Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em Podcast

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 takes three generations of American life to make a Shakespeare scholar”* Freud’s repetition compulsion* The funeral episode and the speech that was Nietzsche meets The Fountainhead* Shiv and Tom: “A change has come / she’s under my thumb”* That nasty Jeremy Strong profile in the New Yorker* Why “privilege” is a shallow metric to talk about a human life This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit smokeempodcast.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comTopics 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?* Amis, who died last week, joins the list of voices we miss: Tom Wolfe, David Foster Wallace, Christopher Hitchens* How Anna Nicole Smith shape-shifted into the American dream, and what it cost* The documentary scene about Smith’s life that super-disturbed Nancy* That time Sarah almost got plastic surgery* The men in our hot boxesAnd much more!

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comThe writer/podcaster/documentarian Jon Ronson joins Nancy and Sarah, and they could not be more excited. Highlights include:* Jon compliments Sarah, Sarah swoons* The podcast inspired when Jon’s 11-year-old son asked if he knew PornHub* Jon’s pronunciation of porn (“pohhhhhn”) and the strange spectacle of adult entertainment, including two-camera orgies and bespoke porn* The sin of “both-sidesism”* The hardest story Jon ever had to report* Why Jon turned down Piers Morgan* Jon’s new Audible podcast “The Debutante” about the mystery of Carol Howe, who may or may not have been able to prevent the Oklahoma City bombing* Dial-A-Racist?* Informants get $25 a day?? * “Things Fell Apart” season two on the way!* The problem with defining people by small slivers of their lives* A judge caught masturbating during trial and other untold storiesGo see Jon in London! He’ll be appearing at two events later this month, a May 24 “Things Fell Apart LIVE!” and a non-fiction writing workshop on the 28.Things fell apart, but we try to put them back together. Why not become a paid subscriber?

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comIn this exclusive North American interview, Wallis covers the following:* The nature of false accusations, borderline personality diagnoses, and whether “mutual abuse” exists* How live-tweeting the UK trial “fed a rapacious audience” that went tribal during the pandemic, and how his tweets got more than 10 million views* Why “believe women” clashes with a journalist’s mandate to question everything* Can you ever accurately litigate something that happened behind closed doors?* How one bad marriage wound up in two different legal judgments* Is the court of public opinion more important than real courts?* Curious encounters with American food, including Blondies (“what are they?”) and half-and-half (a big thumbs-down)* Jimmy Saville, Britain’s #MeToo poster boy* The best Australian comedy series right now* Period drama, by which we mean menstruation* The greatness of Eurovision* How many inches is Sarah’s integrity? The answer may surprise you!We hustle out of love, but it never pays the bills. Consider becoming a paid subscriber.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comIn what might be Nancy’s favorite Smoke ‘Em episode to date, she and Sarah discuss:* The mass shooting on May 6 in Allen, TX, where Sarah drove the next morning to check out the scene * The problem of guns and the moral dilemma of violent real-life pictures: Do they numb us to reality or push us toward action?* The subway killing of Jordan Neely, including attempts to paint his killing as racially motivated and politicians “gravestanding” for political goals* Sebastian Junger on “Why Men Seek Danger” and maybe why you should, too* Our coronation correspondent wonders: What up with Michael Strahan’s lisp?* When you write something controversial and the subjects who once derided you start looking to you for answers* The best survival movie Sarah has seen in years* What is the sexiest quality in men?* Sarah squirms in her chair as Nancy tells a near-death driving story from Panama* How we deal with geniusesAnd much more! Also: Mail-call! Send us your compliments, criticisms, suggestions, and desires, and we’ll read them on an upcoming episode. smokeempodcast@gmail.comWe believe in reporting that is calm and compassionate and following our curiosity and our guts. Doing this podcast gets easier when you become a paid subscriber

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.com* Who wore it best? Jared Leto’s catsuit, Chrissy Teigen’s negligee, Kendell Jenner’s bathing suit and other appropriate/inappropriate attire at the Met Gala and the Washington Correspondents’ Association Dinner* The decline of BuzzFeed and Vice, and some love for Traffic author/media columnist Ben Smith* The problem with women’s magazines, including the time Marie Claire inserted something disturbing into Sarah’s, um, opening* The time Gene Simmons told Nancy he wouldn’t pay her* Is Robert Kennedy Jr. a rancid narcissist or a troubled addict who deserves sympathy. And by the way, who is he?* Some Robert De Niro love, and the dress Sarah wants to buy after watching Casino* A lesson from Succession on undermining someone’s confidence at the last minute* Sarah’s triumphant appearance on House of StraussAnd so much more!Don’t forget (what we forgot to mention): This coming Sunday is the First Sunday Zoom! Deets sent to paying subscribers day-of. It’s not too late!Become a paid subscriber, and find out who will show up to our Zoom hang in a cat suit.

Every affair has its origin story. At “Smoke Em,” ours began when Sarah wrote an article Nancy appreciated so much she called her on the phone. One year later, they’re together in Nancy’s Chinatown recording studio, teeing up episode 68, including:* Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon getting the heave-ho on the same day and what this might portend for TV news* You gonna trust Ben Dreyfuss?* Blue checkmarks: Who cares?* “Blocked and Reported” makes a case for why you might care* Podcast names that (thank God) didn’t make the cut* Amanda Fortini, awesome writer* Cokie Roberts gives marriage advice* Nancy’s fave part of “Smoke” so far (hint: it involves Sarah’s writing!)* Meanwhile Sarah reminisces about … Pop Rocks?* Nancy makes kick-ass fake animal noises* What did we teach each other?* That time David Sedaris tried to avoid writing in the first person * Nancy’s least favorite words are …* FIRE is the new ACLU* Sarah gives Nancy an anniversary gift, firmly establishing who the wife is in this relationship, and who the husband.And much more! We’re sharing this entire episode with our listeners, whether they pay or not, but if you’d like to give us a gift, we have some ideas:Thank you for coming along with us. Let’s keep going. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit smokeempodcast.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comThe Dalai Lama did a very weird thing. Harlan Crow’s memorabilia collection causes a national scandal. Over in Dallas, Sarah drives to Crow’s mansion to confirm that rich people do indeed buy the craziest things, while Nancy jets off to good old Portland and finds: So much! (The phrase “death eaters” is used.) Also: Sober sex, fancy hotels, and which of us is more likely to dance?In the paid-subscriber bonus: MILF Manor finale! The greatness of Succession’s Matthew McFadyen, the Fox-Dominion lawsuit, and Sarah drops her head on her lap as Nancy uses a word you’re not supposed to use anymore. ATTENTION: There will there be an IRL Smoke ‘Em meet-up this Sunday, April 23 in NYC, starting at 6pm. Details coming soon for paid subscribers.Rumor has it there will be dancing. Will Nancy be imbued with grace from her current Barre3 addiction? Will Sarah bust out David Lee Roth moves? Come find out! Confirm we aren’t ChatGPT bots with a groovy meet-up, but only when you become a paid subscriber.

When Laura McKowen landed at her first AA meeting, she sobbed as she told strangers how she’d placed her daughter in danger one night. Afterward, a woman in the audience approached her. “I’m a mother too, and I want you to know, you can push off from here.”Push Off From Here became the title of Laura’s second book, following her much-beloved 2020 memoir, We Are the Luckiest. Laura is a friend as well as an inspiration. In addition to her Substack LoveStory, she also runs an online community for folks who want to get ahold of their drinking, called The Luckiest Club.Laura and I talk about the false binary of “alcoholism,” why 12-step programs might be the biggest pain in the ass to ever save you, whether “love addiction” is a thing, and if substance abuse problems are better understood as a disease or a disorder, or neither But we talk about more than booze: Chasing boys and attention, body-image issues, quieting inner demons. Laura’s book is fundamentally about change — how hard it is, but how worth the struggle. Her story is testimony to the quiet and profound choice of owning your own life. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit smokeempodcast.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comSpecial guest Matt Welch apologizes “for being a dude, for being taller, and that I’m not from Texas.” All of which is to say he can never replace the lovely Sarah Hepola as co-host. Nevertheless! Matt, editor-at-large at Reason and true-bluest member of the Fifth Column podcast (fight me), joins Nancy to talk about the tantrum Elon Musk threw last week when Substack unrolled a new feature called Notes, which appears to be a lot like Twitter, sans ads and tribal warfare. Musk wants to make Twitter “a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner,” but he more than blinked at the advent of competition, making a bunch of bogus claims and planting his edge-lord boot between the platforms. This led to some very staunch allies, including Twitter Files news-breaker Matt Taibbi, to vamoose and declare Musk “a hostile rival.” Then it’s on to Portland, where Nancy lived from 2004-2019 and a city where Matt has deep family ties. Both now wonder: Why does the news media in the Rose City hedge on certain subjects? And what up with local scribes declining to appear onstage with Nancy to discuss those hot topics? Will there be a baseball segment? You bet! Topics include: taxpayer-funded ballfields (boo!); the Baseball Hall of Fame and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum; the World Baseball Classic Ohtani-Trout nail-biter (video in episode notes), never-before-seen fan footage of Yankee Roger Maris breaking the home run record in 1961 (ditto), and Matt’s new Substack, “The View Level,” where he expresses opinions on all-things-baseball, including an iconic film that New Yorker writer Roger Angell declared his least favorite, although ballplayers loved it. “I remember coming out of a screening of that awful film and running into my friend and neighbor Mike Wallace,” Angell wrote. “‘Wasn’t that awful?’ I said, and then noticed he was weeping.” It’s a vote for baseball, which is to say a vote for America’s old-school favorite past time, when you become a free or paid subscriber.