Podcast Summary: Jeff Lewis Has Issues

Episode: Rachel Feinstein & Nicole Ryan: Detention & Hot Firemen
Date: October 31, 2025
Host: Jeff Lewis
Guests: Rachel Feinstein (comedian), Nicole Ryan (media personality)
Location: New York City

Episode Overview

In this lively and unfiltered episode, Jeff Lewis hosts comedian Rachel Feinstein and Nicole Ryan for a candid and hilarious conversation covering personal relationships, messy marriages, hot firemen, childhood antics, parental quirks, and awkward adolescent years. With signature sarcasm and warmth, they dig into the quirks of family life, the peculiarities of firehouse culture, the trauma and humor surrounding school detentions, and the oddities of growing up with eccentric parents. The trio seamlessly weaves through stories that are laugh-out-loud funny while touching on relatable struggles and insecurities.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Firefighter Husband & Firehouse Antics

• Rachel's Husband—A "Hot Fireman"

  • Rachel’s husband, Pete, is a long-term FDNY firefighter, now a battalion chief.
  • Rachel jokes about firehouse culture:

    "I live...if the 911 Memorial Gift Shop were a neighborhood. That's where I live." (03:10 – Rachel)

  • On firefighter personality quirks, overtime hustling, and respect between NY/LA firefighters.
  • Jeff's brother is also a firefighter, drawing parallels between their lifestyles and relentless adrenaline-seeking (04:05–04:43).

• Double Lives and Job-Switching

  • Firemen routinely take extra shifts or side jobs. Rachel:

    "When he became chief he doesn’t get overtime, he’s just twitching. Now he just keeps exploding things in the yard." (05:55 – Rachel)

  • Rachel riffing on her husband “probably about to build a mural of the Founding Fathers blowing Jordan Peterson.”

• Firefighters’ Romanticization and Role Play

  • Nicole presses Rachel about whether she does firefighter roleplay (“You ever role play? Because he’s got the uniforms and everything.” – 06:52 – Jeff)
  • Rachel reveals a mishap ordering “a dozen Catholic schoolgirl outfits” for roleplay—never managing to return the extras.

• Dating a Fireman—How They Met

  • Rachel’s efforts to follow Patti Stanger’s ‘steakhouse theory’ for meeting men, but admits:

    "I couldn't actually approach the guys. Just sitting there weirdly lonely, leering at them..." (09:34 – Rachel)

  • Eventually set up with Pete via a mutual firefighter connection. Selection was hilariously sparse:

    "He sent us back like two pictures. It was just very strange to me that he had two ready." (12:09 – Rachel)

  • Jeff’s harsh humor on slim pickings:

    "She probably showed your picture to about 50 different firemen...only two responded." (12:13 – Jeff)

Marital Dynamics & Self-Esteem

• Chief Pete: Lacking Compliments But High On Practicality

  • Rachel’s husband is hilariously taciturn and non-romantic. When she asks if she looks good:

    "He goes, denim." (14:16 – Rachel)

  • Nickname in their marriage: “Big Guy.”

    "No woman wants to be called Big Guy." (14:40 – Rachel)

  • On her wedding day:

    "Walking down the aisle and he goes, 'bring it in'... and then, 'good job with the makeup.'" (15:22–15:32 – Rachel)

• Rachel's Perspective on Her Type

  • Explains being attracted to working-class, “dusty and traumatized” types, a reaction to her intellectual, activist upbringing (16:00–16:33).
  • Rachel's mother is affectionately dubbed “the pain chamber” for constantly relating everything to suffering or injustice (47:33).

• Pranks and Firehouse Culture

  • Rachel once texted all the firemen in Pete’s phone, hitting on them as a joke; he never bothered clarifying it was her, not him (16:46–18:04).

Parenting: Daughters, Detention, and Big Personalities

• Jeff and Rachel on Their Daughters

  • Both clearly have bold, strong-willed daughters.
  • Rachel: “My mother-in-law said ‘Peter needs a girl to soften his heart,’...if he had a son, he’d push, push, push him.” (24:07)
  • Rachel’s daughter addresses her as “Sweetie,” not “Mom”—treating her more like an “older waitress at a diner”.

    “She gaslights me... she thinks she knows everything, so she talks down to me.” (27:58 – Rachel)

• Jeff’s Daughter and “Labubu” Rebellion

  • Jeff’s daughter Monroe likes to push rules (smuggling forbidden toys—Labubus—back into school after they were banned).

    “If the school reprimands her, I feel like she’s epic. She’s gonna start a company.” (29:28 – Rachel)

  • On handling consequences:

    "Sometimes I think, she needs to deal with her own consequences." (30:00 – Rachel)

• Detention Stories

  • Jeff and Nicole reminisce about old school discipline and suspension stories, with both finding the current school system comparatively “soft.”

    “She called 911 on the class trip and said someone was hurt. So the paramedics and the ambulance…” (30:47 – Jeff)

  • Nicole’s neighbor, “angry old Italian man Jerry,” who called the cops on her party, later arrested for stabbing his daughter-in-law (34:45–35:21).

Coming of Age: Tutors, Trauma & Awkwardness

• Rachel’s Math Tutor Was a Molester—But Not to Her

  • In a darkly comic turn, Rachel reveals her old math tutor, “Mr. File,” was later accused of molestation, but “wasn’t interested in me. My stupidity saved me from a molesting.”

    "What are the odds that [his name is] Mr. File?" (36:54 – Rachel)

  • Jeff relates: A priest at his high school was later accused, but never hit on him.

    “There was a part of me... a little offended that he never hit on me. Am I not sexy enough?" (38:04 – Jeff)

• Physical Awkwardness: "Starter Tit"

  • Rachel reveals her own childhood body-image struggles:

    “I had, like, a starter tit for a year. That was problematic.” (40:01 – Rachel, with further banter about breast sizes)

Material Things: The Costco and Cashmere Section

• Rachel’s Husband’s Love of Costco
  • “He should not have told me this, but when he proposed, he went to get the iPhone tax-free at Costco in Delaware.” (26:13)
  • Shared love for shopping in bulk, laughter at the “Costco ring,” and mutual agreement about the joys of warehouse shopping.

Identity Mix-Up: Two Rachel Feinsteins

• Rachel the Comedian vs. Rachel the Sculptor
  • Rachel recounts being confused with the older, famous artist Rachel Feinstein—including getting and losing high-profile invitations (like a dinner with Oprah).
  • “It was a hard no—they probably had a picture of me at the door: ‘God forbid she tries to get in, don’t let her.’” (42:15)
  • A running bit about being mistakenly honored for avant-garde fashion and artwork that isn’t hers.

Memorable Quotes & Moments

(Timings approximate due to natural conversation flow):

• On firemen:

  "If the 911 Memorial Gift Shop were a neighborhood. That’s where I live." (03:10 - Rachel)

• On role play mishaps:

  "I accidentally ordered a dozen Catholic schoolgirl outfits … I’ve never returned anything." (07:13 – Rachel)

• On husband’s lack of compliments:

  “He goes, denim.” (14:16 – Rachel)

  “He calls me Big Guy... No woman wants to be called Big Guy.” (14:43 – Rachel)

• On school detention:

  "She called 911 on the class trip and said someone was hurt." (30:47 – Jeff)

• On being passed over by a predatory tutor:

  “My stupidity saved me from a molesting.” (36:13 – Rachel)

• On being offended that the priest didn’t hit on him:

  “There was a part of me... a little offended that he never hit on me.” (38:04 – Jeff)

• On her mother's activism:

  "Her and five of the whitest women you could conjure up, protesting racism... in the quietest cul de sac." (49:01 – Rachel)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [03:10] Rachel on firehouse neighborhoods
• [06:52] Firefighter roleplay & costume mishap
• [12:09-13:12] How Rachel met her husband & slim firefighter pickings
• [14:16] “Denim” and “Big Guy” marriage moments
• [24:07] How having a daughter “softens” the tough-guy dad
• [26:13] Costco proposal story
• [30:47] The great Labubu contraband and calling 911 at school
• [36:54] Mr. File the tutor/molester
• [38:04] Jeff on being overlooked by the predatory priest
• [47:33] Rachel’s “pain chamber” mother and the power of protest

Tone & Style

The episode is conversational, sharply witty, and peppered with self-deprecation. Jeff maintains a teasing yet affectionate banter with Rachel and Nicole, who both adeptly volley humor around their personal flaws, odd childhoods, and unconventional relationships. Topics oscillate between outlandish and deeply relatable, with the group frequently making fun of themselves, their partners, and their parents in a way that is both charming and cathartic.

For New Listeners

This episode is quintessential Jeff Lewis: personal overshare, brutal honesty, quick-fire roasts, and colorful stories blending real-life heart with irreverent comedy.
Whether you want to laugh about messy marriages or commiserate on childhood awkwardness, it’s a high-energy, deeply human listen—full of both warmth and laughs.