Dingus of the Week Podcast

Lyz Lenz
  • 5.0 (34)
  • Politics
  • Updated Weekly

Dingus of the Week: A weekly comedy news podcast.  Your co-hosts, Lyz Lenz and Zach Smith, will focus on everything that is the epitome of all that is silly, awful, enraging, and ridiculous in politics or popular culture. Also, some good things too!

  1. Aug 8

    Dead center: Wall Street's think tank picks a fight with the left (again) — Dingus of the Week Podcast #35

    Democrats keep winning elections, and Third Way has had just about enough of it. After Abdul El-Sayed's upset win in Michigan's Senate primary — the latest in a string of victories by candidates running on the radical notion that people shouldn't have to choose between rent and insulin — the centrist think tank announced to the New York Times that it's launching a $15 million campaign to discredit democratic socialism before 2028. "We are preparing for the next war that is coming," said Third Way president Jonathan Cowan, describing the DSA as a "mortal danger" to the Democratic Party. The mortal danger, to be clear, is volunteers knocking doors for candidates who keep getting the most votes. A note on the messenger: Third Way is a 501(c)(4), which means it doesn't have to tell you who funds it. But its own leadership has admitted the majority of its money comes from its board of trustees — a group historically stacked with Wall Street and finance executives. So when the party's biggest problem is voters who think Democrats answer to donors instead of them, the fix, apparently, is a donor-funded war on the people channeling that anger. Some party you got here. This week on DINGUS OF THE WEEK, LYZ LENZ and ZACHARY OREN SMITH split the difference between the vital center and the actual dingus. DINGUS OF THE WEEK is a weekly comedy news podcast where writers Lyz and Zach light a fire under the American rogue's gallery to see who comes spilling out. If you're tired of doom-scrolling but know ignoring the problem doesn't get us anywhere, this is your new weekend listen. New episodes every Saturday morning. SUPPORT THE SHOW by subscribing on Patreon.👑 $5/month - Not a Dingus tier (3 weekly newsletters, 1 podcast, and our entire archive) 👑👑 $10/month - Definitely Not a Dingus tier (all the above + polls and topic submissions, a chat community, weekly discussions, comment access, and our love) SEND US YOUR DINGUS. Record a voice memo and tell us who your dingus of the week is. Make it good and you'll hear your voice on the show. You can also email those to menyellatme@gmail.com.  FOLLOW DINGUS OF THE WEEK Youtube Instagram LYZ LENZ is the HBIC of MYAM Media.  ZACHARY OREN SMITH writes about politics for Iowa Starting Line. Follow his work on Instagram (http://instagram.com/zacharyorensmith) and TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@zacharyorensmith). LAURA BENITEZ wrote the theme song. SHOW RUNDOWN: 00:07 - Cold open: ... A meditation on Forest Gump 04:19 - Intro 08:21 - Check-in: Lyz reports from Springfield, Ohio as Haitian TPS ends and Zach's sexy FEC paperwork 15:16 - Dingus: Third Way's $15M war on the left 47:36 - Midroll (not) 47:48 - Game: Mystery Moderates 51:20 - Voicemail dingus: Jake Lang 1:03:12 - Joy: Lyz binges Furious on Hulu and Zach watches a Cerro Gordo County thumb drive save democracy 1:08:40 - Outro

    Dead center: Wall Street's think tank picks a fight with the left (again) — Dingus of the Week Podcast #35

  2. Aug 1

    Moreno, mo problems: Ohio's car salesman senator yells at Fauci — Dingus of the Week Podcast #34

    Senator Bernie Moreno told a room that he sold off his car dealership empire six years ago just so he could one day stick it Dr. Anthony Fauci. Whether you're Fauci fan or couldn't care less, maybe a sitting U.S. Senator should aim a little higher. On this episode of DINGUS OF THE WEEK, hosts LYZ LENZ and ZACHARY OREN SMITH make a sale of their own. DINGUS OF THE WEEK is a weekly comedy news podcast where writers Lyz and Zach light a fire under the American rogue's gallery to see who comes spilling out. If you're tired of doom-scrolling but know ignoring the problem doesn't get us anywhere, this is your new weekend listen. New episodes every Saturday morning. SUPPORT THE SHOW by subscribing on Patreon.👑 $5/month - Not a Dingus tier (3 weekly newsletters, 1 podcast, and our entire archive) 👑👑 $10/month - Definitely Not a Dingus tier (all the above + polls and topic submissions, a chat community, weekly discussions, comment access, and our love) SEND US YOUR DINGUS. Record a voice memo and tell us who your dingus of the week is. Make it good and you'll hear your voice on the show. You can also email those to menyellatme@gmail.com.  FOLLOW DINGUS OF THE WEEK Youtube Instagram LYZ LENZ is the HBIC of MYAM Media.  ZACHARY OREN SMITH writes about politics for Iowa Starting Line. Follow his work on Instagram (http://instagram.com/zacharyorensmith) and TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@zacharyorensmith). LAURA BENITEZ wrote the theme song. SHOW RUNDOWN: 00:07 - Cold open: Lyz Lenz-s too close to the sun 08:57 - Intro 12:10 - Dingus: Senator Bernie Moreno drops an f-bomb on Fauci at a hearing about nothing. 39:33 - Midroll: Lyz's book research trip and writing as a conversation. 41:43 - Nike's new women's workout wear, built for the AI girlfriend body. 47:03 - Game: Kash Patel, Please. Sue. Us. 54:02 - Joy: Lyz and Zach swap people that inspire 1:00:30 - Outro

    Moreno, mo problems: Ohio's car salesman senator yells at Fauci — Dingus of the Week Podcast #34

  3. Jul 25

    Breaking Bot: OpenAI model's big escape — Dingus of the Week Podcast #33

    OpenAI spent this week trying to spin the fact that one of its models broke into another company's servers as a scientific breakthrough. According to the Atlantic's Matteo Wong, an assortment of OpenAI's most advanced models got loose from the company's internal testing environment during a security stress test and hacked its way into the databases of Hugging Face, a rival AI firm, to lift information it needed to pass an evaluation. Nobody told it to. It just did it, because it had been trained the same way most of these systems are: to get the right-looking answer by whatever means are necessary. OpenAI's framing has been that this is a fascinating glimpse into "agentic" capability. What it actually reveals is a company that built a plagiarism machine and then acted surprised when the thing did exactly what it was optimized to do. On this episode of DINGUS OF THE WEEK, hosts LYZ LENZ and ZACHARY OREN SMITH catch the bots red-handed. DINGUS OF THE WEEK is a weekly comedy news podcast where writers Lyz and Zach light a fire under the American rogue's gallery to see who comes spilling out. If you're tired of doom-scrolling but know ignoring the problem doesn't get us anywhere, this is your new weekend listen. New episodes every Saturday morning. SUPPORT THE SHOW by subscribing on Patreon.👑 $5/month - Not a Dingus tier (3 weekly newsletters, 1 podcast, and our entire archive) 👑👑 $10/month - Definitely Not a Dingus tier (all the above + polls and topic submissions, a chat community, weekly discussions, comment access, and our love) SEND US YOUR DINGUS. Record a voice memo and tell us who your dingus of the week is. Make it good and you'll hear your voice on the show. You can also email those to menyellatme@gmail.com.  FOLLOW DINGUS OF THE WEEK Youtube Instagram LYZ LENZ is the HBIC of MYAM Media.  ZACHARY OREN SMITH writes about politics for Iowa Starting Line. Follow his work on Instagram (http://instagram.com/zacharyorensmith) and TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@zacharyorensmith). LAURA BENITEZ wrote the theme song. SHOW RUNDOWN: 00:07 - Cold open: Emergency childcare 08:35 - Liz gets poison oak. Again. 13:41 - Intro 17:30 - Follow-up: Taylor Farms' CEO and the diarrhea-parasite deregulation angle. 19:19 - Dingus: OpenAI's model breaks out of its sandbox to hack Hugging Face. 39:45 - Midroll: Lyz on Nora Ephron, "aging gracefully," and why that's b******t. 46:09 - Game: Two Truths and a Disaster — real geopolitical fallout or fake? 49:14 - Joy: Lyz's 2028 book deal, hanging with "youth friends," and Andrew Tate's Kohl's Cash arrest fit. 55:36 - Joy: Zach's new camera 57:02 - Outro

    Breaking Bot: OpenAI model's big escape — Dingus of the Week Podcast #33

  4. Jul 18

    Lettuce pray: A parasite, a gutted CDC, and the produce that runs through you — Dingus of the Week Podcast #32

    There's a parasite loose in America's lettuce: the diarrhea-causing Cyclospora parasite has developed quite the reputation, giving the word "explosive" new resonance. It won't surprise you to hear that President Donald Trumps gutting of the CDC did not leave its best parasite sleuths untouched. News reports have documented thousands of staff cut from the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control. Food safety inspections have been going undone. And of course, nature abhors a vacuum. With no government agency telling people to pull certain leafy greens off the shelf, Taco Bell made the surprisingly sober decision to stop tucking shredded lettuce and tomato into your Crunchwrap. What a timeline. This week on DINGUS OF THE WEEK, LYZ LENS and ZACHARY OREN SMITH unwrap this shit sandwich and ask, didn't I ask for no lettuce? DINGUS OF THE WEEK is a weekly comedy news podcast where writers Lyz and Zach light a fire under the American rogue's gallery to see who comes spilling out. If you're tired of doom-scrolling but know ignoring the problem doesn't get us anywhere, this is your new weekend listen. New episodes every Saturday morning. SUPPORT THE SHOW by subscribing on Patreon.👑 $5/month - Not a Dingus tier (3 weekly newsletters, 1 podcast, and our entire archive) 👑👑 $10/month - Definitely Not a Dingus tier (all the above + polls and topic submissions, a chat community, weekly discussions, comment access, and our love) SEND US YOUR DINGUS. Record a voice memo and tell us who your dingus of the week is. Make it good and you'll hear your voice on the show. You can also email those to menyellatme@gmail.com.  FOLLOW DINGUS OF THE WEEK Youtube Instagram LYZ LENZ is the HBIC of MYAM Media.  ZACHARY OREN SMITH writes about politics for Iowa Starting Line. Follow his work on Instagram (http://instagram.com/zacharyorensmith) and TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@zacharyorensmith). LAURA BENITEZ wrote the theme song. SHOW RUNDOWN: 00:00 - Cold open: Trump's prime-time address. 11:53 - Intro 14:25 - Dingus: Cyclospora. 31:32 - Midroll: Lyz's Sunday Links post on the trad wife who "picked the wrong man" and why you can't choose your way out of a bad system. Subscribe at patreon.com/lyzlenz. 35:39 - Lindsey Graham died. 40:23 - Listener Voicemail: Justine's bad boss is back. 47:05 - Joy: Lyz hangs a TV on a crumbling plaster wall and gets vindicated by a nice handyman.

    Lettuce pray: A parasite, a gutted CDC, and the produce that runs through you — Dingus of the Week Podcast #32

  5. Jul 11

    Weekend at McConnell's: The GOP's undead Senate strategy — Dingus of the Week Podcast #31

    Mitch McConnell hasn't been seen in public in nearly a month. No photo, no video, no floor vote — just a statement from his office insisting the 83-year-old Senate Republican leader is "fully engaged" from his hospital bed. Meanwhile, the Senate is back in session, a defense bill and national security votes are on the table, and the guy who chairs the Rules Committee and the defense appropriations panel is, functionally, a rumor. This week on DINGUS OF THE WEEK, LYZ LENS and ZACHARY OREN SMITH check the pulse on America's biggest mystery: is there a light on in there? DINGUS OF THE WEEK is a weekly comedy news podcast where writers Lyz and Zach light a fire under the American rogue's gallery to see who comes spilling out. If you're tired of doom-scrolling but know ignoring the problem doesn't get us anywhere, this is your new weekend listen. New episodes every Saturday morning. SUPPORT THE SHOW by subscribing on Patreon.👑 $5/month - Not a Dingus tier (3 weekly newsletters, 1 podcast, and our entire archive) 👑👑 $10/month - Definitely Not a Dingus tier (all the above + polls and topic submissions, a chat community, weekly discussions, comment access, and our love) SEND US YOUR DINGUS. Record a voice memo and tell us who your dingus of the week is. Make it good and you'll hear your voice on the show. You can also email those to menyellatme@gmail.com.  FOLLOW DINGUS OF THE WEEK Youtube Instagram LYZ LENZ is the HBIC of MYAM Media.  ZACHARY OREN SMITH writes about politics for Iowa Starting Line. Follow his work on Instagram (http://instagram.com/zacharyorensmith) and TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@zacharyorensmith). LAURA BENITEZ wrote the theme song. SHOW RUNDOWN: 00:00 - Cold open: Lyz's son wants to stay "average," not tall and Zach's trip to France 20:56 - Dingus: Schrödinger's Mitch McConnell. Hospitalized, unseen for weeks, and legally both alive and dead thanks to a Kentucky succession law. 43:51 - Midroll: "Dislodging that thing from his neck hole" and why you should subscribe on Patreon 55:15 - Game: Guess the Oldest 1:15:25 - Joy: Liz's crisis bob haircut 1:15:30 - Joy: Zach's baby, two ER trips in a month (and a socialized medicine rant). 1:22:18 - Outro.

    Weekend at McConnell's: The GOP's undead Senate strategy — Dingus of the Week Podcast #31

  6. Jun 20

    Reflecting poorly: The president's $20M pool glow-down — Dingus of the Week Podcast #30

    The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is an awe-inspiring site. While maybe meant to evoke introspection, it mostly evokes laughter these days. President Donald Trump wanted to clean it up. To give it a fresh coat of American flag-blue paint. But now the pool is algae-green. The paint job is peeling. And Trump's budget for the renovation keeps growing by the day. This week on DINGUS OF THE WEEK, LYZ LENS and ZACHARY OREN SMITH wade into the murky, algae-filled waters and ask if maybe a little self-reflection was the real fix. DINGUS OF THE WEEK is a weekly comedy news podcast where writers Lyz and Zach light a fire under the American rogue's gallery to see who comes spilling out. If you're tired of doom-scrolling but know ignoring the problem doesn't get us anywhere, this is your new weekend listen. New episodes every Saturday morning. SUPPORT THE SHOW by subscribing on Patreon.👑 $5/month - Not a Dingus tier (3 weekly newsletters, 1 podcast, and our entire archive) 👑👑 $10/month - Definitely Not a Dingus tier (all the above + polls and topic submissions, a chat community, weekly discussions, comment access, and our love) SEND US YOUR DINGUS. Record a voice memo and tell us who your dingus of the week is. Make it good and you'll hear your voice on the show. You can also email those to menyellatme@gmail.com.  FOLLOW DINGUS OF THE WEEK Youtube Instagram LYZ LENZ is the HBIC of MYAM Media.  ZACHARY OREN SMITH writes about politics for Iowa Starting Line. Follow his work on Instagram (http://instagram.com/zacharyorensmith) and TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@zacharyorensmith). LAURA BENITEZ wrote the theme song. SHOW RUNDOWN: 00:00 - Relay Iowa recap: Lyz ran 42 miles and fell down a hill. Zach had AC. 05:30 - Intro 06:30 - Dingus: The Reflecting Pool. Trump spends $20M painting it blue. It fills with algae in 24 hours. 22:00 - Midroll: Lyz is above a bookstore in Maine. Patreon.com/lyzlenz. 26:00 - Entitled Goose Game 32:00 - Listener Dingus: Izzy nominates Mike Lee for Fidelity Month. Lyz sends him to hell. 39:00 - "Shittinary" is coined. 40:00 - Joy: Zach gets sick baby snuggles. Lyz eats a lobster roll in Maine. 46:00 - Outro

    Reflecting poorly: The president's $20M pool glow-down — Dingus of the Week Podcast #30

  7. Jun 6

    The Claw is the law: A UFC octagon on the White House lawn — Dingus of the Week Podcast #29

    There is a 90-foot-tall, 600-ton steel structure on the South Lawn of the White House, assembled on grounds normally used for Easter egg rolls, Marine One departures, and a garden honoring presidents' children. UFC calls it The Claw. The event — UFC Freedom 250 — is scheduled for June 14, coinciding with Flag Day and Trump's 80th birthday. In the weeks before the fight, Trump invested up to $50,000 in TKO Holdings, UFC's parent company. Then he posted a TikTok suggesting The Claw might never come down, comparing it to the Eiffel Tower. He later said he was joking. He was joking, right? This week on DINGUS OF THE WEEK, LYZ LENZ and ZACHARY OREN SMITH ask: at what point does the bit become the thing itself? Also, get the real scoop on two Iowa elections that are getting the national press talking. We just wish they talked to anyone who actually lived here. We're raising money for Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice. Lend a hand! Join us in supporting IMMJ DINGUS OF THE WEEK is a weekly comedy news podcast where writers Lyz and Zach light a fire under the American rogue's gallery to see who comes spilling out. If you're tired of doom-scrolling but know ignoring the problem doesn't get us anywhere, this is your new weekend listen. New episodes every Saturday morning. SUPPORT THE SHOW by subscribing on Patreon.👑 $5/month - Not a Dingus tier (3 weekly newsletters, 1 podcast, and our entire archive) 👑👑 $10/month - Definitely Not a Dingus tier (all the above + polls and topic submissions, a chat community, weekly discussions, comment access, and our love) SEND US YOUR DINGUS. Record a voice memo and tell us who your dingus of the week is. Make it good and you'll hear your voice on the show. You can also email those to menyellatme@gmail.com.  FOLLOW DINGUS OF THE WEEK Youtube Instagram LYZ LENZ is the HBIC of MYAM Media.  ZACHARY OREN SMITH writes about politics for Iowa Starting Line. Follow his work on Instagram (http://instagram.com/zacharyorensmith) and TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@zacharyorensmith). LAURA BENITEZ wrote the theme song. SHOW RUNDOWN: 00:15 - Teen girl music 07:29 - Geese isn't a psyop. You just don't know what music like. 08:00 - Intro 09:20 - Iowa Primary 2026: Kansan Koch son-in-law Zach Lahn beats out low energy Randy Feenstra 27:29 - Iowa Primary 2026: Josh Turek's landslide victory over Zach Wahls 45:01 - Midroll: For Relay Iowa, Our team High Fructose Corn Sweat is running a race across Iowa raising money for Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice. 50:18 - Dingus: The White House's Claw 01:05:52 - Listener Dingus: driver doesn't watch for pedestrian in the crosswalk 01:17:09 - Joy: Lyz is lost in her new book project. Zach talks honeysuckle.

    The Claw is the law: A UFC octagon on the White House lawn — Dingus of the Week Podcast #29

  8. May 30

    The Hills are alive with the sound of dingus: Spencer Pratt for mayor — Dingus of the Week Podcast #28

    Spencer Pratt was reality television's first fully self-aware villain — a man who admitted, on camera, that he was performing villainy for an audience. He staged a fake divorce, manipulated storylines, and turned being unlikeable into a career. The Hills did make him famous. It also made him a case study in how American media rewards people who understand that the camera is on and someone's watching. He knew the game before most people knew there was a game. There wasn't much to report recently, and then his house burned down in the Palisades fire, and something unexpected happened: Spencer Pratt got real. He showed up to protests. He got angry on behalf of his neighbors. He announced a mayoral campaign at the one-year anniversary of the fires... and people didn't laugh him out of the room. He is currently polling at 22%, just behind incumbent Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, and is a legitimate threat to make the runoff. The man who was professionally fake is now genuinely running to lead a real city. The joke of Spencer Pratt running for mayor only works if Spencer Pratt is the punchline. But the longer you look at it, the more you realize the punchline might be us. We built the machine that made him. We watched The Hills. We rewarded performance over substance for two decades and then expressed shock when a performer showed up with a policy platform. Spencer Pratt didn't corrupt American politics. He just followed the incentives, a map we drew for him. This week on DINGUS OF THE WEEK, LYZ LENZ and ZACHARY OREN SMITH follow Spencer Pratt from The Hills to City Hall and find the view from both places is equally bleak. DINGUS OF THE WEEK is a weekly comedy news podcast where writers Lyz and Zach light a fire under the American rogue's gallery to see who comes spilling out. If you're tired of doom-scrolling but know ignoring the problem doesn't get us anywhere, this is your new weekend listen. New episodes every Saturday morning. SUPPORT THE SHOW by subscribing on Patreon.👑 $5/month - Not a Dingus tier (3 weekly newsletters, 1 podcast, and our entire archive) 👑👑 $10/month - Definitely Not a Dingus tier (all the above + polls and topic submissions, a chat community, weekly discussions, comment access, and our love) SEND US YOUR DINGUS. Record a voice memo and tell us who your dingus of the week is. Make it good and you'll hear your voice on the show. You can also email those to menyellatme@gmail.com.  FOLLOW DINGUS OF THE WEEK Youtube Instagram LYZ LENZ is the HBIC of MYAM Media.  ZACHARY OREN SMITH writes about politics for Iowa Starting Line. Follow his work on Instagram (http://instagram.com/zacharyorensmith) and TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@zacharyorensmith). LAURA BENITEZ wrote the theme song. SHOW RUNDOWN: 00:00 — Cold open: Lyz's Wikifeet profile 08:05 — Intro 9:26 — Dingus: Spencer Pratt is polling at 22% and America has no one to blame but itself 40:25 — Runner-up: The DOJ investigates E. Jean Carroll while Trump's $5 million judgment collects dust 50:55 — Midroll: Hot Divorcee Summer 55:07 — GAME: Stars turned politicians 01:06:06 — Joy: the NYT pickle brine margarita, Tom Lin's Babylon, South Dakota, and Pope's Magnifica Humanitas. 01:19:08 — Close

    The Hills are alive with the sound of dingus: Spencer Pratt for mayor — Dingus of the Week Podcast #28
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5
out of 5
34 Ratings

About

Dingus of the Week: A weekly comedy news podcast.  Your co-hosts, Lyz Lenz and Zach Smith, will focus on everything that is the epitome of all that is silly, awful, enraging, and ridiculous in politics or popular culture. Also, some good things too!

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