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.
10episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Inside the Golden Age of Porn
3d ago00:55:01Tap 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
1w ago00:43:17Tap 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
3w ago01:28:04Tap 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
Transcribe →Scooter Braun on Taylor Swift, Kanye West, and Becoming the Internet’s Villain
May 2801:25:47Tap to summarizeScooter Braun reflects on how he became one of pop music’s most powerful kingmakers, helping to engineer the careers of Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande—and the controversies that reshaped his public image, from Kanye West’s antisemitic spiral, which ended their relationship, to the Taylor Swift masters dispute that turned Braun into one of the internet’s biggest villains. Braun says he barely knew Swift personally and argues the feud was flattened into a simplified tale that painted him as an exploiter in a story far more complicated than the public understood. He opens up about the intensity of the backlash—and how the online fury pushed him into a suicidal low point. They also discuss the changing economics of music, celebrity, fandom, and power in the social media era. Plus: why Braun thinks Spencer Pratt could actually become mayor of Los Angeles, and how he felt watching most of the music industry stay silent after Hamas’s October 7 attacks on Israel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →‘Call Her Daddy,’ ‘Euphoria,’ and the New Template for Girlhood
May 2201:06:22Tap to summarizeIn this episode, Suzy Weiss sits down with writer Freya India to discuss how the internet, influencer culture, and therapy-speak have made adolescence more miserable than ever for girls. India’s new book, Girls®: Generation Z and the Commodification of Everything, examines how algorithm-driven platforms push young users toward extremes in beauty, body image, mental health, and relationships. It’s not vague cultural forces like “the patriarchy” that are warping girls’ self-worth, she argues. The real drivers are companies, and the social media platforms engineered to maximize engagement. India says that the effect isn’t just heightened insecurity, but a total flattening of personality. Across the world, girls are being pulled toward a homogenized end state—where everyone wants to look like the Kardashians, talk like Alex Cooper, and medicate or shop their way out of anxiety. They also explore rising male insecurity around appearance, how “femosphere” podcasts like Call Her Daddy mirror the same dynamics as the manosphere, the rise of OnlyFans, Euphoria, and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →Legendary Screenwriter on Hollywood, the Future of Entertainment—and Compulsive Gambling
May 1500:58:32Tap to summarizeRead Allan Loeb in The Free Press: https://www.thefp.com/p/hi-my-name-is-allan-and-im-a-compulsive On this week’s episode of Second Thought, Suzy Weiss sits down with screenwriter Allan Loeb—he wrote, among other films, 21, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, The Dilemma, and Just Go with It—for a wide-ranging, entertaining conversation about Hollywood, AI anxiety, compulsive gambling, and the strange psychology of risk. Loeb opens up about creating imaginary friends whose net worths he obsessively tracked as a child, which developed into a gambling addiction that has checkered his adult life. He recounts losing fortunes shorting Tesla and spiraling through blackjack systems in Bahamian casinos—all while becoming a renowned Hollywood writer. Suzy and Allan unpack the future of storytelling in the age of AI, why Hollywood may not be dying nearly as fast as everyone claims, Tom Holland’s attachment style, and why baseball is “the crystal meth of gambling.” Then, comedian Dan Ahdoot joins the panel for a rundown of the week’s biggest culture stories—from the hantavirus panic to Billie Eilish’s new James Cameron-directed documentary, to the roast of Kevin Hart (the women took the night!). It’s a funny and moving episode that you won’t want to miss. Want more Suzy? Subscribe to “The Free Press” today to get her weekly culture column—fresh in your inbox every Friday afternoon: https://www.thefp.com/s/second-thought?sort=new Follow Suzy Weiss: Twitter: https://x.com/SnoozyWeiss Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/suzyisonline/ Follow Dan: Twitter https://x.com/standupdan Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/standupdan/ Subscribe to The Free Press: https://www.thefp.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →Would You Travel to Korea for a New Face? Ben Kawaller Did.
May 800:38:27Tap to summarizeBen Kawaller just flew to South Korea to inject salmon sperm into his face. On this week’s episode of “Second Thought,” Suzy Weiss, Dan Ahdoot, and Ben unpack the bizarre rise of the male beauty economy. Ben recounts his surreal trip to Seoul, where he underwent a series of cutting-edge cosmetic procedures—including “Crowtox,” laser treatments, and the infamous Rejuran salmon DNA injections. They also discuss Ben’s new podcast series, “Strange Bedfellows,” which explores the complicated political and cultural history of the LGBTQ coalition. From the shift from “gay” to “queer,” to the tensions within the movement itself, the discussion digs into how identity politics, gender ideology, and coalition-building reshaped American culture over the last several decades. Plus: theater etiquette collapse, the Met Gala, Jeff Bezos funding the arts, Spirit Airlines shutting down, why nobody knows how to behave in public anymore—and whether fashion is actually art. Smart, funny, provocative, and completely unhinged. You don’t want to miss it. Want more Suzy? Subscribe to “The Free Press” today to get her weekly culture column—fresh in your inbox every Friday afternoon: https://www.thefp.com/s/second-thought?sort=new Follow Suzy: Twitter: https://x.com/SnoozyWeiss Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/suzyisonline/ Follow Dan: Twitter https://x.com/standupdan Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/standupdan/ Follow Ben: Twitter: https://x.com/benkawaller Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/benkawaller/ Subscribe to “The Free Press”: https://www.thefp.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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