This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comThe Bill Ackman-Neri Oxman-Claudine Gay-whoever else storm continues to rage. How does anyone get work done? We sort through the madness, and along the way:* Sarah gets a curious invitation …* Nancy is the “Epstein Island” of the Illuminati* Did Sinead die of a broken heart?* Bill Ackman’s tweets are longer than the Bible* How is Claudine Gay’s op-ed like Amber Heard’s?* What constitutes cheating, and should the rules be clarified?* The ethics of stealing from Tom Waits* The new Atlantic writer who’s captured our hearts* Who is Jo Koy, and why do we hate him?* The Golden Globes monologue wasn’t that bad* Margot Robbie and Jennifer Lopez in pink gowns: Who wore it best?* Jeremy Allen White’s Calvin Klein ad ha-cha-cha* Succession, Succession, suhk-sesh-SHON!!!* Wait, who kissed Sarah?

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comNancy and Sarah welcome their first-ever repeat guest, Kat Rosenfield, and the result is a hot and steamy conversation about beauty standards, fatphobia, plastic surgery, sexual awakenings (and creep-outs). Along the way we discuss:* What rhymes with “potsticker” AND is a symbol of the worst of mankind?* The time Sarah was doxxed by the White Pages* Is “fat postivity” a fantasy? If so, is it a good one?* “Him-pathy”* Growing up under the lash of Kate Moss* Is Martha Stewart going for for “Russian Oligarch’s Fourth Wife”?* Madonna going for … something* Zee French, zey ahh diffuh-runt* Sarah does TWO Monty Python accents (both lousy)* The Jeffrey Epstein “molestation Ponzi scheme”* You can at least buy us a drink first, Rob Henderson!* Who wants to sit in the melty lap of Stephen Hawking?* Sarah tries to get cancelled, again!* What is society supposed to do with dirty old drunk men? (Gerard Depardieu edition)* We will never get a Honey Baked Ham sponsorshipAnd much more!

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comWhose DNA does Sarah want to roll around in? What does “uncanny valley” mean anyway? Whose music did Sarah find “a beautiful Frankenstein amalgam”? What podcast helps us move out of the wood-chipper of the culture wars? Is 2023’s worst political story also its best? Plus, hot guys, SO many hot guys, and Sarah reveals the good thing about comedy!

Good New Near’s Eve morning! I did not make that cake, a glacage miroir brilliant au chocolat but if you read French, have at! My better half Sarah Hepola is expecting me on-air within the hour so quick notes today… I was about to write, and then remembered what the gypsy lady told me…The voice of Ken Layne is something everyone should have in their life in 2024.I used to write fiction (and maybe there’s one more novel in me, the beginnings of which, genealogy charts and architecture books and 150 handwritten pages, are on a shelf behind me...) Become a subscriber and I’ll send you a book!The piece I read, “Three Sets of Keys,” is over on Make More Pie, where I hope to plunk a lot of reporting - written, audio and video - while in Israel. Go subscribe!The essay by Benjy I referenced. Gosh he can write.The 6-inch springform pan you will need if you decide to make yourself and your loved one(s) a sexy little cake.Petit Gateau au Chocolat, adapted from Maida Heatter* 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate* 1/2 cup sugar, divided* 6 T. (3/4 stick) butter* 2 T. flour, plus flour for dusting pan* 2 eggs, separated* Pinch of saltPreheat oven to 350F. Butter a 6-inch springform pan, line it with parchment paper, butter that and dust with flour, shaking out any excess. (You can use pan spray instead of butter; I won’t tell.)Melt chocolate over low heat or in the microwave. Allow to cool several minutes. Stir in the butter, all but 2 T. of sugar, the flour, sugar, salt and then egg yolks, one at a time. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with the remaining 2 T. sugar until they form soft peaks. Fold whites into chocolate mixture, then turn into prepared pan. Bake 30 minutes. The cake will look soft. That’s fine. Cool on a rack until it’s warm, remove springform ring and invert cake onto a serving plate. If you are being fancy - and why not? It’s New Year’s Eve - place four strips of wax paper around the edges of the cake to catch the icing drips.If you want a mirror like glaze: In a small saucepan, melt three ounces bittersweet chocolate with 2 T. sugar and 2 T. water. Whisk in 2. T butter until smooth. Allow to cool, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes, then pour slowly over the cake. Remove the wax paper and, look how pretty!You can also ice with ganache, which is ridiculously easy to make, just chopped chocolate and heavy cream. I will let Sally of Sally’s Baking Addiction - one of my two favorite baking sites, the other is Smitten Kitchen - show you how easy.Happy New Year everyone, I love you all. This post is free today so feel free to share xx 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.comWe’ve reached that joyous time of year when Sarah listens to the 22-episode podcast about the 2020 Harvey Weinstein trial, an annual tradition. Nancy takes a break from baking to tell us about peeing in the woods and the giant stuffed hedgehog (maybe? see photo below) she just (kinda) wrapped. But the centerpiece of our celebration is sex scandal. First, a discussion of the Weinstein trial, because even three years later, it’s hard to get your head around it. Then we’re on to a veritable holiday calendar of misbehavior, starting with January poster boy Paul Haggis and ending with December’s … listen to find out!

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comWe interview Sherman Alexie, Native American author and top-tier Substacker, about Pretendians like Sasheen Littlefeather and Buffy Sainte-Marie, who steal trauma for their own status. We also discuss:* The ruse of the word “indigenous”* How inclusivity plays out in a younger generation of “defendians”* “I grew up in hell”: hard life on the rez* The genetic link of blackout drinking* You wake up naked on the top of a hill, what do you do?* You should be so lucky to have an ancestor named Thunder Meatflayer* Will the current surge in Indian film and TV creation continue?* The “shocking and amazing” classic novel Sherman just re-read* Scorsese Scorsese Scorsese

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comWriters write. And sometimes talk shop! This week, Sarah and Nancy chat with one of the best: Kerry Howley, essayist extraordinaire and author of the superlative and unclassifiable Bottoms Up and the Devil Laughs, a book about “the deep state,” according to its cover, though Kerry admits, “I don’t know what this book is about.” Bottoms Up is unsettling, quietly profound, introducing us to whistleblowers like Reality Winner (yes, her real name) and how technology has us flattened us into data that can be harvested to create whatever story the Powers That Be want to tell. Good times! Also discussed:* Is Monster energy drink a tool of the devil?* Why Kerry thought the subject of her book sounded boring, too* Julian Assange, Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning are not the heart of this book* Reality Winner is a hell of a character* The Intercept’s fateful mistakes* Do you have to interview a person to profile them?* When the “compulsion to help” leads to dangerous places* Why a bad memory is the key to good writing* Empathy for Britney Spears’ father Jamie* Profiles on Larry Nassar, whistleblower Daniel Hale* The argument for reading celebrity memoirs* We love a journalism assignment!* The first pages of Moby Dick are … funny?* The writers we turn to for inspiration* Kerry and Nancy each have a daughter named Tavi* Why writing is like a possession

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comSarah and Nancy dive into that mess of a Congressional hearing on college antisemitism. Did the three presidents — Claudine Gay from Harvard, Liz Magill from University of Pennsylvania, Sally Kornbluth from MIT — step up to the moment? They did not. But were the questions unfairly stacked? Did they make fair points about “context”? Is part of living in a diverse society the privilege — yes, privilege — of being offended? We answer these questions, as well as:* Did the Swiss Family Robinson live in a tree?* Is “It’s a Small World” the most annoying song ever?* Are the ideological chickens coming home to roost on college campuses?* Can Nancy successfully include two audio clips in one episode?* Why are so many women leading Ivy League universities?* What’s going on in the field of social work?* Which cat made CAT HISTORY this week?* What literary tragedy is Sarah currently obsessed with?And much more, including darkness and life lessons in our hot boxes and a banger of an outro by some lady with a cat.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comAmid the protests that have shut down more than one New York bridge, we take time to celebrate our rizz, explain why the term “tipflation” won’t catch on, and invent an entirely new word. Also on tap:* Word of the year* What happens when the right to free speech clashes with your right to get to work?* Philadelphia pro-Palestinian protest gets ugly* Columbia School for Social Workers are not sending their best* The ambient anger over tipping* Europe brings tipping to the New World, leaves it behind like trash* That time Nancy bribed the guy performing her daughters’ baptism* The lameness of Hot Topic* Nancy kneejerks! Sarah slut shames (but only because she loves sluts)!* Is The Golden Bachelor sadistic?* Has a man ever lied and told you he loved you?* “Who’s the boss?! Who’s the boss?!”* Buffaloes are sexy

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.comSarah and Nancy are together in New York, along with a pink tree and some confusing Christmas lyrics. In this season of love and war, we discuss:* Which holiday standard will make us millions?* What is “parse and brown” and what does it have to do with Christmas?* What was Nancy’s Not Finest Hour and does it involve yelling at protestors on the Manhattan Bridge?* Macy’s Day Parade protesters apply Super Glue directly to their hands* Your hosts decline to “pick a lane”* Susan Sarandon says a dumb thing, gets the boot* Matti Friedman educates us* Is Nancy the last person to realize her unconventional reporting from Portland might have impacted her career?* The steep decline of family dining and the rise of solo-everything* The younger the woman, the more they report “disrespect from the opposite sex”* Who’s lonelier: Boomers or Gen Z?* Sarah mixes up Leonard Cohen and Leonard Bernstein* Nancy mixes up the actress from The Gilded Age with the actress from DeadwoodPlus, delightful new hot boxes, and a sultry money pitch you won’t want to miss.