Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em Podcast

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.com [https://smokeempodcast.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_7] Nancy is reporting from the land of burning Waymos, Sarah is celebrating a sobriety milestone, and “Fifth Column’s” Matt Welch joins us to talk L.A. unrest, the potential for WW III, the scope of newspaper collapse — but first! Felicia Sonmez is back at the Washington Post? Stop the presses! We also cover Weinstein and Diddy and anticipate a weekend of No Kings protest. Matt is “worried sick about Saturday.” The center has held so far, but the stage for conflict is set. Also discussed: * Happy 15th, Sarah! * Bad fake IDs we’ve had * Andersen’s Pea Soup, say it ain’t so! * The World’s Only Corn Palace does not disappoint * Quick: Someone make a GIF of Nancy’s finger diddle * The “velvet coffin” that was the LA Times * Serial murderers of the ‘70s * No Kings protest … in England? * L.A. Rampart scandal * Your protest speaker: Paula Poundstone! * Breaking news at Diddy trial: Kanye has entered the building! * “War is uncomfortable, and I don’t like that” * Do not underestimate Israel’s spy craft * Jailbirds super group alert! Diddy + Kanye + R. Kelly, produced by Weinstein * the Taint Dispensary * Raise your hand if you hitchhiked as a teenager * Sarah misses Tom Wolfe * Matt holds back tears Plus, Matt on Iran, Sarah on “the red carpet to death,” Nancy on losing her notebook in the protest scrum, and much more! NOTE: For technological reasons (possibly owing to flaming Waymos), the Brian Wilson song that Matt chose for an outro couldn’t be uploaded, but you can find the video in our episode notes.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.com [https://smokeempodcast.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_7] It’s hot, it’s June, and there’s mayhem in a major American city, this time Los Angeles. Nancy lived through the Rodney King riots, and though LA will hopefully not explode thusly, Nancy is heading there to cover the action. Want to help her? You can [https://nancyrommelmann.substack.com/p/sunday-this-and-that-2]. In other news, the Musk-Trump bromance imploded last week. Sarah has theories about the timing of certain tweets and deletions, in addition to what might come next. She catches us up on the Manhattan re-trial of Harvey Weinstein, who did not take the stand in his defense, though he did give a news interview. Verdict incoming — maybe this week! Also discussed: * SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE [https://www.youtube.com/@SmokeEmPod], especially if you’re a woman * Nancy’s had it with the Trump nicknaming * Looking for some conspiracy theories? We got ‘em * “Green troll hair on the sour cream” * No dramatic hyperbolic yelling, please, Sarah’s still waking up * Jared Leto: Ick or hot? * Citizen: Protect the World app sounds kinda cool * Benjamin Franklin was a lot of things, but he was not a bangin’ father * “Women with broken dreams …” * Changing the names of battleships is hard, explained * Please don’t mention Faces of Death Plus, big love for The Dumb Zone, props to the brotherhood of the foxhole, another installment of “Let’s Be the Judge!” and more! Our bromance only gets better when you become a paid subscriber.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.com [https://smokeempodcast.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_7] Brooke Siem is the author of the 2022 memoir, May Cause Side Effects [https://www.amazon.com/May-Cause-Side-Effects-Memoir/dp/1949481700], about the decade and a half she spent on anti-depressants (prescribed after her father died when she was 15) and what happened when she ditched them. Sarah is currently on anti-depressants, though she wonders whether she needs them. Nancy is not on SSRIs, though she was part of a gentle brigade who nudged Sarah to increase her dosage last year. This is a complicated knot! The ladies talk about over-medication, how cultural taboos migrate, and the problem with treating sadness, anger, frustration — very human emotions — with a pill. Also discussed: * Nancy suddenly cares about the Navy; Sarah questions this * That time Brooke wore a foxy denim jumper * “Chemical imbalance” is a hoodwink * The “Come Out of the Dark Campaign [https://www.psychologytoday.com/sg/blog/charting-the-depths/201311/the-come-out-the-dark-campaign-introduction]” meant to eradicate depression stigma leads to an explosion of SSRI prescriptions * SSRIs and orgasm * The opiate epidemic tracks with the anti-depressant era * “Chemical castration” didn’t start with puberty blockers … * 70s-80s Ritalin vogue * Related: Does Ritalin suppress male growth? * Hold up: a link between transitioning genders and SSRIs? * Drinking and depression, a tangled saga * “Headaches are caused by an Advil deficiency” * Beware Wellbutrin * Gothic SSRI withdrawal * “I never boned a cabbie … that I’m aware of.” * That time Sarah went hypomanic … * 1 in 4 American women are on anti-depressants * The hormones and menopause of it all * “Fuck you, person at Whole Foods!” * Big Pharma / Big Food = same playbook, different expression * “Do you bake with yeast?” * WTF with Pol Pot? Plus, boozy cupcakes, a coyote sighting, was Tom Cruise right about pharmaceuticals — and much more! This one’s a banger! Listen to the whole shebang when you become a paid subscriber.

Hello, mighty listeners and readers. This post is free for all, with an ask: Please subscribe to our new YouTube channel [https://www.youtube.com/@SmokeEmPod]. Even better, watch/listen on the YT. Smooch! Nancy has a “virus of unknown origin” while Sarah is rarin’ to go on a story she sunk her teeth into years ago: the trials of Harvey Weinstein, this time, his current NYC re-trial for criminal sexual acts. (His previous NY conviction was overturned in April 2024.) The Weinstein case is interesting, because most people think they know it, but they really just know the salacious details and hype of early-#MeToo media stories. The criminal case against Weinstein — particularly in New York, though he was convicted in LA, too — is a murkier thing, littered with ambiguous exchanges, years-long relationships and rides on private planes. Weinstein may be a “sexual pig, an opportunist, a philanderer and a bully,” but does that mean the women accusing him played no role in this? And if not, what does that say about all that women’s “empowerment” we keep hearing about? Also discussed: * Ethan Strauss brings the rain * Is Taylor Lorenz monstrous? Troubled? Both? Nancy and Sarah discuss * Sarah used to make jokes about crack babies (in college, y’all!) * Rejected from a threesome? Yeah, that happened * Ronan Farrow: It all begins with mom * “Candace Rogan” ??? * 2020: Let’s not put people in prison! Also 2020: Men accused of #MeToo crimes should go to prison! * Who will play Jessica Mann in the “American Crime Story” version of the Weinstein trials? Who, Harvey? * Should Harvey take the stand? * Gloria Allred’s daughter learned from the best * Sarah does not have an extra-large vagina * The sigh of Russell Brand exhaustion * Diddy may be going to prison forever * The genius of Don DeLillo Plus, Sarah and Nancy discover they both just started gardens from seeds (so satisfying!), Polish women are the hottest on the planet, cunnilingus as weapon, and much more! First Sunday Zoom is this Sunday! June 1, 8pmET/5pmPT. Paid subscribers (come on, now!) get link the day-of. Real empowerment comes from being a paid subscriber Meanwhile over on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@SmokeEmPod] … Episode Notes: So this happened: How it started/how it’s going “Exclusive interview: Harvey Weinstein’s youngest accuser speaks out [https://www.newsnationnow.com/crime/exclusive-interview-harvey-weinsteins-youngest-accuser-speaks-out/]” (News Nation Now interview with Kaja Sokola) “Weinstein Trial to Shift to Defense After 3rd Accuser’s Striking Account [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/27/nyregion/harvey-weinstein-trial-what-to-know.html],” by Hurubie Meko (New York Times) “Medical expert talks about erectile dysfunction shot at Harvey Weinstein’s NYC sex assault retrial [https://www.nydailynews.com/2025/05/28/medical-expert-talks-about-erectile-dysfunction-shot-at-harvey-weinsteins-nyc-sex-assault-retrial/]” (New York Daily News) Yes, we’ve been down this road… … and yet there seems always more to learn from the pivots and how they are/are not explained to the public “Harvey Weinstein and the Death Rattle of #MeToo [https://www.thefp.com/p/harvey-weinstein-and-the-death-rattle?hide_intro_popup=true],” by Kat Rosenfield (Free Press) Forty Bucks and a Dream: Stories from Los Angeles [https://www.amazon.com/Forty-Bucks-Dream-Stories-Angeles-ebook/dp/B0DD8PHWMT], by Nancy Rommelmann What’s in your hot box? Sarah: Nancy: Libra [https://www.amazon.com/Libra-Contemporary-American-Fiction-DeLillo/dp/0140156046/ref=sr_1_1?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.6a5ySRiaUZ0qAnZhr_wIjomp8Z_RVwnHv4l6n7hrRHEYSkaTQjdq0fc4c4DyJz6CUszifUEi8pr_U6_qn_BJAJNDxBDpU6e06GxZGdZPvoH4MJjezYnrZ0r40aMg3DAuwkyobe3bZj0jPngcppAhOlxFYzDypKgjp48KNYj5AX7w2Uv70TB-A9NMlHqyPyW4OctLow6I3M3-mtYE94kHWzKr2fg2ITQvr0fp8_ZVzHk.JT93VmGZ11hWlVs-Y9WIBoVGwhVmH5iJRuTfSPQDh7M&dib_tag=se&hvbmt=%7BBidMatchType%7D&hvdev=c&keywords=libra+don+delillo&qid=1748629603&s=books&sr=1-1], by Don DeLillo 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 [https://smokeempodcast.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit smokeempodcast.substack.com [https://smokeempodcast.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_7] REMINDER: Subscribe to our YouTube channel [https://www.youtube.com/@SmokeEmPod] (it’s free). Even better: Watch it. Happy Memorial Day! Nancy and Sarah discuss a Columbia Journalism Review bombshell about the alleged sexual misdeeds of journalist Wes Lowery, who shot to fame during the Black Lives Matter era and is perhaps best known for popularizing the idea of journalism guided by “moral certainty.” This is hot one! Sarah gets kneejerk over blackout confusion, Nancy doesn’t understand “situationships,” and they argue over the definition of “glory hole.” Whether Lowery is guilty of these misdeeds we can’t say, but we both hope #metoo stories start to pivot away from “tearing someone down” to pointing to a better way to engage with people you love/bone/covet/teach/mentor/etc. Also discussed: * The latest Mission: Impossible — wanna guess who liked it? * A blender full of stunts, frappéd * When did we start celebrating Memorial Day? * The smell of a nuclear submarine (let’s ask Sarah’s brother) * SLEEP BUFFET!!!! * Ken Burns’ theory on binary thinking shaped by computer code * Fifth Column + Lowery = “exactly what you want from mega-minds” * Buying a woman a drink: Predatory behavior — or kick-ass? * Do people get roofied? Yes, but way less than hype suggests * How dating fell apart * Assholes vs. criminals / regret sex vs. rape * The sad and endless hamster wheel of the compulsively sexual male * When Sarah was a drunk bully … * Slutdom during Nancy’s “Eddie Vedder years” * Rise of violence on on the left: To be continued! Plus, Nancy has a request for sociopaths, Sarah makes a hopeless pass at Douglas Murray — and much more! Memorialize the day you became a paid subscriber…