This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comThis is a hot one! Nancy and Sarah fundamentally disagree about Emily Gould’s viral essay on the lure of divorce. Nancy compares the story to the rot in France before the formation of the Vichy regime. Sarah believes personal essays like this help people feel less alone. Can she change Nancy’s mind, as Walter Kirn did on the most recent episode? (Fast-track to 33:08 for that 🔥 exchange.)Also discussed:* Should we start texting our vote for president, and does that mean Taylor Swift wins?* The $125 divorce? It’s a thing.* Anti-depressant-induced hypomania. It’s a thing.* Eat, pray, sell: The divorce memoir industrial complex* Sarah is a gender essentialist on the topic of raising kids* Rachel Cusk’s Aftermath is not THE divorce memoir (according to Nancy)* FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! (30-minute mark)* The problem with “brave”* Awkward pause while Nancy searches for a passage to prove a point while Sarah claims she’s addressing a different point* “Maybe it was possible to be married and not married at the same time.”* The best essay Sarah knows about writer’s envy is by Jonathan Franzen’s girlfriend* The writer’s monstrous ego* The conflict between women as a protected class and agents of their own destiny* “Mr. Piss” rips that financial scam essay a new one * Have we ever fallen for a scam?* That time Sarah was robbed at gunpoint* That time Nancy talked herself out of getting robbed at gunpoint* Send us pictures of your pets!* Love to the family of David Frum* NANCY AND SARAH STAY FRIENDSPlus, Sarah accidentally scams her own father, Nancy offers a public service announcement, and “Smoke ‘Em” names its 2024 presidential pick AND comes up with its campaign slogan! AND HEY! Look at this brand spankin’ new “Smoke ‘Em” Instagram account our intern CJ built for us. COME PLAY.Vote Smoke Em 2024. Become a paid subscriber.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comWalter Kirn sees the world with a spooky clarity. He’s an acclaimed novelist, podcaster, and the editor-in-chief of the print-only publication County Highway, a reading experience that could also be called, What We Lost in the Clickbait Era. Kirn joins Nancy and Sarah to discuss the absurd pageant of politics and media, domestic censorship and curated …

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comIt’s Valentine’s Day, like it or not. To celebrate, Nancy and Sarah brought on Dan Savage, the most influential sex expert of the past 30 years, and he did not disappoint! Savage is the man behind the long-running Savage Love column and its audio sibling, the Savage Lovecast, but he’s no longer with The Stranger, the Seattle-based alt-weekly he ran for a long time (and there’s a story behind that).Savage came on to offer a counter-argument for polyamory after listening to our recent pod on the subject. The conversation that followed is a banger. Also discussed:* Welcome to all our new Sam Harrises!* Valentine’s Day rule #1: No flash mob proposals!* Savage is a pothead?* How a cultural firebrand writing about dildos became The Man* Savage does not do dick jokes on command* “The Tear Veto”* Sarah wonders if she’s a conservative, and also what does that mean?* Neologisms of Dan Savage: “monogamish,” “tolyamorous,” “pegging”* We never talk about the relationships saved by non-monogamy* Why poly-prosthelytizers are the worst* Sorry, kids: Polyamory is not an orientation* The good ole days when straight men went to gay men for blowjobs …* Nancy learns the term “down-low”* Marriage for women up until the Seventies: Musical chairs meets Squid Game* Of course your wife wants to fuck her personal trainer!* “Sexual desire and lust are chaos agents”* Are men and women ultimately sexually incompatible?* Watching trash TV with your husband’s boyfriend* Dan Savage, how was your #MeToo?* Asking for what you want in bed: You gotta do it!* Why gay men are better at sex (not because they’re magic)Plus, the reason Savage watches True Detective, a collective disappointment over Capote vs. The Swans, and how straight people can vastly improve their sex lives with four magic words.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comOn Jan 2, a writer named Celeste Marcus published an essay entitled, “After Rape: A Guide for the Tormented” in the free-speech literary journal Liberties, where Celeste is managing editor. She wrote about an incident in 2021 with a close male friend as they slept beside each other in bed. She called it rape; he did not. The man remained unnamed until February 4, when Celeste posted an email exchange to Twitter with Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg. In one email, Marcus had written, “The rapist was Yascha Mounk. You have a rapist on the staff of your illustrious publication.”Mounk is an Atlantic contributor who specializes in free-speech issues. He’s the founder of the journal Persuasion and host of The Good Fight podcast. On Sunday, the Atlantic announced they’d cut ties with Mounk, who has mostly stayed silent.We brought on criminal defense attorney Scott Greenfield to discuss this thorny situation. Greenfield is a straight-shooter who wrote about the case in a recent blog post called “The Atlantic Caves to #MeToo.” To question a victim’s story has become taboo, but to interrogate every story has been a necessary tradition of justice, journalism, and rational discourse. Greenfield is not a fan of what he calls “the sex police.”Can we ever be sure what happens in other people’s bedrooms? And why has it become so popular, even noble, to try? Gird your loins for a conversation about #MeToo and its aftermath that is frank, illuminating, and challenging — possibly to listeners, definitely to the narrative. Notable talking points:* “Am I allowed to say, ‘I call bullshit’ on this pod?”* When did people go from being the heroes of their own stories to the victims of their own stories?* Why drinking matters in sexual assault cases* “A lot of the campus policies under Title IX are unlawful.”* The clear bright line of “no means no”* Plot twist! Leon Wieseltier, #MeToo casualty, is the editor of Liberties journal* How feminist activists bypassed the dead-lock of “he said/she said”* “You can’t call a woman crazy. But what if they are crazy?”* Felicia Sonmez, remembered* How do Atlantic writers feel about Goldberg kicking a contributor to the curb?* What should Yascha Mounk do now?* Let’s built tolerance for ambiguity!* The bravery of journalist Emily Yoffe* The sadness of “compare and despair”* Can we ever walk this back?* Advice to parents!* “Hot box???”

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comJon Ronson’s 2021 podcast Things Fell Apart was that rare example of journalism that explains our current divisions without getting dragged down by them. A journalist and storyteller, Ronson’s documentaries, books, and essays have taken him into strange worlds — porn, the paranormal, neo-Nazis — and he’s always kind enough to bring us along with him, though it often feels like he’s leading us back to each other. The second season of Things Fell Apart takes place during the pandemic, particularly the volcanic year of 2020, and it’s a humdinger. Also discussed:* Is Jon Ronson related to Mark Ronson?* The astonishing true-life tale of Jon’s Aunt Mavis* Alex Jones can’t help himself* The problem with Naomi Klein’s Doppelganger* The Great Reset?* Is narcissism an epidemic? Is loneliness? What’s our epidemic?* Speaking of: Plandemic!* How to tell a new story about George Floyd?* Nancy and her “excited delirium”* The dangers of connecting the dots wrong* The CNN anchor who got ticked off at Ronson* Activist journalism vs. evidence-based journalism* When the right lies, they go big (Pizzagate). Lies from the left are subtle (“bigot”).* An update on Justine Sacco* Living with our trolls and their addiction to trolling* Sarah and Nancy pick the same hot box, and it’s an important one about cancel culture and, inshallah, its demisePlus, Nancy and Sarah debate the hottest guy on Friday Night Lights, a brilliant podcast re-telling of a media shitshow, and more!Actual footage of Jon Ronson avoiding cancellation: Fall down the rabbit hole of becoming a paid subscriber.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comAmerican Nightmare is a docu-series on Netflix that has everyone talking. Sarah and Nancy are no exception! They discuss the case of the “real-life Gone Girl” who became a 2015 media sensation after her boyfriend reported a home invasion and a kidnapping with details so bizarre they couldn’t be real … or could they? (Conversation contains spoilers.) Also:* AI Nancy: Nicer and prettier than IRL Nancy?* Glamping in a cave* Nancy is the Energizer Bunny of air travel* Sarah recommends Nancy’s writing from Israel, though she’s read none of it* Matt Welch interviews Bill Maher, need we say more?* High-functioning daily pot smoker: Hot or not?* Sarah’s least favorite Taylor Swift song* Taylor Swift’s boyfriend is named … Chad?* Knockers, milkers, fun bags, “cowboy pillows”* Fight! Fight! (Not really a fight, but a debate about journalism)* Lie detector tests: Mostly accurate or junk science? Yes!* Take it from a detective: Cops do not throw chairs when questioning suspects* Swiping right on that serial rapist* Wait, which college scandal?* Sarah’s journey to learn more about Vince McMahon other than the detail that he might have pooped on a woman’s head during sexPlus: Super Bowl speculation, Michael Jackson’s moonwalk, Ben Affleck rescues hostages — and more!

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comThe Oscar nominations dropped, and folks are MAD. Despite breaking box-office records, Barbie failed to get the nod for Best Director or Best Actress. Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie, foiled again! As our friend Ben Dreyfuss tweeted: “The Other Genocide: The Oscars Treatment of White Women.” We talk about who really got snubbed, and why some people will never stop complaining about the treatment of women. Also:* Sarah has a scary stalker (no really)* More polyamory talk? We got you!* Did Barbie even make sense?* But the Ryan Gosling dance sequence!* … so mad we got our periods.* Saltburn burned again* “Do you lick the equipment?”* Moms and technology <3* Hear us out: The show opens with hummus being rubbed on her breasts …* Nancy is the fake Joan Didion* Vince McMahon allegations are not safe for work — or home, really* Is it even possible to p**p and have sex at the same time?

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comNancy and Sarah get down (!) to the serious business of ethical non-monogamy, thanks to the cover story in this week’s New York magazine. Is polyamory really a trend? Does opening your marriage ever work? Sarah finds this subject (professionally) fascinating; Nancy thinks it all ends in tears and grubbiness somewhere in Park Slope. Also discussed:* 2024: The Year of More Punching* Axl Rose was once an Indiana kid named William Bruce Rose* Nancy’s squeaky little voice vs. Nancy’s va-va-voom photos* Nancy’s reasonable objections to sex writing* Sarah’s reasonable arguments FOR sex writing* Stats, stats, we need stats* New lingo alert! “comet partner,” “metamour,” “one-penis policy”* Obviously Burning Man is involved* We design our perfect ethical polycules* Amazon employees are mad about moving to Austin?* Love for Israel during hard timesPlus, the many haircuts of Camille Paglia, our new Fight Club, and how a persimmon is like a penis.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comWith Nancy off in Israel, Sarah sits down with Matt Welch, crackerjack co-host of The Fifth Column — not to be confused with Matt Walsh, conservative commentator, or Matthew Welch, everyone’s favorite bagpiper. Matt is editor-at-large at Reason, whatever that means, and a long-time journalist, musician, and libertarian, a term Sarah tries to pin down (good luck with that). Also discussed:* Matt’s blood-boiling anger for bagpipes and pan flutes* That time during the pandemic when we all lost our minds* 1968 or 2020: Who wore it best?* Did you know Matt spent time in Czechoslovakia?* Media integrity: Going, going, gone* Why Matt doesn’t own a gun* Is it embarrassing to still love Hunter S. Thompson?* Trade secrets of appearing on Bill Maher’s HBO show* Q: “Does Bill Maher still date exclusively black women?”* Public schools might be fucked* Steel-manning the case against Israel* The question about Kmele Foster and Michael Moynihan Matt refuses to answer* Who would win in a fist-fight between Fifth Column co-hosts?* Who would win in a fist-fight between Sarah and Nancy?* Why “One in a Million” by Guns N Roses is a work of art* Who will be president in 2024?

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comOur MLK Day episode kicks off with stories about the chain-smoking, philandering civil rights leader who is also one of the founding fathers of the American Dream. We discuss the terrific new movie American Fiction, and somehow segue to a discussion about Buckminster Fuller and geodesic domes. Which one of us will be guilty of “contempt prior to investigation”? Take a guess. Also discussed:* How is Sarah like Ron DeSantis?* Nancy’s creepy close encounter with an Amazon delivery guy* Sarah tippy-toes to the razor’s edge of being a Crazy Cat Lady* MLK Jr. had a letter opener lodged where?* When Gawker writers become movie-makers …* American Fiction is the first great woke satire* The hotness of Issa Rae* Love for Push by Sapphire and Precious, the movie it became* Sterling K. Brown is the best part of The People vs. OJ Simpson* Why Nancy called the TV station during the slow-speed OJ chase* OMG the new Truman Capote vs. the Swans television show OMG* What is “Taliban glamping”?Plus a plane crash in the Andes, a gripping new French film, and Sarah and Nancy discover who is the wife in this relationship and who the husband, the litmus test being …