Smart Girl Dumb Questions

Robert Malley spent three decades negotiating peace in the Middle East, including as a Lead Negotiator of the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal. Nayeema finds out what he’s learned from Camp David (2000) to the Iran and Gaza Wars of today. 

Nayeema and Rob walk through Donald Trump’s “Art of the Deal” to figure out whether one may be had here. They also discuss: are negotiators more like marriage therapists, hostage negotiators or plumbers? Are President Trump’s tweets (slash Truth Socials) an attempt at Mad Man strategy or just a genuine chaos-making machine? How do Iranians think and deal-make? And will we see peace in Israel and Palestine in our lifetime? 

Be sure to check out Rob’s book Tomorrow is Yesterday: Life, Death and the Pursuit of Peafe in Israel/Palestine.

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 favorite person to negotiate with..
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How hard is it to win a Grammy? Does the Harvard of Music (aka Juilliard) . prepare musicians for a TikTok world? Will AI replace music? And what makes a band  (or any relationship) function well and drama-free? Also: how many people make up a band?

ARKAI just won a freaking Grammy… and they’re still somehow normal, kind, and willing to explain the whole political process. Nayeema sits down with electroacoustic duo Jonathan Miron (violin) and Philip Sheegog (cello) to ask: how do you actually win? Is it talent, timing, manifestation… or basically a political campaign with better outfits?

Send us your “dumb questions” on IG/TikTok @smartgirldumbquestions or by calling 1-855-MyDumbQ. 

Get Arkai's music on Spotify - especially their sophomore album: Brightside. And 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.
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Today I'm joined by a powerful rich dude: Silicon Valley icon, Dick Costolo, the CEO who took Twitter public 10+ years ago and investor who’s made smart bets since the 90s. Nayeema asks: Is Elon Musk an alien to go home? Is venture capital a Ponzi scheme? And did we just wake up in a K-shaped economy where the shareholders get richer and everyone else gets replaced by AI?

Also on the agenda: SpaceX at a $1.5T+ IPO (??), why so much value gets captured in private markets before you even get a shot, the SEC rule change that helped companies stay private forever, plus how crypto + prediction markets are winning over D.C.

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 drycleaner.
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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.
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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