The Playbook Podcast
POLITICO’s Jack Blanchard and Dasha Burns bring their fresh insight, analysis and reporting to the biggest story driving the day in the nation’s capital.
- Update frequency
- every day
- Average duration
- 6 minutes
- Episodes
- 1941
- Years Active
- 2016 - 2025
‘A pal is a wonderful thing’
The Jeffrey Epstein files are dominating the conversation in Washington today, following the release yesterday of a birthday greeting reportedly sent to Epstein by Donald Trump. Democrats are taking …
00:14:16 |
Tue 09 Sep 2025
September 8, 2025: Trump’s leap of faith
This morning, President Donald Trump will head to the Museum of the Bible to speak at the second meeting of his Religious Liberty Commission. But as his words aim to shore up support from a key const…
00:15:38 |
Mon 08 Sep 2025
New from Politico: The Conversation, Season 2
The Conversation with Dasha Burns is back! In Season 1, Burns sat down with some of the most powerful players in Washington to get their perspectives on what’s really going on inside The White House…
00:01:43 |
Sun 07 Sep 2025
September 5, 2025: Economic storm clouds gather
The private sector jobs boom that President Donald Trump pledged to deliver in his second term is starting to look shaky — and that raises the political stakes for this morning’s new monthly jobs rep…
00:16:05 |
Fri 05 Sep 2025
September 4, 2025: Kennedy comes in for a grilling
This morning on Capitol Hill, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will appear before the Senate Finance Committee to answer questions. Officially, the topic is the "President…
00:15:55 |
Thu 04 Sep 2025
September 3, 2025: The Epstein storm hits the Hill
The day Washington has been anticipating for more than a month has finally arrived: With August recess over and Congress back in action, the furor over the Jeffrey Epstein files is set to ramp up in …
00:12:52 |
Wed 03 Sep 2025
September 2, 2025: Washington roars back into action
When President Donald Trump addresses the press today in the Oval Office, it will be his first public appearance in a week. For many presidents, that wouldn’t be particularly notable. But Trump’s wee…
00:14:56 |
Tue 02 Sep 2025
August 22, 2025: Was it something Dems said?
In their ongoing effort to reorganize and define the party, Democrats have gotten some new guidance on how to win over voters. And it’s not so much about what they should do, but what they shouldn’t.…
00:16:24 |
Fri 22 Aug 2025
August 21, 2025: Vance’s big, beautiful sales job
President Donald Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill” Act is in for one big, beautiful rebranding effort. Today in Georgia, VP JD Vance will seek to reframe the Republican megalaw as primarily “working…
00:09:40 |
Thu 21 Aug 2025
August 20, 2025: How Gavin Newsom took over your X feed
With a smashmouth, all-caps-laden and meme-filled X account, California Gov. Gavin Newsom is holding a mirror up to MAGA — and MAGA doesn’t like what it’s seeing. For a decade, President Donald Trump…
00:14:01 |
Wed 20 Aug 2025
August 19, 2025: A new dawn between Trump and Zelenskyy
A whirlwind of diplomacy whipped through Washington yesterday. Today, we’re sorting through the aftermath of the series of historic meetings between President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volody…
00:13:37 |
Tue 19 Aug 2025
August 18, 2025: Zelenskyy in the Oval Office: Take 2
Another day, another massive summit with huge geopolitical implications. On Friday, the biggest story in politics was the meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. …
00:14:41 |
Mon 18 Aug 2025
August 15, 2025: The Trump-Putin summit is here
This afternoon, President Donald Trump is set to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska. For the better part of a week, the White House has been tempering expectations — with the latest…
00:16:35 |
Fri 15 Aug 2025
August 14, 2025: Buttigieg sets the record straight
After his appearance last week on “Pod Save America,” Pete Buttigieg attracted incoming fire over his response to a question about Gaza — an answer which critics thought was especially mealy-mouthed.…
00:11:27 |
Thu 14 Aug 2025
August 13, 2025: Laura Loomer's latest target
After successfully ousting several officials in the Trump administration, far-right activist and MAGA influencer Laura Loomer has sharpened her focus on her next targets: HHS Secretary Robert F. Kenn…
00:11:12 |
Wed 13 Aug 2025
August 12, 2025: Trump sends in the troops
Residents of Washington are waking up this morning to a city that looks a little different. At a press conference yesterday morning, President Donald Trump announced he would effectively take over th…
00:13:25 |
Tue 12 Aug 2025
August 11, 2025: Trump sets his sights on D.C.
Today at 10 a.m., President Donald Trump is expected to announce that he will deploy federal forces to patrol the streets of Washington, D.C., in an attempt to fight crime and “immediately clear out …
00:12:02 |
Mon 11 Aug 2025
August 8, 2025: Trump’s ‘law and order’ gambit comes for D.C.
Last night, the White House announced that it will use federal law enforcement officers to patrol Washington D.C. in a striking escalation of the administration’s antagonism towards the city’s locall…
00:13:44 |
Fri 08 Aug 2025
August 7, 2025: Dems’ new dividing line
As the humanitarian disaster in Gaza shifts American politics and opinions about Israel, the entire issue is quickly becoming the Democratic Party’s first foreign policy litmus test of the 2026 and 2…
00:16:03 |
Thu 07 Aug 2025
August 6, 2025: The next big gerrymandering fight
The White House is turning the screws on red-state elected officials to gerrymander new electoral maps and squeeze more GOP seats into existence ahead of the 2026 midterms. And the next big flashpoin…
00:13:44 |
Wed 06 Aug 2025
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