Maureen Johnson and Dan Sinker
450 episodes listed below
Political dread, processed sideways.
Says Who? is a fast, tangent-rich comedy show built around Maureen Johnson, Dan Sinker, and the week’s accumulating absurdities. Politics may be the nominal destination, but the route runs through soda logistics, stickers, illness, book deadlines, theater candy, and half-serious escape plans.
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Says Who? is built from the feeling that the week has become too strange to process alone. Maureen Johnson and Dan Sinker meet the news with a rhythm that is part briefing, part therapy session, and part escalating kitchen-table bit. The show is political, but it refuses the neatness of conventional political talk. It begins with stickers, book deadlines, missed Patreon Sundays, sick days, family updates, errands, and whatever object happens to make noise near the microphone. Then the world pushes in. Trump’s threats, Hungary’s parliamentary shifts, far-right templates, and the daily churn of American dysfunction all get pulled into conversation without losing the messy human scale around them. That scale matters. A fantasy about buying a house in the United Kingdom becomes a whole alternate life with schools, gardens, dogs, and new problems to replace the old ones. A parent’s soda order becomes an anthropology of household systems. A crumpled shipping-label backing becomes a side road into theater candy. A book plug becomes an argument for reading, libraries, reviews, and getting through grim times by putting better things into the day. The show’s humor is blunt but affectionate. Its momentum comes from interruption, correction, repetition, and the shared certainty that the odd detail is usually where the truth is hiding. It can sound exhausted. It can also suddenly sound delighted. That swing is central to its appeal. Says Who? does not package politics as detached expertise or soothing certainty. It treats public life as something that lands in actual homes, around actual errands, between travel delays, illness, deadlines, children, aging parents, and boxes of stickers. The result is a companionable record of civic dread filtered through friendship, absurd specificity, and a refusal to let panic have the only voice in the room.
Made for: For comedy listeners who like politics with messy human context, not panel-show polish. It especially suits people who find comfort in digressions, running jokes, book talk, and dry companionship during chaotic news cycles.
What sets it apart: Says Who? stands apart by letting domestic minutiae and political alarm occupy the same comic frame. The show’s power is not in clean analysis alone, but in the way errands, illness, stickers, family logistics, and global headlines all become one ongoing survival conversation.
In 2016, two friends—and author and a journalist--sat down to ride through the final weeks of the Presidential election by talking to the journalists covering it. They thought they were doing eight episodes. They were wrong. What started as a short trip has become a long and strange journey. They’ve gotten weird. They’ve made friends along the way. Mostly, the weird part, though. Join #1 New York Times bestselling author Maureen Johnson, and legendary publisher of Punk Planet Magazine Dan Sinker as they digest the news each week. Says Who: it’s not a podcast—it’s a coping strategy.
Based on 5 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Maureen Johnson and Dan Sinker make political chaos easier to grasp by tracing the absurd language and ordinary details surrounding it.
Says Who? turns political commentary into an ongoing conversation between Maureen Johnson and Dan Sinker, where an alarming headline can share space with bingo, book-writing software, restaurant lore, or a family dispute over Diet Coke.
Maureen Johnson and Dan Sinker are your emergency contacts when the news becomes structurally absurd.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
Listener thanks, Iran talk, a steak tangent, and a pop-song signoff shape a loose but lively episode.
Says Who? opens with extended listener thanks, Patreon promotion, and book plugs before turning to the week's politics. From there, the discussion centers on Donald Trump's Iran posts and his Strait of Hormuz threats, with the hosts landing in their familiar mix of commentary…
A grocery run, a family feud, and a smoke trail keep colliding into one comic mess.
Dan and Maureen turn groceries, copy edits, a delayed Philadelphia trip, and a parent recovering at home into a comic chain reaction. The joke about a Diet Coke order that should have been Coke Zero works because it is so petty and so familiar, and the Patreon pitch at the top…
A grateful anniversary hangout that turns bingo, book research, and old workflow pain into comedy.
Says Who's 400th episode is a grateful, meandering hangout that turns Patreon support, book-shipping logistics, bingo, book research, and podcasting history into one long comic conversation.
A straight-faced book push gives way to a messy, sharp-witted discussion of a killing, blame, and a stubborn table at Rao's.
Says Who? starts with a heavy Patreon pitch and a long, deadpan sell of its murder-mystery book, then moves into a killing, the scramble to assign blame, and the political fallout that follows.
Patreon banter and Chicago-area unease keep Says Who moving from warm-up into civic tension, with a Blues Brothers nod to close.
Says Who? starts loose and conversational, with Patreon chatter, a Town Watch plug, and Maureen Johnson on The Creeping Ant Word before the conversation turns to Operation Midway Blitz, ICE activity in Cicero and Broadview, and the waiting around Evanston.
Manga readalong, detours fully preserved.
The host promotes their Patreon subscription, which includes bonus content like the 'town watch' segment and a monthly sticker club, while humorously discussing personal challenges like multiple projects, illness, and family issues.
Says Who hosts Dan Sinker and Maureen Johnson cover the Iran-Strait of Hormuz crisis, in which Trump posted 'A whole civilization will die tonight' on Easter Tuesday then announced a ceasefire that left Iran in control of the strait and now charging $2 million per vessel where the fee was previously zero.
Says Who hosts Dan Sinker and Maureen Johnson open with Patreon and merchandise promotion before Dan recounts spending a research week in Muncie, Indiana digging through KKK archives at the Indiana Historical Society, including handling well-worn clan robes.
This episode features a chaotic and humorous promotion of the podcast's Patreon, including details about the sticker club and a brief mention of a book called The Velvet Knife.
This episode humorously promotes reading books while discussing book theft, publishing realities, and Patreon benefits.
This episode features hosts Dan and Maureen promoting their Patreon, merchandise, and Maureen's books, including her forthcoming title 'Velvet Knife'.
This episode features promotional content for the podcast's Patreon, the host's books, and a bookshop, with personal anecdotes from the hosts.
Two friends engage in humorous banter, promoting their Patreon and joking about various topics.
Two friends banter about their Patreon, a sticker club, and a book featuring a velvet knife murder.
Two friends banter about rocks and Patreon support in a comedic opening segment.
Two friends banter about a novelty clock and catch up after a vacation.
The hosts joke about a cold, promote their Patreon and sticker club, and Maureen mentions giving a book to the president of Iceland.
The hosts thank Patreon supporters, promote a new paperback release, and discuss the joy of reader engagement.
Dan and Maureen promote their Patreon and discuss the joy of receiving mail, with humorous banter.
Two friends banter about Patreon support, gift ideas, and a mystery game in a comedic style.
This episode promotes the podcast's Patreon for exclusive content and stickers, and advertises the host's mystery books during the holiday season.
Four hundred episodes, somehow.
First, the book.
Everything is going fine, allegedly.
This episode promotes Patreon support for the podcast and details pre-order options for a detective novel with discounts and special editions.
The hosts banter about Amazon Prime Day, plug their Patreon, and promote a book preorder in a humorous, off-the-cuff style.
Two friends banter about Patreon perks and personal updates before diving into political discussion.
Two friends banter about Patreon perks, promote a book and a murder mystery case file, and celebrate Pride Month.
Two friends engage in humorous banter about politics, pride month, and a queer romance murder mystery book.
This episode humorously discusses technical difficulties and promotes the podcast's Patreon, which offers exclusive content like free episodes and a sticker club.
Two friends, an author and a journalist, promote their Patreon and discuss the author's upcoming murder mystery book in a humorous, conversational style.
Two friends banter about Patreon perks, a recent meeting, and a new writing tool.
Two comedically inclined hosts visit the Friends Experience in New York, joking about their lack of familiarity with the show.
Two friends, an author and a journalist, engage in humorous banter about their podcast's Patreon and a murder mystery book.
Two friends banter about their podcast's Patreon bonus episodes and joke about visiting the Friends experience.
The host discusses Patreon support, upcoming Edgar award ceremony attendance as a nominee for best young adult mystery, and humorous anecdotes about receptions and shoes.
This episode promotes the host's Patreon for bonus content and stickers, and announces a new mystery novel with pre-order details and signing options.
Two friends promote their Patreon and upcoming book releases with humorous banter.
Two friends promote their Patreon and discuss upcoming book releases in a humorous, conversational style.
The hosts promote their Patreon and merchandise while engaging in humorous banter about books and the election.