The Serious Pod Network

Thomas and Lydia

Serious Pod is an independent podcast network that takes the questions seriously, even when the answers are funny.

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Latest Episodes

Election Night: We Streamed Until We Got Tired of Winning

Live midterms watch party! Thomas, Matt, and Jenessa parked in front of three screens on election night and just let the good vibes happen. We've got Mike Johnson saying something out loud on camera that he absolutely should not have said days before results came in. We've got Idaho forcing its voters to pick one official state gun (you can't have them all, Idaho). And we've got Ken Paxton's unhinged AI attack ad against James Talarico, possibly the worst political ad ever produced. Plus a genuinely enormous amount of good news that none of us were quite emotionally prepared for. Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do! To support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at patreon.com/law! $2+ patrons also get a new Law'd Awful Movies every month.

VR49 · Nov 4, 2026 · 64 min · With Thomas Smith & Matt Cameron

WTW153: Texas School Board Cancels Little Shop of Horrors Over a Girl Playing Seymour

A Texas school board got so spooked by a girl playing the male lead in Little Shop of Horrors that they canceled the whole show and tried to swap it for Frozen. Their legal justification shifted citations mid-scandal, from the 2023 drag ban to a 2025 parental-rights bill, and somehow neither one actually says what they claim it says. Now the 17-year-old they benched is suing in federal court, and Lydia walks through the complaint line by line. Spoiler: Title IX did not get the memo that musical theater is supposed to be scary this year. If you enjoy our work, please consider leaving a 5-star review! You can always email questions, comments, and leads to lydia@seriouspod.com. Please pretty please consider becoming a patron at patreon.com/wherethereswoke! You get ad-free episodes and patron-only bonus episodes.

Oct 29, 2026 · 49 min · With Thomas Smith & Lydia Smith

SIO532: People Need To Know What Democrats Can and Can't Do with a Win Today

It's Election Day, and the polls look almost too good. So what can Democrats actually DO if they take back Congress? Thomas runs the scenarios, a one-seat Senate (hello again, John Fetterman) or something bigger, and makes the case that the Supreme Court might matter more than anything Congress could pass. He also explains why winning by just one seat is basically a trap, and how a bigger margin could change the kind of fights Congress can actually pick. Either way, your expectations are probably already wrong. Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please support the show at patreon.com/seriouspod! You get ad-free episodes, early episodes, and other bonus content!

Nov 3, 2026 · 55 min · With Thomas Smith

GG90: "You Gotta Spend Voter Fraud to Make Voter Fraud" - James O'Keefe

Back in August, James O'Keefe's rebranded operation, now calling itself the Citizen Justice League, sent people dressed in racist Muslim garb into Minneapolis polling places to test Minnesota's voter "vouching" law. Does the full footage actually show what the viral clips claim, or do the poll workers do exactly what they're supposed to? And what happens when the "random" names O'Keefe and Cameron Higby used to vouch for strangers turn out to belong to real, very surprised Minnesota voters? Thomas and Lydia go through the new documents and the county attorney's press conference, line by line. Patrons at patreon.com/gavelpod get episodes early and ad-free!

Oct 30, 2026 · 54 min · With Thomas Smith & Lydia Smith

Best of Tom: When Kids Protect Parents (DOD117)

The last Best of Tom for October is a March 2024 episode that's explicit, even for us. This is the full patron cut, so it ends with the after-show stories patrons got. It's a repeat for patrons, and every download helps keep Tom's share of the show coming while he's out. A Maurice Sendak quote about the scary things kids keep from grown-ups starts a talk about what we hid from our parents and what our kids might be hiding from us. Tom never told his dad he snuck out, or about the babysitters: one who read him and his brother Penthouse Letters, one who broke into Dad's safe and found something she shouldn't have, and one who taught them to shoplift. Plus how much truth to tell kids, and why some kids just open up more than others. In the patron-only ending, Thomas has a Zelda problem and Tom takes Finn to MagicCon. Join the Facebook Group! facebook.com/groups/dearolddads For comments, email thedads@dearolddads.com For extended episodes, bonus content, and most importantly, for an AD FREE SHOW, make sure to pledge on Patreon!

Oct 30, 2026 · 58 min · With Thomas Smith, Eli Bosnick & Tom Curry