Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em Podcast
Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em Podcast
124. Spicy Chicken Sandwich With a Side of Culture War
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124. Spicy Chicken Sandwich With a Side of Culture War

An essay in the Atlantic kicks off Chick-Fil-A-Gate: Michael Hobbes vs. Jesse Singal, Nikole Hannah-Jones vs. Facts. Plus: Shane Gillis sighting, Kurt Vonnegut doc, and a chicken sandwich throw-down
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“I Was a Heretic at the New York Times,” an Atlantic essay by Adam Rubinstein, exploded on the old Twitter/X/Hate Machine. The story opens at a staff orientation where Rubinstein expresses love for Chick-Fil-A’s spicy chicken sandwich and gets rebuked. Did it happen? Can we know? What sauce goes best with a spicy chicken sandwich ? That one we know: Honey-roasted BBQ.

So what is this journo-kerfuffle about? Why should we care? Nancy and Sarah get down and dirty about this week’s lightning-rod essay, and along the way …

  • Nancy goes viral

  • We’re hawking Fifth Column merch, because Nancy needs closet space

  • Shane Gillis sighting! Shane Gillis hug!

  • Throwdown! Chick-Fil-A vs. Shake Shack

  • “Running this puts Black @NYTstaffers in danger.”

  • Sarah takes out her personal-essay scalpel, slices carefully

  • Who is Michael Hobbes, and why did he block you?

  • Southern writers are like chicken sandwiches (we swear)

  • Nikole Hannah-Jones = untouchable?

  • Jesse Singal = always hungry

  • Why are people fighting so hard over this?

Plus: Do French fries need ketchup? Does Nancy’s face look and different after the treatment she got yesterday? Should we sell merch?

Nancy mocked up a T-shirt for SMOKE EM, to which Sarah responded: Wrong typeface, wrong font size, wrong color, wrong tank, but otherwise — a good start!

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Faster than the line at Chick-Fil-A and spicier than the Original Chicken Shack sandwich. Become a paid subscriber, no napkins needed.

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Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em Podcast
Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em Podcast
Journalistas Nancy Rommelmann and Sarah Hepola on what's burning through the culture right now. Flirtatious banter for serious times.