Nancy and Sarah talk about the death of Hayden Panatierre at the age of 36, which just so happens to be the age that Marilyn Monroe died. Sarah wants to know why child actors get an exception against laws preventing kids from working. Nancy spills the secrets on how they get babies to cry in the commercials — and it’s sad! The discuss addiction, postpartum depression, domestic abuse, and more.

The ladies also discuss Nancy’s mom, who passed Monday (yesterday as of this writing). Kathy, we miss you already, and we thank you. Now, about that leather jumpsuit …

Free episode: Invite your friends!

Also discussed:

* Nancy in the Morning™️

* Italians are Sarah’s favorite ethnic stereotype

* Dax / Dak, whatever

* Heroes = pre-Mad Men TV programming

* Can a mother come back from losing custody of her children?

* The mysteries of Marilyn Monroe’s death

* Blackout drinking is “suicide for a night”

* Everybody loves Xanax

Plus, that time Nancy slept like a gunshot victim, our favorite Miranda Lambert jams, and much more.

You know Smoke ‘Em has a YouTube channel, right? Where we post things like…

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Has Sarah mentioned she has a book coming out Sept 29, and that pre-orders matter? Well, as Alanis says, you oughta know …

PRE-ORDER THAT BAD BOY.

Episode Notes:

“Hayden Panetierre is Dead: Star of Nashville and Heroes Dies at 36,” New York Times obituary

This is Me: A Reckoning, by Hayden Panittiere

To the Bridge: A True Story of Motherhood and Murder, by Nancy Rommelmann

What’s in your hot box?

Sarah:

Nancy:

Nancy and Sarah discuss the Hulu/FX series The Shards, the new Bret Easton Ellis and Ryan Murphy jam. The 1981 LA vibes are right in Sarah’s sweet spot (Bonne Bell! Xanadu! The Go-Gos!). For Nancy, not so much, maybe because she lived it. They talk ennui and heroin overdoses and young people trying to prove nothing matters. Then it’s onto the recent shocking Perez Hilton livestream. Celebrity is a mask that eats into the face, in this case (all cases?), tragically.

Also discussed:

* Nightie Day!

* “My mom’s poochie.”

* Studio 54 days

* Rich Angeleno kids = meh

* Smoke ‘Em: Banned in Belarus!

* Sarah doesn’t read Nancy’s existing books but asks her to write others

* Wes Bentley’s eyebrows

* Rich kid names (Homer, Igby, Kaia)

* “Touch it!”

* Who IS Perez Hilton?

* Attention monsters of the Internet

* Women with long and thick silver hair, swoon

Plus, This Week in Kyle Chandler, a dystopic LA short story from Nancy (NB: which was just too gd long to post; it’s “X-Girl” in the collection), and much more!

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Nancy tells the story of a destroyed Jamie Slovak showing up in her yard at 6am on a June morning in 1988. His brother Hillel, guitarist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, had just overdosed, and Jamie, who spent a lot of time at Nancy’s West Hollywood house those days, needed comfort. Nancy has not seen Jamie in decades and was glad to learn just now that he is involved in this doc, which came out earlier this year.

Episode Notes:

“‘The Shards’ Soundtrack Is Incredible – Here’s Every Song From The First Two Episodes” (Elle/Yahoo)

“Ryan Murphy and Bret Easton Ellis Team Up for FX’s Predictably Excess-Soaked Tale of Prep-School Sex, Drugs and Murder” (Hollywood Reporter)

The Bad Mother: A Novel, by Nancy Rommelmann

“Perez Hilton ‘Will Require Surgery’ After Live Stream Incident, Family Demands Media ‘Cease Photographing Perez’s Children’” (Variety)

Official Family Statement on PerezHilton.com

This Week in Kyle Chandler:

What’s in your hot box?

Nancy: Nike Training Club app

Sarah:

There’s this movie everyone is talking about, have you heard of it? The Odyssey, directed by Christopher Nolan, he of the sweeping historical sagas. Sarah’s theory is that it’s the male Barbie, with something for everyone. Whether the ultimate hero’s journey is still relevant in the age of TikTok might/might not be answered by the movie taking in $727+ million in its first 12 days. Nancy and Sarah debate whether the three-hour film is too long (no/yes), whether it needed the Eliot Page character (yes/no), and did Nolan drop the ball on the Sirens (YES!!!!). Sarah delivers some light and loving pushback on the recent episode about Fauci. Then, what do people say behind your back? Sarah and Nancy ponder. Also, we introduce a new segment, "This Week in Kyle Chandler” because … Kyle Chandler.

Also discussed:

* Grease is the word.

* Kaboodles are still a thing

* Mary Katharine Ham is a star

* “It’s gross how cute you are.”

* “Fauci was rubbing it …”

* Cat Damon!!

* You’re welcome back any time, Scott Greenfield

* Sarah refuses to pronounce Ross Douthat’s name properly until he comes on the pod

* No sex for Circe

* Samantha Morton is not Emily Watson …

* “Sarah with the tits, Nancy with the eyes”

Plus, why Nancy and Sarah are taking a road trip to a ranch near Austin, Nancy on that weird Stockard Channing movie, a hot box where every relationship is transactional, and much more!

Paid subscribers get a picture of a cat that looks like Matt Damon, what more can we say?

“I wonder if I can get people to click over and subscribe to the Smoke ‘Em YouTube?”

Episode Notes:

Cast your female podcasters (L to R): Frenchie, Rizzo, Marty

Totally appropriate after-school movie in 1973 …

“It Is Banal, Bland, Thin and Didactic. We Can’t Stop Talking About It,” Ross Douthat on The Odyssey (New York Times)

ICYMI the indomitable Mary Katharine Ham (full epi here):

“Fauci and the Fifth,” by Scott Greenfield (Simple Justice blog)

“What's the bad thing people say about you?,” by Esther (The Spike Substack)

Never sleep on Helen Lewis …

“First Look Inside Men’s Journal’s Summer Entertainment Special With Kyle Chandler” (Men’s Journal)

What’s in your hot box?

Nancy:

There’s a Bear in the House! by Walter Kirn (audio)

Regarding the bear that showed up at Nancy’s Mom’s…

Sarah: