Sami and Amanda are joined by dream guest Alyssa Mastromonaco, former deputy chief of staff for Barack Obama and host of the “Hysteria” podcast on Crooked Media. They discuss their journeys with special needs pets before returning to the moment Alyssa learned she’d have to give up weed to work in the White House. She describes watching a Democratic White House from the outside and offers an insider analysis of the administration’s moves. Finally, they try to parse out what to expect from the next wild few weeks in Congress and answer the eternal question: Why is Joe Manchin? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices