. Kaitlin Welborn, a staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama, joins us to discuss her organization’s work challenging the law.And in headlines: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill that bans most abortions after 15 weeks, Ed Buck was sentenced to 30 years in prison, and an NFT of Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s first tweet is being auctioned off by its owner.Show Notes:ACLU of Alabama – https://www.aclualabama.org/enLambda Legal – https://www.lambdalegal.org/Magic City Acceptance Center – https://www.magiccityacceptancecenter.org/The Knights and Orchids Society – https://tkosociety.com/Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/whataday/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

Apr 14, 2022 • 19min
The War On Roe in Oklahoma
New York Police arrested a suspect in relation to Tuesday’s mass shooting on a Brooklyn subway. Frank James was apprehended in Manhattan and is accused of shooting ten people, which resulted in many more injuries as well.Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed a bill on Tuesday that makes performing an abortion in the state a felony. Jenny Ma, a Senior Staff Attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights, joins us to discuss the broader implications of the ban.And in headlines: Ukrainian officials collected the bodies of 765 civilians in Kyiv, the CDC announced that it would extend the federal mask mandate for public transit, and New York health officials have discovered two new Omicron subvariants spreading throughout the state.Show Notes:NY Times: “The shooting left at least 23 people injured. Here’s what we know about the victims so far” – https://nyti.ms/3LZOvUIGothamist: “Mass shooting suspect arrested in Manhattan a day after subway attack” – https://bit.ly/3OmxearKeep Our Clinics – https://keepourclinics.org/Roe Fund – https://www.roefund.org/Center for Reproductive Rights – https://reproductiverights.org/National Network of Abortion Funds – https://abortionfunds.org/need-abortion/Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/whataday/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

Apr 13, 2022 • 19min
A Mass Shooting On An NYC Subway Train
A mass shooting took place on a New York City subway train, Tuesday morning. According to New York’s Fire Department, 10 people were shot and, miraculously, no one died. We recap what we know and what we don’t know about the shooting.And in headlines: Ukrainian fighters in Mariupol accused Russia of using chemical weapons, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed a bill that outlaws performing an abortion in the state, and New York Lieutenant Governor Brian Benjamin resigned.Show Notes:Center for Family Life – https://centerforfamilylife.orgWorker's Justice Project – http://workersjustice.orgSouth BK Mutual Aid – https://southbkmutualaid.comFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/whataday/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

Apr 12, 2022 • 18min
Give Up The Ghost Guns
President Biden announced a new rule that would prohibit the unregulated online sale of “ghost guns,” or firearms that you can self-assemble from kits with gun parts. The Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives says that it recovered about 20,000 suspected ghost guns last year, which is ten times more than it did in 2016.The effort to try Russia for war crimes in Ukraine is picking up pace, and the Biden administration is weighing whether to get involved as well. Alex Whiting, a former prosecutor for the International Criminal Court, joins us to discuss what exactly constitutes a war crime and what investigators are looking at right now.And in headlines: Philadelphia will reinstate its indoor mask mandate, Finland and Sweden may join NATO, and thousands of Etsy sellers went on strike.Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/whataday/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

Apr 11, 2022 • 17min
How A Miscarriage In Texas Led To A Murder Charge
Texas authorities arrested 26-year-old Lizelle Herrera, last week, on murder charges for what the local sheriff’s office described as a “self-induced abortion.” Her bond was set at $500,000 and her arrest sparked protests from abortion rights activists over the weekend. But on Sunday, local prosecutors dropped the charge against her.More than 50 people were killed and another 98 injured after a missile struck a train station in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, last Friday. Thousands of people were trying to board trains to evacuate the city since Russian forces began to shift the focus of the war to eastern Ukraine.And in headlines: Pakistan’s Parliament voted to remove Prime Minister Imran Khan from office, French voters took to the polls to pick their next president, and former President Donald Trump endorsed Pennsylvania U.S. Senate candidate Mehmet Oz.Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/whataday/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

Apr 8, 2022 • 20min
Hot Takes On The New IPCC Report
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson became the first Black woman to be confirmed as a Supreme Court Justice on Thursday, and the first former public defender to sit on the high court. Three Republicans crossed party lines to support her, including Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Mitt Romney of Utah.The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a new report this week saying that global emissions need to peak by 2025 at the latest in order to have a chance of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees celsius. Amy Westervelt, an investigative climate journalist and co-host of Crooked’s “Hot Take,” joins us to discuss these findings and what they mean.And in headlines: The trial in the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi will be relocated from Turkey to Saudi Arabia, nearly 500,000 people are without electricity in Puerto Rico, and Alabama’s state legislature approved a bill to criminalize gender-affirming medical care for trans youth.Show Notes:Crooked’s Hot Take – https://www.crooked.com/podcast-series/hot-take/Amy Westervelt – https://www.amywestervelt.com/Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/whataday/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

Apr 7, 2022 • 18min
Vaccine Makeover: Fall Edition with Dr. Abdul El-Sayed
The Minneapolis police officer who shot and killed Amir Locke earlier this year will not face any criminal charges. Locke was a 22-year-old Black man who was killed while members of the Minneapolis Police SWAT team executed a no-knock warrant on his cousin’s apartment.An FDA advisory committee met yesterday to discuss the next phase of COVID vaccines and boosters. Dr. Abdul el-Sayed, an epidemiologist and the host of Crooked’s “America Dissected” joins us to discuss what might come next as we consider the fall months.And in headlines: Ukrainian officials are building cases against Russia for alleged war crimes, the president of Sri Lanka is defying calls to step down, and oil and gas executives appeared before a House committee yesterday.Show Notes:NY Times: “Promised a New Culture, Women Say the N.F.L. Instead Pushed Them Aside” – https://nyti.ms/3jjdi9LFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/whataday/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

Apr 6, 2022 • 23min
Not Ready, Not Set, Redistricting
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky gave an emotional address to the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday after his visit to Bucha. In his speech, Zelensky accused Russian troops of atrocities, which included violent murder, rape, and a number of horrific acts.There are a number of states fighting over redrawing their maps even as the midterm elections inch closer. Michael Li, senior counsel for the Brennan Center’s Democracy Program, joins us to break down some of the states that are knee-deep in this issue right now.And in headlines: Oklahoma’s Legislature passed a near-total ban on abortion, China recorded its highest number of COVID cases in a single day, and the Biden administration plans to extend the payment pause for federal student loan debt to August.Show Notes:Vote Save America’s Midterm Madness – https://votesaveamerica.com/midterm-madness/Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/whataday/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

Apr 5, 2022 • 17min
Same-Day Solidarity At Amazon with Chris Smalls
Amazon warehouse workers in Staten Island, New York, voted to form the company’s first union in the U.S. last Friday, making a historic win for labor organizers everywhere. The union earned recognition in less than a year into its existence, and it overcame multiple arrests as well as millions that Amazon spent on anti-union consultants. Chris Smalls, founder of the Amazon Labor Union, joins us to discuss how it felt to win and what comes next.And in headlines: Sacramento police arrested a suspect in connection to Sunday’s mass shooting in the city, the Senate reached a bipartisan $10 billion deal to fund COVID relief, and Elon Musk purchased about $2.9 billion worth of Twitter stock.Show Notes:Chris Smalls, President of the Amazon Labor Union – https://twitter.com/Shut_downAmazonThe Intercept: “New Amazon Worker Chat App Would Ban Words Like “Union,” “Restrooms,” “Pay Raise,” and “Plantation” – https://bit.ly/3NM8QyyFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/whataday/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday/