Synopsis
Hi, Im Dax Shepard, and I love talking to people. I am endlessly fascinated by the messiness of being human, and I find people who are vulnerable and honest about their struggles and shortcomings to be incredibly sexy. I invite you to join me as I explore other peoples stories. We will celebrate, above all, the challenges and setbacks that ultimately lead to growth and betterment. What qualifies me for such an endeavor? More than a decade of sobriety, a degree in Anthropology and four years of improv training. I will attempt to discover human truths without any laboratory work, clinical trials or data collection. I will be, in the great tradition of 16th-century scientists, an Armchair Expert.
Episodes
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Rob Lowe
27/04/2020 Duration: 01h36minRob Lowe (The Outsiders, St. Elmo's Fire, The West Wing, Parks and Recreation) is an American actor, producer, and director. Rob chats with the Armchair Expert about moving to Malibu as a child and feeling out of place, his time and ultimate departure from The West Wing and going to high school with many famous faces before they were famous. Dax asks about his navigation through negative public moments and Rob talks about his experience on The Outsiders. The two talk about sobriety and Rob's foresight that caused him to move away from Hollywood. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Glennon Doyle
23/04/2020 Duration: 01h50minGlennon Doyle is an American author known for her #1 New York Times bestsellers Untamed and Love Warrior and bestseller Carry On, Warrior. Glennon chats with the Armchair Expert about her struggle with addiction, falling in love with a stranger and her realization about forgiveness. Glennon talks about overcoming societal memos and Dax questions if following your personal truth is a realistic goal. They discuss the responsibility of highly sensitive people and why control and love are inherently at odds. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Sheryl Crow
20/04/2020 Duration: 01h20minSheryl Crow is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actress. She joins the armchair expert to discuss starting her career later in life, how breast cancer changed her perspective and her pattern of attraction. Dax wonders about her experience on the Michael Jackson Bad Tour and Sheryl talks about the physiological impact of music. The two talk about meditation, Sheryl declares she's done making albums and Monica and Dax discuss their enneagram in the fact check. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Jessica Lahey
16/04/2020 Duration: 01h32minJessica Lahey is an American teacher and author. She writes the bi-weekly 'Parent-Teacher Conference' advice column for the New York Times, is a regular contributor to the Atlantic and wrote the book, The Gift of Failure. Jessica chats with the Armchair Expert about the importance of childhood autonomy, the level of parental involvement to maximize childhood growth, and the profundity of the word 'yet' when engaging with children. Dax asks about the concept of "desirable difficulties" and Jessica explains why the internet hasn't replaced the need for learning facts. The two discuss loving your children for who they are; not who you want them to be, how to commit information to long term memory and allowing kids to have ownership of their knowledge. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Ed Helms
13/04/2020 Duration: 01h29minEd Helms (The Daily Show, The Office, The Hangover) is an American actor, comedian and musician. Ed chats with the Armchair Expert about his love of the banjo, feeling guilty about leaving The Daily Show and being self admittedly repressed. Dax asks about Ed's open heart surgery and Ed tells the story of having food poisoning when shooting The Hangover. The two talk about the loss of control that comes with fame, Ed's new movie- Coffee and Kareem and Dax recalls escaping a career-ending situation in Thailand. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Andrew Marantz
09/04/2020 Duration: 01h38minAndrew Marantz is a journalist, staff writer for The New Yorker magazine and author of Antisocial: Online Extremists, Techno-Utopians and the Hijacking of the American Conversation. Andrew sits down with the Armchair Expert (pre social distancing) to discuss working as a journalist and specifically his time researching internet trolls and the direct ways in which they impact society. He talks about his experience getting to know many white nationalists and the revelation they aren't always people you would expect. Dax wonders if there is an effective way to attack hateful ideologies without forgoing free speech and Andrew encourages social media companies to implement more foresight. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Alicia Keys
06/04/2020 Duration: 01h40minAlicia Keys is an American musician, singer, composer, actress and pianist. Alicia joins the Armchair Expert to discuss overcoming resentments, her pattern of people pleasing and releasing the notion that being overworked equals success. Dax relates to Alicia's love of her grandparents and Alicia talks about a life lesson that taught her the necessity of boundaries. The two talk about fear of abandonment, the mix of work and friendship and Dax proves to have good phone game. Alicia's new book More Myself: A Journey is out now. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Stephen Dubner
02/04/2020 Duration: 02h05minStephen Dubner is an author, journalist, and podcast/radio host. He is co-author of the Freakonomics book series and host of Freakonomics Radio. Stephen sits down with the Armchair Expert to discuss being drawn to counterintuitive thinking, his journey to Judaism and looking at politics through an objective lens. Dax asks about Stephen's childhood and Stephen talks about popular Freakonomics pieces. The two weave in and out of many topics including the prevalence of artificial insemination in turkeys, the uptick in pedestrian deaths and the potential of eating humans. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Joy Bryant Returns
30/03/2020 Duration: 01h09minJoy Bryant (For Life, Parenthood, Get Rich or Die Tryin') is an American actress. Joy returns to Armchair Expert and sits down with her ex-TV husband to discuss her new obsession with duck, living bi-coastal and the parameters of when she wears a headscarf. Dax tries to induct two new people to the soul spectrum and Joy revisits the conversation of house note vs. house payment. The two talk about whether traumatic backgrounds give you a pass for problematic behavior, they discuss the extremities of the societal pendulum swing and Dax updates Joy on a recent change of opinion. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Lydia Denworth
26/03/2020 Duration: 01h43minLydia Denworth is a science journalist and author. She is the contributing editor for Scientific American and writes for Psychology Today. Her work has also appeared in The Atlantic, Newsweek, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Time. Lydia sits down with the Armchair Expert to talk about the biology of friendship, the science of social bonding and the evidence that we are social animals. Dax asks for suggestions to aid social development for kids who struggle to make friendships and Lydia details how friendship impacts mortality and longevity. They also touch on Lydia's work in the Deaf community, quality vs. quantity in friendships and Lydia explains why Monica is Exhibit A in the necessity of friendship. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Sanjay Gupta on COVID-19
23/03/2020 Duration: 48minDr. Sanjay Gupta (American neurosurgeon and medical reporter) joins us for an informative episode on COVID-19. Sanjay takes time out of his incredible busy schedule to answer Dax and Monica's questions about the pandemic. He hits many topics such as immunity, correct precautions, the danger of overwhelming our medical system, human ingenuity in times of crisis and balancing honesty and hope. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Tom Silver
19/03/2020 Duration: 01h44minTom Silver is a Hypnotherapist with over 35 years of experience developing powerful, proven therapeutic hypnosis methods. Tom sits down with the Armchair Expert to discuss his relationship with sobriety, how he stumbled into hypnosis and the depth of the subconscious mind. Dax asks about the distinction between a hypnotist and a hypnotherapist and Tom talks about his experience hypnotizing Guillermo on the Jimmy Kimmel Show. In the second half of the episode, Tom hypnotizes Miniature Mouse. He hooks her up to an EEG and they note the difference in her brain waves in and out of hypnosis. Dax and Monica have another long-distance fact check in which they dissect the experience. Visit Tom's website at www.tomsilver.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Lennon Parham
16/03/2020 Duration: 01h43minLennon Parham (Playing House, Veep, Bless This Mess) is an American actress, comedian and improviser. Lennon sits down with the Armchair Expert to discuss growing up in the deep south, feeling like she couldn't find "her people", and the balance of holding on to your personal dream while in a relationship. Dax praises Lennon on her work on Bless this Mess and Lennon talks about the experience of creating her own show. The two talk about questionable 80's songs, new ideas for the yearly hot bodies calendar and Dax and Monica do a long distance fact check. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Adam Mosseri
12/03/2020 Duration: 01h50minAdam Mosseri is the current CEO of Instagram. Adam sits down in the attic to talk about how he landed a job at Facebook, the responsibility of social media and the rise of the individual. Dax wonders if Mark Zuckerberg likes McDonalds and Adam talks through the reasoning behind the hiding likes trial. The two discuss how Facebook got intertwined with Cambridge Analytica, designing platforms to have a certain energy and Dax thinks men's preferences boil down to circles. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Men's Bodies with Kumail Nanjiani & Rob McElhenney
09/03/2020 Duration: 01h46minIn this episode, Dax invites Rob McElhenney (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet) and Kumail Nanjiani (Silicon Valley, The Big Sick) into the attic to discuss their obsession with male bodies. Dax remains shirtless through the duration of this episode while the three dissect childhood insecurities that led to this predilection, their opinions of the perfect male body, body dysmorphia, societal influences on females vs. males, and not being in on the joke. Rob mentions the high point when a stranger wanted to take a shirtless picture of him and Kumail reveals a tidbit about his abs. Monica commends the three for talking openly and vulnerably. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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BJ Fogg
05/03/2020 Duration: 01h39minBJ Fogg is an author and social science research associate at Stanford. BJ sits down with the Armchair Expert to discuss his approach to changing behavior, growing up in the Mormon faith and his new book Tiny Habits. Dax commends BJ's approach of habit building by stating "after I blank, I will blank" and BJ talks about overcoming a childhood condition. The two discuss the behavior grid, lowering the bar on aspiration and technology in regards to behavior. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Whitney Cummings
02/03/2020 Duration: 01h55minWhitney Cummings (Whitney, Two Broke Girls, Chelsea Lately) is an American stand-up comedian, actress, producer, writer, director, and podcaster. Whitney sits down with the Armchair Expert to discuss her time in Al-Anon, her need to people please and the first time she met Dax at a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. Dax asks about her workaholism and Whitney talks about growing up in an isolated environment. The two talk about the pros and cons of roasts, manifesting your fears and Monica discusses her new medical condition in the fact check. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Peggy Orenstein
27/02/2020 Duration: 01h36minPeggy Orenstein is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Girls & Sex, Cinderella Ate My Daughter, Waiting for Daisy and Boys & Sex. Peggy sits down with the Armchair Expert to discuss her research in talking to young boys, why parents need to be open with their kids about sexual realities and the impact of pornography. Dax asks how boys can stand up to injustice without losing their social capital and Peggy talks about the uncoupling of pleasure and sex. The two talk about the double standards that exist in the way we perceive young males and young females, how gay communities navigate sex and the misconceptions boys and girls hold about the opposite gender. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Ashton Kutcher Returns
24/02/2020 Duration: 01h49minAshton Kutcher (The Ranch, Jobs, No Strings Attached, That 70s Show) is an American actor, producer, and entrepreneur. Ashton returns to the attic to discuss new decade resolutions, his goal to eliminate child pornography from the Internet and his interest in improving the foster care system. Dax talks about working with Ashton on The Ranch and Ashton talks about his love of a live audience. The two talk about preparing for the apocalypse, intention versus perception and appreciating counterintuitive data. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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LIVE: Jason De León
20/02/2020 Duration: 01h21minArmchair Expert Live from Los Angeles at UCLA. February 1st, 2020. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.