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
- 1944
- Years Active
- 2016 - 2025
Jan. 12, 2023: Is Biden’s best defense a good offense?
January is a time of new beginnings in Washington. A new Congress. A new Republican-led House. A new speaker, Kevin McCarthy. New investigations into Biden by GOP-helmed committees.
And now, in light…
00:12:27 |
Thu 12 Jan 2023
Jan. 11, 2023: Blake Hounshell, 1978-2023
Most listeners to this show or readers of the Playbook newsletter didn’t know Blake Hounshell, but all of you were influenced by him.
He nurtured and mentored dozens of young journalists who now popu…
00:09:00 |
Wed 11 Jan 2023
Jan. 10, 2023: Biden gets his own documents headache
For President Joe Biden, it was an inconvenient discovery — and the potential source of considerable future political, if not legal heartburn. The Justice Department is investigating how and why clas…
00:06:37 |
Tue 10 Jan 2023
Jan. 9, 2023: Speaker McCarthy's first governing test
The rules package that will govern how the House operates this session is scheduled for a vote this evening. It’s shaping up as Speaker Kevin McCarthy's first big test in governing what is shaping up…
00:16:23 |
Mon 09 Jan 2023
Jan. 6, 2023: Unrest swells among McCarthy’s backers
Around Christmas, Texas Republican Rep. Roger Williams’ wife suffered a medical emergency. This week, as she underwent treatment, her husband was eager to be by her side.
Instead, he has been stuck …
00:05:38 |
Fri 06 Jan 2023
Jan. 5, 2023: Inside McCarthy's brewing speaker deal
After spending the last 48 hours on life support, Kevin McCarthy's bid for the speakership is seeing a potential revival.
Following a rollercoaster of a Wednesday during which the California Republic…
00:06:38 |
Thu 05 Jan 2023
Jan. 4, 2023: How long can McCarthy hang on?
So how does this end? And how long will it take to end it?
Those are the questions towering over the new House Republican majority, which for the first time in 100 years, found itself unable to choos…
00:15:23 |
Wed 04 Jan 2023
Jan. 3, 2023: The House GOP’s epic game of chicken
Welcome to the 118th Congress, the new Republican House majority, and one of the most unpredictable and potentially chaotic scenarios we’ve seen on Capitol Hill.
The House will gavel in at noon, and …
00:11:57 |
Tue 03 Jan 2023
Dec. 23, 2022: Jan. 6 report drops, a McCarthy foe speaks
The Jan. 6 committee released its final report on Thursday night — an 845-page document drawn from nearly 1,200 witness interviews and reams of hard-won documents that places Donald Trump at the cent…
00:06:38 |
Fri 23 Dec 2022
Dec. 22, 2022: Inside the scramble to trace SBF's dirty money
Sean McElwee is a well-known progressive activist who started the “Abolish ICE” movement and in 2018 founded Data for Progress, a progressive think tank with an emphasis on influencing public policy …
00:07:24 |
Thu 22 Dec 2022
Dec. 21 2022: That's not Santa's sleigh — it's the omnibus
It's that time of year: the omnibus has dropped. This time it's a $1.7 trillion dollar whopper, with appropriations filling out more than 4,000 pages. Right after the bill dropped on Tuesday, we look…
00:07:46 |
Wed 21 Dec 2022
Dec. 20, 2022: What's next for the talented Mr. Santos?
Democrats are scouring the record of Rep.-elect George Santos to determine their next steps following an extraordinary New York Times investigation of the incoming Republican from Long Island that re…
00:08:33 |
Tue 20 Dec 2022
December 19, 2022: Inside the Jan. 6 panel’s final punch
This looks like it will be the final week of the 117th Congress… and it’s going to be a busy one. The clock is ticking on the Democratic House majority, and they are looking to wrap up some unfinishe…
00:09:24 |
Mon 19 Dec 2022
Dec. 16, 2022: McCarthy's ongoing speaker battle paralyzes House
The latest news this morning comes via our colleagues Olivia Beavers, Jordain Carney and Sarah Ferris, who note that McCarthy is now “punting conferencewide races for committee leadership slots until…
00:08:13 |
Fri 16 Dec 2022
Dec. 15, 2022: Scoop: Why GOP moderates are blocking for McCarthy
On Friday, after a group of seven House conservatives issued a public letter outlining the demands that GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy would need to meet to win their support in his bid for speaker, a key…
00:07:32 |
Thu 15 Dec 2022
Dec. 14, 2022: What Africa wants from Biden
Congressional negotiators announced late Tuesday they had reached agreement on a “framework” for FY2023 spending, clearing the way for passage of an omnibus appropriations package before Christmas.
A…
00:05:24 |
Wed 14 Dec 2022
Dec. 13, 2022: So much for that SBF testimony
Today’s House Financial Services Committee hearing on the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange will go on as scheduled without its star witness: Former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who was arrested …
00:05:07 |
Tue 13 Dec 2022
Dec. 12, 2022: Reading the omnibus tea leaves, SBF heads to DC and more
Senate Appropriations Chair Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) announced Sunday night that Democrats would not proceed as planned with a vote today on their own spending package, citing “sufficient progress in ne…
00:13:09 |
Mon 12 Dec 2022
Dec. 9, 2022: Breaking: Sinema leaves the Democratic Party
POLITICO's Burgess Everett with a mega-scoop this morning: “Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is changing her party affiliation to independent, delivering a jolt to Democrats’ narrow majority and Washingto…
00:11:27 |
Fri 09 Dec 2022
Dec. 8, 2022: The simmering race to protect Biden on the Hill
The battle to become President Joe Biden's top defender on Capitol Hill is on.
With Republicans sharpening their investigative knives for Biden (this week, House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy released a …
00:14:23 |
Thu 08 Dec 2022
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