Smart Girl Dumb Questions

Smart Girl Dumb Questions

It's a curiosity party, and you're invited. Every Tuesday on SGDQ, Nayeema Raza asks simple Qs about big ideas trying to make sense of life. Some of our faves? Neil deGrasse Tyson on how we'd know if we're in a simulation, Esther Perel on why love gets harder with age, Diplo on why every guy I date is a DJ, and two 11 year olds on what it's like to grow up right now. Send us your dumb (and smart) Qs: nayeema.raza101@gmail.com

Episodes

October 27, 2026 • 53 mins
Jon Stewart called Gen Z economic analyst Kyla Scanlon’s book “essential reading.” Now Kyla’s on Smart Girl Dumb Questions to break down the data and move beyond memes and myths. We asked her… does Gen-Z actually hate to work or do they just have a rational economic point? Why do young people feel broke? Will robots take our jobs, or help us make our side hustles a lucrative business? And will AI actu...
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We’re playing you one of our favourite episodes: a conversation with Andrew Ross Sorkin from January 2026. Nayeema asks: When did money become God? Are we due another market crash? What did we learn (or fail to learn) from the 1929, 2008 and other economic crises? And would they bail out OpenAI and Anthropic now — is AI the new “too big to fail?”  Make sure to get Andrew’s book (which Nayeema thi...
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October 13, 2026 • 58 mins
Seth Meyers joined Nayeema live at the Comedy Cellar, where she asked him about his greatest failures (very few), whether he has a nemesis, and what’s actually funny in a world where the news is a meme and the meme is now news.  Also: is Seth Meyers a “Wife Guy” … and is Donald Trump one too? And how does Nayeema get his job (Seth’s, not Trump’s).   You should def get Seth&rsquo...
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October 6, 2026 • 55 mins
We asked Geoffrey Hinton, the Nobel Prize-winning Godfather of AI: what happens when AI gets smarter than us? Can it unlearn bad behaviours? Break out and release a model that even Sam Altman acknowledges is dangerous? Under what circumstances can we trust Sam, Demis or Dario? And is the Trump administration and US government at all equipped to handle this moment?  Also: what does AI have to do with The Beatles … or be...
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Nayeema sits down with Sam Roberts, the New York Times obituary reporter who’s studied some 120,000 years of life while penning obits for everyone from Washington’s most powerful people to Hollywood’s most famed vet and … Jesus Christ? So what has Roberts learned studying this much life? Who even gets an NYT obit? How do they handle scandal, mistresses or secret babies? Which is the meanest obituary Sam&rsq...
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September 22, 2026 • 61 mins
Nayeema sits does with journalist Kevin Roose, who has covered tech for 15+ years and wrote *the* book on the AI race, to ask if this latest AI panic is just a way to drive up trillion-dollar IPOs and regulatory moats for Sam Altman and Dario Amodei. Also on the agenda: Do we need bunkers? What actually went down with the Hugging Face attack? If we’re in an AI war with China, why are we still sending Nvidia chips there? And ...
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September 15, 2026 • 61 mins
Nayeema sits down with Serena Kerrigan, who left a salaried job and a self-described “Nepo Baby Lite" lifestyle to become an influencer (slash "icon"). Six years later, she’s built an empire: an IG live show that led to a TV deal with Peacock, card games, merch and a new book, "Let's F*cking Date".  The secret to her success? Confidence. Nayeema and Serena discuss how a mirror can make you an icon, why egg-freezin...
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Nayeema sits down with Cal Newport, an expert on deep work, pseudo-productivity and how technology is shaping work. He’s prolifically productive himself (he’s written multiple bestselling books, is a tenured Georgetown professor, and hosts a hit podcast called Deep Questions … all of which is made possible by his work process and his abstention from social media).  In this episode of the SGDQ “What Ev...
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September 1, 2026 • 51 mins
Is Gen Z Unemployable? And/or are the rest of us addicted to work? NYU Stern Prof and bestselling author Suzy Welch joins Nayeema in this first episode of the SGDQ “What Even is Work?!” series to figure out what we value and how we spend our days. Suzy breaks down the 16 values that organize our lives. You can take the test here. (get the *free* assessment or use SGDQ50 for 50% off). They analyze Nayeema’s result...
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Whether you’re single, married or something in between: this episode is for you. Nayeema sits down with love coach and rejection survivor Francesca Hogi to talk about flirting as a way of life and rejection as a path to growth. Plus, Franny grades Nayeema’s Flirting Skills (and Diplo’s). Is anyone getting an A?!  We get into the 8 types of flirting, how A.I. can or can’t help you in your relationships,...
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Nayeema gets direct with Tarek Mansour, the 30-year-old CEO and Co-Founder of Kalshi. The prediction market hit $30 billion in trade volume this June as users put money on everything from the World Cup to Strait of Hormuz opening dates and the reality show Love Island. So is this gambling with a better brand, a peril to young people, ripe for insider trading, or a path to more accurate information? What does the company NOT allow? ...
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David McCraw has gone to battle with Harvey Weinstein, Sarah Palin, Justin Baldoni and Presidents from Bush and Obama to Biden and Trump. Today, Nayeema asks the lead newsroom lawyer for the New York Times what he’s learned fighting powerful people … what’s normal (or not) when it comes to tension between the government and a free press … and why the recent appearance of federal agents with subpoenas at th...
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Nayeema’s learning all about NASCAR today with rising star Carson Hocevar, who’s constantly compared to the legend Dale Earnhardt Sr.  So: what’s the difference between NASCAR and F1? What’s Hocevar’s risk-reward analysis on aggression? Does he have a safe word with the dude who’s in his ear? And when you go 200 mph most days, what’s it like to be stuck in traffic with the rest of us?...
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And does it even need to be fixed? In this episode Nayeema tries to understand whether demographic collapse is a crisis or a con job. She sits down with Malcolm and Simone Collins, a New Right pronatalist couple with ties to the Heritage Foundation and Elon Musk and policy drafts being submitted for White House consideration. They have 5 kids, 30 embryos on ice and aspirations to keep going til Simone’s uterus “falls ou...
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July 14, 2026 • 55 mins
Nayeema and cult expert Amanda Montell unpack why cults are everywhere now, why we’re obsessed with them and what all of that has to do with modern loneliness and capitalism. Montell — the bestselling author of Cultish and host of the podcast Sounds Like A Cult breaks down the innocuous language that will suck you in and how to help someone you love get OUT.   Oh, and naturally they try to build a cult around...
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Nayeema sits down with evolutionary biologist Dr. Justin Garcia, Director of the world-famous Kinsey Institute, to unpack the science of love, sex and attraction. Why are there more single peoplethan ever? Are we still having sex? Why do breakups … feel like withdrawal? And what do pandas, penguins and pigs have to teach us about modern relationships? Also on the agenda: is kissing is “normal,” short kings and w...
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Nayeema sits down with space architect Ariel Ekblaw to ask: will my kids commute to the Moon? Why are we privatizing everything in outer space? And did SpaceX just turn space travel into … FedEx? Ariel is a Yale and MIT-trained founder and CEO of Aurelia Institute focused on space technologies including autonomously self-assembling space stations and future space habitats. And if all of this sounds trippy … we agre...
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It’s NBA Draft Day and Nayeema’s sitting down with Cleveland Cavaliers owner, Rocket Companies founder and Detroit mega-booster Dan Gilbert to ask: How do you make up with LeBron James? Can a billion bucks buy happiness? Is the NBA socialist? And what can it teach the USA about fairness? Dan opens up about the infamous LeBron letter, what it’s really like sitting at a table with 30 billionaire NBA owners, why he&r...
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Nobody understands GRIFT quite like New Yorker Journalist Patrick Radden Keefe. Nayeema sits down with the legendary New Yorker staff writer and bestselling author of Empire of Pain, Say Nothing, Rogues, and his latest book London Falling to ask: why are we so obsessed with people behaving badly? Is grift just … ambition? And when does “fake it till you make it” become “fake it until everything collapses&rd...
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Rent or buy? Student debt or skip the degree? Nayeema asks  @MoneyRehab host Nicole Lapin the money questions we all have. They discuss if home ownership is still part of the American Dream, what money mistakes NOT to make, and why it feels SO vulnerable to talk about your personal finances. Turns out “shame is not a good money management system.”  Also on the agenda: IVF, MBAs and what is worth going into ...
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