• Far-right talk show host Alex Jones took the stand on Wednesday in one of his many defamation cases. Jones has spent the last decade lying repeatedly about the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting and claiming that it was a hoax.
• In headlines: Republican Congresswoman Jackie Walorski died in a car accident, the Justice Department is investigating over 100 cases of threats made against election workers, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi left Taiwan.
• And we chat with Zayd Dohrn, host of Crooked’s “Mother Country Radicals,” about his award-winning podcast.

 

Show Notes:

 

• Crooked’s “Mother Country Radicals” – https://bit.ly/3PRGhjP
• Vote Save America: Fuck Bans Action Plan – https://votesaveamerica.com/roe/

 

Crooked Coffee is officially here. Our first blend, What A Morning, is available in medium and dark roasts. Wake up with your own bag at crooked.com/coffee

 

Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/whataday/

 

TRANSCRIPT

 

Priyanka Aribindi: It’s Thursday, August 4th. I’m Priyanka Aribindi. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: And I’m Josie Duffy Rice. And this is What A Day, where we want to be the first to tell you that Jennifer Coolidge said being a MILF in American Pie allowed her to sleep with 200 people. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: You know what? You’re not allowed to say that if it’s not true, they put you in jail if you lie about that kind of thing. So it’s definitely fact. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: Truly. Here’s to 200 more for Jennifer Coolidge. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: We love that for her. [laugh] On today’s show, the Justice Department is investigating over 100 cases of threats to election workers. Plus, President Joe Biden signed an executive order to financially support patients who cross state lines to get an abortion. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: But first. Alex Jones. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: I knew it was coming. I see it in the notes, but I am still not prepared. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: Yesterday, Alex Jones took the stand in a trial to determine damages and one of his many, many defamation cases. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: Mmm hmm. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: It was a complete circus. But before we get there, I’ll give you a little bit of background okay. So, Alex Jones, if you don’t know who Alex Jones is, honestly, turn this off right now. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: You are living a great life and we want you to stay that way. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: Right, right, right. We love that for you. So Alex Jones is a far right, alt right, conspiracy theorist, talk show host. But honestly, that doesn’t even, like, do it justice what this man is. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: No, no. He is very truly one of the worst human beings on the face of this planet. I can say that with full confidence. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: Me too. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: And I think anybody could. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: Right. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: He is awful. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: I don’t really like calling people bad people. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: No, Josie’s all about that. But like not for Alex Jones. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: Nobody. Alex Jones. Honestly, he’s bad. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: Yeah, he’s a bad guy. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: Yeah. And he spent the last decade lying repeatedly about the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting, where 26 people were shot and killed, including 20 children. So among other things, Jones has claimed that Sandy Hook was a false flag. No one died. He said the kids were acting. The parents were faking. This wasn’t like a one time thing. He has been saying this repeatedly. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: Years and years.

 

Josie Duffy Rice: For a decade. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: It’s disgusting. And he’s doing it for money. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: Truly. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: And it’s really sick. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: It’s sick, it truly is. And as a result, you know, these families of these children whose kids were shot in their Kindergarten classrooms endured even more trauma and pain, many of them have had to move five or ten times to keep from conspiracy theorists showing up and trying to harm them. As you know, I have a four year old who is in Pre-K and the idea of something happening to him in school and then me having to like avoid crazy people thinking I made his whole life up. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: Thinking that you’re lying. Yeah. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: It’s bananas. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: He’s not only like saying this and having, like, these vile opinions, he is empowering, like, millions of his little like troll fans to do the same. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: It’s crazy. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: It’s horrifying. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: Yeah. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: So I’m sure everyone will be shocked to hear that this behavior has gotten Alex Jones into some legal trouble over the years. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: Yeah, just a little bit. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: Just a little. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: Last year, Alex Jones lost four defamation cases that were filed against him by Sandy Hook families, and he lost each of them actually by default. He just refused to produce the required documents and information necessary. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: So he’s not even trying. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: He wasn’t even trying. He just automatically lost these cases. Right. So this trial, the one that’s currently happening in Texas, it’s being held to determine not whether Jones owes money to these two families, but how much money because he’s already lost the case. So this is just about how much money is he going to have to pay them? 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: Got it. So this trial started last week. Let’s talk about some key moments so far in this trial. I know there are several that have happened, you know, within the last day and a half. So let’s stay away from that. Let’s do like the background first. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: Yeah. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: What happened leading into all of this? 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: Yes. Well, in the days leading up to yesterday, it was already horrific and crazy. Right. So two parents have testified, Scarlett Lewis and Neil Heslin, both of whom lost their kindergartners in Sandy Hook. According to The New York Times, as Neil Heslin testified, Mr. Jones was not actually in the courtroom. He was across town “broadcasting his show.” After watching Mr. Heslin’s testimony in a courtroom YouTube feed, he called the grieving father slow. This is what we’re dealing with here, just heartless. But Alex Jones was accidentally in the courtroom when Sandy Hook parent Scarlett Lewis testified, he wasn’t supposed to be but they got the timing messed up. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: A lot of accidents in this. And we love it. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: A lot of accidents and I love it. And not a single one has benefited Alex Jones and I love to hear it. So here’s what Scarlett Lewis said to him in court on Tuesday: 

 

[clip of Scarlett Lewis] I wanted to tell you to your face because I wanted you to know that I am a mother first and foremost. And I know that you’re a father and my son existed. You’re still on your show today trying to say that I’m implying that I’m an actress, that I’m deep state. You have this week. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: The ability for her to say that calmly to him in a courtroom. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: So calmly. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: I don’t think I could do that. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: No. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: I don’t think I have that in me. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: He should sit there and listen to these people and– 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: Yeah, oh, absolutely. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: –hear about what he has made them go through. Like he should have to be there in that court room. So, glad that accident happened because he needs to hear what he has done. But all of this has led up to the wild events in the past day. So please recap what happened. What do we need to know? We should all buckle up at home because this is crazy. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: It’s really crazy. Okay, so yesterday was when Alex Jones had to actually be on stand. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: Mmm hmm. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: And that’s when Alex Jones found out in real time that his lawyers had accidentally sent opposing counsel, the lawyers for the Sandy Hook parents, all his text messages from the past two years. Accidentally. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: Just an accident. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: Wild. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: It is delicious. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: It’s crazy. Okay, so it’s a little muffled, but here’s the audio of him finding this out on stand: 

 

[clip of Mark Bankston] Did you know that 12 days ago your attorneys messed up and sent me an entire digital copy of your entire cell phone with every text message you’ve sent for the past two years? And that is how I know you lied to me when you said you didn’t have text messages about Sandy Hook. Did you know that? 

 

[clip of Alex Jones] I’m, see I told you the truth, this is your Perry Mason moment. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: The thing about Alex Jones is like he will sit there and tell you the sky is green to your face with a straight face. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: Like probably like yelling at you. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: Yeah. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: And like kind of looking like beet red and a little terrifying. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: Right, exactly. It wasn’t like he admitted, Oh, yeah, I lied. Right. But it was this moment that was like very bananas because it made it extremely clear that Alex Jones was lying when he said he never texted about Sandy Hook, right? 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: Yeah. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: He had said, oh, I searched my text messages. There is no text message about Sandy Hook in my text messages. And then they sent opposing counsel all of the text messages. And by the way, this is what he’s done for four cases now, right? Like he’s defaulted because he didn’t want to give this information over. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: Right. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: And now they accidentally just gave it over. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: And now the world, like all of his little fans, will have to know that, like this is what he was doing. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: Right. I mean, the thing that’s messed up is they’ll probably all think that this is also the deep state, but it’s just so clear that this man is a liar. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: Definitely. So his lawyers seem about as good at their job as Alex Jones is at his. But is there anything else that we need to know about this trial yesterday? 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: Basically, everybody was so fed up with this man, including the judge. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: As they should be. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: Yeah. Yeah. And so here she is talking about his blatant lies, like even in court, where he’s lying blatantly. About being bankrupt, in complying with discovery. And again, this is a little muffled and this one is long, but I promise you, it’s worth the full listen, it’s so good. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: I believe you. 

 

[clip of Judge Maya Guerra Gamble] You may not say to this jury that you complied with discovery. That is not true. You may not say it again. You may not tell this jury that you are bankrupt. That is also not true. You are already under oath to tell the truth. You’ve already violated that oath twice today in just those two examples. It seems absurd to instruct you again that you must tell the truth while you testify. Yet here I am. You must tell the truth while you testify. This is not your show. Do you understand what I have said? 

 

[clip of Alex Jones] Yes. I believe what I said was true. So I– 

 

[clip of Judge Maya Guerra Gamble] Yes, you believe everything you say is true, but it isn’t. Your beliefs do not make something true. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: Thank you. 

 

[clip of Judge Maya Guerra Gamble] That is what we’re doing here. Just because you claim to think something is true does not make it true. It does not protect you. It is not allowed. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: Incredible. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: I just love this idea that she is like explaining to this man the most basic rules of, like, a.) What you can do in court, which is like, you can’t lie. They don’t allow that and b.) Like, what is the truth? Just because you have feelings doesn’t make that real. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: Again, it became rather hilarious at the end, but in the middle I was like thinking like, do normal people get reminded that like they can’t do perjury by the judge at their own trial? Like, is this a thing that, like, regular people get reminders for? 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: Right. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: It feels like it might just be him. And then that made me a little mad. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: It’s very, very upsetting. So closing arguments were yesterday and it’s in the hands of the jury now to determine how much Jones owes the Sandy Hook families and damages. And there will be more of these damage cases coming up in the future. But it’s important to note that Jones did finally admit that the Sandy Hook massacre was, quote, “100% real.” He finally said it. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: Yeah. Which he’s known the entire time. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: He’s known the whole time. He’s made a ton of money off of this. That was also in his text messages. Details about the money he’s made. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: Yeah, apparently they’re minting money, which is. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: $800,000 a day. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: Wild. I don’t know if I want to believe everything that he’s texting, but yeah. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: Right. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: Apparently they are rolling in money. And that is– 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: Right. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: –also incredibly disturbing. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: Right. So we’ll tell you what happens when the jury actually makes a decision, because we love schadenfreude and we truly just hate Alex Jones. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: We really do. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: It’s got to be said. But that is the latest for now. [music break]

 

Priyanka Aribindi: Let’s get to some headlines. 

 

[sung] Headlines. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: Republican congresswoman from Indiana, Jackie Walorski, and two of her staffers were tragically killed in a car accident yesterday. Walorski was 58 years old, and her staffers Zachary Potts and Emma Thompson were in their late twenties. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy tweeted out a statement yesterday offering his condolences to the victims families and said the news was, quote, “absolutely devastating.”

 

Josie Duffy Rice: Really sad story. The Justice Department announced on Monday that it’s currently investigating over 100 cases of threats made against election workers over the past year. The department’s election threat task force said that most of these cases hail from states where former President Donald Trump lost in the 2020 election and that these cases are just a fraction of the threats reviewed by investigators. In total, the task force looked at over 1000 incidents of election worker harassment, but 89% of threats were deemed free speech protected by the First Amendment. Also yesterday, two secretaries of state testified before Congress calling on officials to pass more protections for election workers. Here’s Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson: 

 

[clip of Jocelyn Benson] We cannot have a secure democracy if we do not protect the security of the people who administer our elections. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: Absolutely. That is like a complete 100% fact. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: Right. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: Election workers are so critical to our elections running and people being able to vote. If you are able to if you have the time and the ability, we need more election workers. Your state does. Please sign up. Please do this. Typically it is done by older people, many of whom no longer do it because of these threats. So if you have the ability to do that, go to VoteSaveAmerica.com. I believe they will be able to help you sign up and find out all the ways you can help out. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: Yeah, this is definitely one of those things where there’s power in numbers, right? The more people who are doing it, the more people can shine light on the experience. It really does matter. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: It really does. Meanwhile, the big takeaway from Tuesday’s primary elections, as we talked about yesterday, was Kansas’s vote on abortion. The measure would have amended the state’s constitution to open the door to abortion bans, but it was rejected in a landslide by nearly 60% of voters. Turnout for the election was way up by more than 60% over Kansas’s 2018 midterms. And that is a good sign for Democrats who are hoping the issue of reproductive choice will drive people to the polls. Really, really exciting win. But not every result from this week’s primaries was worth celebrating. Election denying candidates generally did well in Kansas and Arizona, and one of ten House Republicans to vote for Trump’s impeachment was ousted in Michigan. Highlighting the enduring popularity of the belief that communist ghosts live in voting machines. Also in Michigan, Betsy DeVos backed candidate Tudor Dickson won the Republican gubernatorial primary. She will face off with the state’s current governor, Democrat Gretchen Whitmer, in a race she is framing as a referendum on COVID 19 restrictions. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: President Biden signed an executive order on Wednesday that could help get funds to people who need to travel across state lines to get an abortion. The actual specifics of the order are still being worked out, but the general idea is to get states where abortion is legal to find ways to financially support patients in states where abortion is banned. This comes after the National Abortion Federation said that it’s seen a huge spike in people asking for help with abortion travel nationwide after Roe was overturned. I have to say, I get the sentiment of this executive order. I do not recommend telling any government your plans to get an abortion, even if it’s legal in that state. You just never know. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: Right. If you can keep donating to abortion funds. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: Yeah. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: They are very critical. They can help get people the care and support that they need. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: Right. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has left Taiwan, taking her memories and leaving abject chaos. On the trip, she pledged America’s support of Taiwanese democracy to the country’s president, Tsai Ing-wen. That support may be tested soon because today China is reportedly doing live fire military drills off of the Taiwanese coast, with missiles dropping in just ten miles into the sea. That’s closer than previous military drills China ran during the 1996 Taiwan Strait crisis, which were also in response to strengthen relations between the U.S. and Taiwan. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: Probably a coincidence. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: Yeah. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: Probably has nothing to do with it– her visit. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: I don’t know. This is a little desperate. This a little attention seeking behavior from China. And we just think that’s not a good look. So maybe stop. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: Right. Keep it cute. [laugh] HBO Max is working hard to make decisions that are as glitchy as it’s app. Have you ever tried to rewind that app? 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: A nightmare. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: It’s very Sisyphean. The company is reportedly canceling the $90 million movie Batgirl, starring Leslie Grace, which had already been shot and partially edited to allow for a tax write off. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: Underscores that I will never know anything about taxes, what the like how. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: Who knew? 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: How do you? [laughing]

 

Josie Duffy Rice: And what do I need to cancel to get my taxes lowered is what I want to know. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: We’ll record this show, but we will not actually release it to get out of paying our taxes. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: Right. Right. Just the vault of What A Day episodes. HBO Max also canned the $40 million nearly finished Scooby Doo movie, Scoob Holiday Haunt. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: Just Scoob. [laughing]

 

Josie Duffy Rice: Not Scooby, Scoob. Exclamation point. Holiday haunt. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: This sounds like it could have been a good one. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: Demonstrating a total failure to support meddling kids and the future of HBO Max’s scripted TV offerings look uncertain, too. With one source telling The Wrap that original shows would be scrapped across the board and 70% of development staff could be laid off. As for what’s behind these drastic changes, it’s driven by new leadership after the Warner Brothers Discovery merger. We laughed when they came for CNN Plus. But what will happen if they come for Hacks? I will not have it. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: Hacks? No they can’t touch it. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: Mm mm. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: And just like that, season two. Che Diaz. I’m sorry. Okay. Che be protected. [laughing] I will hate watch that show until the end of time. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: Truly, so bad. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: And those are the headlines. Coming up, we talk with Zayd Dohrn from a podcast that you need to check out, Mother Country Radicals. That is right after some ads. 

 

[AD BREAK]

 

Josie Duffy Rice: Hey WAD squad. We’re going to wrap up today with Mother Country Radicals, if you haven’t listened that was Cricket’s award winning series by Zayd Dohrn. Zayd’s Parents were leaders of the radical 1960s organization, the Weather Underground. They bombed federal buildings, teamed up with Black militant groups to fight racism and much, much, much, much more. It’s all very crazy. And all episodes of Mother Country Radicals are out right now. Josie, last week I got a chance to talk with Zayd one on one. We started by talking about what story he wanted to tell about his family. He really had a wild ride growing up and I really liked our conversation. 

 

Zayd Dohrn: So the story is, you know, I was born underground when I was a kid. My uh parents were fugitives from the FBI. My mom was actually on the FBI’s ten most wanted list. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: The most wild story I think anyone– 

 

Zayd Dohrn: Yeah! 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: –could have of a childhood. 

 

Zayd Dohrn: Pretty wild childhood. Yeah. And uh for a while, I mean, when I was a kid, honestly, it didn’t seem, uh, you know the way any kid just kind of absorbs what’s around him. It didn’t seem that strange. Most of the kids I knew, their parents were also fugitives or their parents were in prison. So it was a kind of a strange and small world. But I’ve spent a lot of my life kind of thinking about what made that happen and how my parents got to that point. And also big questions about, you know, why they would decide to have children when they were on the run. So personally, it was just kind of an interesting investigation of my own family. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: Totally. 

 

Zayd Dohrn: And then politically, of course, my parents were founders and members of the Weather Underground and had partnerships with Black liberation organizations, including the Black Liberation Army. So a lot of the series is kind of yeah really like dramatic retelling of the history of the undergrounds of the 1970s. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: Yeah, it’s a really fascinating listen, but throughout making this podcast and interviewing people for it, how did you know your view of your parents and their world kind of change as you learned more and spoke to more people? 

 

Zayd Dohrn: I mean, I learned a lot. You know, just as an example, my mom, you know, the whole time I’ve known her, she’s been a very political person, a very committed radical and a revolutionary. So going back into her past, thinking about her as a 20 year old and a 22 year old, you know, she was a kid growing up in a small town in Wisconsin. She was a college student, a cheerleader, eventually a law student. And so to kind of talk to people who knew her then and to talk to her about her youth, you know, her dad was a Republican, voted for Joe McCarthy. So to know her then and to kind of track her transformation from, you know, an idealistic law student to this radical fugitive was a real eye opener for me. I mean, I didn’t know that part of the history. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: Right. It’s fascinating. It’s like the part of your parents lives where you’re like you you had this whole life like what’s going on? 

 

Zayd Dohrn: Yes, no exactly. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: But what’s been the reaction from, you know, your friends and your family now that they have been able to hear this whole story and then, you know, throughout the process of you wanting to make this show? 

 

Zayd Dohrn: Yeah, I mean I think at first people weren’t sure why I was asking to record conversations with them. I started the research during the pandemic, so I was asking people to get on the phone with me, get on zoom, and kind of have some pretty intimate, pretty intense conversations. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: Right. 

 

Zayd Dohrn: About, you know, their past and about some really incredible and sometimes scary secrets in our family. You know, things about crimes that had been committed, things about bank robberies and jailbreaks. I would say mostly people have been positive. I mean, now that they’ve heard it, I think they see what the project was about and see why it was an important story that had to be told now. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: That’s good to hear. So you’ve seen the state of protest we’ve been experiencing in America today. What similarities are there between, you know, what that looks like now and kind of the protest movements back in the day for your family? And is there anything that protesters of today should learn from our past? 

 

Zayd Dohrn: No, that’s a good question. I mean, I hope people, young activists and older activists today will learn a lot from listening to this series, both notes of inspiration and of caution about the mistakes that were made. I’ll tell you one parallel that I found fascinating is as I was working on the series over the last couple of years, I was having these conversations with radicals, both White and Black, you know, members of the Weather Underground and members of the Black Liberation Army. And I was talking to them about what had radicalized them originally. And so many of them over and over again, I was hearing that they had been radicalized by the killing of Black people, by police in America, you know, by the killing of Fred Hampton in Chicago, by the killing of this ten year old boy named Clifford Glover in Queens. And as I was hearing these stories, that’s when George Floyd was killed and when we had this kind of racial reckoning and uprising on the streets of America. So the parallels between the two stories became very vivid to me and really stand out in the series. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: Yeah. Wow, that is still happening. And it’s wild. 

 

Zayd Dohrn: Yeah. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: Zayd Dohrn is the host of Crooked’s Mother Country Radicals podcast series. The entire series is out now. It’s the perfect time to binge it if you haven’t yet. Zayd, thank you so much for being here today. 

 

Zayd Dohrn: Thanks Priyanka, thanks for having me. [music break]

 

Josie Duffy Rice: One more thing before we go. Quiet quitting a.k.a. doing the bare minimum at work as a way to combat burnout is gaining momentum online. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: I’m into it. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: I don’t know. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: I’ve been there. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: Oh I’ve been there. But we need better solutions. On this week’s episode of Hysteria, Erin and Alyssa discuss this new workforce phenomenon and everything you need to know about it. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: They’ll also be highlighting all the crucial topics of the upcoming midterm elections, alongside Crooked’s very own senior director of politics, Shaniqua McClendon. She is awesome. Definitely listen. New episodes of Hysteria drop every Thursday. Listen and follow wherever you get your podcasts. [music break] That is all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe. Leave a review, live by the example of Jennifer Coolidge if that appeals to you, and tell your friends to listen. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: And if you are into reading and not just ancient texts describing how to trap communist ghosts in voting machines like me, What A Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at Crooked.com/subscribe. I’m Josie Duffy Rice. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: I’m Priyanka Aribindi. 

 

[spoken together] And we hardly knew you Batgirl. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: That’s a bummer. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: I know. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: She looked great on that poster. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: She looks great. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: I don’t know who is this actress is but she looks phenomenal. 

 

Josie Duffy Rice: And I’m hoping she gets a big break on her taxes, too. 

 

Priyanka Aribindi: Yes, that’s definitely how this should work. [music break] What A Day is a production of Crooked Media. It’s recorded and mixed by Bill Lancz. Jazzi Marine and Raven Yamamoto, are our associate producers. Our head writer is Jon Millstein and our executive producer is Leo Duran. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kashaka.