Smart Girl Dumb Questions

Nayeema sits down with Sam Roberts, the New York Times obituary reporter who’s studied some 120,000 years of life while penning obits for everyone from Washington’s most powerful people to Hollywood’s most famed vet and … Jesus Christ? So what has Roberts learned studying this much life? Who even gets an NYT obit? How do they handle scandal, mistresses or secret babies? Which is the meanest obitua...

Nayeema sits does with journalist Kevin Roose, who has covered tech for 15+ years and wrote *the* book on the AI race, to ask if this latest AI panic is just a way to drive up trillion-dollar IPOs and regulatory moats for Sam Altman and Dario Amodei. Also on the agenda: Do we need bunkers? What actually went down with the Hugging Face attack? If we’re in an AI war with China, why are we still send...

Nayeema sits down with Serena Kerrigan, who left a salaried job and a self-described “Nepo Baby Lite" lifestyle to become an influencer (slash "icon"). Six years later, she’s built an empire: an IG live show that led to a TV deal with Peacock, card games, merch and a new book, "Let's F*cking Date".  The secret to her success? Confidence. Nayeema and Serena discuss how a mirror can make you an...

Nayeema sits down with Cal Newport, an expert on deep work, pseudo-productivity and how technology is shaping work. He’s prolifically productive himself (he’s written multiple bestselling books, is a tenured Georgetown professor, and hosts a hit podcast called Deep Questions … all of which is made possible by his work process and his abstention from social media).  In this episode of the SGDQ...

Is Gen Z Unemployable? And/or are the rest of us addicted to work? NYU Stern Prof and bestselling author Suzy Welch joins Nayeema in this first episode of the SGDQ “What Even is Work?!” series to figure out what we value and how we spend our days. Suzy breaks down the 16 values that organize our lives. You can take the test here. (get the *free* assessment or use SGDQ50 for 50% off). They analyze...

Whether you’re single, married or something in between: this episode is for you. Nayeema sits down with love coach and rejection survivor Francesca Hogi to talk about flirting as a way of life and rejection as a path to growth. Plus, Franny grades Nayeema’s Flirting Skills (and Diplo’s). Is anyone getting an A?!  We get into the 8 types of flirting, how A.I. can or can’t help you in your rela...

Nayeema gets direct with Tarek Mansour, the 30-year-old CEO and Co-Founder of Kalshi. The prediction market hit $30 billion in trade volume this June as users put money on everything from the World Cup to Strait of Hormuz opening dates and the reality show Love Island. So is this gambling with a better brand, a peril to young people, ripe for insider trading, or a path to more accurate information...

David McCraw has gone to battle with Harvey Weinstein, Sarah Palin, Justin Baldoni and Presidents from Bush and Obama to Biden and Trump. Today, Nayeema asks the lead newsroom lawyer for the New York Times what he’s learned fighting powerful people … what’s normal (or not) when it comes to tension between the government and a free press … and why the recent appearance of federal agents with subpoe...

Nayeema’s learning all about NASCAR today with rising star Carson Hocevar, who’s constantly compared to the legend Dale Earnhardt Sr.  So: what’s the difference between NASCAR and F1? What’s Hocevar’s risk-reward analysis on aggression? Does he have a safe word with the dude who’s in his ear? And when you go 200 mph most days, what’s it like to be stuck in traffic with the rest of us? Most of...

And does it even need to be fixed? In this episode Nayeema tries to understand whether demographic collapse is a crisis or a con job. She sits down with Malcolm and Simone Collins, a New Right pronatalist couple with ties to the Heritage Foundation and Elon Musk and policy drafts being submitted for White House consideration. They have 5 kids, 30 embryos on ice and aspirations to keep going til Si...

Nayeema and cult expert Amanda Montell unpack why cults are everywhere now, why we’re obsessed with them and what all of that has to do with modern loneliness and capitalism. Montell — the bestselling author of Cultish and host of the podcast Sounds Like A Cult breaks down the innocuous language that will suck you in and how to help someone you love get OUT.   Oh, and naturally they try...

Nayeema sits down with evolutionary biologist Dr. Justin Garcia, Director of the world-famous Kinsey Institute, to unpack the science of love, sex and attraction. Why are there more single peoplethan ever? Are we still having sex? Why do breakups … feel like withdrawal? And what do pandas, penguins and pigs have to teach us about modern relationships? Also on the agenda: is kissing is “normal,” sh...

Nayeema sits down with space architect Ariel Ekblaw to ask: will my kids commute to the Moon? Why are we privatizing everything in outer space? And did SpaceX just turn space travel into … FedEx? Ariel is a Yale and MIT-trained founder and CEO of Aurelia Institute focused on space technologies including autonomously self-assembling space stations and future space habitats. And if all of this sound...

It’s NBA Draft Day and Nayeema’s sitting down with Cleveland Cavaliers owner, Rocket Companies founder and Detroit mega-booster Dan Gilbert to ask: How do you make up with LeBron James? Can a billion bucks buy happiness? Is the NBA socialist? And what can it teach the USA about fairness? Dan opens up about the infamous LeBron letter, what it’s really like sitting at a table with 30 billionaire NBA...

Nobody understands GRIFT quite like New Yorker Journalist Patrick Radden Keefe. Nayeema sits down with the legendary New Yorker staff writer and bestselling author of Empire of Pain, Say Nothing, Rogues, and his latest book London Falling to ask: why are we so obsessed with people behaving badly? Is grift just … ambition? And when does “fake it till you make it” become “fake it until everything co...

Rent or buy? Student debt or skip the degree? Nayeema asks  @MoneyRehab host Nicole Lapin the money questions we all have. They discuss if home ownership is still part of the American Dream, what money mistakes NOT to make, and why it feels SO vulnerable to talk about your personal finances. Turns out “shame is not a good money management system.”  Also on the agenda: IVF, MBAs and what is worth g...

Nayeema speaks to Professor Raj Chetty, who has the IRS (and Facebook) data proving that your zip code and close friends list may dictate your riches. They talk about the American dream, whether it's in reach, why the data and vibes conflict and why the Harvard University professor behind Opportunity Insights believes progress is STILL possible. This is the second episode of our SGDQ Smart Money s...

Which money mistakes destroy a relationship? And which good money habits make a marriage work? No one sees into people’s finances like a divorce lawyer does. So Nayeema brings BACK killer NYC divorce attorney James Sexton, Esq. to ask: is marriage really the most important financial decision you’ll ever make? Does leverage kill love? And with an affordability crisis, does being middle class keep y...

Neil deGrasse Tyson and Nayeema are BACK with an all new episode taped live at New York’s Comedy Cellar. They discuss if aliens exist, how we’d know and what we should do when we see them? What’s the alien go back? And how do we balance skepticism with possibility in science and in life. Has any testimony, fact or experience ever challenged Neil’s alien skepticism? Nayeema also asks Neil to respon...

Nayeema sits down with Richard Reeves, THE expert on men and boys to ask: is there a men’s crisis? Has talking about it made men’s lives better …or worse? What’s a dude problem vs an everyone problem? Are we just gendering the impacts of modern capitalism? And what’s next: DEI for dudes?  Also on the agenda: looksmaxxing, incels, tradwives (data vs vibes), the retreat of video games, the potential...

Robert Malley was a Lead Negotiator of the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal, so what does he think will happen next? And what does three decades at the forefront of Middle East peace (or war, in this case), teach him from Camp David (2000) to Israel and Gaza today? Nayeema and Rob walk through Donald Trump’s “Art of the Deal” to figure out whether one may be had here. They also discuss: are negotiators more...

The electroacoustic duo ARKAI just won a Grammy. Nayeema wants to know: How hard is that? Can you manifest one? Or is it more like a political campaign? Does the Harvard of Music (aka Juilliard) prepare musicians for a TikTok world? And the crucial question of 2026: Will AI replace musicians? Jonathan Miron (violin) and Philip Sheegog (cello) also spill on the beef between cellists and violinists,...

Dick Costolo is a powerful rich dude who gave an insider's edge to the HBO Series "Silicon Valley." Nayeema asks the almost-billion dollar investor: Is Elon or Trump more powerful now? Is venture capital a Ponzi scheme? Is big tech back in a bubble? Will AI lead us into a K-shaped economy where the shareholders get richer and everyone else gets replaced by bots? Also on the agenda: SpaceX at a $1....

Dry cleaning is the ultimate black box: you drop off your clothes… and somehow they come back looking better than your life choices. Nayeema goes inside the fairytale with the father/son duo behind Jeeves New York, Jerry and Zachary Pozniak to ask: how do you clean something “dry”? Where do the clothes actually go? And do they worry about the chemicals?  They unpack what dry cleaning really is (sp...

Why does everyone have a podcast… and do you need one too? Nayeema pulls back the curtain with Sammi Cohen of Social Currency fame. One has made it in podcasting, and is still building on social — the other has made it in social, and is building on podcasts. Both open up about the ups, downs and dollars . Also on the agenda: “is everything a scam?” (dentistry! eyeglasses! Forbes 30 Under 30!), why...