PODCAST

Smoke "Em If You Got "Em Podcast

Smoke "Em If You Got "Em

a podcast from the outskirts of the zeitgeist smokeempodcast.substack.com

news news commentary

All Episodes

25:42

225. Meghan Daum on Our Culture's Catastrophe Hour

Smoke "Em If You Got "Em Podcast ·

2025/09/26

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comNancy and Sarah speak with Meghan Daum, the podcaster behind The Unspeakable and author of a great new collection of essays, The Catastrophe Hour. They talk about writing, Charlie Kirk, young people casting around for meaning, and a very eye-raising report in the New York Times about a recent blockbuster memoir about MDMA-assisted recovered memories of violent sexual assault. It raises some questions!Will this

25:55

224. On Faith, Lost Boys, and Erika Kirk's Forgiveness

Smoke "Em If You Got "Em Podcast ·

2025/09/23

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comNancy and Sarah discuss the Charlie Kirk memorial. Was it a Nazi rally? Of course not. Was it a turning point in saving Western Civilization? Hmm, sounds like a high bar. But it was: Huge, culturally important, occasionally annoying, occasionally profound, mixing feel-good megachurch vibes with a saber-rattling political rally. It also included one of the most moving speeches in political memory. Also

36:34

222. Michael Tracey on Kirk, Epstein Files, and...

Smoke "Em If You Got "Em Podcast ·

2025/09/16

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comInvestigative journalist Michael Tracey is hard to pin down, maybe because he doesn’t play for one team. A journo in the old-fashioned “stick-poking” mode, Michael started debating Sarah on his own introduction before she was half-way through. Fair enough! We go on to discuss Charlie Kirk — whom Tracey sees as a “mouthpiece” for the administration — and then go deep on the Epstein Files, which Tracey tore into,

105:31

221. Our 21st-Century Religious Wars and the...

Smoke "Em If You Got "Em Podcast ·

2025/09/11

Nancy and Sarah discuss the killing of Charlie Kirk, the 31-year-old founder of Talking Points USA. He was a husband and the father of two young children, and he was shot yesterday while engaging with college students at a Utah College. There is no version of the world that makes his murder anything but a horror.We talk about political violence, radical movements, violence versus microaggressions, bloodlust in the human animal, ideology as a leverage for murder, and how politics became religion. We

26:05

220. Elizabeth Gilbert Melts Nancy's Brain, Tests...

Smoke "Em If You Got "Em Podcast ·

2025/09/06

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comNancy and Sarah go deep on Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat Pray Love, whose new memoir has been excerpted in New York magazine. We have thoughts! Does Gilbert have her finger on the tender heart of what women want? Is she a serial grifter who makes millions off women’s low rattle of unhappiness? We talk about Gilbert’s long career — which has shifted from magazine profile writer to memoirist to social media

16:12

219. Bryan Burrough on America's Vigilante Past - and...

Smoke "Em If You Got "Em Podcast ·

2025/09/03

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comNancy and Sarah chat with Bryan Burrough, author of Gunfighters: How Texas Made the West Wild. Bloody history is something of a specialty for Burrough, a former Vanity Fair scribe whose other (great) books include Days of Rage, about violent radical movements of the ‘70s, Public Enemies, about the ‘30s crime wave, and Forget the Alamo, about, well, trying to remember that famous Texas showdown in a more accurate

21:48

218. Paul Kix on How Civil Rights Heroes Taught Him...

Smoke "Em If You Got "Em Podcast ·

2025/08/27

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comNancy and Sarah interview journalist Paul Kix, author of the award-winning book on the Civil Rights movement, You Have to Be Prepared to Die Before You Can Begin to Live. Paul writes about the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s ten weeks in Birmingham through fully realized characters and complicated detail, and he tells us how the experience changed him.We also talk about Paul’s 2023 personal essay,

24:12

217. The Outrage Opportunists

Smoke "Em If You Got "Em Podcast ·

2025/08/19

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comNancy and Sarah take on the kerfuffles of the week: Chris Rufo mines the anti-woke vein by digging up the old tweets of a New Yorker writer, the Minnesota Vikings introduce two male cheerleaders (and people lose their minds), hunky provocateur-lite Matt Rife stars in a commercial for ELF makeup (and at least two people object). Welcome to the Outrage Opportunists, who glut up our social media feeds with their

32:10

216. "You have to wake up pretty early to be worse...

Smoke "Em If You Got "Em Podcast ·

2025/08/13

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comNancy and Sarah talk about the latest in the “WTF is wrong with men?” media series, this time in The Cut/NY Mag. They also discuss the strange case of the Canadian hockey team recently found not guilty in a high-profile sex assault case. They intended to talk about the new Marc Maron HBO special, but that’ll have to wait till next time.Also discussed:* Mexican barber shop!* That time Walter Kirn dressed down

21:21

215. Billy Joel Didn't Start the Fire (Sydney Sweeney...

Smoke "Em If You Got "Em Podcast ·

2025/07/29

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comNancy and Sarah discuss a new Sydney Sweeney ad for American Eagle. Is saying “my jeans are blue” a dog whistle? Or is “dog whistle” a 21st-century term for finding outrage in absolutely anything? Speaking of, you can count on the New York Times to detail another thing men are doing wrong. This week we talk “mankeeping!”But most of this episode concerns one Billy Joel, whose HBO doc has thrust him in the

21:42

214. The Trouble with Writing About Men

Smoke "Em If You Got "Em Podcast ·

2025/07/24

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comNancy and Sarah discuss a recent viral essay in NYT magazine called “The Trouble With Wanting Men.” Nancy had a meltdown reading this story, while Sarah saw romantic problems she recognized as well as behavior designed to fail. The two ladies talk about a vogue for female bitchery, a lack of grace in women’s voices, and whether men and women can ever repair the anger and resentment that’s erupted between them —

17:13

213. So You've Been Publicly Coldplayed

Smoke "Em If You Got "Em Podcast ·

2025/07/21

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comNancy and Sarah discuss the viral story of the week: Astronomer CEO Andy Byron and head of HR Kristin Cabot get caught cuddling on camera at a Coldplay concert. Who are these people, and why do we care? Good question! Celebrity in the 21st century is a relative term, and this story raises questions about surveillance, social-media Schadenfreude, the danger of online sleuthing, and why we have Kiss Cams in the

25:47

212. Women's Bodies! Landmines! Epstein!

Smoke "Em If You Got "Em Podcast ·

2025/07/17

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comNancy and Sarah are stumbling into land mines — quickly! — in this episode, where a convo about Jennifer Love Hewitt’s recent turn in the spotlight proves the ladies don’t even agree on that. It’s hard to talk about women and their bodies: Fat vs. curvy, skinny vs. anorexic, body positive vs. morbidly obese, Ozempic-face vs. mom-bod, Lena Dunham vs. #SkinnyTok. How the ladies discuss these subjects may offend

24:36

211. Eli Lake on "Barista Socialists" and Why He's...

Smoke "Em If You Got "Em Podcast ·

2025/07/09

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comEli Lake, host of the Breaking History podcast, loves America. But what does that mean? We discuss the long unfinished experiment of our country, and the fashionable anti-semitism that’s swept colleges/the youngs, or as Eli calls them, “barista socialists.” We talk about how elite colleges fell apart, when the left becomes violent, and why valuing ideology over human lives is never a good look.Also discussed:*

17:20

210: Dan Savage on P Diddy: Cuckolding, Freak-Offs,...

Smoke "Em If You Got "Em Podcast ·

2025/07/03

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comDan Savage: What better person to explain the mess that is the P Diddy trial? The “Savage Love” columnist/podcaster chats with Sarah and Nancy about the hip-hop mogul’s fetishes, OCD kinksters, the troubling statute of limitations on domestic abuse, and the dangerous elasticity of the term “sex trafficking.” This one is fascinating, fraught, and taught us a lot!Also discussed:* “It’s not RICO, it’s FREAK-O!”*

38:18

209. Men, Where Have You Gone? The Debate!

Smoke "Em If You Got "Em Podcast ·

2025/06/25

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comNancy and Sarah debate a Modern Love column called, “Men, Where Have You Gone? Please Come Back.” Nancy is gagging. Sarah thinks it’s an imperfect swing in the right direction. Who will reign supreme? Eh, they both have a point. Also, the girls go deep on Karen Read, blackouts and causes celebre.Also discussed:* Nancy’s new nickname: Maidenform!* New York, a socialist utopia?* Be a YouTube subscriber, either

19:22

208. Katie Herzog on Drinking Herself Sober, Being...

Smoke "Em If You Got "Em Podcast ·

2025/06/19

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comNancy and Sarah are joined by Katie Herzog, co-host of the Blocked and Reported podcast and author of an up-and-coming book on quitting booze, Drink Yourself Sober. They talk about getting canceled, navigating public backlash, and why Katie’s drinking tale is different from Sarah’s — she used Naltrexone, an opioid-blocker, to help quit. They discuss AA, the meaning of the word “alcoholic,” the nature of

28:21

207. God Only Knows What's Happening (w/ Matt Welch)

Smoke "Em If You Got "Em Podcast ·

2025/06/14

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comNancy is reporting from the land of burning Waymos, Sarah is celebrating a sobriety milestone, and “Fifth Column’s” Matt Welch joins us to talk L.A. unrest, the potential for WW III, the scope of newspaper collapse — but first! Felicia Sonmez is back at the Washington Post? Stop the presses! We also cover Weinstein and Diddy and anticipate a weekend of No Kings protest. Matt is “worried sick about Saturday.” The

24:30

206. Bromance, Interrupted

Smoke "Em If You Got "Em Podcast ·

2025/06/09

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comIt’s hot, it’s June, and there’s mayhem in a major American city, this time Los Angeles. Nancy lived through the Rodney King riots, and though LA will hopefully not explode thusly, Nancy is heading there to cover the action. Want to help her? You can.In other news, the Musk-Trump bromance imploded last week. Sarah has theories about the timing of certain tweets and deletions, in addition to what might come next

24:25

205. Brooke Siem on Medicating Unhappiness and SSRI...

Smoke "Em If You Got "Em Podcast ·

2025/06/05

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comBrooke Siem is the author of the 2022 memoir, May Cause Side Effects, about the decade and a half she spent on anti-depressants (prescribed after her father died when she was 15) and what happened when she ditched them. Sarah is currently on anti-depressants, though she wonders whether she needs them. Nancy is not on SSRIs, though she was part of a gentle brigade who nudged Sarah to increase her dosage last

247 results

Smoke "Em If You Got "Em Podcast

All Episodes

Similar Podcasts

DW Noticias

DW

JIJI English News-時事通信英語ニュース-

時事通信社

Legal AF by MeidasTouch

MeidasTouch Network

Mark Levin Podcast

Cumulus Podcast Network

朝日新聞AJW 英語ニュース（The Asahi Shimbun Asia & Japan Watch）

朝日新聞ポッドキャスト