Nancy and Sarah talk about how watching Artemis II was the injection of awe we all needed. Nancy is reminded of a podcast she recently heard with former senator Ben Sasse, who has pancreatic cancer and talks about facing the end of his life with grace. That’s a different psychic universe than the dysfunction of “What Broke the Beckhams?,” about Brooklyn Beckham (son of David and Victoria), a cautionary tale about extravagant wealth and celebrity. Then it’s on to a recent NYT story on single women throwing weddings for their birthday, which is NOT an actual trend, but still worth talking about.

Also discussed:

* It’s awe, baby

* “Our friend Ross”

* No spaceships for Sarah, no submarines for Nancy

* Oh, to be rich enough to never download another app

* “God’s plan,” discussed

* The awesomeness of Kyle Dunnigan

* The Real Housewives of … Schenectady?

* “I found a handbag that looks like a sandwich…”

* Tyrone, the cheerful doofus

* Sarah makes a date to try on wedding dresses

* Don’t arrest us, Netflix

Also, how long do you keep old laptops, Sarah parties at Area-Club-Studio 51, Nancy considers a new tattoo, and much more!

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Nancy and Sarah talk with Leigh Stein, whose recent Substack essay might be the best thing to come out of the Lindy West discourse. Entitled “I Escaped Bluebeard’s Castle. Lindy West Didn’t,” the essay describes an abusive relationship from Leigh’s past and sheds light on the painful accommodations some of us make to keep love - or its simulacrum - in our lives. No strangers to overdramatic relationships, the gals then take a trip down the memory lane of terrible boyfriends, the insecurities that make people act like creeps and victims, and the trap that is the public persona.

Also discussed:

* Virginity as liability

* Love addiction = the frothy dilemma of it all

* Nancy’s theory of Lindy West’s self-sabotage

* The Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes school of romance

* Sarah is a sucker for a tough childhood

* That time Leigh contemplated a three-way

* “I remember going to a psychic …”

* An addiction to Intervention

* Rescuing someone over and over makes them weaker, then bitter

* Who do you become if you stop solving other people’s problems?

* What would Dan Savage say?

* Heather Havrilesky, preach!

Plus, polyamory as a conceptual art project, Nancy’s dad’s tough love, contemplating the many meanings of “the love hole,” and much more!

Announcements galore:

Go see Leigh in conversation with our beloved Kat Rosenfield, at the Darien Library on Tuesday, April 21, 7-8pm. Details here.

It’s the first Sunday of the month so you (if not Nancy) recall what that means: First Sunday Zoom, 5pm PT / 8pm ET, come celebrate Easter evening with us. Zoom link for paid subscribers will be sent the day-of.

How long does it take to make coffee? Nancy is thinking eight minutes, the average time of her new weekly mini-series, New York Stories. Paid subscribers get it delivered hot and tasty Sundays at 8am.

No April Fool’s joke. Life is better as a paid subscriber.

Thank you to listeners who commented, “Hey, what gives with the audio cut off??” It’s fixed! Old link should work but here it is again xx The management

Nancy and Sarah talk about the Oscars and a question that lingers after the show: Why did the public turn on Timothée Chalamet? The Academy Awards have never been about the BEST so much as who speaks to the current cultural appetite. Speaking of cultural appetites, Nancy’s latest for RealClearInvestigations revisits a MeToo defenestration from 2020 and examines the angles of opportunity that led to it.

Also discussed:

* Wait, who wants men to be androgynous?

* Some love for Conan O’Brien

* Rob Reiner’s amazing ’80s-’90’s run

* Michael B. Jordan was always our favorite

* Nancy and Sarah have a Safdie brothers problem

* Leo underrated?

* Sean Penn: a counter-opinion

* Bye bye, network TV

* Do NOT offer the intern coffee on your apartment deck

* How would you like to become the “referendum” on your profession?

* A journalist’s blistering 23-point email: How to NOT get a subject to respond

* “The Art Newspaper only runs stories we can verify.”

Plus, the lessons of the Seymour Hersh documentary, the greatness of Casey Affleck, Nancy leaves her body listening to a podcast, and much more!

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Nancy and Sarah discuss a NYT interview with Lindy West, the former Jezebel firebrand whose new memoir describes her path toward polyamory — and it’s a rocky one! Nancy and Sarah are split on this one, but West’s account raises an interesting question: When a woman who doesn’t want an open marriage learns to embrace it, does that represent a new kind of liberation, or the old-school accommodation of being the perfect wife? They also talk about a recent essay on the dating crisis among young people and another about the trendiness of love addiction. Special episode alert: Nancy learns about gooning.

Also discussed:

* AI SPAM = Never answering the phone again

* How much would you pay for a piece of rhubarb pie?

* Some love for Aidy Bryant

* Personal writing vs. activism

* “The liberating spirit of anal sex” is a phrase that’s used

* Is there anything worse than one-third of men saying they’re afraid to approach a woman? Yes, yes there is

* Nancy watches porn. Reports back with what men gooners want

* The behavioral modifications that came with our screens

* “Is love the most important thing to you?” is a dumb question

* You want more hockey? We got more hockey!

Plus, Sarah’s new book has a pub date, an Oscar Best Picture bet, Nancy finally admits her latest television addiction — and more!

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The State of Our Union is … long, apparently, with Trump holding court for close to two hours. It was an evening of hyperbole, hockey players, trolling, so many medals and about 5-10 too many guests. Our hearts go out to the fact-checkers.

Also discussed:

* Nancy makes no apologies for her hairdo (but really should)

* Without the hyperbole, Trump’s SOTU would have 20% shorter

* Hottest! Country! Ever!

* Isn’t the emphasis here supposed to be on union?

* “Seven pounds of Botox.”

* Melania’s tight miserable smile

* “Third term” ???

* The Men’s US Hockey Team players were made in the Nancy factory

* Medals! Medals! Medals!

* The BAFTA dust-up

* That Atlantic essay on the measles sure did stir the pot!

* Some 10,000 Maniacs love

Plus, will the most caustic word in the English language always remain caustic? An invitation for listeners to write the addendum The Atlantic should have written, Nancy has her greatest hot box ever, and much more!

REMINDER: First Sunday Zoom is this Sunday, March 1, 8pm ET/5pm PT. Paid subscribers get link-day of.

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Nancy and Sarah talk Love Story, the latest Ryan Murphy jam, about the romance between, and tragic end of, John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette. Do the kids even know about these two people anymore? (One of them, it turns out.) Based on the book, Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, by Elizabeth Beller, the series takes liberties — and one is unforgivable. But there are things to like! Top of that list is Sarah Pidgeon, the actress playing Bessette, who transforms a little-known figure with ice-queen vibes into a carnal and mesmerizing presence.

Also discussed:

* Nancy’s back in Tulsa, wants to buy a house

* The best Ryan Murphy series to date is …

* One Degree of Nancy Rommelmann!

* Naomi Watts as Jackie O??

* Ooooh, the Darryl Hannah in this show

* Nancy does a pretty good Jackie O. impersonation

* Mazzy Star, “Set Adrift on Memory Bliss,” and the ‘90s jams Sarah is digging in “Love Story”

* An understandable reaction on Dallas’s grassy knoll

* Almost three weeks since Nancy Guthrie’s kidnapping

* Hepola, cub reporter!

* Jenny Craig or Kate Moss: Who said it?

Plus, pouring one out for Robert Duvall, who died this week at 95; the subversive humor of Paul Rubens, aka Pee Wee Herman, a hot box pick that changes how we understand #MeToo, and much more!

Last-minute alert: Nancy will appear tomorrow morning — Thursday, February 19 —on the FOX show “America’s Newsroom,” to talk about her recent piece, “Caring for Mom Is an Education in Scams and Fraud.” Scheduled time 10:15am ET.

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January 2026 was bleak, and February ain’t doing much better. Or is it just a matter of where you’re looking? Nancy and Sarah talk about bright spots in the culture, which starts with a big communal TV experience and somehow involves… a lot of sports.

Also discussed:

* Patriots’ coach Mike Vrabel, kind of hot?

* Football needs stories (for Sarah)

* Nancy does accents!

* Super Bowl ads we loved

* A bad day for MAGA, a good day for America

* What up with that Brad Pitt trailer?

* Nancy wants to see what new movie?

* The Epstein saga is longer than the Friday the 13th franchise

* The abandoned Western movie Larry McMurtry wrote before Lonesome Dove

* Peter Bogdanovich vs. Peter Boghossian

* What Olympic sport would Nancy and Sarah choose?

* Our sports crushes

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