Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em Podcast

Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em
  • 4.7 (133)
  • News Commentary
  • Updated Semiweekly

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

  1. 3d ago

    259. David Marchese on Getting Under the Celebrity Skin

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.com David Marchese has spent the past decade interviewing famous people, from Quincy Jones to Nicolas Cage. He is co-host of “The Interview,” the New York Times Q&A series, and before that, he interviewed bold-faced names for Vulture and NYT Magazine. But he doesn’t see his job as “interviewing celebrities” — at least, that’s what he says after his old pal Sarah introduces him as such. It’s true that Marchese interviews all sorts of people, from author Michael Pollan to happiness expert Laurie Santos. But fame — and its excesses, contradictions, and illusions — is the backdrop for many of his best-known conversations, and it’s the launchpad here for a chat about collective experiences, how to ask better questions, how journalism has changed since the days of Playboy, and why discomfort might be a key ingredient to a great interview. NOTE: This is an audio-only episode! Also, paid subscribers, Nancy comes in at the end of the full episode saying there’s more. Glitch in the edit for which she begs forgiveness. Also discussed … As well as: * Sarah sees an advantage to David being “deeply Canadian” * “Celebrity is the coin of the realm.” Or is it? * Nicolas Cage … inspired by Gumby? * Jim Jarmusch did not do interviews that lasted less than an hour * Editor burnout is real * Adam Moss, genius * Friend o’ the pod David Rensin and his dozens of Playboy interviews * Age is an undervalued asset in celebrity interviews * Denzel Washington, Nicole Kidman, Edward Norton, Anthony Hopkins * Interviewing as surgery and when to put down the knife * Sarah is still waiting on that mixed tape David promised in 2008 Plus: David quotes Ezra Pound, Joyce Carol Oates and Elmore Leonard, what Clive James got right about Americans and fame, and much more! After the paywall: “Which celebrity interview was the most uncomfortable?” We’re trying to ask better questions. Like: Will you become a paid subscriber?

    31 min

  2. Jun 3

    258. Graham Platner and the Sexting Scandal Nobody Can Agree On

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.com Graham Platner is not having a good week. Nancy and Sarah discuss the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate whose high-profile campaign hit yet another snag with recent revelations of sexting. But wait: What kind of sexting? And is sexting “cheating”? We debate these topics, along with the old Nazi tattoo issue (which gets surprisingly heated), whether authenticity and politics can coexist, and if Sarah is just a hopeless moral-relativist degenerate (probably). Also discussed: * Nancy shows off her scar * Shit going down at 60 Minutes * Nancy mispronounces Scott Pelley’s last name, multiple times * Sarah mispronounces Ross “Douthat,” mostly as a troll to get him on the pod * The Democrat’s dude problem just got a … dude problem * American morality is a confusing mess * Do blowjobs count as sex? The debate! * Anti-rape … underwear? * Trump, the heavyweight champ of indiscretion * But how DOES a man have sex with an octopus? * What is a “New York Knick,” anyway? * F**k a dead chicken: cool or nah? Plus, Nancy says “swatsticker,” Sarah claims the title of king idiot, Lolita in a post-#MeToo era, and more! REMINDER: First Sunday is this Sunday, June 7! 8pmET/5pmPT. Paid subscribers get link day-of. It’s never considered cheating to become a paid subscriber. The little photo that could…

    43 min

  3. May 30

    257. The Big Little Penis Panic

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.com Nancy and Sarah discuss a New York magazine story called “The Big Little Penis Panic,” about how social media, a modern detachment from the body, and the derangements of porn have fueled anxiety for Gen Z men, who are more body-conscious than earlier generations of dudes. (Remember the olden days when only women had neuroses about their body?) Nancy thinks looksmaxxxing is “unmasculine.” Sarah thinks we’re moving from sex as a tactile/physical act toward one that is visual, aka mediated through screens. As old hang-ups lift and new ones get introduced (“catching print”??), we are reminded that every generation gets to reinvent misery. Also discussed: * No glue traps! * Nancy goes viral * CAGE MATCH ON THE WHITE HOUSE LAWN!! * UFC and the male brain * Looksmaxxing, the saddest modern trend? * The truth in a man’s pants is private * Meanwhile, everyone knows Sarah has big boobs * When was the last time you saw someone else’s penis IRL? * The case against Barbie vaginas * Sarah and Nancy debate vulva-casting * Should men have a bulge in their pants? * Two words: “Wrong hole” * Corndogs that Sarah has loved … * Nancy notes Barry Gibbs’ attribute(s) Plus, Sarah goes down the Stanley K-hole, Nancy on Gen X at 60, Freedom Mouse rides again (?), and much more! Is that a paid subscription in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me? REMINDER: First Zoom hang on Sunday, July 7, 8pm ET / 5pm PT How was your Saturday morning?

    33 min

  4. May 21

    256. Mary Kay and the Complicated Politics of Selling the American Dream

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.com Nancy and Sarah talk to journalist Mary Lisa Gavenas, whose new biography of cosmetics queen Mary Kay, Selling Opportunity, also traces the profound role that direct sales had in selling the American dream. It took a while for women to enter the salesforce, but once they did, oooh, watch out. Mary Kay, in particular, had a genius for sales, which she turned into an empire that exists to this day. Although the company largely sells skin care, Mary Kay also sold inspiration, a better life, transformation. As a pop-historical figure, she’s part self-help guru, part social media influencer, part girlboss — but entirely a self-made woman. We talk about the resilience of 20th-century women who cared less about having the correct politics and more about feeding their family, the line between opportunity and exploitation, and (of course) those pink Cadillacs. Also discussed: * “I like women. Nancy is undecided.” * The power of a good sob story * Yankee peddlers! * Mary Kay seminars: Where tent revival meets Las Vegas floorshow * Billy Graham put himself through divinity school as a Fuller Brush salesman * Want to come over and see my new dust mop? * Mary Kay had six husbands * The Night of the Mary Kay Commandos * The founder of Tupperware was actually someone named “Tupper” * Also, Mr. Tupper thought he was the Leonardo DaVinci of his time * Pink bathtubs as aspirational * Did your grandmother work? * Is Mary Kay a Ponzi scheme? * The power of a “thank you” note Plus, Sarah learns the definition of “pin money,” Nancy creams over a new tinted moisturizer, Mary Lisa’s dream of Aix-en-Provence includes hunting dogs, and much more. Gee, that paid subscription looks good on you ..

    24 min

  5. May 18

    255. Helen Lewis on Men Who Want Women to Be Quiet

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.com Nancy and Sarah talk with Helen Lewis, whose latest for The Atlantic, “The Men Who Want Women to Be Quiet,” introduces us to a new breed of religious, cultural, and political figures with very retro ideas about women’s roles. Where did this come from? Where is it going? The trio talk manosphere, the excesses of Tumblr feminism, and Helen and Sarah have an old-fashioned disagreement about the viral essay, “The Great Feminization.” Also discussed: * Sarah goes viral! * “Real-estate novelist,” explained * The many life cycles of Russell Brand: shock jock, shagger of the year, insta-Christian, forever attention addict * “Meddlesome, medicated, quarrelsome” is a T-shirt we’d wear * But Larry Summers really was kind of bad… * Does Nick Fuentes just need the love of a good woman (or man)? * “Gyno-fascism” * “Bitches be crazy, and I stand with them!” * The saddest moment in that Louis Theroux documentary * Jordan Peterson has a crying-on-camera problem * America loves a flimflam man * Master and Commander: Not just for the mens * NY Mag contributor Ross Barkan’s very bad week Plus, Nancy has a groyper story, Sarah thinks Timothée Chalamet got robbed, Helen proclaims Trump “camp as knickers!” and much more! Stand with bitches! Become a paid subscriber.

    32 min

  6. May 11

    254. James Verini on the Defining Atrocity of the Ukraine War

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.com Nancy speaks with war correspondent James Verini, who reported from Ukraine about the devastating 2022 bombing of a theater in Mariupol housing 1500 refugees. James (and photographer Paolo Pellgrin) made his way to survivors of the bombing, and later tracked down every survivor he could find. The result is The Theater: Courage and Survival in the Defining Atrocity of the Ukraine War, a new book that tells stories of ordinary people—students, actors, metal workers, a doctor, a cook—called upon to do extraordinary things. The Theater is cinematic (calling Christopher Nolan!) and horrifying, beautiful and essential, a battle between freedom and authoritarianism that Russia is determined to win—and Ukraine more determined not to lose. “You had the fact that this theater represented Ukrainian culture and the dream of an independent Ukraine,” says James. “On the dark opposite side of that, it represented what Putin and Russia were trying to wipe out, the idea that there is such a thing as Ukrainian culture, that there is such thing as a Ukrainian language... The theater was, if not exactly a metaphor, then the perfect setting for this kind of story, of a young republic now barely more than 30 years old that was fighting for its life.” (Sarah was unable to sit in on this episode, but she’ll be listening!) Also discussed: * On why first-person war books should be under 200 pages * A “glandular nostalgia” for the Soviet Union * When you’re reporting overseas, “someone is always going to think you’re CIA” * One advantage to not speaking the local language * “You can’t do what I do and care about money” * Nancy gives thanks for Reason’s editorial freedom * How James covered up the smell of pot smoke back in the day * Nancy: still not Jewish! * The Nazi high command was “a cabal of mediocrities” * Salad days at Vanity Fair Plus, props for reporters William Langewiesche and Evan Wright, what to eat if you want to be a competitive eater, a great audiobook on New York City excesses in the ‘90s, and much more. Pre-order The Theater, out on May 19. Also on May 19, James will be in conversation with recent Smoke guest Sebastian Junger. Tickets here. Nancy note to self: Less ambition when flipping salmon will forestall another armpit burn

    36 min

  7. May 7

    253. Should I Marry a Murderer?

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.com Nancy and Sarah discuss “Should I Marry a Murderer?,” the grabby new Netflix docuseries about a fiancee turned key witness. Caroline Muirhead is a smart, beautiful doctor in Glasgow swept up in a romance where things gets … dark. Sarah wanted to talk about this show, because it illustrates troubling habits of female accommodation she’s seen in MeToo cases, a tendency to get caught in a trap of people-pleasing. Nancy isn’t sure she agrees with that interpretation — she’s most disturbed by the Olympic record-level of videos this woman filmed of herself — but they have a free-ranging discussion about refusing to let go of the dream, whether the cops failed Muirhead, drama-seeking mixed with substance abuse, the challenge of confronting someone you’re dating, and the grand opera of the show’s climax, which deserves to be turned into a novel (we’re looking at you, Kat Rosenfield.) Also discussed: * Nancy bonds with childhood friends from pre-Lena Dunham Brooklyn * When the Pulitzer happens to a colleague * “I welcome the insufferability” * FBI opens investigation against Atlantic journalist? * White racial grievance at the New York Times * Anthony Scaramucci = not just good for f-bombs * “Murder as snack” * The high-wire conversations demanded by intimacy * What violence is my partner capable of? * Fiction writing is “the spooky art” * Toni Morrison is whoa, channeling from another dimension * Yes, Nancy is STILL reading Anna Karenina Plus: The prison documentary that made Sarah want to quilt, Nancy on an NBA great, the ick of “Mind of a Serial Killer: The Experience!” exhibition — and more! April showers bring … May paid subscribers?

    23 min
  8. 252. Weird Manifestos, Eating the Rich, and a Happy Anniversary

    May 2

    252. Weird Manifestos, Eating the Rich, and a Happy Anniversary

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.com It’s a special day and by some miracle, Nancy remembered: It’s SMOKE ‘EM’s third anniversary, thus making this podcast the longest committed relationship of Sarah’s life. We celebrate with a quiz, riffing on a news week that brought us a bizarre manifesto, a podcast about eating the rich, a former politician who still inspires, the latest twist in a post-Roe landscape, a mac-and-cheese heist scheme and MORE! Also: What the New York Times’ 30 Greatest American songwriters got wrong and why his name is Billy Joel. Also discussed: * Sarah’s visit to Colossal Biosciences: Bring back the woolly mammoth! * “We’re headed into Nutville” * Blowing up pipelines * The more freedom you give people, the more freedom they want? * Would Sarah hate-f*ck Hasan Piker? * More tragic attempts to pronounce “Douthat” * Sarah’s first SUPERlove * How telehealth changed the abortion landscape * What would a GOOD biopic of Michael Jackson look like? * Shout out, Amy’s frozen dinner macaroni and cheese * Whither Tom Waits and Paul Westerberg? REMINDER: Zoom hang for paid subscribers TOMORROW, Sunday, May 3, 5pm PT / 8pm ET, link sent day-of. We have the perfect anniversary gift …

    22 min
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4.7
out of 5
133 Ratings

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

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