Dingus of the Week Podcast

Haley Stevens lost Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary to Abdul El-Sayed, then announced her engagement to Jason Turkish, a disability rights attorney and campaign donor. Days before the Nov. 3 election, Turkish told reporters he plans to vote for Republican Mike Rogers instead of El-Sayed. This led to a news cycle focused on whether Stevens is really with her party’s nominee.

You'll of course remember US Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer refusing to endorse Zohran Mamdani after the Democratic primary was finished. So what do people really mean when they say "Vote blue no matter who?" Does it only apply to the left? Or should moderates get in line?

On this episode of DINGUS OF THE WEEK, hosts LYZ LENZ and ZACHARY OREN SMITH are joined by Cornell College political scientist MEGAN GOLDBERG get into why the relationship only seems to go one way. Goldberg also explains why your phone is full of “we see that you voted” texts.

Also this week: a listener dingus from Ann, the Cheesecake Factory discourse, a pork fat cocktail, and chopping wood in Crocs.

DINGUS OF THE WEEK is a weekly comedy news podcast where writers Lyz and Zach light a fire under the American rogue's gallery to see who comes spilling out. If you're tired of doom-scrolling but know ignoring the problem doesn't get us anywhere, this is your new weekend listen. New episodes every Saturday morning.

👑 $5/month - Not a Dingus tier (3 weekly newsletters, 1 podcast, and our entire archive)

👑👑 $10/month - Definitely Not a Dingus tier (all the above + polls and topic submissions, a chat community, weekly discussions, comment access, and our love)

SEND US YOUR DINGUS. Record a voice memo and tell us who your dingus of the week is. Make it good and you'll hear your voice on the show. You can also email those to [email protected]. 

FOLLOW DINGUS OF THE WEEK

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LYZ LENZ is the HBIC of MYAM Media. 

ZACHARY OREN SMITH writes about politics for Iowa Starting Line. Follow his work on Instagram (http://instagram.com/zacharyorensmith) and TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@zacharyorensmith).

LAURA BENITEZ wrote the theme song.

SHOW RUNDOWN:
0:00 - Intro
1:43 - Meet Megan Goldberg and the get-out-the-vote text avalanche
3:42 - The Ice-T text
4:56 - The political science behind “we see that you voted”
19:45 - The dingus: Jason Turkish
22:08 - “Vote blue no matter who” and Josh Turek
26:37 - Haley Stevens responds
35:19 - Midroll
35:47 - Listener dingus: Scott Bessent at the Cheesecake Factory
42:41 - Joy
51:18 - Outro

Imagine for a second: you’re one of the most-booked men in Democratic politics. The midterms are just two weeks away. Your party is polling its way towards a wave election. And so how do you make the most out of this one little life?

Point to interesting candidates in harder districts? No. Put the spotlight on cause that's getting no traction? No. You go on a podcast to say you’d rather Republicans keep the House than see Democrats win it narrowly.

That’s what James Carville told Bill Kristol on Bulwark on Sunday that he’d “rather the Republicans keep the House by five than the Democrats win by five” because a slim Democratic majority would be “hostage to the DSA.”

Writer Elizabeth Spiers has a theory, and it’s less about Carville than about the people who keep booking him. In a column for The Nation, she argues that cable producers, podcast hosts and Democratic campaigns keep handing a megaphone to a strategist still running a 1992 playbook. And there's just no changing this man.

On this episode of DINGUS OF THE WEEK, hosts LYZ LENZ and ZACHARY OREN SMITH are joined by ELIZABETH SPIERS to ask why Carville is everywhere, whether his “hostage” argument holds up, and who the media should be booking instead.

DINGUS OF THE WEEK is a weekly comedy news podcast where writers Lyz and Zach light a fire under the American rogue's gallery to see who comes spilling out. If you're tired of doom-scrolling but know ignoring the problem doesn't get us anywhere, this is your new weekend listen. New episodes every Saturday morning.

👑 $5/month - Not a Dingus tier (3 weekly newsletters, 1 podcast, and our entire archive)

👑👑 $10/month - Definitely Not a Dingus tier (all the above + polls and topic submissions, a chat community, weekly discussions, comment access, and our love)

SEND US YOUR DINGUS. Record a voice memo and tell us who your dingus of the week is. Make it good and you'll hear your voice on the show. You can also email those to [email protected]. 

FOLLOW DINGUS OF THE WEEK

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LYZ LENZ is the HBIC of MYAM Media. 

ZACHARY OREN SMITH writes about politics for Iowa Starting Line. Follow his work on Instagram (http://instagram.com/zacharyorensmith) and TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@zacharyorensmith).

LAURA BENITEZ wrote the theme song.

SHOW RUNDOWN:

0:00 - Intro

2:30 - How good is Jon Husted’s ass?

6:17 - James Carville’s hostage theory of the House

16:10 - Identity politics, wages and welfare reform

20:30 - The booking problem: the dinner party fishbowl

22:40 - The Ragin’ Cajun is a costume

33:00 - Midterm hope, Mamdani and potholes

38:30 - Voicemail: the ballot guy, Stephen Miller and the cake kid

48:10 - Joy: data centers, Holmes doc, passive soup-maxing

55:09 - Outro

The Washington Post obtained an internal spreadsheet tracking every major donation to the White House ballroom, and it shows $333 million from private donors across 67 donations. Nvidia, Apple, the Adelson family and Dish co-founder Charlie Ergen each committed $25 million, and Google chipped in $22 million from settlement money in Trump’s lawsuit against YouTube. One name missing from the list: Trump himself, who said the project is “paid for a hundred percent by me and some friends of mine.”

Meanwhile, about half the money came from companies or executives with federal contracts, and the donations are routed through a nonprofit so no one has to disclose a thing.

On this episode of DINGUS OF THE WEEK, hosts LYZ LENZ and ZACHARY OREN SMITH parse through some excellent reporting and the insight it brought to a story you need to know about.

DINGUS OF THE WEEK is a weekly comedy news podcast where writers Lyz and Zach light a fire under the American rogue's gallery to see who comes spilling out. If you're tired of doom-scrolling but know ignoring the problem doesn't get us anywhere, this is your new weekend listen. New episodes every Saturday morning.

👑 $5/month - Not a Dingus tier (3 weekly newsletters, 1 podcast, and our entire archive)

👑👑 $10/month - Definitely Not a Dingus tier (all the above + polls and topic submissions, a chat community, weekly discussions, comment access, and our love)

SEND US YOUR DINGUS. Record a voice memo and tell us who your dingus of the week is. Make it good and you'll hear your voice on the show. You can also email those to [email protected]. 

FOLLOW DINGUS OF THE WEEK

• Youtube

• Instagram

LYZ LENZ is the HBIC of MYAM Media. 

ZACHARY OREN SMITH writes about politics for Iowa Starting Line. Follow his work on Instagram (http://instagram.com/zacharyorensmith) and TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@zacharyorensmith).

LAURA BENITEZ wrote the theme song.

SHOW RUNDOWN:

0:00 - Cold open

10:23 - Intro and support the show

13:02 - Dingus of the Week: the new press secretary, the wrong Portland ad, Shane Gillis

22:35 - The Washington Post ballroom donor list and the Trust for the National Mall

33:03 - Favors and donors: Herrera Velutini, Rocket, Ergen

36:24 - Nvidia’s statement and the Guilfoyle callback

40:02 - Anonymity, federal contracts, and who gets the attention

50:22 - Midroll: Kelly Clarkson vs. the Art of Play, Adam Rubin and children’s authors

01:04:29 - Joy: Lyz’s rock climbing, Zach’s Steve King text message story

01:12:26 - Outro

Kimberly Guilfoyle made her name as a prosecutor in the San Francisco dog mauling case, but she's making her criminal future on a Wall Street Journal report that she asked Kentucky lawyer Eric Deters to wire money to pay her American Express bill. The Journal reviewed alleged Signal texts between the two. Deters says he had already paid her $300,000 over the years and “not received one favor,” and he did not make the payment. Guilfoyle’s lawyer disputes the messages’ authenticity.

It’s not the first Journal story on her conduct. A September investigation examined her work alongside Aktor Group lobbyist Christos Marafatsos, and congressional Democrats asked the State Department for records. Guilfoyle’s lawyer and the embassy deny any impropriety.

On this episode of DINGUS OF THE WEEK, hosts LYZ LENZ and ZACHARY OREN SMITH break down the Guilfoyle story and the rise that led to it.

DINGUS OF THE WEEK is a weekly comedy news podcast where writers Lyz and Zach light a fire under the American rogue's gallery to see who comes spilling out. If you're tired of doom-scrolling but know ignoring the problem doesn't get us anywhere, this is your new weekend listen. New episodes every Saturday morning.

👑 $5/month - Not a Dingus tier (3 weekly newsletters, 1 podcast, and our entire archive)

👑👑 $10/month - Definitely Not a Dingus tier (all the above + polls and topic submissions, a chat community, weekly discussions, comment access, and our love)

SEND US YOUR DINGUS. Record a voice memo and tell us who your dingus of the week is. Make it good and you'll hear your voice on the show. You can also email those to [email protected]. 

FOLLOW DINGUS OF THE WEEK

• Youtube

• Instagram

LYZ LENZ is the HBIC of MYAM Media. 

ZACHARY OREN SMITH writes about politics for Iowa Starting Line. Follow his work on Instagram (http://instagram.com/zacharyorensmith) and TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@zacharyorensmith).

LAURA BENITEZ wrote the theme song.

SHOW RUNDOWN:

0:00 - Cold open: hate mail, the Y in Lyz’s name, and mail from the Muscatine Journal days

14:25 - Intro

16:37 - Dingus: Kimberly Guilfoyle

29:31 - The WSJ story: the $100,000 Amex bill, Eric Deters, and the “Honey, please” texts

55:56 - Dingus voicemails: Susan Dell and the Trump Accounts letter, and My School Bucks

1:07:32 - Joy: Lyz goes rock climbing, and Zach on surviving the debates

1:18:18 - Outro

On Tuesday, Missouri Sen. Eric Schmitt accused former special counsel Jack Smith of perjury at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, saying Smith had gone to an Atlanta Hawks game the day after Fani Willis and Nathan Wade's affair became public. The evidence? His goon flashes a poster board depicting text messages that Schmitt said tied him to an Atlanta Hawks game.

Only... turns out he was just going watch phenom Caitlin Clark play in Maryland. Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar pointed out the mix-up while Schmitt was still calling Smith a "dirtbag."

It got worse from there. Sean Hannity and Benny Johnson deleted their victory-lap posts. MS NOW reported that Schmitt was warned the texts hadn't been vetted, and Axios had floated him that same morning as a possible 2028 Vance running mate. Schmitt, a former Missouri attorney general, has a track record of confident, losing legal gambles, including a COVID suit against China that a judge dismissed.

On this episode of DINGUS OF THE WEEK, hosts LYZ LENZ and ZACHARY OREN SMITH explain why a senator who spent years invoking women's sports forgot that women play then. And surely you saw Katie Britt's reaction shot.

DINGUS OF THE WEEK is a weekly comedy news podcast where writers Lyz and Zach light a fire under the American rogue's gallery to see who comes spilling out. If you're tired of doom-scrolling but know ignoring the problem doesn't get us anywhere, this is your new weekend listen. New episodes every Saturday morning.

👑 $5/month - Not a Dingus tier (3 weekly newsletters, 1 podcast, and our entire archive)

👑👑 $10/month - Definitely Not a Dingus tier (all the above + polls and topic submissions, a chat community, weekly discussions, comment access, and our love)

SEND US YOUR DINGUS. Record a voice memo and tell us who your dingus of the week is. Make it good and you'll hear your voice on the show. You can also email those to [email protected]. 

FOLLOW DINGUS OF THE WEEK

• Youtube

• Instagram

LYZ LENZ is the HBIC of MYAM Media. 

ZACHARY OREN SMITH writes about politics for Iowa Starting Line. Follow his work on Instagram (http://instagram.com/zacharyorensmith) and TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@zacharyorensmith).

LAURA BENITEZ wrote the theme song.

SHOW RUNDOWN:

0:00 - Intro: October surprises and Iowa's midterm
3:22 - Trump's $15 billion Lee County steel mill, Foxconn flashbacks, and Iowa's tax-break giveaways
16:22 - Who's the Dingus of the Week: Sen. Eric Schmitt
21:40 - The Jack Smith hearing: the Atlanta questions, the poster board, and Klobuchar catching the Hawks/Hawkeyes mix-up
28:23 - Schmitt's "only NBA game" defense, Katie Britt's reaction shot, and Brian's voicemail
33:28 - The MS NOW leak, Hannity and Benny Johnson's deleted posts, and the Vance VP buzz
47:46 - Molly's voicemail and a heavy week of news
1:01:15 - Joy: dating-app AI rejections, a stepmom shoutout, Walter Anderson woodblocks, and Carly Rae Jepsen
1:10:25 - Outro

For months, the war in Iran was a lockstep vote for Congressional Republicans. Support it, keep supporting it, and don't blink. US Rep. Ashley Hinson voted to support the war seven separate times. US Sen. Jon Husted, another Republican facing a hard midterm election, called for a quick end despite continuing to oppose Democratic efforts to restrict the administration's military authority.

But then, forty-some days out from the midterms, with gas at $4.30 a gallon in Iowa and diesel at $6.31, something remarkable happened: the same Republicans who made the war possible started running from it.

It's not that they changed their minds about the war. It's that Trump's approval numbers have gone the way of most things this year: down. So now you've got senators and House members who spent a year saying "out of sight, out of mind" suddenly discovering, on the eve of an election, that maybe the war they enabled wasn't such a good idea.

On this episode of DINGUS OF THE WEEK, hosts LYZ LENZ and ZACHARY OREN SMITH consider hopium in the face of the midterms.

DINGUS OF THE WEEK is a weekly comedy news podcast where writers Lyz and Zach light a fire under the American rogue's gallery to see who comes spilling out. If you're tired of doom-scrolling but know ignoring the problem doesn't get us anywhere, this is your new weekend listen. New episodes every Saturday morning.

👑 $5/month - Not a Dingus tier (3 weekly newsletters, 1 podcast, and our entire archive)

👑👑 $10/month - Definitely Not a Dingus tier (all the above + polls and topic submissions, a chat community, weekly discussions, comment access, and our love)

SEND US YOUR DINGUS. Record a voice memo and tell us who your dingus of the week is. Make it good and you'll hear your voice on the show. You can also email those to [email protected]. 

FOLLOW DINGUS OF THE WEEK

• Youtube

• Instagram

LYZ LENZ is the HBIC of MYAM Media. 

ZACHARY OREN SMITH writes about politics for Iowa Starting Line. Follow his work on Instagram (http://instagram.com/zacharyorensmith) and TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@zacharyorensmith).

LAURA BENITEZ wrote the theme song.

SHOW RUNDOWN:

0:46 - Open - Should you bring an ice coffee to an interview? No, but a martini would be nice.

9:09 - Intro

16:40 - How Ann Selzer's 2024 poll hurt us: a retrospective

30:38 - Senate math

33:06 - THE DINGUS: Ashley Hinson's Iran war reversal

44:39 - GOP stalwarts begin jumping ship on war in Iran

53:08 - Healthcare: Medicaid/ACA subsidy cuts, clinic closures

1:02:19 - Listener-submitted dingus

1:04:33 - Dad goes viral for being the worst parent we've ever seen

1:14:57 - Joy: Daughter's first birthday, podcast anniversary

Who would have thought we'd be talking about the moral clarity of the popping tags guy? You know what? Never mind. We're glad you're here, Macklemore.

He's been using his tremendous platform as an opener for Ed Sheeran to speak out about the ongoing Palestinian genocide. But those in power made sure there were costs to being on the right side of history.

Macklemore was dropped from the tour. According to his Instagram post recounting the events, it resulted from a pressure campaign waged by Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who confirmed he barred him from the shows at Gillette Stadium. Sheeran's side pointed to the tour's promoter, who said venues wouldn't allow Macklemore to perform.

It did not go well. Finneas, Lukas Graham, and Aaron Rowe pulled out of the tour, and the whole lineup went with them. That leaves a pop star who rose to fame as a collaborator, now alone on stage with his guitar, repeating his defense that he's not political. That he's not complicit...

On this episode of DINGUS OF THE WEEK, hosts LYZ LENZ and ZACHARY OREN SMITH welcome Defector staff writer and Normal Gossip founding host KELSEY MCKINNEY to break down how the Thrift Shop Guy somehow became the moral compass. Who would have thought.

DINGUS OF THE WEEK is a weekly comedy news podcast where writers Lyz and Zach light a fire under the American rogue's gallery to see who comes spilling out. If you're tired of doom-scrolling but know ignoring the problem doesn't get us anywhere, this is your new weekend listen. New episodes every Saturday morning.

👑 $5/month - Not a Dingus tier (3 weekly newsletters, 1 podcast, and our entire archive)

👑👑 $10/month - Definitely Not a Dingus tier (all the above + polls and topic submissions, a chat community, weekly discussions, comment access, and our love)

SEND US YOUR DINGUS. Record a voice memo and tell us who your dingus of the week is. Make it good and you'll hear your voice on the show. You can also email those to [email protected]. 

FOLLOW DINGUS OF THE WEEK

• Youtube

• Instagram

LYZ LENZ is the HBIC of MYAM Media. 

ZACHARY OREN SMITH writes about politics for Iowa Starting Line. Follow his work on Instagram (http://instagram.com/zacharyorensmith) and TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@zacharyorensmith).

LAURA BENITEZ wrote the theme song.

SHOW RUNDOWN:

0:00 - Intro

1:15 - Guest intro: Kelsey McKinney of Defector and Normal Gossip

1:50 - Dingus: Ed Sheeran, Macklemore, and the Bob Kraft phone call

10:33 - The Thrift Shop Guy's moral compass

12:12 - Why Sheeran didn't have to step in

25:40 - "People depend on me": just pay the crew

26:00 - "Not complicit" and "I'm not political"

28:29 - Art can't be apolitical: the Chicks, Dylan, Nina Simone, and AI slop music

34:26 - Game: Name That Dingus NFL Owner

42:31 - Paper fortunes, lawn chair heiresses, and the inventor of the strawberry clamshell

46:40 - Joy: Kelsey on rewatching Vanderpump Rules; Lyz on Blacktail; Zach on Sleater-Kinney at Codfish Hollow

52:17 - Outro

A lot can be said about John Fetterman, but maybe people don't appreciate the Senator from Pennsylvania's love for stirring the pot. Down in Dallas, Fetterman appeared on the jumbo screen before a crowd of adoring Republicans, insisting, repeatedly, that he's still a registered Democrat.

It's hard to remember, but not that long ago, Fetterman was a bit of a progressive folk hero. Bernie Sanders endorsed him twice, first for lieutenant governor and then for Senate. he pushed for the decriminalization of petty drug charges. And he campaigned on Medicare for All and a $15 minimum wage. That's the résumé that got the party's left flank to stump for him in 2022. It is not the résumé of a man who, four years later, was the lone Democrat voting to advance a GOP-backed DHS funding bill, reversed his own position on killing the filibuster, and told CNN's Caitlin Collins he wouldn't sign onto an investigation into a U.S. strike on an Iranian girls' school.

On this episode of DINGUS OF THE WEEK, hosts LYZ LENZ and ZACHARY OREN SMITH are chasing the ogre himself, wondering how we got here.

DINGUS OF THE WEEK is a weekly comedy news podcast where writers Lyz and Zach light a fire under the American rogues' gallery to see who comes crawling out. If you're tired of doom-scrolling but know ignoring the problem doesn't get us anywhere, this is your new weekend listen. New episodes every Saturday morning.

👑 $5/month - Not a Dingus tier (3 weekly newsletters, 1 podcast, and our entire archive)

👑👑 $10/month - Definitely Not a Dingus tier (all the above + polls and topic submissions, a chat community, weekly discussions, comment access, and our love)

SEND US YOUR DINGUS. Record a voice memo and tell us who your dingus of the week is. Make it good and you'll hear your voice on the show. You can also email those to [email protected]. 

FOLLOW DINGUS OF THE WEEK

• Youtube

• Instagram

LYZ LENZ is the HBIC of MYAM Media. 

ZACHARY OREN SMITH writes about politics for Iowa Starting Line. Follow his work on Instagram (http://instagram.com/zacharyorensmith) and TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@zacharyorensmith).

LAURA BENITEZ wrote the theme song.

SHOW RUNDOWN:

0:00 — Cold open: 9/11 memories
17:04 — Intro
18:52 — Pre-Dingus: Giuliani vs. Mamdani
24:11 — Dingus: John Fetterman
58:54 — Midroll: Lyz's newsletter reflection
1:03:20 — Listener voicemail Dingus: Call the wife.
1:14:01 — Joy segment: a concert you must go to and Legal weed
1:27:42 — Outro
1:31:41 — Credits/outro song

Puck reported that Gwyneth Paltrow was throwing a private, "off-the-record" dinner at her Hamptons estate in honor of OpenAI's Sam Altman—whose company the New York Times reported Paltrow is an investor in via her own VC firm. Paltrow's team never confirmed or denied it, instead posting parody invitations for fictional guests of honor like M3GAN and Shrek — before reports emerged that the actual dinner had quietly been shelved.

It's a rough follow-up act for a woman who, just months earlier on her own podcast with Kara Swisher, denounced "super rich white dudes" who don't think about "the downstream impact." You add in her May Goop Kitchen ad starring convicted fraudster Anna Delvey in her ankle monitor, and her June ad for a luxury Israeli condo development that drew accusations of the "goopification of settler colonialism" mid-war, and you've got a pretty full season of not reading the room.

This week's guest didn't need a deep dive on any of it. Jezebel founder Anna Holmes joined the show, and when asked to name a dingus: Gwyneth Paltrow. Fair enough — Holmes spent years as a magazine assistant at Entertainment Weekly interviewing celebs like Paltrow.

Holmes is also the author of the new book "The Power of No: A Celebration", out September 15 — pre-order it now.

On this episode of DINGUS OF THE WEEK, hosts LYZ LENZ and ZACHARY OREN SMITH welcome Jezebel founder ANNA HOLMES to trace Goop's evolution from jade eggs and genital-scented candles to Silicon Valley dinner parties.

DINGUS OF THE WEEK is a weekly comedy news podcast where writers Lyz and Zach light a fire under the American rogue's gallery to see who comes spilling out. If you're tired of doom-scrolling but know ignoring the problem doesn't get us anywhere, this is your new weekend listen. New episodes every Saturday morning.

👑 $5/month - Not a Dingus tier (3 weekly newsletters, 1 podcast, and our entire archive)

👑👑 $10/month - Definitely Not a Dingus tier (all the above + polls and topic submissions, a chat community, weekly discussions, comment access, and our love)

SEND US YOUR DINGUS. Record a voice memo and tell us who your dingus of the week is. Make it good and you'll hear your voice on the show. You can also email those to [email protected]. 

FOLLOW DINGUS OF THE WEEK

• Youtube

• Instagram

LYZ LENZ is the HBIC of MYAM Media. 

ZACHARY OREN SMITH writes about politics for Iowa Starting Line. Follow his work on Instagram (http://instagram.com/zacharyorensmith) and TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@zacharyorensmith).

LAURA BENITEZ wrote the theme song.

SHOW RUNDOWN:

00:00 - Cold open: "porn-stache"

03:56 - Intro

05:00 - Guest intro: Jezebel founder Anna Holmes, author of "The Power of No"

07:31 - Dingus: Gwyneth Paltrow — Anna's history covering her at Jezebel

07:34 - Anna's Entertainment Weekly days: working the Miramax screening circuit and getting "so nice to see you"-ed by a young Gwyneth Paltrow

16:44 - Why she's this week's dingus: the Sam Altman dinner, the Israeli condo ad, and not needing the money

22:34 - How lifestyle brands launder political power — and why Goop showing up next to OpenAI isn't a surprise

26:11 - Why feminist media coverage of women's health never sticks the way "sad lonely men" coverage does

29:11 - Goop as "the wellness Megyn Kelly" — white femininity as a power structure

34:12 - The Anna Delvey Goop Kitchen ad, and Paltrow's tradwife-coded breakfast videos

40:14 - The search for a Gwyneth Paltrow profile that actually lands a punch

45:32 - Midroll: Lyz's newsletter piece on the women of Trump's orbit

47:50 - Game: Name That Anti-Feminist

55:34 - Joy: the "thin blonde beautiful woman gets one free murder" theory, and the Sam Altman dinner as a murder-mystery party that got ruined by "woke asses"

56:51 - Outro

1:00:13 - Stinger: "a loose tit situation"

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney does not inspire fear. When he says he'll do dollar-for-dollar retaliatory tariffs against the United States—sure it hurts. But wait, who's that lumbering giant telling the President of the United States to shove it?!

On this episode of DINGUS OF THE WEEK, hosts LYZ LENZ and ZACHARY OREN SMITH look across the border at Ontario Premier Doug Ford. There's good. There's bad... Actually it's mostly just ugly. Dig into the trade war with us and how Canada plans to get the last laugh.

Also this week: America lost Dolly Parton and Tim Curry within a day of each other, and Tressie McMillan Cottom wrote sharply about the myth of an "unproblematic" Dolly (the Grim Reaper had several war criminals and at least one sitting senator available and chose violence anyway).

DINGUS OF THE WEEK is a weekly comedy news podcast where writers Lyz and Zach light a fire under the American rogue's gallery to see who comes spilling out. If you're tired of doom-scrolling but know ignoring the problem doesn't get us anywhere, this is your new weekend listen. New episodes every Saturday morning.

👑 $5/month - Not a Dingus tier (3 weekly newsletters, 1 podcast, and our entire archive)

👑👑 $10/month - Definitely Not a Dingus tier (all the above + polls and topic submissions, a chat community, weekly discussions, comment access, and our love)

SEND US YOUR DINGUS. Record a voice memo and tell us who your dingus of the week is. Make it good and you'll hear your voice on the show. You can also email those to [email protected]. 

FOLLOW DINGUS OF THE WEEK

• Youtube

• Instagram

LYZ LENZ is the HBIC of MYAM Media. 

ZACHARY OREN SMITH writes about politics for Iowa Starting Line. Follow his work on Instagram (http://instagram.com/zacharyorensmith) and TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@zacharyorensmith).

LAURA BENITEZ wrote the theme song.

SHOW RUNDOWN:

0:00 - Cold open: the WikiFeet discourse in Zach's inbox

4:16 - Intro

7:14 - Tim Curry, Dolly Parton, and Chuck Grassley

13:17 - Dingus: the trade war with Canada (aka the Poutine Wars)

26:47 - The Smoot-Hawley Act, the Dust Bowl, and the many Smoots of Utah

37:14 - Midroll

37:19 - Newsletter Discord check-in: readers on Dolly Parton's legacy

42:05 - Game: Clearly Canadian

49:56 - Game: Tariff It

57:46 - Joy: Lyz on chess club and her daughter; Zach on Little Bo's dive bar in Cedar Rapids

1:10:00 - Outro