Podcast
Second Thought
Hosted by The Free Press · EN
Second Thought is a new podcast from The Free Press tackling pop culture with a sharp, open-minded, and funny point of view. Hosted by Free Press co-founder Suzy Weiss and comedian Dan Ahdoot (Cobra Kai, Undercooked), the show cuts through the noise to explain what everyone is watching, talking about, arguing over, and quietly obsessed with—or will be soon. Expect cutting commentary, unexpected guests, and cultural translating for Gen Xers who want to understand their kids, millennials who are starting to feel like boomers, and everyone in between.
14episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Brad Pitt is Drinking Again
3d ago00:40:42Tap to summarizeIn this episode, Suzy Weiss and Dan Ahdoot unpack this week's very important culture news and spotlight the bizarre stories you probably missed. They celebrate Brad Pitt’s return to drinking “in a more restrained manner” after seven years of sobriety. They explore the Tokyo government’s decision to let men wear shorts to the office—and the resulting concern over “leg hair harassment” from the women forced to look at their hairy shins. And they investigate the extraordinary case of former Cambridge professor Jason Arday, whose alleged fabrications include being mute until age 11, illiterate until 18, running 600 miles in six days, and surviving a monthslong coma. Plus: Jussie Smollett and Karamo Brown’s blossoming relationship, what Olivia Rodrigo dating a finance guy means for Suzy’s romantic prospects, and why Bumble is giving up on women making the first move. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →Jared Leto, Ariana Grande, and Naked Steakhouses
1w ago00:47:01Tap to summarizeIn this episode, Suzy Weiss and Dan Ahdoot unpack this week’s very important culture news and spotlight the bizarre stories you probably missed. They discuss the sexual misconduct allegations against Jared Leto, Ariana Grande’s decision to step back from public life amid growing concern over the pop star’s health, and whether modern culture has forgotten the value of keeping things separate: therapy from the workplace, homes from restaurants, and steak from nudity. They break down the former Netflix executive suing after he was fired for revealing his ketamine use during a corporate trust exercise, the booming underground economy of home-cooked meals on Facebook Marketplace, and why a Florida steakhouse now wants you to eat your ribeye completely naked. Second Thought is supported by Cozy Earth. Experience ultimate comfort with Cozy Earth’s award-winning bamboo sheets, unbelievably soft and naturally cooling. Visit CozyEarth.com and use code SUZY for 20% off. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →The Dark Side of Motherhood
2w ago00:47:09Tap to summarizeIn this episode Suzy Weiss sits down with journalist Amy Chozick, who has spent her career covering some of America’s most polarizing women—from Hillary Clinton and Stormy Daniels to Elizabeth Holmes and Lauren Sánchez Bezos. They explore what these wildly different women have in common, why they’re judged so harshly, and what the public gets wrong about them. Then they turn to Chozick’s new novel and the growing wave of books exposing the darker side of motherhood and why it feels like part of you dies when you have children. Plus: a stirring defense of Lorena Bobbitt. Second Thought is supported by Cozy Earth. Experience ultimate comfort with Cozy Earth’s award-winning bamboo sheets, unbelievably soft and naturally cooling. Visit CozyEarth.com and use code SUZY for 20% off. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →Tom Brady’s Midlife Crisis
3w ago00:47:29Tap to summarizeIn this episode, Suzy Weiss and Dan Ahdoot unpack this week's very important culture news and spotlight the bizarre stories you probably missed. They examine Tom Brady’s increasingly strange post-divorce reinvention and his latest publicity stunt with Logan Paul, asking whether the GOAT is in the throes of a midlife crisis. They dig into the legal challenge to South Carolina’s face tattoo ban and debate whether face tattoos are really an expression of free speech. Then they ask the only question that really matters: Would you buy parasite-contaminated lettuce for 50 percent off and play “lettuce roulette” with a few days of explosive diarrhea? Plus: Why the outrage over Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is aimed at all the wrong things, the viral deformed raccoon uniting Seattle, and why Scientologists may deserve a little more respect than they usually get. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →Inside the Golden Age of Porn
Jul 1700:55:01Tap to summarizeIs porn empowering? Is it a scourge? And either way: Was it better in the ’80s? In this episode, Suzy Weiss and Dan Ahdoot sit down with writer Allie Rowbottom to dig into her new novel, Lovers XXX, set in the cocaine-fueled “golden age” of Los Angeles’ adult film industry. They discuss the evolution of pornography from VHS tapes to OnlyFans and why feminists remain deeply divided over whether porn liberates women or exploits them. Plus: the dark side of Los Angeles, the differences between East and West Coast strip clubs, and the enduring American greatness of Jell-O. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →All the Details on Taylor Swift’s Gaudy Wedding
Jul 1000:43:17Tap to summarizeIn this episode, Suzy Weiss and Dan Ahdoot unpack this week’s *very* important culture news and highlight the bizarre, fascinating stories that you probably missed. They dissect Taylor Swift’s unhinged Madison Square Garden wedding, from the “schizophrenic” buffet menu and Chanel bag raffle to the bizarre guest list (why was George Stephanopoulos there?)—plus how one artist made money by selling cubes of trash collected outside the venue. They break down how AI is helping people talk to dead relatives, raising the question: Can your dead grandfather finally tell you he’s okay with the fact that you skipped law school? Plus: Paris Hilton’s surprisingly effective crusade against abusive “troubled teen” schools, why only Japanese people should ask guests to take off their shoes, and an airtight theory for why America will never dominate soccer: We have too much dignity to fake injuries like socialist European players do. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →Child Star, Neuroscientist, Crunchy Mom: The Many Sides of Mayim Bialik
Jun 2601:28:04Tap to summarizeFew public figures have a résumé as eclectic as Mayim Bialik’s: child star, sitcom icon, neuroscientist, Jeopardy! host, “crotchety” feminist, and unapologetic Zionist. On this episode of Second Thought, she joins Suzy Weiss for a conversation about growing up as a child actress, finding fame on Blossom, spending a decade on The Big Bang Theory, and why Hollywood has never quite felt like home. Plus: feminism, GLP-1s, abortion, plastic surgery, “naturalistic” parenting, generational trauma, whether toxic shock syndrome is real, being labeled both an out-of-touch liberal and a secret Republican, trying to raise “normal” kids in Los Angeles, and being a proudly Jewish actress in a post–October 7 world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →How Our Culture Became ‘Cult-Like’
Jun 1901:15:23Tap to summarizeAccording to Luke Burgis, our biggest social problem isn’t loneliness or polarization or the decline of trust in institutions. Our problem is that most of us don’t even really understand ourselves. We dress dress alike, flock to the same restaurants, and chase the same goals not because we’re adjusting our behavior to fit in, but because the people around us have fundamentally transformed our inner desires and flattened our personalities That’s the subject of Burgis’s new book, The One and the Ninety-Nine, which explores how to build a “solid self” in a world of mimetic desire, social contagion, and intoxicating group dynamics. In this episode, Suzy Weiss and Dan Ahdoot cover all of this with him, plus Knicks mania, Cacio e Pepe, voice notes, and the unwritten rules of “dude-on-dude” phone calls. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →Jeff Ross on Tom Brady, Trump, and the Roast of Kevin Hart
Jun 1201:13:23Tap to summarizeRoast comedy is one of the last places where truly unfiltered commentary still lands in public, says “Roastmaster General” Jeff Ross. Few people understand the art of the insult better than Ross, who has presided over the brutal, hilarious takedowns of everyone from Joan Rivers and Justin Bieber to Charlie Sheen. Today, he joins Suzy Weiss to break down his new Netflix special, Take a Banana for the Ride, which manages to be both hilarious and serious—addressing the loss of both of his parents as a teenager, the grief that shaped him, and how comedy became a way to build resilience and develop a thicker skin. In their conversation, they also discuss why the Tom Brady roast unexpectedly helped thaw old tensions between Brady, his former team, and Bill Belichick, how Ross persuaded Brady to step back onto the dais for the roast of Kevin Hart, the resurgence of the word retarded in public use, Ross’s relationship with Donald Trump, why he adopted a geriatric dog during the pandemic, and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →I Am Not a Robot (but My Boyfriend Was)
Jun 501:13:33Tap to summarizeFor a year, tech writer Joanna Stern turned herself into an AI guinea pig. She let artificial intelligence into every corner of her life: testing robot assistants, commuting in autonomous vehicles, reading AI bedtime stories to her children, and even going on a road trip with her AI boyfriend, Evan. That experiment became her new book, I Am Not a Robot. In this episode, Joanna breaks down what we can expect from the next wave of AI technology. One question hangs over the episode: When the podcast host bots of the future are interviewing AI guest bots for the listening audience bots, who exactly will buy the mattresses? Plus: “rizz camming,” Dua Lipa’s restaurant recommendations, Backrooms, why online reviews are useless, Gen-Z jeans, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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