Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em Podcast

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.com Nancy and Sarah dig in to the ever-so-complicated Savior Complex , a new HBO docu-series about a young white missionary in Uganda who may or may not have been responsible for the deaths of young children in her care. Is Renee Bach a murderer, as the activist group No White Saviors insists, or a do-gooder who...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.com Nancy and Sarah talk with Marisa Meltzer, author of the new book “Glossy: Ambition, Beauty, and the Inside Story of Emily Weiss’s Glossier.” The pretty-in-pink makeup brand Glossier became a phenomenon after it debuted in 2014, and the book tracks the rise and not-exactly-fall of its founder Emily Weiss — tel...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.com Nancy is transmitting from the Mojave Desert, Sarah is staring at the same old closet wall, and they’re glad to be reunited to talk about the other pizzagate, this one between the Washington Post and Dave Portnoy, certified douche-bro of Barstool Sports who nonetheless came out the winner in this week’s viral...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.com This week Nancy and Sarah butter up the prolific and enviably clever journalist/novelist Kat Rosenfield. Kat takes us back to the days of writing $15 posts for MTV News and through the confounding episode of her cancellation in the young-adult fiction world, which led to a stellar career as, among other thing...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.com This guy was just sitting in Nancy’s apartment, so we invited him into the studio, and by “guy,” we mean Michael Moynihan, co-host of “ The Fifth Column ” podcast, former Vice correspondent, and favorite big-brained raconteur. And what did Michael — did we all! — want to talk about but the attempted LA Times...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.com It’s September 11, and what does it say that neither of us recalled the date the minute we woke up? And what would it be like to wake up and find you are, perhaps, being made an example of? Danny Masterson, star of That 70s Show, found out last week, as did former Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio, each rece...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.com Nancy and Sarah are joined by Chaya Leah Sufrin, one-half of the wonderful “ Ask a Jew ” podcast, to talk about a subject she’s mostly avoided: Weight and her own body. Chaya Leah recently lost 45 pounds, which coincides with a season when Sarah was shedding weight too, making for one big conversation about d...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.com Ethan Strauss, the wunderkind of the House of Strauss , joins groupies fans Sarah and Nancy to talk about … * Nike ads and the failure of trying to sell what does not resonate * Sports in an era of “toxic masculinity” * The atomization of men? * The podcaster/comedian Ethan and Sarah bonded over * Ethan’s 2 +...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.com * Porno chic = a real moment in American culture * A NYT column introduces a great question about sex, but the advice? zzzzz * Jesse Singal on sex drive differences between men and women * That time Sarah’s boyfriend lost his attraction for her * How often do married people actually have sex? * The problem wi...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.com Our guest today is the remarkable Jennifer Senior, who won the 2022 Pulitzer for Feature Writing for her Atlantic essay “What Bobby McIlvane Left Behind,” written on the 20th anniversary of 9/11. She’s been a book critic and columnist for the NYT , a staff writer for New York magazine, and her book All Joy an...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.com Up for discussion this week: * The mysterious “TMFINR” woman on the plane is found, and it turns out she was Sarah’s neighbor! * Is it wrong to reveal the identity of someone who accidentally became famous? * Florida school officials fear Romeo and Juliet may make teenagers horny * Sarah celebrates with some...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.com * Wait, Lizzo wants that dancer to eat a banana from where ? We look at the lawsuit filed against Lizzo by three dancers that includes many wild details, but Sarah is suspicious of that “fat-shaming” accusation * How did Jim Larkin and Mike Lacey, two alt-journalism pioneers and heroes, get smeared by governm...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.com “They tried to bury me,” Sinead O’Connor said in the 2022 documentary about her, Nothing Compares . “They didn’t realize I was a seed.” We look back at the life and legacy of Sinead O’Connor, who died this week at the age of 56. Sinead was a firebrand onstage, but her 2021 memoir Rememberings reveals her to b...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.com We Barbenheimer-ed! And we weren’t the only ones: Sarah found a 20-minute concession line in Dallas, the loo in NYC was out of toilet paper, and the two films took in more than $500 million globally. Still, would America have cared as much had the cinematic landscape not been so scorched-earth? Would Oppenhei...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.com On the docket this week: * Nancy has crisis-of-masculinity fatigue * Jonah Hill and what do people expect from posting private encounters * Lost Girls , the Gilgo Beach serial killer, (not) understanding sadism * The unlikely origin story of Barbie * Is Barbie “everything the feminist movement was trying to e...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.com Nancy here. Among the things I learned reading Sophie Scott’s fabulous, super-smart and sexy new book, The Brain: 10 Things You Should Know : The brain itself has no feeling, I could be poking your exposed brain with my fingers (though I wouldn’t!… I don’t think) and you’d be like, “Pass the salt, please.” Th...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.com In this week’s episode: * Nancy’s pro tips on trying to stitch herself * The TikTok lady on the plane who claimed “that m***erfucker isn’t real” prompts a talk on the dangers of mixing Ambien and alcohol, the nature of religion, and what technology is doing to our sense of reality * The New Yorker ’s story on...

The hosts behind the podcasts The Unspeakable and Smoke ‘Em were just sitting around being all heterodoxy when lo! The call came from the newly formed University of Austin : Want to come to Dallas to discuss the current state of media, whether feminism has impacted the desire to raise children, how we treat the work of artists whose behaviors we don’t agree with, and to answer student questions al...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.com Nancy reports from storm-strewn Tulsa while Sarah reports from the future, where they discuss: * The worst storm in Tulsa since 2007, not that the news is covering it * Sarah has a new boyfriend , and he is exactly one day old * The predictive genius of the movie Her * Is it cheating if you’re fooling around...

Good morning from the Delta Lounge at LaGuardia airport. Got here from the pad in Chinatown and through security (thanks, Clear!) in 25 minutes, a record. En route to Oklahoma, where this happened yesterday. Also in Texas, where I’ll be headed Monday or Tuesday, and eventually on Thursday to Dallas, for an on-stage event with the University of Austin (yes in Dallas, though apparently there are mor...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.com This week, we tackle: * Elizabeth Gilbert’s para-social relationship with her fans * Victimhood as status, online campaigns as feel-good mirage * Will Sarah defend Elizabeth Gilbert? Yes, she will. * Our Moderate MILF watched “The Idol,” and she has thoughts! * Is HBO’s new show a critique of our hyper-sexual...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.com Nancy has messy beach hair, and Sarah is expanding her yin, so this week we tackle: * The meltdown at CNN * Who is Chris Licht, and no, it’s not L-i-c-k-e-d. (Note: This episode was recorded before Licht resigned on June 7. ) * Can cable news be saved? * FAIR vs. FIRE, and the push from the center * Walking i...

Good Saturday morning, or I guess Sunday for you, from Buena Park, California, where the Knott’s Berry Farm rollercoaster shushes past every few minutes, accompanied by screaming. It’s like being in a Jordan Peele movie ! Being in Los Angeles reminds me of coming to Los Angeles, which reminds me of Tim and what, as a rural Oklahoma boy, he wanted with every meal, an item a New York City ate maybe...

Atlantic writer and essayist extraordinaire Caitlin Flanagan joins Smoke ‘Em to discuss: * Who saw the ending coming? * The “failson” that was Kendall, and why does Sarah want to fix him? * The louche character of Roman, nihilist * Shiv meets the fate of her mother, her worst fear * Why the Greg theory of victory was never gonna wash * A father’s love: The real narrative drive of the show * “It ta...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.com Topics covered: * Which American cities have the highest percentage of people wanking at work, and evidence that we've entered “a golden age of masturbation” for better or worse * Is Ozempic also an anti-addiction drug? The secondary benefits are compelling * How is the Martin Amis novel Money like foie gras?...