Adam Scott Returns

Adam Scott (Severance, Parks and Recreation, Stepbrothers) is an Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated actor and comedian. Adam joins the Armchair Expert to discuss why the era of movies that produced ET, The Goonies, and Temple of Doom means so much to him, how Severance was in such apt alignment with the grief for his mother’s death, and the reason playing “fan at bar” is way more embarrassing than “guy at bar.” Adam and Dax talk about a call of the void by licking lead, rebranding artisanal nicotine delivery systems, and the ethical dilemma of whether to sneak a peek at new season episodes. Adam explains sleeping through his first call time on set with John Turturro and Christopher Walken, not knowing where to put what he does to impress his mom once she was gone, and how sharing your insides is a credibly important way to make a difference in the world. Follow Armchair Expert on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Watch new content on YouTube or listen to Armchair Expert early and ad-free by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Start your free trial by visiting wondery.com/links/armchair-expert-with-dax-shepard/ http://www.wondery.com/links/armchair-expert-with-dax-shepard/ now. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Dax Shepard?

  Welcome, welcome, welcome to Armchair Expert. I'm Dan Shepard and I'm joined by the Duchess of the Luth.

• 0:06Speaker 01

  Hi.

• 0:07Dax Shepard?

  Hi, our sweetest friend, Adam Scott is here today.

• 0:10Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 0:11Dax Shepard?

  We discovered, which I would have not guessed.

• 0:14Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 0:15Dax Shepard?

  I forget now, but in seven, in the interview, we realized he was his seventh guest.

• 0:21Speaker 01

  It does feel like it's been a long time since he's come on, but not that long.

• 0:26Dax Shepard?

  No, I just didn't think he was that early. I felt like we were up and running for a while and I reached out.

• 0:32Speaker 01

  Me too.

• 0:33Dax Shepard?

  But yeah, so this is his second trip. Oh, this will be good because I remembered this. There's a point in the interview where I go, weren't you super into hip hop?

• 0:43Speaker 01

  Yeah, you did.

• 0:44Dax Shepard?

  And he's like, no.

• 0:46Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 0:46Dax Shepard?

  And I was so discombobulated by that because I'm like, I know I remember this.

• 0:55Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 0:56Dax Shepard?

  And it hit me after this interview and I texted him and I was like, oh my God, you know what I think I'm confusing is, were you obsessed with Do the Right Thing and Spike Lee and started wearing African gear? And he's like, a hundred percent. So that's what it was. I knew he went through a phase.

• 1:13Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 1:14Dax Shepard?

  And he was wearing like the tri-color Africa shirts and it was Do the Right Thing.

• 1:19Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 1:20Dax Shepard?

  So I'm not, I wasn't totally insane. There was some connective tissue.

• 1:24Speaker 01

  Got it. That makes sense.

• 1:25Dax Shepard?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 1:26Speaker 01

  And also lends itself to him being a cinephile.

• 1:30Dax Shepard?

  Yes, big time. Parks and Recreation, Step Brothers, Big Little Lies, Party Down, The Good Place, and alas, arguably the greatest show on television, which returns to Apple TV Plus on the 17th. Severance.

• 1:46Speaker 01

  I can't wait. So excited.

• 1:48Dax Shepard?

  It's so good. It's so, so good. And I got to do the Severance podcast that they're doing, which is really, really fun.

• 1:54Speaker 01

  That's great.

• 1:55Dax Shepard?

  Yeah. I do recommend, it's been three years. I have a pretty good memory. I don't remember anything. It is so worth starting it from the get go. It's so enjoyable. I had forgotten so many great things about it.

• 2:09Speaker 01

  I rewatched it as well.

• 2:10Dax Shepard?

  Oh, you did?

• 2:11Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 2:11Dax Shepard?

  I mean, it's just, what a show.

• 2:13Speaker 01

  It's fantastic.

• 2:14Dax Shepard?

  Please enjoy Adam Scott.

• 2:17Dax Shepard?

  We get support from Quince.

• 2:19Speaker 01

  Okay, can we talk about the fact that the holidays are already here? It's crazy. I feel like I blinked and now we're in gifting season, which I'm not really mad about because I do love giving gifts. And Quince is making it so easy to find something great for everyone on my list, including myself, because let's be honest, self gifting is a love language.

• 2:39Dax Shepard?

  Quince is seriously the gift that keeps on giving. Their high quality staples are made with premium materials like 100% Mongolian cashmere, 14 karat gold and Italian leather, full on luxury quality at prices that won't wreck your holiday budget.

• 2:55Speaker 01

  It's the dream. The cashmere sweater is starting at $60, down jackets, wool outerwear, cashmere accessories. You and everyone on your list are staying cozy and looking incredible all season long.

• 3:06Dax Shepard?

  Well, I'm going to tell you this, it just got chilly for the first time this year in California. And I'm so excited and I'm wearing my Quince cashmere right now.

• 3:13Speaker 01

  It's great.

• 3:14Dax Shepard?

  Yeah, and I am going to gift this to some of my friends. I hope they're not listening.

• 3:18Speaker 01

  Quince is also more than clothing. They've got fine jewelry for your significant other, leather bags for your bestie, hotel quality bedding to set up your guest rooms, chef grade cookware. That's an amazing thing they offer here. And it's such a good gift because people don't like buying cookware for themselves, but it's very important. And they also have five star luggage, another good gift that people don't like buying for themselves.

• 3:40Dax Shepard?

  Give the gift of quality this holiday season. Download the Quince app for app exclusive offers or go to quince.com. Get free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada and the UK too. And when Quince asks where you heard about them, let them know it was Armchair Expert. It's the best way to support the show. This episode is brought to you by McDonald's. Ah, the Quarter Pounder with Cheese with Medium Fries and a Drink is now $8.

• 4:11Speaker 01

  What?

• 4:12Dax Shepard?

  Okay, I need to talk about something that doesn't get enough respect. The Quarter Pounder with Cheese. This is not a casual burger. This is a crafted burger. We're talking 100% fresh beef cooked right when you order it. No artificial flavors, no fillers, no preservatives. Just beef doing what beef is supposed to do. And here's a detail I love. There's a cowbell sound in the kitchen. When somebody orders a quarter pounder with cheese, a cowbell goes off and the grill master throws a fresh patty down. That's like having your own entrance music at McDonald's. I want a cowbell for everything in life. The onions are hand topped by someone who just knows the right amount. Two slices of cheese laid out in a star pattern. So every single bite gets cheese and two pickles side by side. So you're never in a pickle desert.

• 4:56Dax Shepard?

  Every bite is accounted for. Someone engineered this thing with love. I love a quarter.

• 5:02Speaker 01

  Me too. That's my order. It's a quarter pounder with cheese. I love it. I didn't know they put so much effort that they did a star formation. I should have known because you can taste.

• 5:14Dax Shepard?

  You can taste it. Yeah. The love. Don't tell anyone this, but I'll put two of them back.

• 5:18Speaker 01

  Yeah, I'm not surprised.

• 5:20Dax Shepard?

  The quarter pounder with cheese with fries and a drink. Now $8 for a limited time only, only at McDonald's. For a limited time only, prices and participation may vary. Prices may be higher in Hawaii, Alaska, and California and for delivery. Fresh beef not available in Alaska and Hawaii. Offer not valid for delivery.

• 5:55Dax Shepard?

  Steel yourself. Is that the expression?

• 5:57Speaker 01

  Oh, my God.

• 5:57Dax Shepard?

  Steady steel.

• 5:59Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 5:59Dax Shepard?

  Thank God there's no buttons on your slacks like Camilo Anthony.

• 6:03Speaker 02

  I wonder what it is I'm supposed to be looking at.

• 6:06Speaker 01

  Yes, this is very nice.

• 6:08Dax Shepard?

  You're fucking hot as hell. Hold on, Adam, you're 1000% sexy as fuck.

• 6:15Speaker 01

  What is this from?

• 6:17Dax Shepard?

  I've always known you've had good hair, like enviable hair. But this photo, I can't do things like, like you can take big swings with your hair. Would you acknowledge that?

• 6:26Speaker 02

  And I would say that's a big swing and I think it might be a bit of a miss.

• 6:31Dax Shepard?

  No.

• 6:32Speaker 02

  The whole thing just feels a little stupid.

• 6:35Dax Shepard?

  No. Adam, listen to me. You can own this. Can I hold this up? Can you see that, Rob? But look at this. This is great.

• 6:41Speaker 01

  You do have great hair.

• 6:43Dax Shepard?

  Fuck, you have good hair.

• 6:44Speaker 01

  You're welcome.

• 6:45Dax Shepard?

  I'm stealing this from Arnett. He would call it the forty yard stare, like that.

• 6:49Speaker 02

  Yeah, the like, middle distance stare.

• 6:53Dax Shepard?

  Yeah, like, am I seeing a sniper in the background that you're not?

• 6:57Speaker 02

  Right. Me and Pratt used to do it on Parks. It would be saying something stupid to each other and then just kind of breaking into, like, what are you, what exactly? There is this middle distance where it's so clear. I wasn't looking at anything. It was just, look over there.

• 7:16Dax Shepard?

  Yeah.

• 7:17Speaker 02

  Maybe part of why it's embarrassing.

• 7:19Dax Shepard?

  No, no, no, no.

• 7:20Speaker 01

  You're so self-deprecating. It's a gorgeous picture.

• 7:22Dax Shepard?

  It is. I don't think I'm.

• 7:23Speaker 02

  Just gorgeous.

• 7:24Speaker 01

  Absolutely gorgeous.

• 7:26Speaker 02

  By the way, it's so different in here than where we.

• 7:29Dax Shepard?

  Oh, sure. You know, let's take a second to process this.

• 7:32Speaker 02

  How long have you been in here?

• 7:33Dax Shepard?

  Three months.

• 7:34Speaker 02

  I listen to the show. I don't watch it, so I would, I don't know.

• 7:37Dax Shepard?

  Yeah, take it in. First of all, Rob did all this.

• 7:39Speaker 02

  It's really nice. It's like homey.

• 7:42Speaker 01

  Yeah, it is.

• 7:43Speaker 02

  And well-designed. I know you have impeccable taste, Monica.

• 7:46Speaker 01

  Thank you, but this wasn't me. This was all Rob.

• 7:48Speaker 02

  It's really lovely.

• 7:49Dax Shepard?

  Yeah, you can almost forget, right? That's the dream.

• 7:52Speaker 02

  It's nice. And you got the camera sort of hidden. It's really nice.

• 7:56Speaker 01

  On a style.

• 7:57Dax Shepard?

  We have overs in this podcast, which people don't have over. They line up in a line.

• 8:02Speaker 02

  Overs. It's so good. You're a director. You know these things.

• 8:06Dax Shepard?

  What if I said I'm a director at heart?

• 8:09Speaker 01

  Ew.

• 8:10Speaker 02

  That's gross. I'm a storyteller at heart.

• 8:13Speaker 01

  That's worse.

• 8:14Dax Shepard?

  I'm even scared to admit out loud how much I hate that because so many people I love, I've heard use that term.

• 8:19Speaker 02

  I know.

• 8:19Dax Shepard?

  And it's true. We are story animals.

• 8:23Speaker 02

  Just cut it out. Since the dawn of man, we gathered around the fire. We tell stories. We can stop saying that.

• 8:31Speaker 01

  Yeah, I would like to stop.

• 8:33Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 8:34Dax Shepard?

  You've seen people you love say it, right?

• 8:36Speaker 02

  Of course. I'm sure I've said it. I mean, Jesus.

• 8:39Dax Shepard?

  You just run out of things.

• 8:41Speaker 01

  For the fact check, both of you saying it.

• 8:42Speaker 02

  A thousand times each.

• 8:44Dax Shepard?

  A stream.

• 8:45Speaker 02

  Is there any other? Current.

• 8:48Dax Shepard?

  Words that piss me off.

• 8:49Speaker 02

  Yeah. Nomenclature that's rubbing you the wrong way.

• 8:53Dax Shepard?

  I have too much of it to the degree that I'm not proud of myself.

• 8:56Speaker 02

  Too much of what?

• 8:57Dax Shepard?

  I am hypersensitive to words people are using in pop culture to the degree that I have to be a little self reflective and go like, this is the kid in high school. Like, I'm still looking for reasons that all the popular kids have their code.

• 9:11Speaker 01

  You feel left out.

• 9:11Speaker 02

  I got that.

• 9:12Dax Shepard?

  I think that's why it's such an acute, because Monica will tell you, I've called out words like artisanal. The second artisanals, I said, you watch, that's going to be on a fucking Arby's sign. It wasn't on Arby's, but it was on Subway. My current one I'm tracking is atelier. This is the new word.

• 9:25Speaker 02

  Wait, I don't know this one.

• 9:27Dax Shepard?

  Great. You're getting it on the ground floor.

• 9:28Speaker 01

  You do know it. It's just means like a shop.

• 9:31Dax Shepard?

  You don't know it.

• 9:31Speaker 01

  It just means a nice shop.

• 9:33Speaker 02

  Apothecary bubbled up a few years ago in the wrong places.

• 9:38Dax Shepard?

  Yes. Atelier, which I learned this from Monica, this is like a small bespoke, handcrafted luxury item. And it's the studio for it, which I'm fine with those Italians having their ateliers or French, whatever it is.

• 9:52Speaker 01

  Where the designer actually makes the items. It's a real word.

• 9:56Speaker 02

  Sure, but we don't use it to describe the sandwich shop in Beverly Hills, which is coming.

• 10:01Dax Shepard?

  I just started hearing atelier a little too much and I was like, Monica, you watch, the Gap's gonna have an atelier. Okay, so we have storytellers. That's rough for me.

• 10:11Speaker 02

  It's rough.

• 10:12Dax Shepard?

  And again, so many people I love it, I see you.

• 10:14Speaker 02

  Sure.

• 10:14Dax Shepard?

  I don't think people get through an interview without saying it these days. Holding space. Can't you just do that without talking about? Does that trigger you at all?

• 10:21Speaker 01

  I've never said it. I do think it's rough.

• 10:24Dax Shepard?

  This is where the left is losing people, by the way, and stuff like that.

• 10:27Speaker 02

  100% because it's cultural and rhetorical. That's it. Of the two parties, there's one that actually helps out the working class and it's not the one that won. It's the one that rhetorically and culturally don't know how to talk to them, right?

• 10:42Dax Shepard?

  Yeah.

• 10:42Speaker 02

  So it's shit like that. 100%.

• 10:44Dax Shepard?

  Yes.

• 10:44Speaker 02

  But wait, holding space means I'm just creating space for myself?

• 10:49Dax Shepard?

  Well, I think it's more often used in like, I just want my husband to be able to hold space for me to have my emotions or hold space for. A coworker or a friend.

• 10:58Speaker 02

  Right.

• 10:59Dax Shepard?

  It sounds a little too sanctimonious.

• 11:00Speaker 02

  I think I tuned that one out.

• 11:03Dax Shepard?

  So I use one that probably people hate. I will say often my story, my story about you and I is this or my story about losing that job. That to me feels a little more honest, which is I know I'm a storyteller.

• 11:14Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 11:15Dax Shepard?

  And it's just.

• 11:15Speaker 02

  It all comes back to storytelling, you guys.

• 11:18Dax Shepard?

  This is a story.

• 11:19Speaker 02

  Monica's visibly uncomfortable.

• 11:21Dax Shepard?

  We thought our pants were gonna explode, but they've retracted.

• 11:24Speaker 01

  It's literally the opposite.

• 11:26Dax Shepard?

  Were you wearing three belts when you walked in? I didn't notice.

• 11:29Speaker 02

  Isn't it funny in movies where they flash to the future and you see them taking stabs at what will happen fashion wise in the future? I think in Back to the Future, people have two ties in the future.

• 11:41Dax Shepard?

  Right, right. In 2015, which by the way, you would have known that already.

• 11:45Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 11:45Dax Shepard?

  You know what no one's playing with, which they should be, is that as we see drugs like Ozempic become ubiquitous and people will more and more have the same body shape. It's almost interesting to think no one's projected that in the future, everyone just virtually will be like three versions of people.

• 12:01Speaker 01

  Also with Botox and fillers and all of those things. Yeah, people's faces are starting to just look like one thing. I mean, young teens are doing Botox and filler.

• 12:12Speaker 02

  I know.

• 12:13Dax Shepard?

  I wish I was alive when they were 90 so I could see how perfect they look. I bet it's really gonna work out.

• 12:18Speaker 01

  It's gonna look great. Against it, but I am.

• 12:21Dax Shepard?

  You are, even though you're honestly.

• 12:23Speaker 01

  For like an 18 year old, you don't even know what your face is yet.

• 12:27Speaker 02

  But also you're not done forming.

• 12:29Speaker 01

  Exactly.

• 12:29Speaker 02

  And growing. I have two teenagers, so they're always on TikTok and Instagram and stuff. And yeah, there's a lot of perfection and redefining perfection. It's all really crazy.

• 12:39Dax Shepard?

  It's very sci fi. It does make me think, did you ever have these days when you were in elementary school? I'm plagued with a lot of cowlicks. I don't have the head of hair you do. Back to your hair.

• 12:49Speaker 02

  Cowlicks.

• 12:50Dax Shepard?

  You know, where your hair juts this way and then that way. It's all scatting wobbles and back out of a swirl. So the middle part with a feather when you and I were kids was king.

• 12:58Speaker 02

  Totally.

• 12:59Dax Shepard?

  You had to have that hairdo. Bo and Luke Duke had it and I just couldn't get it on the middle. It was always off to one. It was like a 60 40 split. And so occasionally I would have a morning like in fourth grade where I would feather it. It would look great and I would make this weird promise to the deities. I'd say like, I commit to this hair for the rest of my life. If you can keep it looking this way.

• 13:20Speaker 02

  If it can remain this perfect, I will keep this parted down the middle feathered construction for the rest of my days.

• 13:29Dax Shepard?

  Okay. Now, did you ever do any dumb thing like that in front of the mirror?

• 13:31Speaker 02

  I remember my brother had the little lead figurines for Dungeons and Dragons. They were made out of lead.

• 13:38Dax Shepard?

  Yeah.

• 13:38Speaker 02

  And as a kid, I heard lead is poison, so you need to be careful. I used to just steal all his shit and look at it. He's older than me. So I remember one day taking one of these little lead figures and just sticking my tongue out and just touching it and then just being like, what am I doing? And I remember looking into the mirror in our living room. There was a mirror hanging there and just going, I don't want to die. Thinking that it was imminent.

• 14:13Dax Shepard?

  Okay. What you stumbled upon right there is called the call of the void. Do you know this term?

• 14:18Speaker 02

  No.

• 14:18Dax Shepard?

  So the call of void is very, very common for people to experience this. You're on an extremely tall building. You're looking over the edge and the voice is going, jump, you fucking pussy. For some reason it's taunting you.

• 14:28Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 14:29Dax Shepard?

  And that's what licking that lead was. And I would have done the exact same thing.

• 14:33Speaker 02

  Like, whoa, it's pretty powerful.

• 14:36Speaker 01

  That's what it is.

• 14:36Dax Shepard?

  But you got to be on the other side of answering the call of void, which is you left. And it sounds like you had immediate regret.

• 14:43Speaker 02

  Yeah, it was a stupid thing to do.

• 14:45Dax Shepard?

  Did you think in your mind at that time, you thought you'd be dead before the day's end?

• 14:49Speaker 02

  I thought I would drop dead any second.

• 14:51Speaker 01

  Were you like touching your tongue?

• 14:53Speaker 02

  Getting under the faucet. On Instagram, I'm constantly shown, you know, those kids that are now climbing skyscrapers all over the world without any equipment.

• 15:03Speaker 01

  What?

• 15:04Dax Shepard?

  Yo, they're just free balling it and they're running and jumping. They're not like being careful.

• 15:08Speaker 02

  Oh, they're getting up to the top of literally the Empire State Building and balancing on one leg.

• 15:15Dax Shepard?

  Taking some pics.

• 15:16Speaker 02

  Yeah, they have their drone up there and they're just like, what's up?

• 15:19Dax Shepard?

  Some toss them a beer.

• 15:20Speaker 02

  Crazy. And there's a documentary on a couple that do this in Eastern Europe on Netflix. Their whole group of friends are traveling the world doing this and they die often.

• 15:32Speaker 01

  Of course.

• 15:32Speaker 02

  Because they fucking fall.

• 15:34Dax Shepard?

  Yes, yes.

• 15:35Speaker 02

  But I'm on that algorithm on Instagram and I'm constantly being shown these. Those are because there's nothing that I enjoy more than watching these people on the edge of a fucking skyscraper and I love it.

• 15:49Dax Shepard?

  Yeah. It makes my hands sweat so profusely.

• 15:52Speaker 02

  I get butterflies and I get an adrenal rush, I think, watching them. And then I have to just put it down and not look anymore. Yeah, it's weird.

• 16:01Dax Shepard?

  Look in front of the mirror and say.

• 16:02Speaker 02

  I don't want to die. It's like, well, it's just a video. You're fine.

• 16:07Speaker 01

  Were you a really good kid? It sounds like you were a really good kid. That's the extent of.

• 16:12Dax Shepard?

  Mischief.

• 16:13Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 16:14Speaker 02

  Yeah, I must have been a good kid.

• 16:16Dax Shepard?

  I can really relate to being the younger brother who he'd leave the house to go do something fun. And I would run to his bedroom like a chimp, just like hold his objects.

• 16:27Speaker 02

  A hundred percent.

• 16:28Dax Shepard?

  Covet them.

• 16:29Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah. Look at chimp, your little possessions.

• 16:32Dax Shepard?

  His idols. I felt like I was holding special idols.

• 16:35Speaker 02

  I remember once he came home when I was in the midst of one of my archaeological digs. And I hid behind a chimney that came through the middle of his room. And I just hid there for 15, 20 minutes while he just sat on his bed, reading a comic book or something.

• 16:53Dax Shepard?

  I was staying at my grandparents' roadside motel in the summertime and I had an Uncle Rob, who is five years older than my brother. So this guy was on top of the world. He had a 68 Camaro. He played the guitar very well. He had a dirt bike. And I got into his room when he was out and I found just a treasure trove of firecrackers.

• 17:09Speaker 02

  Oh, shit.

• 17:09Dax Shepard?

  And I was like, this motherfucker's got major power moment in here. Firepower. I was like, oh, there's 60 of these. I'm gonna steal one. Black cats. And then later I was out in a field next to motel and I lit them off. And I was like very scared and excited. And then I just hear, they're loud, aren't they?

• 17:27Speaker 02

  Oh, fuck.

• 17:28Dax Shepard?

  And I turned around. That was Uncle Rob and he fucking called me red handed. Just like the cool uncle you'd guess. He didn't mind too much.

• 17:35Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 17:35Dax Shepard?

  He understood what was going on.

• 17:37Speaker 01

  The other day you told me you've never stolen.

• 17:39Dax Shepard?

  I didn't say that.

• 17:40Speaker 01

  Yes, you did. Yes, you did. Cause then I said, yeah, you tried to steal a

• 17:45Dax Shepard?

  Parking meter.

• 17:45Speaker 01

  Parking meter.

• 17:46Dax Shepard?

  I did steal. And then I said, no, I did steal a parking.

• 17:48Speaker 01

  Yeah. You said, then I did, but I put that in a different compartment because I was drunk, but now here we go.

• 17:54Speaker 02

  It sounds like, it sounds like he was in his right mind when he stole these fireworks.

• 17:58Speaker 01

  It does.

• 18:00Dax Shepard?

  I was pretty hammered.

• 18:01Speaker 02

  What is that?

• 18:02Dax Shepard?

  That's a nicotine spray. You've certainly seen me use these.

• 18:05Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 18:06Dax Shepard?

  On our yearly vacation.

• 18:07Speaker 02

  Yeah, I've got.

• 18:08Dax Shepard?

  Yeah. What are you rocking? Zin. That's right. You're a zen man.

• 18:11Speaker 02

  So stupid.

• 18:12Speaker 01

  What's a zen?

• 18:13Dax Shepard?

  A zen is like a little pouch of chemicals. It's kind of like a skull bandit.

• 18:18Speaker 02

  Except it's non tobacco or maybe skull bandits are non tobacco.

• 18:22Dax Shepard?

  No, they're tobacco.

• 18:23Speaker 02

  Okay. These are non tobacco. It's just nicotine.

• 18:26Dax Shepard?

  Bandits are made in an atelier in Raleigh, Durham.

• 18:30Speaker 02

  So are zins. They're made in

• 18:31Dax Shepard?

  One by one.

• 18:32Speaker 02

  Gorgeous atelier in Terre Haute, Indiana.

• 18:35Dax Shepard?

  Very bespoke, very tisnall and they fold each packet.

• 18:38Speaker 02

  Bespoke. That's another one.

• 18:40Dax Shepard?

  That one doesn't bother me.

• 18:41Speaker 02

  Agents started using it describing different kinds of movies and shows.

• 18:45Dax Shepard?

  By the way, that's a great source for trigger words is agents. Cause agents kind of like Silicon Valley bros. There's a lexicon and you gotta stay abreast.

• 18:55Speaker 02

  And political talking heads. There's always a new word kind of cycling through. A few years ago, it was crossing the Rubicon. So and so is going to cross the Rubicon into

• 19:07Dax Shepard?

  You're so right.

• 19:08Speaker 02

  This cycle, it was something else, but yeah, it's annoying.

• 19:12Dax Shepard?

  Okay. Now I gotta go all the way back. Cause when I talked about your hair. So basically we're getting into this era where the Faustian promise could be, we're nearing a technology that at eight, I could have injected myself with something and my hair would have looked like that for the rest of my life. That's where I was going with that entire story.

• 19:28Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 19:28Dax Shepard?

  Like the notion of freezing your face at 16 is kind of interesting. I don't have a moral judgment on it quite yet.

• 19:34Speaker 01

  My face has gotten better over time. So that would have been a big mistake.

• 19:40Dax Shepard?

  Mine too. Is yours improved?

• 19:41Speaker 02

  I think so. I look at photos of me when I was 30 and I'm like, what's going on? And it might just be the way you perceive yourself. It's hard to gain perspective on that. I just saw the substance, which was super interesting.

• 19:57Speaker 01

  So interesting.

• 19:58Speaker 02

  So good. But remember when the kid in the doctor's office introduces her to the idea? And that kid's perfect face?

• 20:06Speaker 01

  Yeah, but creepy.

• 20:07Speaker 02

  Very creepy. That's what I immediately think of when you say there'll be like three different kinds of faces. Or if you have the power to just freeze your face, everyone starts kind of morphing into a face like that. To me, that looks like a YouTube tutorial face.

• 20:25Speaker 01

  Mm hmm.

• 20:26Speaker 02

  It's just weird. And it's become this standard that people are looking at on social media.

• 20:32Dax Shepard?

  It's hard to say what's better or worse. Is that better or worse than you and I thinking you gotta look like Brad Pitt? And there's no chemicals or I can't freeze my.

• 20:42Speaker 02

  There's nothing you can do.

• 20:43Dax Shepard?

  No, I'm not sure if it's getting better or worse.

• 20:45Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 20:45Dax Shepard?

  Okay, but my sci fi fantasy is this. So if we just think really quickly that your cells divide and they make perfect copies of themselves.

• 20:52Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 20:52Dax Shepard?

  So there's this great mystery. How then does your body evolve and look differently? If it's making perfect mirror copies of each cell, what is this aging process? How are the cells changing? And there's a lot of science that's getting close to figuring that out. So let's just say there is a future in which you take it. And then that's it. You're arrested exactly where you're at. From now on, your cells will just duplicate as they should. That's an interesting sci fi movie where everyone is 28. The wise elders are 28.

• 21:19Speaker 02

  And everyone is immortal?

• 21:20Dax Shepard?

  Probably unless they get hit by a car, unless some kind of accident happens. Their cells are just gonna make perfect copies of themselves. So that would be an interesting sci fi movie where everyone's 30.

• 21:31Speaker 02

  One guy's 130 and one guy's 30.

• 21:34Dax Shepard?

  Yes.

• 21:34Speaker 02

  But they look exactly the same.

• 21:36Dax Shepard?

  And it just makes me wonder like status wise and how you treat people at a grocery store and all this weird stuff. If everyone was the same age, what would that do?

• 21:44Speaker 02

  That would be really weird.

• 21:46Speaker 01

  Also, it would make the first 30 years of your life or 28, whatever number everyone decides.

• 21:51Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 21:52Speaker 01

  You'd like be living in a bubble because you have to protect yourself until you get to

• 21:55Speaker 02

  Yeah, so you don't get

• 21:57Speaker 01

  Messed up or

• 21:58Dax Shepard?

  Well, I did think of that is once you get the procedure, it'll heighten your fear of accidental death because you're not going to die of any diseases.

• 22:04Speaker 02

  People would be so much more accident phobic and also there would probably be some sort of celebration when you hit 30 or 28 or whatever it is.

• 22:13Dax Shepard?

  27, that's when they always say you just start going downhill from there.

• 22:16Speaker 02

  Is that right? Is that like the peak?

• 22:18Dax Shepard?

  That's when you like kind of peak.

• 22:19Speaker 02

  Remember Looper, one of the great sci fi movies of the last 20 years or so, Ryan Johnson?

• 22:25Dax Shepard?

  Yeah.

• 22:26Speaker 02

  They have that party when you close your loop and you know your death date. Is that what it was? They throw a party and it's a really dark, weird thing, but that's the great thing about really good sci fi is when you drop in and you see kind of the customs of this new altered environment. And when it's pulled off well, like in Looper, it's really kind of mind bendy.

• 22:48Dax Shepard?

  Yeah, that's the fun stuff to think about is not the actual big juicy tech.

• 22:52Speaker 02

  Cultural reverberations of these.

• 22:54Dax Shepard?

  Like if a guy that's 130 is dating a actual 30 year old woman, but they look the same. Do we throw out that whole thing we care about?

• 23:02Speaker 02

  And what are the apps that would be created to catch you up on what a 30 year old is into? And you're fucking 430.

• 23:10Dax Shepard?

  What if, okay, we got to get back to reality, but after this, no, but listen.

• 23:15Speaker 02

  Dating a 430 year old.

• 23:17Speaker 01

  Although then it's like they're mature.

• 23:19Speaker 02

  Right.

• 23:20Speaker 01

  That's cool. I don't know.

• 23:21Dax Shepard?

  What if, okay, so these new meta glasses, they have a speaker right behind.

• 23:26Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 23:26Dax Shepard?

  Whatever the arms. I'm told that you could be in China and you can have the AI be translating what someone's telling you in Mandarin and you'll hear it in English. I think we're really close to the Star Trek. Like we're wearing glasses, Chinese guys wearing glasses and we're just communicating. So knowing that that's close. Now, what if back to the 300 year old, let's call it a woman dating a 30 year old man.

• 23:46Speaker 01

  That's safer. Yeah.

• 23:47Dax Shepard?

  That's safer. We like that. And then the 30 year old man goes, I loved this new show, Tobika Wee Crossing.

• 23:55Speaker 02

  It's a great show, bud.

• 23:56Dax Shepard?

  It is a good one. And then the woman in her ear hears, I'm watching this new show. Dawson's Creek. The AI knows where this reference is going, so they can communicate.

• 24:06Speaker 02

  They can have the conversation.

• 24:08Dax Shepard?

  Different references. Do you understand what I'm saying?

• 24:10Speaker 01

  Sort of, but they're still living in the same world.

• 24:12Dax Shepard?

  Like you'd be talking about Taylor Swift. Like, let's say you and I were on a date. You'd be talking about Taylor Swift and how great she is, but I'd be hearing Madonna so that I understood.

• 24:19Speaker 02

  It's a cultural equivalent.

• 24:21Dax Shepard?

  Translator, cultural translator.

• 24:22Speaker 02

  The same emotional interaction and just be on the same level at all times. So all cultural references become the same too.

• 24:30Dax Shepard?

  Yes.

• 24:31Speaker 02

  Everything evens out, so there are no obstacles anywhere.

• 24:35Dax Shepard?

  No, it's just emotion. I'm conveying an emotion I have.

• 24:38Speaker 02

  You say you like Raiders of the Lost Ark and I hear Tron. Tron 3D.

• 24:44Dax Shepard?

  Yeah.

• 24:45Speaker 02

  I mean, that just made me sound so much older than I intended.

• 24:49Speaker 01

  These aren't real relationships. You're just hearing what you want to hear. Cause what if you didn't like Taylor Swift objectively? And I'm talking about Taylor Swift and you're hearing Madonna, something you do. It's just translating into what you like.

• 25:02Dax Shepard?

  No, no, no. See, in my version of this cultural translator, you're saying Taylor Swift and my equivalent of that was Madonna. Now I actually feel about Madonna however I felt then, right? So maybe I thought she was, I don't think this, well, I just think she was a stage show. She wasn't really an artist. Let's just say that's what I thought.

• 25:18Speaker 01

  We don't, we're not.

• 25:18Dax Shepard?

  That's not what I think.

• 25:19Speaker 02

  None of us think that.

• 25:20Speaker 01

  We don't, we just, we don't say that.

• 25:22Dax Shepard?

  So I'm hearing you talk about someone who's a perfect comp and then I feel the way about, and then I go, she's not for me. I don't like.

• 25:29Speaker 02

  But your AI would be so attuned to you that it would know if you say Taylor Swift to perfectly translate that to maybe it's not Madonna, maybe it's Emmylou Harris. It's attuned to you and your taste. If the objective is to get along with this person you're talking to and create an emotional connection and get rid of any snags along the way. It'll just provide equilibrium for everything.

• 25:57Dax Shepard?

  So in your version, like a liberal and Democrat are wearing the glasses and the liberal goes, I'm so afraid the earth's going to catch on fire. And the person hears, I'm so afraid of immigration.

• 26:07Speaker 01

  And then everyone's like, I know, I know.

• 26:09Speaker 02

  Totally.

• 26:10Dax Shepard?

  Terrified.

• 26:11Speaker 02

  I totally agree.

• 26:12Dax Shepard?

  Yes, I'm scared too.

• 26:14Speaker 02

  Oh, that's wild.

• 26:16Dax Shepard?

  Okay, this actually brings me to a real question. First of all, and I told you this privately, so I'm not just fluffing your pillows now that we're in

• 26:22Speaker 02

  Fluffing your pillows, I like that.

• 26:23Dax Shepard?

  Not a really common colloquial. We go on this trip every year. It's the funnest trip of the year for us.

• 26:29Speaker 02

  So fun.

• 26:29Dax Shepard?

  Our friend Jimmy Kimmel hosts all of us in the most generous possible capacity.

• 26:33Speaker 02

  The loveliest.

• 26:34Dax Shepard?

  And there's a lot of things you could say were the bells and whistles of it, the location, the accommodations, the activities, but for me, it's dinner every night.

• 26:43Speaker 02

  Yeah, it's a giant table. How long would you say this table is?

• 26:47Dax Shepard?

  Forty feet.

• 26:48Speaker 02

  Probably fifty people, forty people, would you say?

• 26:51Dax Shepard?

  Yeah, that feels right.

• 26:52Speaker 02

  Everyone is terrific. And every year there's additions and people can't make it and someone else arrives and it's always just fascinating group.

• 27:01Dax Shepard?

  So you can't miss, no matter who you're seated next to, but, and I don't want to rank, it's not polite to rank, but if you and I get seated next to each other,

• 27:09Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 27:09Dax Shepard?

  I'm like, this is gonna be the greatest three hour dinner. You're the funnest person to talk to. I love talking to you.

• 27:15Speaker 02

  That is so flattering. And when you texted that to me, I immediately went and got Naomi and told her. Because my immediate reaction when finding a seat at that dinner is if I'm sitting across from you or next to you, I'm like, I really don't want Dax to feel like he has to talk to me.

• 27:35Dax Shepard?

  Oh, my God. And I'm trying to engineer getting seated across from you.

• 27:38Speaker 02

  And I love sitting with you too, because you're an inherently interested person and you're so fun to talk to. And I've always felt that way about talking to you, even when we didn't really know each other that much. You can just drop in with you and talk about stuff and you always have something to say. And you telling me that was a huge deal because I also feel comfortable sitting across from you or sitting next to you. Like I'm immediately at ease.

• 28:07Dax Shepard?

  Same. So so much of our conversations, and this is where one of my questions comes in, we have a lot of nostalgic conversations. We have a lot of the same favorites from the eighties and nineties. We did, I don't know, 90 minutes on Against All Odds.

• 28:21Speaker 02

  Oh, you had Jeff Bridges.

• 28:22Dax Shepard?

  I did, and I brought up the car chase scene and I asked how much of the drive he needed. Questions only you and I would want answered.

• 28:28Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 28:29Speaker 01

  Yeah, if I'm wearing the glasses, I just heard.

• 28:33Speaker 01

  Now and then, maybe?

• 28:35Speaker 02

  That's a pretty good comp.

• 28:37Dax Shepard?

  He talked about that being the first movie he started physically training for.

• 28:40Speaker 02

  Oh, interesting.

• 28:40Dax Shepard?

  And how it created a lifetime interest in exercise.

• 28:44Speaker 02

  That's so interesting. I was watching a behind the scenes thing on Temple of Doom. And they're like, Harrison really had to bulk up for this one. And it shows him at like a shitty gym, just like doing bench presses.

• 28:55Dax Shepard?

  With those plastic weights filled with sand?

• 28:57Speaker 02

  Yeah, like nothing.

• 28:58Dax Shepard?

  He did some bench press.

• 28:59Speaker 02

  Not nothing. He's definitely exercising, but gyms have changed a lot. There's no trainer there. He's just by himself.

• 29:07Dax Shepard?

  No squats, no deadlifts, just bench and some curls.

• 29:10Speaker 02

  And then a couple of beers.

• 29:12Dax Shepard?

  Couple of beers and a doobie and let's get to that.

• 29:14Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 29:14Dax Shepard?

  But I guess what I was wondering is you have this deep nostalgia. I want an explanation for it. And I'm wondering, do you think we're just that way? Or is there something about childhood that was so comforting? You would recognize you're more encyclopedic about that whole era than most people you talk to.

• 29:33Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 29:33Dax Shepard?

  You always blow me way out. Once we start talking, yeah, you've watched the behind the scenes of Temple of Doom. I have.

• 29:39Speaker 02

  Right. In the last three months, I've gone and looked at that. It's so comforting to think about that era. And I think movies in that era in particular were geared for us.

• 29:54Dax Shepard?

  Yeah.

• 29:54Speaker 02

  When I reference Temple of Doom, that is my favorite movie. I was 11 when that came out. That and Goonies and E.T. I know it's kind of tired now because our generation has beat the nostalgia to death a little bit. Back to the Future, those movies, at least for me, they meant everything.

• 30:14Dax Shepard?

  Yeah.

• 30:14Speaker 02

  I ask myself that a lot. Why did this stuff mean so much to me? At least for me, that whole period of time from 82 to 88, when I started getting interested in beer and just a social life.

• 30:29Dax Shepard?

  Hip hop.

• 30:29Speaker 02

  For me, it was like the dead.

• 30:31Dax Shepard?

  Why do I think you had a crazy hip hop phase in high school?

• 30:34Speaker 02

  I didn't.

• 30:36Speaker 01

  More.

• 30:37Dax Shepard?

  Oh, I don't know if I am.

• 30:38Speaker 02

  If I could count the amount of times.

• 30:41Speaker 01

  All the time.

• 30:41Speaker 02

  Oh, my God.

• 30:43Dax Shepard?

  That's why we wanted to do this on video, to be honest with you.

• 30:46Speaker 02

  To see if Macklemore and I, because he's not here, so you don't know.

• 30:50Dax Shepard?

  But I think people would think it was Macklemore posing as Adam, probably.

• 30:55Speaker 02

  You're right. It's a particularly potent period of time.

• 31:01Dax Shepard?

  Stay tuned for more Armchair Expert if you dare. We get support from Gusto. So here's the thing about running a small business that nobody romanticizes. It's not the big idea that wears you down. It's the payroll, the tax filings, the wait, do I need workers comp for this stuff? That's the part that quietly eats away your whole afternoon, which is where Gusto comes in. Gusto is online payroll and benefit software built for small businesses. It's all in one, remote friendly and incredibly easy to use so you can pay onboard and support your team from anywhere. They handle automatic tax filing, direct deposits, health benefits, 401k, all of it.

• 31:43Dax Shepard?

  And you get unlimited payroll runs for one monthly price. No hidden fees, no surprises. If something tricky comes up, you've got direct access to certified HR experts who actually know what they're talking about. And they're ranked number one on G2's highest satisfaction products list for 2026 and trusted by over 500,000 small businesses. That's not nothing. Try Gusto today at gusto.com/dax and get three months free when you run your first payroll. That's three months of free payroll at gusto.com/dax. Again, that's gusto.com/dax. This episode is supported by Helix.

• 32:23Speaker 01

  Okay, can we talk about how November is basically survival mode between the holidays, the travel, the hosting, the cooking, the everything? Sleep is the one thing keeping me from completely unraveling.

• 32:33Dax Shepard?

  It really is the foundation and I think people underestimate how much a bad mattress is quietly ruining their day. You wake up stiff, your back's angry, you're already behind before your feet hit the floor.

• 32:45Speaker 01

  That was me before Helix. I took their sleep quiz, which is so fast. It took me like two minutes and they matched me to a mattress that actually fits how I sleep. Not a guess, not a firm or soft coin flip. It's a real match. I have a midnight mattress and I really like it. I was noticing it because I actually had to sleep in one of my other beds recently.

• 33:03Dax Shepard?

  Yeah.

• 33:03Speaker 01

  That doesn't have a Helix mattress on it and I really could tell a big difference in my sleep.

• 33:07Dax Shepard?

  Temperature was all over the map.

• 33:09Speaker 01

  It was a mess. I need a new one.

• 33:10Dax Shepard?

  Look, they've got over 20 mattress models. So whether you sleep hot, need extra back support, or you've got a partner who moves around all night, there's one built for you. Plus free shipping and a 365 night happy with Helix guarantee. That's a full year to decide.

• 33:25Speaker 01

  Helix has been named the most awarded mattress by Forbes, Wired and more. So it's not just us being enthusiastic. The experts agree.

• 33:32Dax Shepard?

  Right now, Helix is running their Black Friday sale with up to 30% off. Go to helixsleep.com/armchair for up to 30% off your Helix mattress. That's helixsleep.com/armchair for up to 30% off your Helix mattress. helixsleep.com/armchair. We get support from no bull. The holidays can get hectic. You finally hit a post summer routine and suddenly you're on hosting duty every week.

• 34:00Speaker 01

  That's when you really need to ground yourself.

• 34:02Dax Shepard?

  Exactly. And that's why I keep my training routine through the holidays. It's the whole no bull idea. There's a no bullshit training brand built around consistency, honesty, and just putting in the work. It's not about adding more pressure to an already packed schedule. It's about having the gear and the habits to move through the season your way. My personal favorite, all three of the shoes are fantastic. The Outwork, the Outwork Flex and the Drive 2. I like the Drive 2 because it's a hybrid and I lift of course, but I also like to do what's called box jumps.

• 34:32Speaker 01

  Ah.

• 34:33Dax Shepard?

  Right? I do a lot of jumping onto a little platform and I want a little more flexibility and boy, do they deliver.

• 34:39Speaker 01

  And if you're a cardio person and you're running and you also need to be lifting.

• 34:43Dax Shepard?

  The style is banging. I don't know what to say. Beautiful style, very breathable, very, very comfortable, lots of support. They were built for lifting.

• 34:51Speaker 01

  They also make a great holiday gift. You know, I love gifting. A purposeful one that actually supports someone's goals and routines. And it's not a gift that just ends up in the back of the closet.

• 35:00Dax Shepard?

  Stay stronger than the season. Head to nobolproject.com all holiday season to shop new deals every week. We get support from our sponsor Lilly. For adults with obesity or with excess weight and weight-related medical problems, it's time to find out about Foundo or for Gleepran. Foundo is a once daily prescription GLP-1 medicine used with a reduced calorie diet and increased physical activity to help adults with obesity or some adults with overweight who also have weight-related medical problems to lose excess body weight and keep the weight off.

• 35:34Speaker 03

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• 36:16Speaker 03

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• 36:37Dax Shepard?

  Okay, last thing I will say about this. Then I started watching this Brat Pack documentary.

• 36:41Speaker 02

  Yes, that's another chapter of that same period of time. Those movies hit me so hard. Pretty in Pink, oh my god.

• 36:48Dax Shepard?

  Oh my god, Pretty in Pink. And the psychedelic furs and how that was making me feel. But I was watching the Brat Pack doc and I was having the realization like, oh, we also lived in a very peculiar time where five of the biggest movie stars alive were 21 years old. I think of that now, and of course, that would seem crazy that there would be this cadre of enormous stars. But that was a unique thing that was happening when we were kids that we didn't know was unique. They're greenlighting like 12, 15 teen movies a year.

• 37:15Speaker 02

  Right. From that period, they still don't look that young to me. And I think it's because they were six years older than me or something. They looked...

• 37:22Dax Shepard?

  Sophisticated and adult. Like, of course, they were driving a Porsche and dressed nice and had a big apartment.

• 37:27Speaker 02

  And they were 21.

• 37:28Dax Shepard?

  Yeah. Did you have that, Monica? Am I wrong about that? That's a unique aspect. You didn't have that when you were 12.

• 37:34Speaker 01

  Oh, the 21-year-olds?

• 37:35Dax Shepard?

  Yeah, there was like a whole crop of movies every weekend.

• 37:39Speaker 02

  Who would that have been?

• 37:39Dax Shepard?

  Zac Efron, a little bit before, I'm sorry. I'm not calling you a baby.

• 37:43Speaker 01

  Yeah, I'm a big girl.

• 37:45Speaker 02

  Harry Potter stars?

• 37:47Speaker 01

  No, I was like the Friends era. They were young. I guess they were young too, but yes, older than me. But I was gonna say nostalgia, I think, exists because it's the things that you consumed before everything got complicated.

• 38:01Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 38:02Speaker 01

  And also before you started wanting things for real, chasing things and deciding, I want to do this with my life. It was just pure. And there's only a very small amount of time you get in life of purity.

• 38:14Speaker 02

  Totally. And that window for us happened to be during this Spielberg era where Elliot in E.T., Indiana Jones, the kids in Goonies, Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future, these were heroes. Luke Skywalker.

• 38:32Dax Shepard?

  Changing the world.

• 38:33Speaker 02

  Yeah. And they were all scrappy nobodies.

• 38:38Dax Shepard?

  And divorce was making its way into these movies, which I like.

• 38:41Speaker 02

  E.T.'s a very divorce-driven.

• 38:44Speaker 02

  Movie.

• 38:44Dax Shepard?

  I was in a divorced family on my maybe second step dad, feeling like I want to just be in the world on my own a bit.

• 38:52Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 38:52Dax Shepard?

  And all these kids, these protagonists in these movies were just kind of on their own.

• 38:56Speaker 02

  The parents weren't figuring prominently into any of these things.

• 38:59Dax Shepard?

  No, and I think that was really appealing.

• 39:01Speaker 02

  It sure was.

• 39:03Dax Shepard?

  Get them out of here and let me run the show a little bit.

• 39:05Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 39:06Dax Shepard?

  See what we can do.

• 39:07Speaker 02

  Cause those kids in ET were just like, yeah, okay, mom. And they would just go off on their bike.

• 39:12Dax Shepard?

  This alien on our own.

• 39:13Speaker 02

  Yeah, dude. We're gonna outrun the cops.

• 39:16Dax Shepard?

  So when I went back to consult your previous episode, I would have not guessed this. What number do you think Adam was?

• 39:24Speaker 01

  Early, I think really early, maybe thirty two.

• 39:27Dax Shepard?

  Right. I would have gone forties. What would you say?

• 39:30Speaker 02

  First five?

• 39:32Dax Shepard?

  Seven.

• 39:32Speaker 01

  Stop.

• 39:33Speaker 02

  Seventh guest that you had.

• 39:35Dax Shepard?

  Yes.

• 39:36Speaker 02

  I remember it being early, but I was kind of taking a flyer by saying five.

• 39:41Speaker 01

  Seven.

• 39:42Dax Shepard?

  Yes, seven. Not only seven, but Monica, as I listened to it, the episode starts with housekeeping and it's me explaining Monica's a part of the show. She's gonna talk and she's not interrupting. Like I read in comments that she's a integral part of the show. It's me explaining.

• 39:57Speaker 01

  Oh, boy. Oh, I just got like sweaty then.

• 40:00Dax Shepard?

  Yo, I got sweaty listening to the whole thing.

• 40:03Speaker 02

  How long ago was that?

• 40:05Dax Shepard?

  Seven years ago in February.

• 40:07Speaker 02

  Congratulations, you guys.

• 40:08Dax Shepard?

  But obviously so much has happened since then.

• 40:11Speaker 02

  Yeah, seven years.

• 40:13Dax Shepard?

  What I learned in a bunch of interviews I listened to of you today. One was I heard you on Fresh Air saying, which I thought was really funny, that you were just obsessed singularly on TVs and movies. And that's all you thought about.

• 40:28Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 40:29Dax Shepard?

  And I was thinking, if you go into acting, that was a great use of time. But if you're just an average person that says, no, all I've ever thought about and obsessed about was TV and movies, somehow that sounds like a loser-y endeavor.

• 40:40Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 40:41Dax Shepard?

  Right. I was thinking like, just by the fact that you landed in it means that it was totally justified. And what a great thing to be focused on your whole life.

• 40:48Speaker 02

  I think in the low points of trying to do this, that certainly crossed my mind. Like, what have I done with my life? Because it's all I thought about and talked about.

• 41:00Speaker 01

  It was 99% screen time.

• 41:01Speaker 02

  Right. And here I am with nothing to show for it and no practical skills of any kind. There was a real low point in 2000 when I had not gotten six feet under. I tested for that with Michael C. Hall. Thank God he got it because he was incredible and I was not ready to do that.

• 41:25Dax Shepard?

  That's heartbreaking. And then you're watching it.

• 41:26Speaker 01

  Oh, that was a hefty role.

• 41:29Speaker 02

  A hefty role and a hefty show.

• 41:31Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 41:32Dax Shepard?

  But you played his lover ultimately, didn't you?

• 41:34Speaker 02

  Yeah, I did play his boyfriend for a couple of episodes.

• 41:36Speaker 01

  So they brought you back. That's nice.

• 41:37Speaker 02

  Yeah, they did. But before it was even on TV and when I did not get the role, it was after a series of blows work wise, just not having worked in six months or, you know, one of those, we all went through it and I was nowhere. I had been at it at that point for like seven years or something and was at square one. Because when you're living like guest spot to guest spot and indie movie, you never hear from those people again.

• 42:06Dax Shepard?

  To remind people, you and I were in one of those together. Hair Shirt slash Too Smooth.

• 42:11Speaker 02

  Too Smooth.

• 42:12Speaker 01

  This is when you were vomitier?

• 42:13Dax Shepard?

  I was vomitier, but do you know what his role was? I don't know if you knew your role the last time.

• 42:17Speaker 02

  Guy in bar?

• 42:18Dax Shepard?

  Fan at bar.

• 42:18Speaker 02

  Fan.

• 42:19Dax Shepard?

  Almost worse than guy at bar.

• 42:20Speaker 02

  It is way worse. It's far more humiliating. And who were you?

• 42:25Dax Shepard?

  Vomitier at party.

• 42:27Speaker 02

  What does vomitier mean?

• 42:28Dax Shepard?

  Someone who vomits at a party.

• 42:30Speaker 02

  Are you on camera vomiting?

• 42:32Dax Shepard?

  Yeah, I think so.

• 42:33Speaker 02

  Oh, man.

• 42:34Dax Shepard?

  I hope so. That's what was promised.

• 42:36Speaker 02

  I've never seen Too Smooth.

• 42:38Dax Shepard?

  You haven't seen it.

• 42:39Speaker 02

  Slash Hair Shirt. Have you seen it?

• 42:41Dax Shepard?

  I've seen it. I don't want to get bogged down in that, but you want to know who else was in that movie? That I doubt you know was in that.

• 42:45Speaker 02

  Rebecca Gayheart?

• 42:46Dax Shepard?

  Rebecca Gayheart, Neve Campbell, of course. And then our two leads, which I looked at the poster this morning. Our poor two leads are in the deep, deep background and Neve and Rebecca are front and center. And they maybe have like, I don't know, three scenes.

• 42:59Speaker 02

  Neve was playing like a big star.

• 43:01Dax Shepard?

  Hence you being a fan.

• 43:02Speaker 02

  Fan at bar.

• 43:04Dax Shepard?

  Bar, yeah.

• 43:04Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 43:05Dax Shepard?

  Me being while Matier at the party.

• 43:06Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 43:07Dax Shepard?

  Alfonso Cuarón was in that movie.

• 43:09Speaker 01

  What?

• 43:10Speaker 02

  I remember he and Dean were good buddies.

• 43:12Dax Shepard?

  Yeah, he played a director in the movie.

• 43:14Speaker 02

  That is so wild.

• 43:16Dax Shepard?

  So you and I have been in a film with Alfonso Cuarón.

• 43:18Speaker 02

  Absolutely. We are colleagues of Alfonso Cuarón.

• 43:22Dax Shepard?

  Yes, clearly.

• 43:22Speaker 02

  We are peers with Alfonso Cuarón. That's really, really funny.

• 43:26Dax Shepard?

  So obviously, since then, you have done a ton of stuff, but Severance is the most spectacular thing.

• 43:34Speaker 02

  Oh, thanks.

• 43:35Dax Shepard?

  And as you know, because Chris and I sent you voicemails.

• 43:38Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 43:39Dax Shepard?

  Almost after every episode. I'd like to play a couple of them.

• 43:42Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 43:43Speaker 04

  Hey, so we're in bed and we just had a quick question.

• 43:46Speaker 05

  Hi, we just had a quick question.

• 43:48Speaker 04

  Are you guys fucking drawing this new season? Is that what's taking so long?

• 43:53Speaker 05

  What in the goddamn hell is taking so long?

• 43:57Dax Shepard?

  These are the kind of messages you would receive after every episode.

• 43:59Speaker 04

  You son of a bitch. You wanted the compliments or here comes the fucking complaints. Belle and I just sat here on the edge of our seat, waiting to find out what happens when you guys come to.

• 44:11Speaker 05

  You fucking prick.

• 44:13Speaker 04

  You piece of shit prick. And that goes for Ben, too.

• 44:16Speaker 05

  Losers.

• 44:18Speaker 04

  Oh, buddy. Are we fucking pissed that this episode just ended when the switches were thrown? So you wanted the fucking cake? And now you gotta take the rat poison, too, you piece of shit.

• 44:31Dax Shepard?

  Okay, so that's kind of an average.

• 44:33Speaker 02

  Was that for the finale?

• 44:35Dax Shepard?

  That was, I think, one before the finale.

• 44:37Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 44:38Dax Shepard?

  This ended up being three.

• 44:39Speaker 04

  Another thing, it's gonna be a long fucking week for us and for you.

• 44:44Dax Shepard?

  Yeah, because we're waiting.

• 44:45Speaker 04

  So either block my number or get used to this shit.

• 44:48Speaker 05

  Fuck you.

• 44:49Speaker 04

  You piece of shit.

• 44:52Dax Shepard?

  Okay, and then the last one.

• 44:53Speaker 04

  Big update you'd probably find funny. My wife just ran through a plate glass window off the second story of our home and was rushed to the hospital. You probably want to know if she's still alive. I will tell you next week.

• 45:08Speaker 02

  I have all those on my phone as well.

• 45:10Dax Shepard?

  I want to play one of your responses, which is so good.

• 45:13Speaker 04

  You can't imagine how much pleasure it gives me to have the both of you over a barrel like this. I may as well tell you now that the entire season was created just to frustrate and destroy the both of you. Eat shit.

• 45:30Speaker 04

  The guys are so fucked.

• 45:32Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah.

• 45:33Dax Shepard?

  Naomi popped in.

• 45:34Speaker 01

  Oh, that's cute.

• 45:36Dax Shepard?

  But you went into Severance, and I learned this from you. I don't know if this is secret or not, but you were involved and then maybe you weren't involved for a minute and then you were involved. So it doesn't start on the firmest footing, maybe, or I don't know what you go through before you end up there.

• 45:51Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 45:51Dax Shepard?

  But you go right at really what point in the pandemic?

• 45:55Speaker 02

  Well, we were scheduled to start the end of March 2020, or beginning of April, something like that, and actually went and did a table read, March 7th or something. And then I was gonna go home, get all my shit and come out. And at the table read, they passed Purell around. We were like, this pandemic thing is fucking, this is weird. And then as I was there, just for like two days, shit was contracting in New York. And I was like, maybe I should go get Lysol wipes for my room. Like, what's going on? Then I flew home and then everything happened. So we didn't start shooting till October, but even that-

• 46:34Dax Shepard?

  But that was early.

• 46:35Speaker 01

  It was fast.

• 46:36Speaker 02

  We were one of the only shows actually shooting. So a lot of shows were doing this where you have a mask, a plastic thing in front of your face and all that shit. For the actors, the only time we saw people's entire faces was when camera was rolling. We would rehearse with all that stuff. And there was a special person with your own box to put your mask and all your equipment in.

• 46:58Speaker 01

  Yeah. Oh, my God.

• 46:59Speaker 02

  All that to say, the isolation from each other and in general. Cause I would wake up in my apartment, go down to the van that took me to set with, had a plastic sheet between me and the driver.

• 47:11Dax Shepard?

  Oh, my God.

• 47:12Speaker 02

  And go to my room where you weren't allowed to have anyone in your room. Suffice it to- Say the only real human contact was after action.

• 47:21Dax Shepard?

  Yeah.

• 47:22Speaker 02

  So it kind of fed into the show.

• 47:24Dax Shepard?

  I didn't notice that your mom had died as well, right before, I guess it would have been that table read.

• 47:30Speaker 02

  Two days before the table read.

• 47:32Dax Shepard?

  I think the most interesting part of this is so then the memorial gets kicked all the way to December or something.

• 47:37Speaker 02

  December of 21.

• 47:39Dax Shepard?

  Okay. So very far away, but what immediately happens after she dies is you go into quarantine with your family and it's like groovy. Right? You're with your family. I think in particularly a time like that where there's the loss of this person, but at least you're connected to the fact that the whole thing just carries on and that's comforting and maybe misleading. And then you get completely by yourself in an apartment in New York. In this very lonely situation already, and I'm imagining everything kind of must hit the fan at that point.

• 48:10Speaker 02

  Yeah, it really did. And it really was sort of from the moment I walked into the apartment and closed the door. And it was dead silent. And I was like, oh, okay. I need to come to terms with, at that point, she had died six months before, but like you said, I was cocooned with my family, with the people who love me the most and was insulated, which is, I guess, one of the things love is for, is to make you feel better. And they've suffered a loss as well, but obviously I was the one who was going to be

• 48:51Speaker 02

  grappling with it. And I'm sort of a unique way from my kids in the, I mean, so I'm in that apartment and I needed to find a way towards grieving and defining what this is and what happened. And I really did it through the show. I mean, I sort of just decided I'm gonna figure this out, but the show is about grief.

• 49:12Dax Shepard?

  I hate to say it was a good coincidence, but my God, if you have to go through this.

• 49:16Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 49:16Dax Shepard?

  The fact that you got to play someone who's grieving the loss of somebody and you're lonely as fuck in real life.

• 49:21Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 49:22Speaker 01

  You don't have to act really.

• 49:23Speaker 02

  Yeah, just gliding right into it and very directly. Letting it out and processing it in the show. There's a scene in the show, actually, where we were on the side of the road at the site of my wife's car accident in the seventh episode. And just by sheer coincidence, because we shot the whole season at once, it was on the one year anniversary of my mom dying.

• 49:47Dax Shepard?

  Oh, wow.

• 49:48Speaker 02

  And I didn't realize it till that day. And so there were things like that where I could pretty directly process.

• 49:56Dax Shepard?

  When you shut the door to the apartment and you go, hmm, we got some dealing to do. Are you overcome with fear for that process? What's your reaction to knowing that, oh, we're gonna go through some stuff now and we're gonna be by ourselves and we're gonna get into this?

• 50:13Speaker 02

  I'm a person who tries to compartmentalize and push things to a later date.

• 50:20Dax Shepard?

  Yeah.

• 50:21Speaker 02

  And so I busied myself with getting ready for the show and the election was about to happen. And so I was preoccupied with that. And so I closed that door and was like, oh, shit. And really felt the loss right there, like there is a giant elephant in this room with me, but it'll be there. I'm here for eight months or whatever.

• 50:43Dax Shepard?

  Sure, we'll get to that.

• 50:45Speaker 02

  I'll be fine. And eventually after a few weeks and just hours of alone time, because no one was socializing really and restaurants, you know, it was so weird that I really did have to figure it out there. And I didn't talk to a therapist while I was there and I really should have. I did, in a way, sort of come to terms with it and come to terms with the fact that grief is something that is a flat circle in one way or the other. It stays with you and sometimes it feels like it happened 10 minutes ago and sometimes it feels like it happened 50 years ago.

• 51:23Dax Shepard?

  Yeah.

• 51:24Speaker 02

  And sometimes it's surreal that that person is no longer in your life. It's just like unbelievable.

• 51:31Dax Shepard?

  It's really hard to imagine someone exists and they don't. As dumb and simple as that is to say, it is so weird that you can exist and then not exist.

• 51:39Speaker 02

  Yeah. And someone that is so instrumental in who you are, you know, this thing that I'm doing for a living. When she was gone, I realized that part of the reason I was.

• 51:56Speaker 02

  Doing this in the first place was for her to see it.

• 52:02Dax Shepard?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 52:02Speaker 02

  You know?

• 52:03Dax Shepard?

  Yeah, of course. Yeah.

• 52:04Speaker 02

  And so when that was gone, I was sort of like, who am I going to impress?

• 52:11Dax Shepard?

  Yeah.

• 52:11Speaker 02

  So I had to straighten that out and sort of come to terms with the fact that these feelings and this love that you have for a person and their love for you doesn't go anywhere. It's still here.

• 52:27Dax Shepard?

  It's kind of what you're made of.

• 52:28Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 52:29Dax Shepard?

  The structure of you is that.

• 52:30Speaker 02

  That's right. And a parent dying, it's like part of the sky going away or something. It's sort of a big thing.

• 52:37Dax Shepard?

  Well, it's the thing you're most tethered to.

• 52:40Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 52:40Dax Shepard?

  So when my dad died, I had these conflicting feelings of like, A, he had become a dependent of mine.

• 52:46Speaker 02

  You were taking care of him.

• 52:47Dax Shepard?

  Supporting him. So unfortunately, a lot of our conversations over those last few years were like, I need this. This is not a great dynamic.

• 52:56Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 52:56Dax Shepard?

  And then, you know, I lived with my mom primarily my whole life. When he was dying, it was a lot of work for me. So I had this conflicting, I felt a sense of relief when he died. And I was like, okay, this battle's over. We got him through it without too much carnage. That's a win. I had a misleading sense of relief for a few months. And then opened up the door to like, oh, I'm never going to chat with him again, or he's not going to see anything I do. But through all of that, I was like, also, thank God it's not my mom. Cause my mom for me is the thing you're talking about. Like Dax wants to live in the woods and fucking be annihilated drunk all day. And anything I've ever done

• 53:37Dax Shepard?

  positive was because my mom believed enough that I was a good boy and I needed to make her happy. And so I've often thought, if she's not around for me to even think, what would she think? That feels like a very scary place for me to be in. I really rely on her to almost be my super ego.

• 53:55Speaker 02

  Just like in the back of your head, your mom is this very unique station.

• 54:00Dax Shepard?

  It's so fucking thankless. Do you watch Naomi? And I watch Chris and I go, my God, what's he just waiting to go through?

• 54:06Speaker 02

  And meanwhile, I'm walking around like.

• 54:09Speaker 01

  And they're like, dad.

• 54:10Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 54:12Speaker 01

  You know that Nick Kroll special where he's just like, moms are annoying?

• 54:16Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 54:17Speaker 01

  They are. Why? So unfair.

• 54:19Speaker 02

  Cause they know you so well.

• 54:22Speaker 01

  Yep.

• 54:23Speaker 02

  In a way that no one else does. Not your dad, no one. They just know.

• 54:29Speaker 01

  They were in your body.

• 54:30Dax Shepard?

  Who you are able to be scared in front of, vulnerable.

• 54:34Speaker 02

  Yeah. Even as an adult, something would happen, I would call her. No matter how embarrassing, you know that that call is there.

• 54:42Dax Shepard?

  Yes.

• 54:43Speaker 02

  You know?

• 54:44Dax Shepard?

  To your point, guaranteed, I'm feeling better when I get off the phone with my mom.

• 54:49Speaker 02

  Hundred percent.

• 54:50Dax Shepard?

  She'd somehow find the silver lining in this horrific.

• 54:54Speaker 02

  And give you the kernel of whatever it is. At least for me, part of a son's journey, and I'm sure it's the same for no matter what gender you are, there is a period of time where you need to peel away and show that you don't need your mom. You've got this. You're good.

• 55:13Dax Shepard?

  You're a big boy now.

• 55:14Speaker 02

  Yeah, that's right. And I already know anything you're gonna say anyway, cause I'm a grown up now. But thinking back on that stuff is painful, but I think also just being a parent now, you just know, you don't care.

• 55:28Dax Shepard?

  No.

• 55:29Speaker 02

  Anytime my kids are shitty to me, ultimately, I don't really give a shit.

• 55:33Dax Shepard?

  I almost think, good for you.

• 55:35Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 55:36Dax Shepard?

  Sometimes like when they tell me off, I'm like, for you, you got some backbone.

• 55:39Speaker 02

  Yeah, not bad.

• 55:41Dax Shepard?

  You're supposed to hate me from time to time.

• 55:42Speaker 02

  That's right. It would be weird if you didn't roll your eyes and slam the door right now.

• 55:46Dax Shepard?

  Yes.

• 55:47Speaker 01

  If you're lucky, you get two sources of unconditional love. And then when that starts going away, it's so scary. What's left?

• 55:56Speaker 02

  It is scary.

• 55:57Dax Shepard?

  We have the great luxury and gift of, I think what you do with that is you just turn it on your kids. It's like, I don't have that thing. I miss that thing. I'm never gonna have that thing, but I have this thing.

• 56:08Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 56:08Dax Shepard?

  Imagine when you don't have kids and you go through the loss of a parent. It's gotta be really destabilizing.

• 56:14Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 56:14Dax Shepard?

  Kinda now, not tethered to really anything.

• 56:17Speaker 02

  I can't imagine. Monica, are both of your parents with us?

• 56:20Speaker 01

  Yes, they are. I live with so much fear.

• 56:23Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 56:23Speaker 01

  Of something happening to them. And I think part of it is that. I don't really have a place to channel it, but in some ways I think, not that it's a cop out, but like you said, in the pandemic, you could sort of channel it with your family. We're all ultimately by ourselves, really. And so when you really sit with it, you are going to have to process it anyway.

• 56:43Speaker 02

  At some point.

• 56:44Speaker 01

  Yeah. And the kids aren't really going to be the answer to that. They probably don't deserve to be the answer to that.

• 56:50Dax Shepard?

  They're gonna bail like every other kid does.

• 56:53Speaker 02

  My son's in his senior year in high school and that's gonna happen in less than a year.

• 57:00Speaker 01

  That's awful.

• 57:01Speaker 02

  Oh my God.

• 57:02Dax Shepard?

  It's so awful.

• 57:03Speaker 01

  Why? Why is life structured like this? It's crazy.

• 57:07Speaker 02

  It's so wild. And you were so kind too. He came over and interviewed you for his film class and boy, oh boy, was that a feather in his gauze. Doing a little mini doc on cars and Dax Shepard's in his.

• 57:21Speaker 01

  That's pretty cool.

• 57:23Speaker 02

  He's so smart and such a kind, lovely person and into really cool stuff. It's the best, but it's going to be incredibly sad when he fucking leaves.

• 57:36Dax Shepard?

  Oh God, yeah.

• 57:36Speaker 02

  Jesus.

• 57:37Dax Shepard?

  Well, yeah, you shut the door to an apartment in New York and that had some justification, but the notion that you'll be shutting your door to your home when Frankie leaves and you'll go, we're gonna have to deal with this.

• 57:47Speaker 02

  Yeah. Now we just have each other.

• 57:52Speaker 02

  Jesus.

• 57:53Speaker 01

  Maybe they'll come back. My brother went back home for a while.

• 57:56Speaker 02

  Really?

• 57:56Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 57:56Speaker 02

  Like after college or?

• 57:58Dax Shepard?

  Okay. He just recently left.

• 58:00Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 58:00Speaker 02

  Wow.

• 58:01Speaker 01

  Yeah. So you never know. You never know.

• 58:03Speaker 02

  Good for him.

• 58:04Speaker 01

  I was panicking for my mom because that's even worse. It's like, then you have a really long time. I think you probably trick yourself into this is forever. Great. He'll live here. This is just the way it's gonna go. She gets to make sandwiches for him every day and now he's really gone.

• 58:17Speaker 02

  Did she have to go through the grieving all over again?

• 58:20Dax Shepard?

  She went to YouTube instead.

• 58:21Speaker 01

  She likes YouTube. I think she's still.

• 58:23Speaker 02

  You mean just watching YouTube?

• 58:25Speaker 01

  She's dealt with a ton of shit and she's figured it out.

• 58:28Speaker 02

  Where do they live?

• 58:30Speaker 01

  Georgia. So anyway, I was like, oh no. And also she just lost her dad and I was like, oh my God, my brother's leaving and that's happening and this is a disaster, but she's.

• 58:38Speaker 02

  Well, you know what? When that happens, sometimes the second time they leave.

• 58:42Speaker 01

  Instead of this middle ground, maybe it's like, okay.

• 58:46Speaker 02

  I remember when I came back in between years at school, I had only been gone for eight months and I remember moving back into my mom's house and she was a little like. Huh. Okay. Yeah. You're here now.

• 58:58Dax Shepard?

  She had processed.

• 58:59Speaker 02

  She had already moved on. And so there was some adjusting to happen.

• 59:04Dax Shepard?

  The baby boomers did it quicker. They know how to get through something really fast.

• 59:07Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 59:08Dax Shepard?

  Okay. Now back to Severance. So those are kind of unique circumstance in which you were filming the first. And so here's what happened. As you know, it's my favorite show. Told you nonstop. We got six screeners for the upcoming season.

• 59:21Speaker 02

  Oh, you did.

• 59:22Dax Shepard?

  Which we were ecstatic about. I came in and I lured these few things I get over quick. Cause Kristen has access to everything in the world. I'm never offering something cool. And I'm like, uh, guess who's got six episodes of next season? So, so excited. Sign in to watch them and I go, let's watch the recap. I wonder if you've done the same thing.

• 59:43Speaker 01

  I had the same crisis of morality where I was like, I want to so bad, but I don't think I should. And mainly actually because I want to be watching it while the world is watching it. There's something about you being like, we have to wait a week. That's makes it really fun.

• 1:00:03Speaker 02

  It's fun.

• 1:00:04Dax Shepard?

  But that's not why I didn't watch the new ones. I watched the recap and I was like, hon, are you remembering this?

• 1:00:11Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:00:11Dax Shepard?

  And she's like, not as much as normal. And Kristen can really remember a TV show. Monica will tell you. Come back from Game of Thrones. She still remembers. Yeah. So I was like, I'm inclined to start over, which I've done. I can't recommend this enough to people. You should start right now in anticipation.

• 1:00:28Speaker 02

  I'm doing the same thing. Cause Ben and I are hosting a podcast.

• 1:00:31Dax Shepard?

  Which I hope to be on.

• 1:00:32Speaker 02

  Yes. Where we go through every episode of the first season, then we'll be doing a weekly thing for season two.

• 1:00:38Speaker 01

  I love that.

• 1:00:39Speaker 02

  And rewatching the show. I hadn't seen it in a long time and it's been three years. So we're encouraging people to re-watch the whole season.

• 1:00:46Dax Shepard?

  I can't believe how much I forgot about it and I can't believe how much I'm enjoying re-watching. I think more than I've ever enjoyed re-watching it. There's a lot of it that feels like I'm watching it for the first time.

• 1:00:57Speaker 02

  That's great.

• 1:00:58Dax Shepard?

  I think because of the gap between seasons.

• 1:01:00Speaker 02

  Long time.

• 1:01:00Dax Shepard?

  But then also the density of it and the subtlety of it. And it's interesting watching it, knowing more about it. I think you get. More from it. But anyways, all that to say, I didn't watch any of the new season because now I'm on episode four. Kristen went out of town. I already decided, fuck her. I'm going on without her. This is another rare. I don't do that.

• 1:01:18Speaker 02

  That's a tough decision to make, whether or not you're going to be honest about it or re-watch those episodes pretending it's the first time.

• 1:01:25Dax Shepard?

  Yeah, three viewings before we.

• 1:01:27Speaker 02

  Yeah, that's right. That's right.

• 1:01:29Dax Shepard?

  I guess my fear, because I love the show so much, is what do you do with the second season?

• 1:01:33Speaker 02

  Right.

• 1:01:34Dax Shepard?

  How long did that take for them to crack that? Also, Dan, is that the writer, creator's name?

• 1:01:39Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:01:40Dax Shepard?

  The only thing he had ever written for before this was lip sync battle.

• 1:01:43Speaker 02

  Yeah, man.

• 1:01:43Dax Shepard?

  Do you know this story? He wrote for lip sync battle. He sent the pilot for Severance as a writing sample to Red Hour.

• 1:01:52Speaker 02

  Yeah, and Nicky Weinstock and Jackie Cohn at Red Hour read the script and thought it was great and brought it to Ben. And so, yeah, it was more of a sample like, hey, I'm a writer. But they were like, what about this as an actual thing? And Dan was working at a door factory when that sample was sent to Red Hour.

• 1:02:15Dax Shepard?

  Really?

• 1:02:15Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:02:16Dax Shepard?

  In what state? In California?

• 1:02:18Speaker 02

  Here somewhere.

• 1:02:19Dax Shepard?

  Good for us. We're manufacturing doors. I thought that was more of a Wisconsin thing.

• 1:02:22Speaker 02

  Without doors, what are you gonna do? He's just the coolest guy and brilliant, obviously. And he and Ben just started working on this and developing it. And Jackie and Nicky, I'm sure. Dan was kind of scooped up from nowhere, having no real credits. It's fun talking to him about the show and where it can go and stuff. And he has it all in his head. And also, when he's thinking of something new, it's really fun to hear him sort of go, oh, yeah, that's cool. And then little cul-de-sacs and roads he goes down. He always takes an unexpected, strange direction. But also, as far as the kind of language of Lumen, there is no one who can really crack it and write it like he can't.

• 1:03:06Speaker 02

  It's a really particular thing that he invented and has a real direct line to is the strange phrasing and no man. Of human and cure and this whole world. It's really fun.

• 1:03:22Dax Shepard?

  How much of Ben's fingerprint is on it directorially? Because then I'll admit this, I had not seen Escape from Dannemora. Or I saw the first one. I don't know why I didn't continue, but we just watched it. I don't know, three weeks ago and fucking loved it.

• 1:03:37Speaker 02

  Amazing. I just rewatched it too last week.

• 1:03:40Dax Shepard?

  And did you see the parallels?

• 1:03:41Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 1:03:41Dax Shepard?

  It's a similar thing. You're like trapped in a world. You don't have your autonomy. You're trying to escape. I don't know. It's interesting.

• 1:03:50Speaker 02

  Yes, I really zeroed in on this time watching Dannemora. How art figured into their lives because John Turturro and Christopher Walken's characters, particularly John Irv, his life is really connected to art and the paintings and the rules and all of the sort of culture of the world is really important to him. And the guys in Dannemora, Benicio del Toro and Paul Dano's characters, you know, when you have very little, your sort of stimuli is really cut off. These things become really important.

• 1:04:21Dax Shepard?

  And in Severance, it almost seems dangerous. You're looking at all those hallways. They're stark white. They're meaningless. And then the painting that he hangs up, it's like the most exciting. It's like the fucking sphere in Vegas in that world.

• 1:04:36Speaker 02

  Totally. And when Christopher Walken's delivering the new tote bags for the manual, that's a huge deal.

• 1:04:43Dax Shepard?

  Yeah.

• 1:04:44Speaker 02

  It's an event.

• 1:04:45Dax Shepard?

  Could you see all this stuff when you read the script?

• 1:04:47Speaker 02

  Not like this. The tone of it was really found during the first season. I think, you know, usually when you go back and watch the first season of any show that you know and love, the first few episodes, it's like, okay, they're figuring it out. Since we shot the season all at once, we were still shooting the first episode 10 months in. So something that worked in our favor is us finding our sea legs was spread out over the season.

• 1:05:14Dax Shepard?

  There's no moment you can detect that.

• 1:05:16Speaker 02

  And that's to Ben and Dan's credit.

• 1:05:18Speaker 01

  Were you guys worried? Were you like, maybe we should put masks on and maybe we should redo the COVID experience while we shoot season two to keep the tone?

• 1:05:25Speaker 02

  Right, to keep our isolation.

• 1:05:26Speaker 01

  Cause that was magic and that's scary.

• 1:05:30Speaker 02

  It's scary going back to anything that worked or works.

• 1:05:34Dax Shepard?

  As much love I have for the show, as I have anxiety about how we perpetuate this world in a way that ends up being satisfying logically, it's a big endeavor.

• 1:05:43Speaker 02

  You know, when we started season two, it was like, there is this steep mountain in front of us. Holy shit. Okay, let's go.

• 1:05:50Dax Shepard?

  Should I doing Pulp Fiction two?

• 1:05:52Speaker 02

  Dude, yeah. And just the enormity of it. It's so much to do and I love that. I love getting in and chipping away. And I love working with Ben. Something we have in common is we don't want to stop until we get it right. I completely trust his taste and his eye. And that's something that you have to have in a director is complete trust. And how often is that? But I do with him.

• 1:06:18Dax Shepard?

  I have no business saying this, evaluating his career in this way, but I'm going to. So it's like, he did Tropic Thunder. He made that movie so big and glossy and actiony, which is cool. He showed he could do that. I was watching Dan Amor. I was like, okay, so this is him saying like, I don't have to fuck with comedy. I know exactly how to do drama. And I feel like Severance is the beneficiary of him having proved he can do everything. And now letting in some of the comedy and the weirdness. This to me just feels like the total synergy of all the previous work.

• 1:06:53Speaker 02

  That's really interesting.

• 1:06:54Dax Shepard?

  There's just like a confidence. It can be anything because the show's often hysterical, I think. And it's just all things now.

• 1:07:00Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:07:03Dax Shepard?

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• 1:07:45Dax Shepard?

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• 1:08:04Dax Shepard?

  Okay, Walken and Tutturo, doesn't sound like you got to bond with them in season one too much because you guys were in lockdown.

• 1:08:11Speaker 02

  With Tutturo, I did because we had so many scenes together with Walken. I in season one, didn't really have all that much time with him. I had a couple scenes and it was incredible to just be anywhere near Christopher Walken. I couldn't fucking believe it. Actually, on my first day shooting with both of them, it was like six weeks into the shoot and they both were starting on the same day and I was so excited and actually took a picture of the call sheet and send it to my friend Stu. It was like, guess who I'm working with tomorrow, bro?

• 1:08:46Speaker 01

  It's so fun to still be that excited. That's great.

• 1:08:50Speaker 02

  I was so excited, but couldn't get to sleep because I was so excited. Stayed up till like four. Woke up, not because of my alarm, but because of pounding on my door. I was supposed to get in the car at probably 6am and it was 8:30.

• 1:09:08Dax Shepard?

  Oh my God, two and a half hours sleeping.

• 1:09:10Speaker 02

  Set was an hour away.

• 1:09:12Dax Shepard?

  Oh no, now it's rush hour.

• 1:09:14Speaker 02

  My assistant was pounding on the door, which means he had time to drive from set all the way down to Tribeca and pound on my door. This was the first day with John Turturro and Christopher Walken.

• 1:09:28Dax Shepard?

  Have you bragged to your buddy the night before?

• 1:09:29Speaker 02

  Yes, which is the kiss of death, right?

• 1:09:33Dax Shepard?

  You're showing up feeling great about yourself.

• 1:09:35Speaker 02

  Oh my God. I let him in and was running around the apartment crying. Trying to get all my shit together. Cause usually I wake up with at least an hour of just time to drink coffee and read the fucking whatever.

• 1:09:52Dax Shepard?

  Okay. So you finally show up on set. Presumably you know these two legends who you can't wait to work with. They've been told our lead actor.

• 1:09:59Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 1:10:00Dax Shepard?

  We can't find him.

• 1:10:00Speaker 02

  I just had to go apologize.

• 1:10:02Dax Shepard?

  And what did you say?

• 1:10:03Speaker 02

  I said, I am so sorry.

• 1:10:06Dax Shepard?

  I just flew in from China.

• 1:10:08Speaker 02

  The thing that really sucked about it is that I knew, no matter what I say, it's going to sound like bullshit. No matter what I say.

• 1:10:16Dax Shepard?

  Yeah. You're a guy who just slept into it in half an hour.

• 1:10:18Speaker 02

  I now have put myself in a position where I have to earn it back with these two guys who I don't know. And I've been working on this first impression now for a while. And I am starting at a serious deficit.

• 1:10:33Dax Shepard?

  Yeah. You're in a hole.

• 1:10:34Speaker 02

  No matter what I say, no matter how gracious they are, they're going to be like, fucking dick. The number one on the call sheet ends up being an asshole.

• 1:10:43Dax Shepard?

  I might've been tempted. I don't know if this is manipulative. I was also just dead honest. I probably said to them, you're to blame. I was so excited to work with both of you that I couldn't go to sleep till 4am.

• 1:10:54Speaker 02

  That would have been a good move.

• 1:10:55Dax Shepard?

  Maybe bury in some flattery, but also that might've sounded like, God, this guy's a pathological liar on top of being, these guys are drug addicts.

• 1:11:01Speaker 02

  Probably.

• 1:11:03Dax Shepard?

  That's what it is.

• 1:11:03Speaker 02

  They go, oh. Immediately went to, is that what you immediately think everyone is thinking about you is this guy's drug addict.

• 1:11:09Dax Shepard?

  This guy relapsed.

• 1:11:10Speaker 02

  Turturro was just like, oh, happens to everybody. Happened to me.

• 1:11:14Dax Shepard?

  In the seventies.

• 1:11:15Speaker 02

  Yeah, right.

• 1:11:17Dax Shepard?

  I have so much curiosity about both those gentlemen. They're in a similar category for me where there's this group of actors where I'm like, they're so intrinsically interesting and unique and different that I almost can't believe they can also act. They're so genuinely authentic.

• 1:11:33Speaker 02

  I can't believe that Christopher Walken finishes work and then goes home and makes himself something to eat and watches television and goes to sleep.

• 1:11:42Dax Shepard?

  Yeah.

• 1:11:43Speaker 02

  Like what?

• 1:11:43Dax Shepard?

  Or he's behind a guy at the parking garage arm who can't get his credit card to work. And he's just there for 12, 15 minutes. Should I get out and try to help him?

• 1:11:52Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:11:53Dax Shepard?

  He's dealing with that.

• 1:11:54Speaker 02

  Christopher Walken. So to see him in the makeup chair, looking at his phone, I'm like, oh my god. Yeah. Turturro is similar for me. I went to see his directorial debut, opening night in 92 Mac. Anyway, I held all that back till I got to know him a little bit and then eventually kind of unleashed it all on him.

• 1:12:15Dax Shepard?

  And did he like it?

• 1:12:16Speaker 02

  Yeah, he's the coolest and such a sweet.

• 1:12:19Dax Shepard?

  Who is he?

• 1:12:20Speaker 02

  He would be such a great person to have on.

• 1:12:23Speaker 01

  We're trying.

• 1:12:23Dax Shepard?

  Oh, I would love.

• 1:12:25Speaker 02

  A fascinating guy and one of the great actors that we have. I mean, he is a beautiful actor.

• 1:12:34Dax Shepard?

  Yeah.

• 1:12:34Speaker 02

  That's another word I feel is overused. More so like 10 years ago, but beautiful. Everything's beautiful.

• 1:12:40Dax Shepard?

  I like you describing him as beautiful and I have often described that. That whole storyline on Severance, it's hard to imagine that show without it.

• 1:12:48Speaker 02

  I know.

• 1:12:49Dax Shepard?

  It's really the heart of the show.

• 1:12:51Speaker 02

  It really, really is. It's beautiful.

• 1:12:54Dax Shepard?

  It is fucking beautiful. They're both beautiful. The way they play it is just impossibly perfect.

• 1:12:59Speaker 02

  They're really close friends and have been for a long time and it was John's idea to have Christopher Walken play that part. You can just see the love there that they have for each other.

• 1:13:11Speaker 01

  It's very special.

• 1:13:12Speaker 02

  He was really taking care of Chris on set. Not that he needs to be taken care of, but he would come in for a scene every few weeks. It was just so sweet and lovely. And that's a rare thing to have someone who is that kind of embedded in our consciousness.

• 1:13:28Dax Shepard?

  I'm gonna put you in that category, which is, I think the most impressive thing about those two from the outside, not knowing them at all, is just going, yeah, man, these two are still fucking starving to make art. Like they're still dying to express themselves. I don't have that as much sadly, but I see that you have that a ton. I think that'll be you as long as you want it to be you.

• 1:13:49Speaker 02

  That's very kind of you.

• 1:13:50Dax Shepard?

  I'll close on this.

• 1:13:51Speaker 02

  So you're doing that here.

• 1:13:52Dax Shepard?

  I'm doing a different version, I guess. Yes.

• 1:13:55Speaker 01

  No, we're all storytellers.

• 1:13:57Dax Shepard?

  I mean, we're just.

• 1:13:58Speaker 02

  This should be a fire right here, you guys.

• 1:14:01Dax Shepard?

  The last thing I'll close with is just an interesting conversation that we had this summer. And I've played it back in my head a few times to double check that it didn't at all offend you. But we were talking about the people that recognize you. I don't know if you remember this. Conversation and there is an enthusiasm people have towards you that you have a hard time accepting, I think, as we all do. But I was trying to explain to you why I understand it very much so in regards to you, which is, I think you are for people what Nicolas Cage was for me, which is, this guy isn't the high school quarterback. He's one of us and he did

• 1:14:45Dax Shepard?

  it. He got invited to the big party and he's the star of the big show. And I see myself in him. And I think that's a rad space to occupy. And I don't know how you took that, but I know that's how people feel about you. That's how I feel about you. I'm like, oh, yeah, the dude I was making jokes with in the classroom about the popular people, he somehow is there.

• 1:15:10Speaker 02

  I keep thinking about Nicolas Cage, walking out on that talk show and doing those kicks.

• 1:15:14Dax Shepard?

  Oh, yeah.

• 1:15:15Speaker 02

  That's on Instagram all the time.

• 1:15:17Dax Shepard?

  Have you gone down the full YouTube rabbit hole of his compilations of talk show appearances?

• 1:15:22Speaker 02

  No, I should.

• 1:15:23Dax Shepard?

  He's number one of all time.

• 1:15:25Speaker 02

  The best.

• 1:15:26Dax Shepard?

  I'm just going to tell you, he's talking to Letterman about, you know, Dave, you know, I have this king cobra, it's Daryl or whatever his name is, you know, I just love getting home from work and I go over to see how Daryl is and I, I put up the sheet and Daryl just kind of like he looks at me and he's saying hi and then all of a sudden he just says, fuck you, Nicolas Cage.

• 1:15:50Dax Shepard?

  Screaming that Letterman, he's doing.

• 1:15:53Speaker 02

  I mean.

• 1:15:54Dax Shepard?

  Attacking the cage.

• 1:15:55Speaker 01

  The fact that you thought he was attainable is.

• 1:15:58Speaker 02

  That's amazing.

• 1:16:00Dax Shepard?

  I thought I could get that wild on TV.

• 1:16:02Speaker 02

  I could see the direct line from Dax to Nicolas Cage. And I'm sure Letterman loved that.

• 1:16:08Dax Shepard?

  Yes.

• 1:16:09Speaker 02

  Well, I'll say that that is so kind of you to say, and I'll accept it just as much as I did this summer when you said it to me, which is not really at all. But I appreciate it. And you're kind and lovely to say so. And I think that this show. As a fan is so great and it is where you're able to funnel and express yourself in a really direct, important way. And I think you being so actualized and you journaling every morning is a really important thing. And the fact that there are as many people listening to this as there are hearing that healthy behavior from you, because listening to you talk about that

• 1:16:54Speaker 02

  makes me want to do it. I'm like, yeah, that makes sense. And without being preachy or self helpy about it, you're just talking about yourself and how you're living your life. And I think that that is incredibly important. And you're doing a lot of good just by sharing yourself in a more direct way than you would have been able to by acting. You're really kind of sharing your insides here. And that's really hard to do. So I'm grateful that you're doing this.

• 1:17:23Dax Shepard?

  Well, thank you, Adam.

• 1:17:24Speaker 02

  And I'm grateful that you're doing this, Monica.

• 1:17:26Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 1:17:27Dax Shepard?

  From episode seven to episode 807. What a gap.

• 1:17:31Speaker 01

  Eight oh seven?

• 1:17:32Speaker 02

  Eight oh seven.

• 1:17:32Dax Shepard?

  That would be incredible. Rob, what would it be?

• 1:17:35Speaker 02

  Oh, my God. That's a lot of episodes.

• 1:17:37Dax Shepard?

  So I just don't want you to let 832 episodes go by between.

• 1:17:44Speaker 02

  Wow, that's a lot.

• 1:17:45Dax Shepard?

  All right, everybody see Severance. It comes out on Apple TV plus on January 17. And the podcast comes out on January 7. Two episodes initially, and then weekly as the show unveils. Yeah.

• 1:18:01Speaker 02

  Two episodes initially, and then one episode per day until season two premieres on the 17th. And then season two will have one episode per week.

• 1:18:11Dax Shepard?

  Okay, wonderful.

• 1:18:12Speaker 02

  That's a complicated schedule.

• 1:18:13Dax Shepard?

  I just got to say, this new season, we also add Alya Shawkat, who we are obsessed with.

• 1:18:18Speaker 01

  Love her.

• 1:18:18Dax Shepard?

  Merritt Weaver, who I loved on Nurse Jackie. Gwendolyn Christie, Brienne of Tarth.

• 1:18:24Speaker 01

  Oh, wow. This is so exciting.

• 1:18:27Dax Shepard?

  These casting choices are as good as it gets.

• 1:18:30Speaker 02

  Yep.

• 1:18:30Dax Shepard?

  All right, that's all. I love you. Can't wait for our next chit chat.

• 1:18:34Speaker 02

  Thank you.

• 1:18:34Dax Shepard?

  Everyone watch Severance.

• 1:18:35Speaker 02

  Thank you, Monica.

• 1:18:41Dax Shepard?

  Thank God Monica's here. She's gonna let him have the facts.

• 1:18:46Speaker 01

  New shirt.

• 1:18:48Dax Shepard?

  Old shirt, new attitude.

• 1:18:50Speaker 01

  Oh, boy.

• 1:18:53Speaker 01

  Oh, wow.

• 1:18:55Dax Shepard?

  I got a new.

• 1:18:57Speaker 01

  Who's Roxanne?

• 1:18:58Dax Shepard?

  Um, motocross racer.

• 1:18:59Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 1:19:00Dax Shepard?

  Was that you, Rob? Oh, okay. Did you take a little fall?

• 1:19:06Speaker 01

  Even though you haven't done them before, apparently you can still do them. It's your New Year's resolution.

• 1:19:12Dax Shepard?

  Great segue to talk about Don't Die, that doc, because he was working so tirelessly on his splits, which I guess he had identified as something that was youthful.

• 1:19:22Speaker 01

  Yeah, well, limber.

• 1:19:23Dax Shepard?

  Limber.

• 1:19:24Speaker 01

  Limber and flexible.

• 1:19:27Speaker 01

  That is, that's important. That's why people stretch and stuff.

• 1:19:31Dax Shepard?

  Yeah, it's just such a specific goal, the splits. I can see myself making one like that because a lot of my goals aren't totally logical.

• 1:19:40Speaker 01

  Well, remember, it's Max's New Year's resolution.

• 1:19:43Dax Shepard?

  To do the splits.

• 1:19:44Speaker 01

  Yeah, and you said, I don't think he can, because if you don't learn by a certain time.

• 1:19:49Dax Shepard?

  Yeah, I think there's an anatomic reality to all this, but maybe I'm wrong.

• 1:19:52Speaker 01

  According to Don't Die guy, Brian Johnson.

• 1:19:55Dax Shepard?

  That's nice. You remembered his name.

• 1:19:56Speaker 01

  I didn't think I had it, but I do.

• 1:19:58Dax Shepard?

  For people who don't know, it's a doc about a guy who has sold an internet company and has some $400 million or something.

• 1:20:04Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:20:05Dax Shepard?

  And is spending $2.5 million a year to reverse his aging and try to live as long as possible.

• 1:20:11Speaker 01

  Yeah, he's doing it with this company where they have steps and it's all in, like, it's wild. It's diet, the exercise. It's his whole life. It's just devoted to that.

• 1:20:26Dax Shepard?

  Yeah.

• 1:20:27Speaker 01

  And I didn't finish.

• 1:20:29Dax Shepard?

  Oh, you didn't finish?

• 1:20:30Speaker 01

  No, I got, okay, I got to a part that was a critical part of the story where I think it explains a lot of his backstory and perhaps what led him here. But then I stopped and then I forgot to pick it back up. And then I remembered we were probably gonna talk about it, so I thought, oh, I should finish it.

• 1:20:49Dax Shepard?

  Yeah.

• 1:20:49Speaker 01

  But then I watched Conclave instead.

• 1:20:51Dax Shepard?

  I did too. Not in that order, but I did see Conclave last weekend, which is not the type of movie I'm gonna run towards because it's the Catholic Church.

• 1:21:01Speaker 01

  Sure.

• 1:21:01Dax Shepard?

  But I'm gonna get derailed by that. I'm a little bummed you didn't finish because, again, there's so many knee jerk immediate things you want to say about this and. Um, I was just kind of waiting through those and trying to resist that urge. And you're watching all these pundits who just, they have vitriol for this man, like hatred. They're so mad at this man for doing it, which I, who, who cares ultimately?

• 1:21:27Speaker 01

  Right. It's his life.

• 1:21:28Dax Shepard?

  Yeah. He made this money. He can spend it any way he wants. If anything, he's dumping it right back into the economy. So maybe they should be delighted about that. But, um, there's some obvious things of first and foremost, you're right. It, it appears at least from the doc that is, it's his entire day.

• 1:21:44Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:21:45Dax Shepard?

  And then, so yeah, the first question back for me is like, well, what's the point of being alive? If the only thing you do while you're alive is try to stay alive? Which I think is semi-relevant, but then also no, that implies there's some qualitative way to measure how one's spending their time. I'm choosing to spend my time one way. That would not be pleasurable for me to do it his way. So yeah, for me, that would be a bad cost benefit. But for him, I, I think he like, he's very, very lonely.

• 1:22:14Speaker 01

  The doc is kind of sad and

• 1:22:16Dax Shepard?

  And sweet.

• 1:22:17Speaker 01

  And sweet and his house looks like

• 1:22:21Dax Shepard?

  A lab?

• 1:22:21Speaker 01

  It's so nice, but it looks empty.

• 1:22:24Dax Shepard?

  And cold.

• 1:22:25Speaker 01

  And cold.

• 1:22:26Dax Shepard?

  It's very modern.

• 1:22:26Speaker 01

  It's probably supposed to be cold. Cause I think you're supposed to keep your body kind of cold.

• 1:22:30Dax Shepard?

  Sure.

• 1:22:31Speaker 01

  And you probably shouldn't have too much color, cause maybe that's bad for your eyes or something.

• 1:22:36Dax Shepard?

  I thought about him this morning. I was like, I am incredibly envious of his, um, 30 days in a row of a 100 sleep score.

• 1:22:44Speaker 01

  Yeah, that's, I mean,

• 1:22:45Dax Shepard?

  That is dialed.

• 1:22:46Speaker 01

  It is, but then for what?

• 1:22:48Dax Shepard?

  I know.

• 1:22:48Speaker 01

  Then you don't, the energy you're saving is used to just like do the red light therapy. And yeah, however anyone wants to live their life, if it's not causing harm to somebody else is fine.

• 1:22:57Dax Shepard?

  Yeah.

• 1:22:58Speaker 01

  But I did think spoiler, this is sort of where I stopped, but I got some information that he was Mormon.

• 1:23:05Dax Shepard?

  Oh yeah. You weren't really towards the end. I think you're about. Halfway through.

• 1:23:09Speaker 01

  Yeah, that's probably right. He was raised Mormon and had a Mormon family before he left the church.

• 1:23:15Dax Shepard?

  Yes, and his mom and dad got divorced and the dad was, um, had his own struggles.

• 1:23:19Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:23:20Dax Shepard?

  Loved Coke, which made me like the dad right away.

• 1:23:22Speaker 01

  Sure.

• 1:23:23Dax Shepard?

  And was in jail, was a drinker, you know?

• 1:23:26Speaker 01

  He's set up on all of these friends to need a lot of control in his life.

• 1:23:32Dax Shepard?

  This overlaps nicely with the, um, Aaron Rodgers doc, which I keep bringing up. Because he was raised in, by his account, a very, very constrictive, dogmatic version of Christianity that he found very, very cumbersome. And, um, you weren't allowed to question things and all the normal pushback. But there does seem to be a little bit of a pattern where people who are raised in that and escape it, find their way back into another version of it, just missing the deity.

• 1:24:03Speaker 01

  Yeah, of course.

• 1:24:05Dax Shepard?

  Yeah.

• 1:24:05Speaker 01

  Discipline, you don't shed your personality that much. I mean, that, this is like such a dumb anecdote, but when I was home, my brother is like always sick at the holidays and he was staying at the house and he like came downstairs and he was like, I feel that thing in my throat where I'm definitely about to be sick.

• 1:24:29Dax Shepard?

  Yeah.

• 1:24:30Speaker 01

  And we were like, ah, and I was like, maybe not, you know? Maybe it's just a little scratch, you're probably fine. And then he was like, well, I know, I know what this feeling is. And then he went, but whatever. The next morning I came downstairs and I asked my mom, I was like, is he sick? And she was like, you know if he was sick. And I was like, what, what do you mean? And he, she was just saying like, he's just very vocal when he's sick. He talks a lot about it. He needs a lot.

• 1:24:59Dax Shepard?

  Uh huh.

• 1:25:00Speaker 01

  And she said, you have never been like that. You just went to sleep always since you were little. If you were sick, you just went away and just went to sleep.

• 1:25:08Dax Shepard?

  Right.

• 1:25:09Speaker 01

  And I was like, huh, I guess I still kind of do that when I'm sick. And she was like, yeah, people don't change that much.

• 1:25:15Dax Shepard?

  Yeah, right, right, right.

• 1:25:16Speaker 01

  And like a mom can see from day one till, whatever, you could do fast math if you wanted.

• 1:25:22Dax Shepard?

  Three sixty-five times thirty-six, that's a biggie.

• 1:25:25Speaker 01

  Thirty-seven.

• 1:25:27Dax Shepard?

  Thirty-seven.

• 1:25:27Speaker 01

  Thirteen thousand, five hundred and five. Thank you. That's it?

• 1:25:31Dax Shepard?

  No, it's more than that.

• 1:25:33Speaker 01

  Three hundred and sixty-five times thirty-seven?

• 1:25:35Dax Shepard?

  There's only what? Thirteen thousand, five hundred and five. That seems like.

• 1:25:39Speaker 01

  It's not that many.

• 1:25:40Dax Shepard?

  I did it in my head, so I might be wrong.

• 1:25:45Dax Shepard?

  Did it in my head. That's some Aaron Rodgers can do insane amounts of math in his head.

• 1:25:49Speaker 01

  Oh, whoa.

• 1:25:49Dax Shepard?

  Yeah, like his one kink is he can square anything. Real time, you can throw any number and he can square it, which is cool. But in any rate, he has a very militant and somewhat applaud, and I have no actual opinion on it. But he is, he's in a five day silent room with no light. He's on an ayahuasca trip every few months. He's like, if he's not playing football, he is pursuing this spiritual path he's on.

• 1:26:20Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 1:26:21Dax Shepard?

  But with a veracity that just feels very still religious.

• 1:26:26Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:26:26Dax Shepard?

  And then I, of course, I'm like, yeah, I don't believe there's a guy in the sky. I understand why you're rejecting that. But then there's also a lot of angles of this ayahuasca thing. Cause you get to see and practice it a lot where it's, you know, to me, it's just as, you know, you gotta play drums and do the whole thing and the incense and the, and I'm like, well, you're just out in another, on another ledge.

• 1:26:46Speaker 01

  Yeah. And it has similar things, rituals and all of the same things that religion has.

• 1:26:52Dax Shepard?

  Yeah, I guess you really just, community is the, the religion. Community is the superpower, the magic power, the deity. I do think when people get together and they agree on something and practice in a way, it's whatever.

• 1:27:05Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:27:06Dax Shepard?

  So it's back to the dude. So yes, he was raised Mormon and so in some ways that he brings that same diligence and work ethic to this pursuit.

• 1:27:15Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:27:15Dax Shepard?

  But what gets really sweet and sad about it is he's very, very lonely. He, you know, he had this really bad experience with this one woman after he had been divorced, who he broke up with when she had cancer.

• 1:27:29Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 1:27:30Dax Shepard?

  And she sued him and said he should support her forever because he's rich. And, you know, I'm like, you don't get a severance package when you date someone. It's just not, even if the person's rich, that's not how dating works. You're not, you don't get a severance.

• 1:27:43Speaker 01

  You're not owed.

• 1:27:44Dax Shepard?

  Yeah. So the guy, but very publicly got sued by this woman. And of course, people just, because he's rich. He's the oppressor and she's the oppressed. Forget the other stuff.

• 1:27:55Speaker 01

  But also because she had cancer. That's a tricky, that's tricky for, I think for anyone to hear that is a little like, you left her during that?

• 1:28:04Dax Shepard?

  Well, again, you assume they left because the person had cancer.

• 1:28:07Speaker 01

  Well, no, but the problem is when you leave someone in their time of need, regardless of how bad they are personality. I mean, this kid just gets, it gets complicated.

• 1:28:18Dax Shepard?

  It's a bad look.

• 1:28:19Speaker 01

  It's a bad look.

• 1:28:19Dax Shepard?

  But you can imagine you've been with someone for a year. You, you're already on the verge of breaking up and then they get a cancer diagnosis. So you're just like, I was already out. There's no way I have the capacity to now care for you for two years when I was already not wanting to be with you. I don't know. Anyways, let's not get into that. He's lonely and he has this boy and his son and him are so, so close. And his son also had left the religion. So he's dealing with the same, they can relate on that. And the kid's gonna go to college. You can tell he's really, really scared about losing his buddy.

• 1:28:50Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:28:50Dax Shepard?

  And all that's really touching. And by the end, I liked the guy. I guess is what I'm saying.

• 1:28:55Speaker 01

  That's nice. Yeah.

• 1:28:56Dax Shepard?

  Yeah. So he does have a company that's helping him, but he also, he's going down to this little, you know, there's a smidgen. It's called like Opportunity Land or something down in Honduras. They've carved out this little Prosperia. I think it's called.

• 1:29:11Speaker 01

  Geez.

• 1:29:12Dax Shepard?

  The government granted this little area on a peninsula and basically total free market, everything. You don't have, there's no FDA. There's, so there's a lot of experimental medicine happening down there. There's a lot of like crypto-y weird financial stuff happening. It's just, um,

• 1:29:28Speaker 01

  Free for all.

• 1:29:28Dax Shepard?

  It's a free for all.

• 1:29:29Speaker 01

  Wow.

• 1:29:30Dax Shepard?

  And he goes down there and he gets this gene therapy, which is just not allowed anywhere but Prosperia. So it's like, he has got a company and a protocol, but he also,

• 1:29:39Speaker 01

  He's going rogue a little.

• 1:29:40Dax Shepard?

  He goes rogue. And then when you enter a path like this, I, I don't know if you can help but go rogue. Cause yeah, I'm on the ladder somewhere. Like I'm, I'm doing things with the goal of living a long time to see my grandkids. And I'm doing a lot more things than other people do.

• 1:29:54Speaker 01

  Yep.

• 1:29:54Dax Shepard?

  And they likely think I'm spending too much time doing that or whatever.

• 1:29:58Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:29:59Dax Shepard?

  And for me, it feels completely normal and it's not taking over my life and.

• 1:30:04Speaker 01

  Yeah. Again, I think whatever people are doing for themselves to get through life. If it's not hurting people is fine. I think people maybe rightly so, maybe not. I don't know. It's a scale of luxury, right? Like this guy gets to because of his work. Like, you know, he created this thing and he made this money.

• 1:30:30Dax Shepard?

  Yeah, got divorced over it, worked nonstop.

• 1:30:32Speaker 01

  Because of that, he has the luxury to devote his life to living forever. And I think for a lot of people who watch that, they might say like, oh, that's crazy. But there's probably an element of, well, why does he get to devote his time to living forever? And I don't, I have grandkids or, you know, I want to live to see my grandkids and I have to work a nine to five. I could never do that. And so there's just, it just gets hard.

• 1:30:59Dax Shepard?

  I would like to do something very self-serving, but I don't really know how else to get the message out. I desperately need a tattoo artist in LA. I don't want to fly anywhere. I don't want anyone to have to fly here. Um, I want a, a good tattoo artist who is open to, this is a total transaction. Going in and altering all of my tattoos enough that it is now an original piece of work. And then sign me over the rights to that. And I will pay for that so that I own my art and can go short sleeve in commercials again.

• 1:31:32Speaker 01

  Got it.

• 1:31:32Dax Shepard?

  Is someone experienced in cover ups? Okay. Instant cover ups. Yeah. If you could, um, hit me in the comments of this episode and I'll, I'll find you. But I, I definitely need to sit down and have someone go through and, and alter every single thing so I can have my arm back. That was self-serving, but I've been meaning to, I don't know how else to solve that.

• 1:31:50Speaker 01

  Yeah. Great. Okay.

• 1:31:51Dax Shepard?

  Anything else? You, any appeals to the audience you want to put out there? You looking for any specialists in any categories?

• 1:31:59Speaker 01

  No.

• 1:31:59Dax Shepard?

  No.

• 1:32:00Speaker 01

  Not car.

• 1:32:00Dax Shepard?

  Conclave, what a movie.

• 1:32:02Speaker 01

  Conclave was great. Um.

• 1:32:04Dax Shepard?

  Please see it.

• 1:32:05Speaker 01

  I think it's like, yeah, a hard sell just based on the genre. It's, it's a Pope movie ki- kind of. It's really not. It's about the process of electing.

• 1:32:17Dax Shepard?

  Yeah.

• 1:32:18Speaker 01

  Is that even the word they use? Um, a Pope.

• 1:32:21Dax Shepard?

  Yeah.

• 1:32:22Speaker 01

  And it's so much more.

• 1:32:25Speaker 01

  Ah, complicated and human. It's so human.

• 1:32:29Dax Shepard?

  Yeah.

• 1:32:29Speaker 01

  At the end of the day, even though it's supposed to be godly and, um, you know, above us. It's not. It's people making these decisions. There's ambition and power.

• 1:32:42Dax Shepard?

  The things I liked right away is they are encased in traditions down to the tiniest things. Like the way it starts and the way you went, you take the ring off the pope and there's a device that already exists. You put the ring in this thing, you chisel off this one piece and like that instrument exists. And then the wax press and every single thing has a way of doing it and an order to it. And all these little devices that go along with it. I think to add validity and credence to the whole thing. I mean, I think it's very calculated. But I, there's something I loved about watching all these little weird customs that go along with this whole process.

• 1:33:24Speaker 01

  It's really good.

• 1:33:25Dax Shepard?

  Shout out to Tucci. He was phenomenal.

• 1:33:27Speaker 01

  Stanley Tucci was in it. Love him so much. Double Rose Prada, friend of the pod.

• 1:33:31Dax Shepard?

  Yes. Ray Fiennes is good too.

• 1:33:33Speaker 01

  Oh my God. He's so good.

• 1:33:35Dax Shepard?

  Can you explain to me why Ralph Fiennes is Ray Fiennes? That still is a big mystery to me.

• 1:33:40Speaker 01

  I'm just not sure.

• 1:33:41Dax Shepard?

  Okay, but his name is R A L P H Fiennes.

• 1:33:45Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 1:33:45Dax Shepard?

  And you pronounce that Ray Fiennes.

• 1:33:47Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:33:48Dax Shepard?

  That's a huge mystery to me.

• 1:33:50Speaker 01

  Yeah, I guess maybe his parents made that up. I don't know. Um, cause you know, his brother, Joseph.

• 1:33:56Dax Shepard?

  His brother, I think is, is Ralph Fiennes spelled R A Y. It's apparently a, a UK tradition.

• 1:34:03Speaker 01

  Is it?

• 1:34:04Dax Shepard?

  Oh, it's like. To pronounce Ralph is Ra, Ra, Ra, Ra, Ra, strange English quirk where something is pronounced entirely different than how it's spelled.

• 1:34:12Speaker 01

  Well, his brother, the other, the actor.

• 1:34:14Dax Shepard?

  Joseph.

• 1:34:15Speaker 01

  Joseph Fiennes. He doesn't have a fun one like that. He doesn't get to go by like Zoe.

• 1:34:21Dax Shepard?

  Right.

• 1:34:21Speaker 01

  People do sacrifice a lot for what they believe to be bigger than them. Not everyone does, but a lot of people do.

• 1:34:30Dax Shepard?

  I'm a little more cynical. I think a lot of people try to do it and then there's just cracks everywhere.

• 1:34:35Speaker 01

  Sure.

• 1:34:35Dax Shepard?

  Pursuit of that.

• 1:34:36Speaker 01

  Yeah, that's probably true. I mean, again, it's back to the don't die. Like, I think that's fine. Like, that's their decision.

• 1:34:44Dax Shepard?

  Yeah.

• 1:34:44Speaker 01

  I actually think it's a fairly noble one, whether it's possible or not. I think the pursuit is fine.

• 1:34:50Dax Shepard?

  Can I ask what's noble about it? Why is it good to not have had sex with a woman?

• 1:34:55Speaker 01

  That's not it. It's giving up your life to the service of something else.

• 1:35:00Dax Shepard?

  Got it.

• 1:35:01Speaker 01

  Not having sex part is a piece of that that they've decided.

• 1:35:05Dax Shepard?

  Yeah.

• 1:35:05Speaker 01

  That I didn't grow up in that, so I can't speak to it, you know, but they, whatever, have their own reasons for it and.

• 1:35:13Dax Shepard?

  It's a weird one to bet.

• 1:35:14Speaker 01

  Speaking of giving up your life for your sacrif- you know, sacrificing. I remembered during the fi- you know, the fires are still happening, but they're getting contain- more and more contained, which is really good. My hot professor.

• 1:35:29Dax Shepard?

  Yeah.

• 1:35:29Speaker 01

  He was a firefighter before he was a professor. Yes, and I just, it just like occurred to me when I was

• 1:35:38Speaker 01

  walking and I was like, oh, yeah.

• 1:35:40Dax Shepard?

  Of course. Scotty had it all.

• 1:35:43Speaker 01

  I know.

• 1:35:44Dax Shepard?

  He had the brains. He had the brawn and the firefighting skills.

• 1:35:47Speaker 01

  He had it all.

• 1:35:49Dax Shepard?

  By the time this airs, I'll have gone to see the Lions play.

• 1:35:52Speaker 01

  Oh, fun.

• 1:35:53Dax Shepard?

  Which I'm so excited about.

• 1:35:54Speaker 01

  Oh, that's great.

• 1:35:55Dax Shepard?

  Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 1:35:57Speaker 01

  Is it a playoff game?

• 1:35:59Dax Shepard?

  Yeah.

• 1:35:59Speaker 01

  Nice.

• 1:36:00Dax Shepard?

  They had a bye week, so they got to sit out the first round of the playoffs and now we commence.

• 1:36:05Speaker 01

  That's very exciting.

• 1:36:07Dax Shepard?

  They're gonna play the Washington Commanders?

• 1:36:09Speaker 06

  Commanders, yeah.

• 1:36:10Dax Shepard?

  Okay, were they not? So they were the Washington Redskins?

• 1:36:14Speaker 06

  Correct.

• 1:36:15Dax Shepard?

  Which is a no-no for obvious reasons, so they, they got rid of that name. But weren't they for several years, Rob, just called like Washington Football Team?

• 1:36:24Speaker 06

  Yeah. Yeah, a lot of sports. There's like a hockey team like that right now, too. That's just the hockey team.

• 1:36:30Speaker 01

  Oh, that's kind of cool.

• 1:36:31Speaker 06

  They take a little while to name and brand everything. So there's like two or three seasons occasionally where they're not.

• 1:36:38Speaker 01

  A real team yet.

• 1:36:39Dax Shepard?

  It's just so funny. Um, are you gonna go to the Wash- uh, the Washington football team game?

• 1:36:45Speaker 01

  Doesn't have a great ring. There's a Utah hockey club right now.

• 1:36:48Dax Shepard?

  The Utah hockey club. That sounds so triple A or it does. It sounds really far down. It doesn't sound like NHL.

• 1:36:54Speaker 01

  Yeah, that's true.

• 1:36:55Dax Shepard?

  Hockey club, hockey friends, Detroit hockey friends.

• 1:37:01Speaker 01

  Well, that's very exciting.

• 1:37:02Dax Shepard?

  Yes, I mean, I'm taking my boyfriend, Aaron.

• 1:37:05Speaker 01

  Fun. Oh, that'll be great.

• 1:37:08Dax Shepard?

  We also get to be on the field during warm up and stuff.

• 1:37:10Speaker 01

  Oh, cool.

• 1:37:11Dax Shepard?

  Yeah.

• 1:37:12Speaker 01

  That's very.

• 1:37:13Dax Shepard?

  Oh, I'm very excited.

• 1:37:14Speaker 01

  You're gonna be like the McConaughey?

• 1:37:16Dax Shepard?

  I mean,

• 1:37:18Dax Shepard?

  I, A, I don't deserve to be the McConaughey. Nobody can be the McConaughey, but of course I would love to be the McConaughey.

• 1:37:24Speaker 01

  Sure.

• 1:37:24Dax Shepard?

  And I haven't earned being the McConaughey. McConaughey has not missed, uh, Longhorns game, I think in 30 years. He has left vacations. You know, that incredible story I told that Kutcher told me? That he heard him partying very late at night in the Bahamas at four in the morning. And then when he woke up at nine and turned on the football game, McConaughey was magically standing on the field in Austin.

• 1:37:46Speaker 01

  How to teleport. He's the only one.

• 1:37:49Dax Shepard?

  Yeah. So I just, I don't even deserve that. But, um, and I'm also wondering if I'll bump into other Detroiters. Like, will I see Sam Richardson? Or, you know, will I see any of these folks?

• 1:37:59Speaker 01

  That's very fun.

• 1:37:59Dax Shepard?

  Will I see Eminem, who I've never met?

• 1:38:02Speaker 01

  If they go to the Super Bowl, are you gonna go?

• 1:38:06Dax Shepard?

  No.

• 1:38:06Speaker 01

  Where is the Super Bowl? New Orleans.

• 1:38:09Dax Shepard?

  New Orleans.

• 1:38:10Speaker 01

  New Orleans at the Caesar's Superdome. You've been to the Super Bowl.

• 1:38:13Dax Shepard?

  I've been twice, um, for work. I went once for Ellen and once to promote chips.

• 1:38:19Speaker 01

  Yep.

• 1:38:20Dax Shepard?

  And as I said, it's the only two times in my life I've been nervous somewhere.

• 1:38:25Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:38:26Dax Shepard?

  I just don't like what kind of, uh,

• 1:38:30Dax Shepard?

  Targeted, I don't know, I just start ruminating. And then I enjoy the Super Bowl so much being at home and eating the snacks and being able to actually follow the game. This was even a decision when I was like, do I go to one of the early playoff games? Or, you know, God willing, they'll go all the way. Do I go to a later one? And I was like, no, as it's getting more and more intense, I actually need to be at my house watching play by play with a close up and hearing the calls and all this stuff, because I can't follow things all that well in person.

• 1:38:57Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:38:58Dax Shepard?

  I'm not great at that. A little distracted.

• 1:39:00Speaker 01

  I feel like football's a newer interest and that's fun.

• 1:39:04Dax Shepard?

  Yeah, I'm, it's not my sport. I'll watch two or three games throughout the year, tops.

• 1:39:07Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:39:08Dax Shepard?

  But I do generally watch the playoffs because I want to be very excited about the Super Bowl.

• 1:39:12Speaker 01

  Sure, sure.

• 1:39:12Dax Shepard?

  Because I love the Super Bowl just as a holiday.

• 1:39:14Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:39:15Dax Shepard?

  And I feel like I can amplify it if I actually know the stakes and who went through what to get there.

• 1:39:19Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:39:20Dax Shepard?

  So I generally will start watching and maybe the second round of the playoffs. But the Detroit thing adds a whole new thing. I watched a ton of Detroit games. I put it as a season pass and I actually watched all the games.

• 1:39:31Speaker 01

  I know. I think it's fun to have a new, new interest as we get older.

• 1:39:36Dax Shepard?

  For sure. Yeah, I think you've got to fight the inclination to stop being interested in anything. I think that's the natural arc of life.

• 1:39:44Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:39:44Dax Shepard?

  Get interested in less and less things.

• 1:39:48Dax Shepard?

  Stay tuned for more Armchair Expert if you dare.

• 1:40:02Dax Shepard?

  Have you seen the coach, Dan Campbell?

• 1:40:04Speaker 01

  Uh-uh.

• 1:40:04Dax Shepard?

  Dan Campbell's bigger than all of the players. He is an enormous, he's an ex-player.

• 1:40:10Speaker 01

  Oh, cool.

• 1:40:11Dax Shepard?

  And he just has an enormous head and neck and shoulders.

• 1:40:15Speaker 01

  Oh my.

• 1:40:16Dax Shepard?

  And it's really encouraging for your leader to look bigger than the players.

• 1:40:20Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:40:22Dax Shepard?

  Like yet at any moment, he might pad up.

• 1:40:25Speaker 01

  I like a coach that knows the game.

• 1:40:27Dax Shepard?

  Walks the walk.

• 1:40:28Speaker 01

  Personally, like at Waffle House, when they have to work at a Waffle House in order to be the CEO.

• 1:40:34Dax Shepard?

  Oh, they do.

• 1:40:35Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:40:35Dax Shepard?

  They have to. Serve some time.

• 1:40:38Speaker 01

  Yeah, walk through the, do all the jobs.

• 1:40:40Dax Shepard?

  Uh huh. Break up a couple thousand fights at 2:00 AM.

• 1:40:43Speaker 01

  Exactly. Okay, JJ Reddick, the Lakers coach.

• 1:40:48Dax Shepard?

  Okay.

• 1:40:49Speaker 01

  Isn't he?

• 1:40:52Dax Shepard?

  Rob to the test. You know, the funny thing is Rob knows fantasy football. Is that fair to say, Rob? Yeah. Yeah, like he doesn't have any coach on his roster.

• 1:41:01Speaker 01

  I know.

• 1:41:01Dax Shepard?

  In fantasy, so there's no reason.

• 1:41:03Speaker 01

  I still expect you to know all of it.

• 1:41:05Dax Shepard?

  I did win Charlie's league this season. You had Gibbs though, right? Uh, yeah, I had Gibbs and a lot of Bengals players. So the running back right now for the Detroit Lions is absolutely insanely talented. And he got four touchdowns in the Viking games, which was a Lions record. I mean, he is young, very tiny and unstoppable.

• 1:41:26Speaker 01

  That's awesome. Okay, I'm right about J J Reddick. He's the head coach of the Lakers and this is a sad thing, but I, I didn't know that. And I saw he popped up on my Instagram because he lost his home.

• 1:41:38Dax Shepard?

  Okay.

• 1:41:39Speaker 01

  But I was looking at him and I was like, this is the coach? He looks so young.

• 1:41:45Dax Shepard?

  Oh, okay. This is now the age bracket you've entered.

• 1:41:48Speaker 01

  Yes. Now I'm at this point where I'm like, what is going on? But he is 40, which is better. I thought, I thought he was younger than me when I saw and I got very

• 1:42:00Dax Shepard?

  Well, you're

• 1:42:01Speaker 01

  unnerved.

• 1:42:01Dax Shepard?

  I think you can measure your age in this very predictable way where it's like, for a long, long time, all the players are older than you. Then you have a moment in your early 30s where you go, oh geez, I'm older than all the professional athletes and that's startling.

• 1:42:15Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:42:16Dax Shepard?

  But then you still have the coaches.

• 1:42:17Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:42:18Dax Shepard?

  And now I am at the age, Monica, where I am older than quite a few of the NFL coaches, which seems impossible. Those, growing up, those were all old, old men.

• 1:42:28Speaker 01

  Is part of it also that they are hiring younger?

• 1:42:32Dax Shepard?

  I think they are. They are.

• 1:42:33Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 1:42:34Dax Shepard?

  Yeah. Yeah. Speaking of age, because we were really trying to figure it out while we were watching it. Nate and I had an impromptu dinner last night.

• 1:42:42Speaker 01

  Fun.

• 1:42:42Dax Shepard?

  At Morton's, our home base. He was saying how much he liked watching the clips of Brolin.

• 1:42:50Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 1:42:50Dax Shepard?

  And just how masculine Brolin is. We just kept talking about how could there be anyone more masculine? Then we were talking about No Country For Old Men. Then I was like, we gotta watch that shit. We still haven't watched Once Upon a Time in Hollywood together. And then I just had this moment of recklessness and I go, should we go right now and watch No Country on a school night?

• 1:43:09Speaker 01

  Wow.

• 1:43:10Dax Shepard?

  And we did. We came back here and we watched No Country For Old Men last night. Damn near. He left at like 11:30 at night on a weekday night. But Brolin is 38 in that movie.

• 1:43:22Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 1:43:23Dax Shepard?

  But he carries himself like he's a little over 40, we concluded.

• 1:43:28Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 1:43:28Dax Shepard?

  You know, he looks like a man that's been around for a while. And then Javier Bardem.

• 1:43:33Speaker 01

  Oof, love him.

• 1:43:34Dax Shepard?

  What a performance. I mean, he won the Academy Award for it.

• 1:43:37Speaker 01

  That was in 2007?

• 1:43:39Dax Shepard?

  2007.

• 1:43:40Speaker 01

  That's so long ago.

• 1:43:41Dax Shepard?

  It's so long ago. Woody Harrelson's very young in it. Brolin's 38. Great movie. Very unsatisfying ending, but great movie.

• 1:43:49Speaker 01

  I am accumulating a list of rewatches. I would like to re-watch Minority Report.

• 1:43:55Dax Shepard?

  Interesting. Okay. Tom Cruise in Spielberg?

• 1:43:57Speaker 01

  Yeah, I'm gonna watch it tonight. Need to remember to watch it tonight. Well, this is the, we're talking about movies because Adam Scott loves movies.

• 1:44:06Dax Shepard?

  He's a movie file.

• 1:44:07Speaker 01

  A cinephile.

• 1:44:08Dax Shepard?

  A cinephile, yeah.

• 1:44:09Speaker 01

  Oh, also, we talked about words that have entered the zeitgeist that people, atelier, you know, things people are saying too much, really. There's a new one.

• 1:44:20Dax Shepard?

  Oh, there is?

• 1:44:21Speaker 01

  Yeah, I learned. I learned that elevated is out. People say elevated a lot, like.

• 1:44:28Dax Shepard?

  Yeah.

• 1:44:28Speaker 01

  It's this, but elevated.

• 1:44:30Dax Shepard?

  High end.

• 1:44:30Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:44:31Dax Shepard?

  It means high end.

• 1:44:31Speaker 01

  Yeah, but.

• 1:44:32Dax Shepard?

  No one says that now?

• 1:44:33Speaker 01

  No, we're not. People say it too much.

• 1:44:36Dax Shepard?

  Oh, I was thinking you were saying it was canceled and I couldn't wait to hear the connective tissue between.

• 1:44:43Speaker 01

  It's like atelier. It's like everyone's just saying it.

• 1:44:47Dax Shepard?

  But I don't think, so elevated is already a little pedestrian, though.

• 1:44:50Speaker 01

  What do you mean?

• 1:44:51Dax Shepard?

  It's not foreign. Elevator, elevated. Atelier and artisanal, those have the, you know, appeal of being foreign and very exclusive.

• 1:45:03Speaker 01

  We were just talking in general about words that are just overused. He even said beautiful when people are like, oh, like, it's so beautiful, like, using beautiful a ton.

• 1:45:12Dax Shepard?

  Yeah.

• 1:45:13Speaker 01

  And elevate, I learned it's, somebody said they were so annoyed by that word. And I was like, I do hear it a lot.

• 1:45:20Dax Shepard?

  My trigger isn't, what did I say about glimmer?

• 1:45:23Speaker 01

  Glimmer?

• 1:45:24Dax Shepard?

  That was a thing that came up in comments a while back. We were saying there should be a positive version of triggered.

• 1:45:29Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 1:45:30Dax Shepard?

  And a lot of people wrote, oh, there is a term for it and it's glimmer.

• 1:45:33Speaker 01

  Huh.

• 1:45:34Dax Shepard?

  Yeah, it's when you're activated, like if you're triggered, you're activated.

• 1:45:38Speaker 01

  Right.

• 1:45:39Dax Shepard?

  By a word.

• 1:45:40Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:45:40Dax Shepard?

  In a negative way generally, but a glimmer is something that activates you, but in a very positive way.

• 1:45:46Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 1:45:47Dax Shepard?

  Cause I had some fact checks ago, I was talking about being triggered in a really good way.

• 1:45:51Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 1:45:52Dax Shepard?

  Right. But I was like, the word feels wrong. And then I learned there is a term and it's glimmer or glimmered and I like that.

• 1:45:57Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:45:58Dax Shepard?

  Um, but my specific trigger about Atelier and.

• 1:46:02Speaker 01

  Artisanal.

• 1:46:03Dax Shepard?

  Artisanal is it feels elite is it feels like it's someone trying really hard to sound super sophisticated. And so that's my trigger. It reeks to me of, of being a snob.

• 1:46:21Speaker 01

  Hmm.

• 1:46:22Dax Shepard?

  Whereas elevated doesn't do that for me.

• 1:46:24Speaker 01

  Sure.

• 1:46:25Dax Shepard?

  You know?

• 1:46:25Speaker 01

  I get it.

• 1:46:26Dax Shepard?

  Yeah.

• 1:46:27Speaker 01

  I get that, but they're ironically, they're not trying to be a snob. They're trying to be elevated.

• 1:46:32Dax Shepard?

  Sure. Which is a little bit of snobbery.

• 1:46:36Speaker 01

  All right. Where are, where's Skoll manufactured?

• 1:46:40Dax Shepard?

  Raleigh Durham.

• 1:46:41Speaker 01

  Its corporate headquarters are located in Richmond, Virginia, and it maintains factories in Clarksville and Nashville, Tennessee, Franklin Park, Illinois, and Hopkinsville, Kentucky. Copenhagen and Skoll are the company's best selling brands and each represents more than $1 billion per year in retail sales.

• 1:47:00Dax Shepard?

  This is a little bit tempting for me to get back on. Chewing tobacco, the notion that I could be getting it fresh off the line in Nashville is very tempting. Fresh.

• 1:47:11Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:47:11Dax Shepard?

  Minutes old.

• 1:47:13Speaker 01

  You could get it minutes old.

• 1:47:14Dax Shepard?

  Brings me back to the time we put the roof on the hot dog and hamburger bun factory in Detroit. And we got to have hot dog buns that came right out of the conveyor belt. And they were one of the most delicious things I've ever had in my life. You can't imagine how good they are a second after they're made.

• 1:47:29Speaker 01

  Are they or but is it, it's so hard to know what's mental? It's really hard to know.

• 1:47:35Dax Shepard?

  I guess, but then you're kind of getting into placebo effect.

• 1:47:38Speaker 01

  Sure.

• 1:47:39Dax Shepard?

  Which is real.

• 1:47:40Speaker 01

  Yeah. Remember when, when we went to the.

• 1:47:43Dax Shepard?

  Hawaiian sweet roll.

• 1:47:44Speaker 01

  Hawaiian sweet roll.

• 1:47:45Dax Shepard?

  Yeah, King's Hawaiian sweet, that.

• 1:47:48Speaker 01

  And we got them straight off the bell.

• 1:47:50Dax Shepard?

  And what do you think? How did those taste?

• 1:47:52Speaker 01

  Of course they taste amazing, but I, I also know I, I don't. I know what I don't know and I can't know if that's placebo or not. I mean, hot. One is just that it's hot.

• 1:48:04Dax Shepard?

  But it's like, it's not even set yet. Like the molecules haven't even totally formed. The thing that also made that King's Hawaiian sweetbread factory tour so awesome is that at this tasting station where we were eating them right off the conveyor belt, there was a block of butter the size of that refrigerator. I've never seen a block of butter that big in my life. It must be what they dump into the mix. And we just had these fucking spades that we were just carving off huge chunks of butter and slathering it all over.

• 1:48:37Speaker 01

  You know butter sculptures are a thing now?

• 1:48:39Dax Shepard?

  No.

• 1:48:39Speaker 01

  Yeah, people are getting into butter sculptures.

• 1:48:42Dax Shepard?

  Oh.

• 1:48:45Speaker 01

  So they should use that big butter and make it into some sort of.

• 1:48:50Dax Shepard?

  Yes, chisel.

• 1:48:51Speaker 01

  Branded.

• 1:48:52Dax Shepard?

  Every part that's not David.

• 1:48:53Speaker 01

  Okay, now, okay, is 27 the age you start going downhill between 25 and 30 physically? Physical.

• 1:49:01Dax Shepard?

  Physically.

• 1:49:02Speaker 01

  Physical peak between 25 and 30. That's not to say you shouldn't keep working on your exercise and your physique. As you said, you've never been in better shape.

• 1:49:13Dax Shepard?

  Yes. I'm, I think I'm superior to my 27 year old.

• 1:49:16Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:49:17Dax Shepard?

  Four seven 11 chili dogs a day and a 12 pack of beer at night and pack and a half of Camel Lights.

• 1:49:23Speaker 01

  But I guess in some ways you were at your physical peak because now if you did all that, you'd die.

• 1:49:30Dax Shepard?

  I, this morning when journaling, I'm like, I, what is going on? Like, I couldn't sleep for longer than an hour last night.

• 1:49:36Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:49:37Dax Shepard?

  I woke up with a headache and my body's so sore. I'm like, what hap-

• 1:49:43Dax Shepard?

  Sprinting's not helping for sure.

• 1:49:45Speaker 01

  Yeah. And the air is bad. I mean, we all have headaches.

• 1:49:49Dax Shepard?

  I'll leave this to you to decide if this is too gross for the fact check. It likely is, but I, at the same time, I am proud as a peacock about this. As you know, and maybe I've shared in the past, um, a weird hobby of mine is, is I do like to weigh myself in the morning. Right before I go evac.

• 1:50:05Speaker 01

  Sure.

• 1:50:05Dax Shepard?

  Cause I'm curious.

• 1:50:06Speaker 01

  You wanna see.

• 1:50:07Dax Shepard?

  I wanna know how much that weighs.

• 1:50:08Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:50:09Dax Shepard?

  And I have been doing that for a year or two.

• 1:50:12Speaker 01

  What's the biggest?

• 1:50:13Dax Shepard?

  It's never above a pound and a half.

• 1:50:17Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 1:50:17Dax Shepard?

  There are times I look and I go, well, buckle up. We're gonna, this is, okay?

• 1:50:21Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 1:50:22Dax Shepard?

  Never been a more than a pound and a half. I swear to God, this was four mornings ago, three mornings ago. I couldn't even finish journaling. I had to go evac and it had been, I didn't have a couple of good days prior to that.

• 1:50:34Speaker 01

  Oh, okay.

• 1:50:35Dax Shepard?

  The first round was robust. Then I was doing some posting, then round, round, round, round, round, round, round, round, round, round, round, round, round.

• 1:50:42Speaker 01

  Are you going back and forth? Are you just sitting?

• 1:50:44Dax Shepard?

  I just stay. Yeah. I'm in there for probably 30.

• 1:50:46Speaker 01

  I just read, I just read, that's really, really bad.

• 1:50:49Dax Shepard?

  That, yeah. They're convinced I'm gonna get hemorrhoids.

• 1:50:52Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:50:52Dax Shepard?

  But.

• 1:50:52Speaker 01

  Which you've had.

• 1:50:53Dax Shepard?

  And they can have a good laugh if I get them, but I haven't yet.

• 1:50:56Speaker 01

  I thought you've had them.

• 1:50:57Dax Shepard?

  No, never had a hemorrhoid. Thank goodness. Had an anal fissure.

• 1:50:59Speaker 01

  Anal fissure, yeah.

• 1:51:01Dax Shepard?

  I wouldn't believe this if I told, if someone told it to me. I got on the scale. I was 197.8. I was on there for a half hour. Uh, it's not an experience I never had in my life. Got on 193.8.

• 1:51:16Speaker 01

  No.

• 1:51:17Dax Shepard?

  Yes.

• 1:51:18Speaker 01

  Is part of it water though?

• 1:51:19Dax Shepard?

  No, cause I'd already peed a bunch.

• 1:51:21Speaker 01

  But did you have diarrhea?

• 1:51:22Dax Shepard?

  Pee came out.

• 1:51:24Speaker 01

  Was there diarrhea?

• 1:51:26Dax Shepard?

  What do we call diarrhea? It was like.

• 1:51:28Speaker 01

  Water.

• 1:51:28Dax Shepard?

  It wasn't water.

• 1:51:29Speaker 01

  But.

• 1:51:30Dax Shepard?

  But it was mud.

• 1:51:31Speaker 01

  Then there's water in there.

• 1:51:34Dax Shepard?

  Whatever the case.

• 1:51:35Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 1:51:35Dax Shepard?

  I three X my previous. I thought about that every 20 minutes, the whole rest of the day.

• 1:51:42Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:51:43Dax Shepard?

  It's like hard to compute four pounds. Like at your body weight, that's almost 5% of your total mass in 30 minutes. I've never had an experience like that.

• 1:51:54Speaker 01

  That is a lot.

• 1:51:55Dax Shepard?

  It was wild.

• 1:51:56Speaker 01

  Did you feel much lighter after?

• 1:51:58Dax Shepard?

  I felt so much better. I had woke up that morning cranky, headachy, body achy. Got all the poison out.

• 1:52:04Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:52:05Dax Shepard?

  And yeah, I felt good. I did. I did my sprints that day.

• 1:52:11Speaker 01

  Were you much faster?

• 1:52:12Dax Shepard?

  There's no way for me to know. I just run as fast as I can. I'm just clicking my.

• 1:52:17Speaker 01

  Clicker.

• 1:52:17Dax Shepard?

  My clicker.

• 1:52:18Speaker 01

  So John Turturro, he said Mac first movie 1992. Now in the Wondery Plus, I said he was wrong and he's not wrong.

• 1:52:29Dax Shepard?

  Oh, interesting.

• 1:52:30Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:52:30Dax Shepard?

  This is really.

• 1:52:31Speaker 01

  I actually think.

• 1:52:32Dax Shepard?

  Speaks to the, how hard it is to get facts.

• 1:52:34Speaker 01

  No, I actually think if we go back, so I said, he's right. Mac 1992. Oh, wait. He's wrong. Like I read the same thing I'm reading.

• 1:52:45Dax Shepard?

  Yeah.

• 1:52:45Speaker 01

  But I think my brain will definitely wasn't working that day, but I was like, no, it's Illuminata. 1998. So I think in my head, 1998 was before 1992.

• 1:52:59Dax Shepard?

  Okay, but six years after.

• 1:53:01Speaker 01

  But actually.

• 1:53:02Dax Shepard?

  Upon reflection.

• 1:53:03Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:53:03Dax Shepard?

  Yeah.

• 1:53:03Speaker 01

  So.

• 1:53:04Dax Shepard?

  So he's right.

• 1:53:05Speaker 01

  He's right. Mac 1992, first film he directed.

• 1:53:09Dax Shepard?

  I'm not surprised he's right. Not because I think you're prone to be wrong, but just he is such a steel trap with these.

• 1:53:16Speaker 01

  I agree. I was surprised that he was wrong. And turns out we didn't need to be surprised because he was right.

• 1:53:22Dax Shepard?

  Yeah.

• 1:53:23Speaker 01

  What's the name of Nicolas Cage's king cobra? He has two Sheba and Moby.

• 1:53:29Dax Shepard?

  Great names.

• 1:53:30Speaker 01

  They're really good names for a king cobra.

• 1:53:32Dax Shepard?

  Yeah, I already can't compute. Let's get some of the animals that live outside to live inside our house. Although I caveat to that, there are three birds. That going on now four months, it used to drive me a little crazy because I'll be in bed journaling. I hear a whopping on the window. They fly out of the tree and then they try to sit on a little piece of the window. There's a little green guy. He's a little guy. He's about this big and he's green and he sits there. And he like packs at the window and he flaps his wings, then he goes back in the bush and he comes back up. Then we have these two larger birds with a big red crest and long tail feathers. They are also on this one. There's something about this window into the bathroom and I can't decide if they want to come in

• 1:54:17Dax Shepard?

  or they're just curious or they're confused. I don't know what's going on, but we have a veritable aviary just outside the window.

• 1:54:24Speaker 01

  That's exciting. Are you putting out food?

• 1:54:27Dax Shepard?

  No, I was kind of laughing at that. Like the amount of effort I put into getting crows to woo crows to no avail. And I'm doing nothing for these three birds and they want to get involved.

• 1:54:36Speaker 01

  It's a life lesson hard to get.

• 1:54:38Dax Shepard?

  Hard to get, yeah.

• 1:54:39Speaker 01

  No one wants availability.

• 1:54:41Dax Shepard?

  They don't. No.

• 1:54:42Speaker 01

  Jesus. All right. That's it.

• 1:54:44Dax Shepard?

  That's everything.

• 1:54:45Speaker 01

  Yep. That's it for Adam.

• 1:54:47Dax Shepard?

  Well, I sure do love that boy.

• 1:54:48Speaker 01

  What a lovely man.

• 1:54:49Dax Shepard?

  He is. He is the loveliest man. I'm just delighted I got to meet him.

• 1:54:54Speaker 01

  And we're sorry that the crickets came in the middle of his sweet moment.

• 1:54:59Dax Shepard?

  Was it audible in?

• 1:55:00Speaker 01

  I didn't hear it, but if you heard it, we apologize. All right.

• 1:55:06Dax Shepard?

  All right. Love you.