This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comEthan 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 + 2 magic formula for success* Why football’s downfall was greatly exaggerated * Why we love old men in coffee shops and their fart jokes* Aspirational groupies are a thing* Ethan’s favorite sports movie * That time Sarah made Ethan cry* Why The New Yorker no longer excites us* The MSNBC anchor in an Under Armour scandal?And much more!Don’t forget: First Sunday Zoom hang happens this Sunday, September 3, where we talk Shattered Glass! We’ll send the link to subscribers on the day-of …The thrill of victory will be yours when you become a paid subscriber

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 with sex statistics: Everyone lies* Could extramarital sex be a marital aid?* Why is Nancy glowing?* New Depp-Heard docu-series is like a greatest-hits record of a six-month trial* Nerds + fandom in one bang-up (and short) documentary* Tell us why we should do a live show in your town!

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comOur 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 and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood, spent eight weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list. She talks with Sarah and Nancy about her past work and her moving recent Atlantic essay about an aunt who was institutionalized, “The Ones We Sent Away.”* What does a Pulitzer look like, anyway?* When NYT wanted Jennifer to be “the Terry Gross of the op-ed section”* The importance of writing without judging your subjects* The “yearning and searching” part of grief* “We are always inventing and reinventing the dead” * The aunt Jennifer didn’t know she had * When children were sent away “for their own good”* The hell hole that was Willowbrook* Arthur Miller and psychologist Erik Erikson both had children in institutions?* The sinister tale of Rosemary Kennedy* How much power do we actually have over our children’s development?“You guys have the best podcast name,” Jen said just after taping. And the best guests! Become a paid subscriber and miss not a one

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 of Shakespeare’s dirtiest lines* Nancy was a soft-core pornographer???* A new law has Pornhub shutting down in certain states* Would you give your driver’s license information to a porn site? Neither would we.* Billie Eilish says watching porn at 11 destroyed her young mind* Could online porn ever become unfashionable like teen smoking?* An outro ode to the late Robbie RobertsonCALL FOR LETTERS! Send any burning questions to smokeempodcast@gmail.comShall I compare thee to a paid subscriber? No even better, just BECOME one

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 government lawyers as “child sex traffickers” and have their assets, their reputations and their freedom taken from them? We talk about the fight over Backpage.com, and the tragedy this week of Larkin’s suicide * Why alternative newsweeklies matter(ed?)* Joe Biden finally acknowledges his seventh grandchild (sigh of relief)* Nancy’s got a new nickname* Sarah’s finds a narrative podcast fix* The sweetness of the county fair (and piglet races!)Don’t forget: FIRST SUNDAY ZOOM this Sunday, August 6, 8pm ET / 5pm PT, for paid subscribers. Come hang! We’ll send out a link on the day-of.Nancy ate six zeppole at the Ulster County Fair yesterday. Become a paid subscriber and she’ll double that!

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 be funny and unpretentious and not very interested in fame. She was a protest singer cast in the role of pop star. Topics discussed:* Ghosts in the piano, writing songs to the rhythm of a rocking chair* Why do some children of abuse mourn their parents so deeply?* That time she shaved her head* A bizarre anecdote about Prince, who wrote “Nothing Compares 2 U”* How she managed to sneak the Pope moment onto “SNL”* Four children with four different fathers* Morrissey gets the last word* Pivot to Israel: What is going on? * Kevin Spacey exonerated, but huh, there’s a pattern here* Graphic novels are cool

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comWe 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 Oppenheimer have been better as a mini-series? Did a Ken doll get more screen time than all the women in Oppenheimer’s life combined? We ponder these questions, as well as:* That time Tony Bennett wrote a hate letter to Sarah in the New York Times* Nancy has “guy-dar”* The Oppenheimer supporting actor who captivated Nancy* The problem with biopics* Which is scarier: the atom bomb or AI? * How seriously should we take the gender politics of Barbie? * How great is Ryan Gosling?* Did one of us cry during Barbie? Hold on, did both of us?* X marks the Twitter?* The Eddie Murphy sketch that Nancy swears she’s never seen (but how?)* The WWII book that made a bigger impact on Sarah than OppenheimerWhat’s cheaper than a movie with much shorter lines? Becoming a paid subscriber!

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comOn 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 escape from,” as Gloria Steinem said, or is she actually a feminist success story? * The question of Ken’s bulge* Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach take on Barbie, because why not?* George Michael, rats, and a new book Nancy cannot tear herself away from* Don’t sleep on a new Smoke ‘Em interview series, which launched on Wednesday with Sophie Scott, professor of cognitive neuroscience and author of the new book, The Brain: 10 Things You Should Know, which in addition to being brilliant, is a sexy little size that fits in your purse* Plus, since “Choose Your Own Adventure” comes up several times in this episode, Nancy thought she’d show you hers:Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em Podcast is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comNancy 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.” That everything we experience is the brain’s best guess at what is out there. And that while your body constantly renews itself - the lining of your gut in 2 - 4 days; all your red blood cells in 40 - there is one and only one body part you keep from birth to death."I am also interested in the expression of emotion in the voice, especially laughter,” writes Scott, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience and director of the Institute for Cognitive at Neuroscience at University College in London, who joins me to talk about: * “The good glue” that is laughter* Why left-handed people pay attention to the world differently* “Synaptic exuberance,” or humans’ terrific inventiveness and flexibility in adapting to different environments, all of which relies on our brains’ ability to change* The endorphin rush that made Scott fall backwards into a bath while attempting to take off her coat* The reason my brain once created the sound of a hard hat striking cementAnd much more! Intro/outro music: “Sleeper Awake” by Kelly Hogan

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comIn 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 penis enlargement surgery makes Nancy yelp* The REAL reason men want larger penises is…* What is tetanus anyway?* Nancy makes squoogy food sounds while talking about The Bear* Sarah has a new reality show addictionAnd much more!