Smart Girl Dumb Questions

Dry cleaning is the ultimate black box: you drop off your clothes… and somehow they come back looking better than your life choices. Nayeema goes inside the fairytale with the father/son duo behind Jeeves New York, Jerry and Zachary Pozniak to ask: how do you clean something “dry”? Where do the clothes actually go? And do they worry about the chemicals? They unpack what dry cleaning really is (spoiler: it’s not dry), why “dry clean only” labels can be… kind of fake and how to make a family business work. Also: why their skills are critical at the Met, Louvre and Lincoln Center. Send us your “dumb questions” on IG/TikTok @smartgirldumbquestions or by calling 1-855-MyDumbQ. You can find Zach on TikTok and IG @jeeves_ny. Make sure you’re following Nayeema and the show on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. And obvi: SHARE THE SHOW WITH YOUR FRIENDS, YOUR MOM and your drycleaner. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why does everyone have a podcast… and do you need one too? Nayeema pulls back the curtain with Sammi Cohen of Social Currency fame. One has made it in podcasting, and is still building on social — the other has made it in social, and is building on podcasts. Both open up about the ups, downs and dollars . Also on the agenda: “is everything a scam?” (dentistry! eyeglasses! Forbes 30 Under 30!), why live streaming is coming for everyone, why people “watch your podcast on Instagram,” and the uncomfortable truth about how money actually gets made online. Send us your “dumb questions” on IG/TikTok @smartgirldumbquestions or by calling 1-855-MyDumbQ. Make sure you’re following Nayeema and the show on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. And obvi: SHARE THE SHOW WITH YOUR FRIENDS, YOUR MOM and your pet dinosaur. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Florence Comite is a Yale-trained endocrinologist, longevity expert, and author of the forthcoming book Invincible. Her precision medicine clients include CEOs, founders, athletes, artists… and recently, Nayeema, who got a tiny and generous glimpse into the process. So Nayeema asks Comite: can I live forever? Would my health care be better if I were richer? And what's up with peptides, GLP-1s and other medical hype? Also on the agenda: why women’s heart attack symptoms get missed, the “black box” hormone panic that shaped a generation, what your thyroid has to do with literally everything (mood, memory, heart rhythm, periods) what's the male equivalent of menopause and more. NOTE: this episode does not contain medical advice -- you should consult with your own doctor to understand what's best for your health. Send us your “dumb questions” on IG/TikTok @smartgirldumbquestions or by calling 1-855-MyDumbQ. Make sure you’re following Nayeema and the show on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. And obvi: SHARE THE SHOW WITH YOUR FRIENDS, YOUR MOM and your pet dinosaur. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Daniel Yergin has advised 4 different Presidents (Clinton, Bush, Obama and the first Trump administration). He’s also a Pulitzer-Prize winning author and energy expert and the vice chair at S&P Global. Nayeema asks Yergin: when will this oil crisis end? Is every election – and war – priced at the pump? And what’s the history – and future – of our dependence on fossil fuels? Is the energy transition … still transitioning? Also on the agenda: the Strait of Hormuz nightmare scenario, AI data centers on outer space, how we’ll move in 20 years, why the energy transition is metal-intensive (hello, copper) and whether we may be in a simulation. Thanks to our sponsors at BMW - to learn more about the BMW iX5 Hydrogen click here. Send us your “dumb questions” on IG/TikTok @smartgirldumbquestions or by calling 1-855-MyDumbQ. Make sure you’re following Nayeema and the show on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. And obvi: SHARE THE SHOW WITH YOUR FRIENDS, YOUR MOM and your pet dinosaur. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Suborno Isaac Bari cracked basic algebra before his 2nd birthday. He's now a 13-year-old college sophomore: will he have to move back in with his parents like so many college grads are doing these days? And does this genius worry about the job market? Nayeema sits down with Suborno — who plans to graduate from NYU next year with a double-major in math and physics. And gets to the big Q: is it dumb to be smart in an AI era where we could just put our brains in a jar, outsource intelligence to machines, and power them with tokens? Also on the agenda: Nayeema gets corrected on the transitive property (humiliating), whether math is a “construct” (and why that’s not an insult), why cheating has basically gone nuclear since ChatGPT, and Suborno’s surprisingly spicy three-point plan to reform American education. Is this kid running for President or what?! Send us your “dumb questions” on IG/TikTok @smartgirldumbquestions or by calling 1-855-MyDumbQ. Make sure you’re following Nayeema and the show on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. And obvi: SHARE THE SHOW WITH YOUR FRIENDS OR YOUR MOM. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How do you stay peppy when the world is on fire? Nayeema sits down with Nick Kosir — aka the Dancing Weatherman and Fox Weather meteorologist to ask: Why are all weather people hot … and what exactly do they do? Is it just vibes + a green screen? And is AI going to steal Nick’s, Nayeema’s and all of our jobs? Also on the agenda: cloud seeding, climate change, whether the World Meteorological Organization is the illuminati, the human cost of naming people after hurricanes and Nick’s compelling advice for how to change a life and take a risk at any age. Send us your “dumb questions” on IG/TikTok @smartgirldumbquestions or by calling 1-855-MyDumbQ. Follow Nick @nickkosir Make sure you’re following Nayeema and the show on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. And obvi: SHARE THE SHOW WITH YOUR FRIENDS OR YOUR MOM. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Who picks Iran’s Ayatollah? What are the Israelis and Americans up to? How did we get here? AND: WILL IT EVER END? Today’s SGDQ bonus drop is an IRAN 101 cutdown of a Summer 2025 conversation Nayeema had with Dr. Vali Nasr, a John Hopkins SAIS professor, Middle East expert and author of Iran’s Grand Strategy. IMPORTANTLY: The original conversation (available in the show feed) was taped in June 2025, on the heels of the Twelve Day War. We hope this version provides context and perspective to ground your curiosity. It's an escape from the doomscrolling and a supplement (not substitute) for the news. A lot has happened in the last 8-ish months so Nayeema recommends checking out Professor Nasr's most recent writings and interviews to track the evolution of the situation in Iran and his own perspective. You can find Dr. Nasr on X @vali_nasr. Follow Nayeema on IG or X too – and you can find the show on IG, TikTok & YouTube @smartgirldumbquestions. Slide into our DMs, call us at 1-855-MYDUMBQ or send your dumbest questions to [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is it time to date ChatDaddy? Today we're playing you a debate Nayeema hosted at New York's Comedy Cellar for a show we love: Open to Debate. Nayeema moderates an academic, fun and relevant showdown between Dr. Thao Ha of University of Arizona's HEART Lab, and Dr. Justin Garcia of the Kinsey Institute around this question: Could dating an AI be better than dating a human? Be sure to get more Open to Debate on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or Substack. They share SGDQ's values of curiosity and openness and have thought-provoking debates on topics ranging from the war on drugs to US China policy and whether we should eat anything with a face. You can also get more of Justin in the SGDQ episode Are We Really Having Less Sex in the feed below or in his **newly released** book: The Intimate Animal. And in the interest of equal time and because she rocks, we'll need to have Thao Ha on soon too! Want to be on SGDQ? Send us your “dumb questions” on IG/TikTok @smartgirldumbquestions or by calling 1-855-MyDumbQ. Make sure you’re following Nayeema and the show on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. And obvi: SHARE THE SHOW WITH YOUR FRIENDS AND YOUR MOM. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is our language becoming unrecognizable and is that the internet’s fault? Nayeema sits down with Adam Aleksic (aka Etymology Nerd), a linguistics nerd and author of Algospeak — to decode how social media is rewiring the words we use, the way we say them, and what counts as “normal” language now. They get into euphemisms, censorship, why some words go viral, why “woke” became a culture-war grenade, and what happens when the dictionary can’t keep up. Link to Yuval's speech at Davos: HERE Want to be on SGDQ? Send us your “dumb questions” on IG/TikTok @smartgirldumbquestions or by calling 1-855-MyDumbQ. Or, you know, call Congress at (202) 224-3121. Make sure you’re following Nayeema and the show on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. And obvi: SHARE THE SHOW WITH YOUR FRIENDS AND YOUR MOM. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

He’s watched thousands of marriages fail — so what did he learn about love? And from mandatory prenups to a newlyweds permit, how would he redesign the process? Nayeema sits down with the legendary NYC divorce attorney James Sexton, Esquire — a courtroom “pistol” who’s handled thousands of cases, got an epic education in human relationships in the process and even written a book about how to not f* up your marriage.. Nayeema and Jim discuss: why does marriage even exist? Is it a buzzkill for romance? Is there ever a such thing as a no fault divorce? What makes someone good at breaking up and, with 50% plus marriages ending this way, should you actually marry someone you can divorce? Why does the wedding industrial complex market marriage like a romcom — at the climax — when the real story starts after the credits? … Also: tips for dating a divorcee? We’ll have a part two focused on love and money so send us your “dumb questions” on IG/TikTok @smartgirldumbquestions or by calling 1-855-MyDumbQ. Make sure you’re following Nayeema and the show on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. And obvi: SHARE THE SHOW WITH YOUR FRIENDS, MOM OR LOCAL LAWMAKER. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After ICE officers shipped 5 year old Liam Ramos to a detention facility and federal agents shot and killed 37 year old ICU Nurse Alex Pretti, Nayeema called her congressperson for the first time. Turns out, it can make a dent. If you’d like to slide into those EMs, here are deets for House and Senate. Your Senator votes this week on funding for ICE and Homeland Security. So what happens when you email or vmail? Is it more impactful than posting on Insta? And, um, does Congress even matter these days? U.S. Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury (D–NM) joins Nayeema to answer all these Qs. Plus: gym gossip, the DOGE subcommittee, the Epstein-files vote, and — yes — astrology as a path to bipartisanship. Want to be on SGDQ? Send us your “dumb questions” on IG/TikTok @smartgirldumbquestions or by calling 1-855-MyDumbQ. Or, you know, call Congress at (202) 224-3121. Make sure you’re following Nayeema and the show on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. And obvi: SHARE THE SHOW WITH YOUR FRIENDS, MOM OR LOCAL LAWMAKER. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do you think your phone is breaking your brain? Is the stress of the news cycle rewiring our physiology? And why do we feel so behind our Jan 1 resolutions … only 3 weeks in? Nayeema asks the Qs we all have to stress expert Dr. Aditi Nerurkar — a physician on faculty at Harvard Medical School and the author of the book: The Five Resets. They get into the science of neuroplasticity (yes, your brain is changing every day), why your brain needs time to build new circuits, and why multitasking is basically “task-switching” in a trench coat — weakening attention, memory, and cognition. Plus: the case for 10-second breaks, an explanation of “revenge bedtime procrastination”and why stress can turn into emotional eating (hi, amygdala). Note: this conversation was taped in December. Want to be on SGDQ? Send us your “dumb questions” on IG/TikTok @smartgirldumbquestions or by calling 1-855-MyDumbQ. Make sure you’re following Nayeema and the show on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. And obvi: SHARE THE SHOW WITH YOUR FRIENDS/MOM. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The US is making unwanted moves on Denmark and toying with the idea of intervening in Iran — but one country where the administration waltzed in and was welcomed? Venezuela. So … what’s up with that? Nayeema talks to 3 millennial Venezuelans to make sense of this moment — journalist Mariana Atencio, comedian/writer Joanna Hausmann, and comedian/actor Francisco Ramos. It’s an exploration. of nuance in the form of a dumb question dinner party (minus the dinner). You can follow our guests on Instagram and TikTok @marianaatencio @johaus @framoscomedy Want to be on SGDQ? Send us your “dumb questions” on IG/TikTok @smartgirldumbquestions or by calling 1-855-MyDumbQ. Make sure you’re following Nayeema and the show on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. And obvi: SHARE THE SHOW WITH YOUR FRIENDS/MOM. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Whether it’s the MAHA movement or COVID-19 management, can we trust American public health? Nayeema talks to NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya. He was appointed by President Trump last year, but originally came to fame in late 2020 as a Stanford Medical School Professor who challenged pandemic-era lockdowns. On the agenda: Why does the USA spend more for worse healthcare outcomes? Is Ozempic our magic bullet? With China moving so fast in biomedicine, will we rather go to Beijing or Boston for healthcare in 2050? What’s up with these changes to the childhood vaccine schedule? And what does the Director make of a White House that memes healthcare or proposes 40% cuts to his budget? Finally: by the time we’re old, can we forget that HIV or Alzheimer's ever existed? To read more about the vaccine changes you can read the HHS report or reporting from WSJ or NYT. To learn more about the NIH visit nih.gov Want to be on SGDQ? Send us your “dumb questions” on IG/TikTok @smartgirldumbquestions or by calling 1-855-MyDumbQ. Make sure you’re following Nayeema and the show on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. And obvi: SHARE THE SHOW WITH YOUR FRIENDS/MOM. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices