The Daily Whatever

TDWS: Not Straight Forward With Guest Char Sundust

Lawrence’s other best friend of 32 years, Char Sundust, flew in from Seattle and is sitting RIGHT NEXT to him in the studio — and what was supposed to be a Monday hangout turns into one of the most wide-ranging episodes of the season. They start with plazas (yes, plazas), wander through city planning and the lost art of the village, and land in the question that may matter more than any other right now: how do we take care of us? Not me. Not you. Us. From the AIDS crisis and the lesbians who stepped up, to the slow-motion erasure of Seattle’s Capitol Hill, to the trans kid Char spotted in a Fort Wayne restaurant who deserves every ounce of our respect — this is a conversation about queer community, chosen family, and what we owe each other when the world gets loud. Then it gets spicier. Char and Lawrence dig into the new study out of the UK that says one in three kindergarteners can’t open a book — they try to swipe the pages. They get into “digital dementia,” AI girlfriends marketed on the promise that “she never says no” (chills, both of them), and whether Substack is becoming the digital plaza we’ve been missing. And because it wouldn’t be the show without it: Above & Beyond obsession, K-pop Demon Hunters’ “Golden” on repeat, a summer dance-party manifesto, and the moment Ripley the cat publicly cheats on Lawrence with Char on live camera. Come for the philosophy. Stay for the betrayal. Thank you Nick Paro [https://substack.com/profile/189675044-nick-paro], Dana DuBois [https://substack.com/profile/201342263-dana-dubois], Amy Gabrielle [https://substack.com/profile/5498662-amy-gabrielle], Beth Cruz [https://substack.com/profile/178744313-beth-cruz], LeftieProf [https://substack.com/profile/116079548-leftieprof], and many others for tuning into my live video! Join us for our next live video in the app. Get full access to The Daily Whatever Show at www.thedailywhatevershow.com/subscribe [https://www.thedailywhatevershow.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Live with Lawrence Winnerman

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The Daily Whatever Show: Effed-Up Friday With Wajahat Ali!

It was another absolutely unhinged Fucked Up Friday, and somehow the news cycle outdid itself—again. We dove headfirst into the chaos, breaking down everything from the latest political absurdities to the kind of stories that make you question reality itself. But the real fireworks came when guest Waj Ali showed up ready to play—and absolutely ran the table. What started as a friendly competition for “most fucked up story of the week” quickly turned into a landslide, with Waj delivering a knockout that left no doubt who won handily. And just when you think it couldn’t get more chaotic, the conversation veered into peak Gen X nostalgia—debating the most iconic songs of a generation while the chat explodes with picks. It’s catharsis, it’s comedy, it’s controlled outrage—and somehow it all works. Watch to the end, and don’t forget to check out Jason’s Spotify playlist (link coming soooon), compiling the ultimate Gen X soundtrack straight from the audience. Thank you Le Simple Sudiste [https://substack.com/profile/8992784-le-simple-sudiste], Yanni Hamburger [https://substack.com/profile/96130249-yanni-hamburger], Noble Blend [https://substack.com/profile/21659563-noble-blend], Stephanie Munoz [https://substack.com/profile/14218548-stephanie-munoz], Ms.Yuse [https://substack.com/profile/322112054-msyuse], and many others for tuning into my live video with THE LEFT HOOK with Wajahat Ali [https://substack.com/profile/5345375-the-left-hook-with-wajahat-ali] and Dana DuBois [https://substack.com/profile/201342263-dana-dubois]! Join me for my next live video in the app. Get full access to The Daily Whatever Show at www.thedailywhatevershow.com/subscribe [https://www.thedailywhatevershow.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Live w/ Lisa & Lawrence Winnerman! • 2/25 @ 7pm CST

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TDWS: Char Sundust and the Year of the Fire Horse!

This morning on The Daily Whatever Show, I was flying solo while Dana was off on a top-secret mission, and I got to kick off the Lunar New Year — the Year of the Fire Horse — with one of my best friends in the world, Char Sundust [https://substack.com/profile/236426621-char-sundust]. We talked about what the Fire Horse actually means in Chinese astrology: power, momentum, passion, upheaval, transformation. The horse is already the most dynamic sign in the zodiac; add fire and you get acceleration. Big change energy. We also dug into what’s happening in Western astrology right now — Saturn and Neptune conjunct at zero degrees Aries for the first time in over 2,000 years — what some are calling a “Great Reset.” Order meets illusion. Accounting meets dreams. Secrets meet consequences. It’s the end of one cycle and the beginning of another. And yeah — that feels exactly like the moment we’re living in. But this wasn’t just astrology talk. Char grounded it in something much more practical: love as an action, love ethics, real connection, community, decolonizing our minds, being honest instead of pretending. We talked about accountability in the world — including around abuse and power — and also about how we protect our own souls while facing hard truths. We talked about authenticity, about not becoming someone’s healer when that’s not your job, about choosing joy, about being in the dream but lucid inside it. It was deep, funny, irreverent, and very real — exactly what happens when you put two GenX Aries moons on camera together. Year of the Fire Horse? Clear the way. It’s time to get real and move. Thank you Jason Odell [https://substack.com/profile/31117052-jason-odell], NeuroDivergent Hodgepodge [https://substack.com/profile/290170277-neurodivergent-hodgepodge], Margaret Williams, MS, ACC [https://substack.com/profile/12044824-margaret-williams-ms-acc], Polly Walker Blakemore [https://substack.com/profile/300692754-polly-walker-blakemore], Dr. Mary M. Marshall [https://substack.com/profile/21244770-dr-mary-m-marshall], and many others for tuning into my live video with The Daily Whatever Show [https://substack.com/profile/314515088-the-daily-whatever-show]! Join me for my next live video in the app. Get full access to The Daily Whatever Show at www.thedailywhatevershow.com/subscribe [https://www.thedailywhatevershow.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]