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On this Smokeshow Special, Nancy and Sarah read letters from our listeners. Topics include moral complication, British sitcoms/podcasts, the courage of Stephen Elliott, and a counter-point on Matt Taibbi. Nancy tells us about an LA journo pal who died in 2007, and Sarah wonders whether journalism is ultimately a profession of hucksters and frauds. Along the way, they discuss 12-minute naps, the celebrity they’d most like to, uhh, kiss, how big pigeons can get, who they’d call from jail, where they’d go if they had to disappear (and why Sarah won’t be informed of Nancy’s location, booo). Plus: Martha Mitchell, The Jinx, Sarah’s fake British accent sounds like Monty Python, and Nancy proclaims she’s part of Gen Z — until she learns what Gen Z actually is.
Episode Notes:
Sarah says Nancy sometimes forgets to input items in the episode notes when she promises to do it. Nancy says, watch me!
She then immediately promises to include a video in the episode notes but later cannot read her own handwriting and asks Sarah to include something called “Portland homeless” (???). Sarah texts at 5am to find out what this means. If you’re reading this, it means Nancy did not wake up in time — The Management
Apple podcast reviews of Smoke ‘Em, where 81 people have narrative control over what we’re doing over here. Will you let them have that power?
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, by Michelle Alexander
The Bad Mother: A Novel, by Nancy Rommelmann
“Dear Mr. Postman” is a 1961 song by the Marvelettes
“Liz Phair Talks Period Films and Cows at New Yorker Festival” (Vulture)
Did You Know There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd., Lana Del Rey’s new album, dropped this week:
Michael Irvin is a wide receiver, despite anything Sarah might say.
Eight: Elite Light Lager, from former Dallas Cowboy quarterback Troy Aikman
Daryl “Moose” Johnston is a smart, nice man and a legendary Cowboy:
Reader Robin asks which celebrity we’d like to hmhm with:
Nancy: Sam Shepard, though mostly she just wants to get in a car with him and drive through the night.
The One Inside, by Sam Shepard. Nancy HIGHLY recommends listening to this, narrated by Bill Pullman.
Motel Chronicles, by Sam Shepard, wherein he writes that if someone in the car needs to vomit out the window, you just turn the radio up. Yup.
Sarah: Robert De Niro, the greatest character actor of his generation …
… and no one is complaining. In fact, we’ve discussed this before.
New John Wick out this week! (RIP Lance Reddick, whose death was announced after this episode was recorded.)
“Keanu Reeves and Girlfriend Alexandra Grant Make Rare Red Carpet Appearance,” by Emily Kirkpatrick (Vanity Fair)
“Keanu Reeves’ Ex-Girlfriend Died After Attending a Party at Marilyn Manson’s Home,” by Megan Elliott (Showbiz Cheat Sheet)
Correction: Jennifer Syme, Keanu Reeves’ ex-girlfriend, was not pregnant when she died. She was pregnant with Keanu’s child back in 1999, and the child was stillborn.
Nancy and Sarah had some stiff competition for one British listener’s FAVOURITE show. Only Fools and Horses is a British sitcom:
Gormless is a chiefly British term — until now.
Adam Buxton is a British podcaster who calls himself a “'writer and comedian', but sometimes [he’ll] stick 'actor' in there too.”
Pigeons can grow up to two feet long!
One letter writer admired Stephen Elliott’s bravery and delivery. Agree!
Matt Taibbi is the son of Mike Taibbi, an American television journalist best known for his work at NBC News (Wikipedia).
The Witch Trials of JK Rowling podcast
Helen Lewis is a British journalist whose new podcast is Be My Guru.
“Galveston is where people go when they want to disappear.”
“Why “Ask a Jew” Is My Favorite Jewish Podcast of 2022,” by Tabby Refael (Jewish Journal)
Cathy Seipp obituaries: NY Times — LA Times — Reason — Luke Ford gathers commemorations
Larry Kamer, listener and new friend, is on Twitter
Deep Dive With Larry Kamer was a podcast/radio show recorded in Napa Valley, CA
Matt Taibbi is writing up a storm on his Substack, Racket News
“Useful idiot” is a “term currently used to reference a person perceived as propagandizing for a cause — particularly a bad cause originating from a devious, ruthless source — without fully comprehending the cause's goals, and who is cynically being used by the cause's leaders.” It originated in the British press. (Wikipedia)
America This Week podcast, with Matt Taibbi and Walter Kirn
Correction: Nixon resigned on August 8, 1974, not August 26, 1974, as Sarah claimed.
“Fakery in American Journalism,” by Thomas Fleming (History News Network)
“The Myth of the Media's Role in Watergate,” by Mark Feldstein (History News Network)
Gen Z, defined: “Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1990s as starting birth years and the early 2010s as ending birth years.” (Wikipedia)
Chris Hansen was the host of To Catch a Predator, 2004-2008 (Wikipedia)
What’s in your hot box?
Nancy:
“How Julia Roberts Transformed Into Martha Mitchell in ‘Gaslit’,” by Layla Ilchi (WWD)
Sarah:
All Good Things is Andrew Jarecki’s fictional movie about the Robert Durst story.
Outro music: “Fuck and Run” by Liz Phair
Smokeshow Special: The Unlike-Minded Weirdos