Michelle Ruiz

The Smut

News EN ↓ 5 episodes

A new podcast from Vogue and Vanity Fair culture journalist Michelle Ruiz about the sexiest stories in news. Michelle has been reading smut since she was definitely too young to be reading smut. She grew up to be a Cosmo sex editor and believes fading to black is criminal. At her first job at ABC News, an editor referred to a story as “sexy” - not in the literal sense, but the kind that's juicy, colorful and complicated, maybe a little salacious and gossipy. In addition to the actual smut of our times, those are the kind of all-consuming stories and people she'll get into on The Smut.

Author

Michelle Ruiz

Episodes

"Off Campus" (w/ Professor of Yearnalism Hitha Palepu) 02.06.2026 34:57

The Smut is back to analyze "Off Campus," the latest, greatest entry to the hot hockey romance canon. CEO, author , multi-hyphenate and seasoned "Off Campus" reader Hitha Palepu joins to discuss how the show compares (and doesn't compare) to "Heated Rivalry," its star and newly-minted Internet Boyfriend Belmont Cameli, the Off-Campus smut index (mutual masturbatio...

The Smut Book Club: Flowers in the Attic 08.05.2026 47:20

Welcome to the very first installment of The Smut Book Club, in which host Michelle Ruiz and a rotating cast of brilliant minds-in-the-gutter break down the best (and worst) smut of our time. Our first selection is smut canon: V.C. Andrews's demented 1979 classic, "Flowers in the Attic!" It's gothic horror, a black fairy tale, it's a story of puberty and tingles and, unfortun...

Harry Styles's Sonic Erotica 24.04.2026 43:10

Whether Harry Styles is engaged or not, a feverish fan base is engaged in him. A new season of Styles is upon us , with his glittering dance party of an album, "Kiss All the Time, Disco Occasionally" and a long-awaited tour launching in Amsterdam in May. This week, Harry superfan Rocky Cautadella joins The Smut to break down Harry's enduring eroticism and his appeal as a sensitive, n...

Robinne Lee on the State of Smut 10.04.2026 42:35

The Bard of High-Class Smut and "The Idea of You" author Robinne Lee sprinkles flirtatious crumbs about her new novel, "Crash Into Me," plus: the state of smut in 2026, the landmark significance of "50 Shades of Grey," writing Duran Duran smut in her teens (naturally), the majesty of sex scenes that *go there* and what's on her secret Pinterest board...

The Kennedys & The Windsors (w/ Caroline Hallemann) 23.03.2026 41:48

Welcome to The Smut, a podcast about the sexiest stories in news. I’ve been reading smut since I was definitely too young to be reading smut. A tattered Danielle Steele at a Long Island garage sale hated to see me coming! I grew up to be a sex editor at Cosmo; my desk was littered feather ticklers from 2012-2015. I just love stories that go there and that’s what I try to as a culture journalist...