Armchair Anonymous: Kind Gesture from a Stranger

Dax and Monica talk to Armcherries! In today's episode, Armcherries tell us about a kind gesture they received from a stranger. 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 Anonymous. I'm Dax Shepard and I'm joined in absentia by Monica Padman. Today's Armchair Anonymous is Kind Gestures From Strangers. And if that sounds too PG rated, I will assure you that there is a gift within these Kind Gestures in the form of an unauthorized evacuation. So it's going to deliver on all fronts. Please enjoy Kind Gestures From Strangers. We get support from Quince.

• 0:34Speaker 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.

• 0:53Dax 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.

• 1:09Speaker 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.

• 1:20Dax 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.

• 1:27Speaker 01

  It's great.

• 1:28Dax Shepard?

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

• 1:32Speaker 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.

• 1:55Dax 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. 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.

• 2:40Dax Shepard?

  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. 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, entrusted 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.

• 3:21Dax Shepard?

  That's three months of free payroll at gusto.com/dax. Again, that's gusto.com/dax.

• 3:49Dax Shepard?

  Is this Joanna?

• 3:51Speaker 02

  It is Joanna. Hi.

• 3:52Dax Shepard?

  Are you under a bunk bed?

• 3:54Speaker 02

  I don't have a real closet I can sit in my house. I am under my daughter's loft bed that I've kind of makeshifted.

• 4:00Dax Shepard?

  You're at like a desk situation?

• 4:02Speaker 02

  Yeah, it's a little coffee table. I made it homey.

• 4:06Dax Shepard?

  How old is she?

• 4:07Speaker 02

  She is four and a half, going on 15.

• 4:11Dax Shepard?

  What part of the country are you in?

• 4:12Speaker 02

  I am in North Carolina, right outside of Asheville, actually. Really rural out here, but we love it.

• 4:18Dax Shepard?

  Okay, please tell us about your kind gesture from a stranger.

• 4:21Speaker 02

  This story takes place in Jacksonville, Florida back in 2011, and I was about 19. I was a local musician at the time and I was gigging at a restaurant downtown that I also waited tables at with my brother. And this guy comes up after the show and was like, hey, you guys were really awesome. I would love to come see you again. Can I have your schedule? Here's my business card. He was really nice and kind of just left. And we're like, oh, cool. We love a fan. So a few weeks later, we're playing the show again. He comes up and he says, really liked your set. Can I take you to lunch? And we were like, maybe, why?

• 4:57Dax Shepard?

  How old is the gentleman?

• 4:59Speaker 02

  He's probably 48. He's much older than me. But my brother's with me and he's a pretty big dude. And so I was like, I guess we could go to lunch. So we schedule it and we go sit down at lunch. We get our drinks and he says, point blank, I want to be able to help you with your music career. What can I do for you? And he says, I'm a defense attorney here in Jacksonville, and I represent some really shitty people that do some really shitty stuff. I have a lot of money and I want to be able to help the community. I figured I liked your stuff, so I'd start with you.

• 5:27Dax Shepard?

  Wow. Yeah, and Joanna, just quick backstory. So for me, it would just be red flag galore. I would have so hard of a time accepting that this could be true. Monica, would you be skeptical or where would you be at?

• 5:40Speaker 01

  I'd be skeptical, but I would progress.

• 5:44Speaker 02

  That's kind of where I was at. I didn't get any weird vibes from him. And so my brother piped up and he was like, we could really use a recording microphone. And he was like, all right, great. How much do they cost? And he was like, about 300 bucks. So he pulls out his wallet, puts $300 on the table, and he says, it's yours, no strings attached. Go buy a microphone.

• 6:02Dax Shepard?

  Oh, my goodness.

• 6:03Speaker 02

  We get to talking and just kind of getting to know him. And he's like, I bought this really crazy camera that I have no idea how to use. Do you want to try to like film some music videos, some content? Again, I know it sounds so creepy.

• 6:15Speaker 01

  He's like, come to my basement, we'll make a music video.

• 6:18Speaker 02

  He was never just me. He always had my brother come along. It was never weird. So we hung out for a little bit and then I was talking to him saying like, oh, I don't really have a lot of gigs lined up lately and the restaurant is kind of slowing down. And he was like, well, I've got some work for you at my office if you want to come work. So he sets me up with this job that I sent flyers out to people who had gotten arrested the night before.

• 6:40Dax Shepard?

  Really quick, how do you get that list of who's been arrested the night before?

• 6:44Speaker 02

  You just go on the public webpage for Duval County and get the whole arrest list. They have an address, so you just put a little stamp on it and send them a flyer.

• 6:51Dax Shepard?

  Oh, wow, wow, wow.

• 6:52Speaker 02

  And that was going pretty well. I was working for him for a few weeks and I was talking to him about this landlord situation that I was in. I was suing my old landlord because he was an asshole and he stole a bunch of money from me. And when I sued him, he was like, you're out of your league. And he really didn't think that I had a leg to stand on. So I was telling Richard, the lawyer, about this and he was like, do you want me to help you with this case? And I was like, I mean, it's small claims court. I probably don't need a lawyer. He said, no, no, no, let me help you. So this asshole that I had to track down with a private investigator, I had to go to judge's chamber because he tried to tell the judge that the process server didn't serve him. He didn't know there was a court date, so he skipped the first one and I had a summary judgment. And so now he was trying to appeal that.

• 7:32Speaker 02

  So I walk into the judge's chambers with a high-powered defense attorney behind me. My landlord about shit a brick. The judge and my lawyer play golf together. They're friends. It's just great. And my landlord's just deciding that he's gonna really ride this ship home and say that the signature on the process server's pages is not his signature. Lied to the judge's face. And so Richard got up there and it was like a movie scene. He pulls out a piece of paper that has his signature on it and he's like, do you not agree that this is the same signature as this one? I mean, pinned him down.

• 8:06Dax Shepard?

  Perjury.

• 8:06Speaker 02

  Yes, he actually says the word, "Your Honor, I rest my case."

• 8:10Speaker 01

  How hot is he?

• 8:11Speaker 02

  He was like dad hot.

• 8:12Speaker 01

  Yeah, sure.

• 8:13Speaker 02

  After that whole ordeal, the judge looked at my landlord and just read him the filth. If you've wasted her time, you've wasted my time, you've wasted the court's time. Do not ever come back into my courtroom again. So I got to walk out really victorious and I got to look at him and go, whose league am I in now?

• 8:29Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 8:30Speaker 02

  It was really exciting. And so after that, I worked at his office for a few more weeks. And then he told me that he was going on a extended trip to Colorado to see his daughter. And I never saw him again.

• 8:42Dax Shepard?

  Wait.

• 8:43Speaker 02

  He just disappeared off the face of the earth.

• 8:44Dax Shepard?

  Whoa.

• 8:45Speaker 01

  Richard did?

• 8:46Dax Shepard?

  He never returned to his practice?

• 8:48Speaker 02

  I just looked him up and apparently he is now back in Jacksonville. But I looked back for him for about 10 years after that. And I never really found that he was back. He just disappeared and I've reached out to him a few times and never heard anything from him.

• 9:00Speaker 01

  Is he okay?

• 9:01Speaker 02

  He's in Jacksonville now, so I'm hoping that he's okay now.

• 9:04Dax Shepard?

  But your mind went to a great place, Monica, which is, is he okay? And my mind went to, uh oh, he had to run from something. This is Jacksonville, Florida. So maybe he was representing some kind of a drug cartel situation and he had to make himself scarce.

• 9:20Speaker 01

  Maybe he's in witness protection now.

• 9:22Speaker 02

  Could be.

• 9:23Dax Shepard?

  And then it expired and he moved back to Jackson?

• 9:26Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 9:27Dax Shepard?

  Really quick, when he disappeared, how did you know to stop coming to work?

• 9:32Speaker 02

  He said he was gonna be on a trip in Colorado for a while. So we were just gonna stop that for the time being. And he said, I'll let you know when I'm back. And then he just never came back.

• 9:40Dax Shepard?

  I don't know why that reminds me of, I worked at a fabrication place in high school when I was 15. My boss called me into his office and he said, hey, it's your birthday Friday, right? And I said, yeah. And he said, it's your birthday, don't come in. And I go, oh, okay, great. And then he goes, yeah, and just call Monday and we'll see if we have any work. It's like, wait a minute.

• 10:01Speaker 01

  He was like letting you go.

• 10:02Dax Shepard?

  He fired me under the guise of you can have your birthday.

• 10:07Dax Shepard?

  Are you still playing music?

• 10:08Speaker 02

  Just for a hobby. I've got two kids now, so it's not really conducive to gig life. But I play music with my husband. I met him at the middle school of the arts in Jacksonville and we got married and had babies. But my daughter is a musical prodigy. I know every parent says that, but she truly is.

• 10:22Dax Shepard?

  I believe it.

• 10:23Speaker 01

  That's exciting.

• 10:23Dax Shepard?

  Well, Joanna, so nice to meet you. And that's a really great story and it's positive and it never turned dark.

• 10:28Speaker 01

  I hate that I'm now this person.

• 10:30Dax Shepard?

  Oh, you're putting on the Dax hat?

• 10:32Speaker 01

  A little, I'm like, maybe he was on drugs and manic or something. He used his mania for good. Gets a little on a tear.

• 10:39Dax Shepard?

  It's inconsistent for you.

• 10:41Speaker 02

  I think he was just kind of lonely, looking for a buddy.

• 10:43Dax Shepard?

  But you do paint a good picture. Let's just say everything went sideways. I fucked up everything and I was divorced. I was loaded. I think I would hate myself. And if I could help a stranger, it might buy me little periods of feeling okay about myself.

• 10:57Speaker 01

  Well, and then that's okay. That to me is fine. But if he was bipolar or something and then he was in his mania. Also, that's fine if he did.

• 11:06Speaker 02

  I came out ahead.

• 11:07Speaker 01

  It was still a very kind gesture regardless.

• 11:09Dax Shepard?

  I'm just delighted he never got pervy.

• 11:12Speaker 01

  Me too.

• 11:12Dax Shepard?

  That's all we care about, really.

• 11:14Speaker 02

  Me too. Dax, I do have to tell you, my husband will kill me if I don't. We watch employee of the month at least once a quarter around here. It's one of our very favorites.

• 11:22Speaker 01

  Q1, Q2.

• 11:24Dax Shepard?

  Once a quarter. That makes me so happy. I never talk about that movie, but I really do think that's the most fun I've ever had playing a character. That's the only time I got to play just a straight prick and it was so fun. No, this was more fun.

• 11:37Speaker 01

  Wow.

• 11:38Speaker 02

  It makes us laugh. And I also have to say, I used to live out in an even more rural part of North Carolina where I didn't even have service to drive home. And so I would download your episodes and listen to you in my very windy drive. And so I think I've spent multiple thousands of hours of listening. And I love being a part of this community. I'm so thrilled.

• 11:55Speaker 01

  Oh, that's so sweet. That's a kind gesture.

• 11:59Dax Shepard?

  Well, it's lovely meeting you.

• 12:00Speaker 02

  Thank you so much. Have a great day.

• 12:03Speaker 01

  I'm kind of nervous about him.

• 12:05Dax Shepard?

  Pretty exciting.

• 12:06Speaker 01

  Well, I just am sad he dropped off the map.

• 12:09Dax Shepard?

  It is interesting.

• 12:10Speaker 01

  Do you think the kid had a disease?

• 12:12Dax Shepard?

  No, God.

• 12:13Speaker 01

  I'm just, something happened here.

• 12:15Speaker 03

  Took a lover.

• 12:16Dax Shepard?

  Well, how about this? He went to visit her and as he already said, he's loaded. He's gonna spend two weeks with her. And then he was like, I have the option to just be around my daughter and maybe she had a family. And he just decided I'm gonna be present and there's a grandkid in there. What am I going home to? More money?

• 12:33Speaker 01

  How do you know there's a grandkid?

• 12:35Dax Shepard?

  Cause he's visiting his daughter and the daughter has a baby.

• 12:38Speaker 01

  How do you know?

• 12:39Dax Shepard?

  I don't. I'm just saying that's a good scenario.

• 12:40Speaker 01

  Well, he was only like 48.

• 12:42Dax Shepard?

  He had a kid at 20. His daughter had a kid at 25. The child's three years old.

• 12:48Speaker 01

  Wow. All right. Maybe that is what happened. I hope so.

• 12:51Dax Shepard?

  Yeah. I'm glad he was dad hot. Rob, do you think you're dad hot? You're way beyond dad hot.

• 12:58Speaker 01

  I don't even know what it means.

• 13:00Dax Shepard?

  I do. It means you're fine looking, but you're a dad, so you're trustworthy and you've like got some brownie points.

• 13:06Speaker 01

  I think it actually means like you were hot and you're aging nicely, but you're older.

• 13:11Dax Shepard?

  I think it means you were a pass in high school, but now you've demonstrated that you're very responsible and competent. So that ups your attraction.

• 13:19Speaker 01

  People can weigh in on what they think the definition of dad hot is.

• 13:23Dax Shepard?

  Dad hot for us.

• 13:24Speaker 01

  And then mom hot.

• 13:25Dax Shepard?

  Yeah.

• 13:26Speaker 01

  And then baby hot.

• 13:28Dax Shepard?

  And then tell us what happy.

• 13:29Speaker 01

  Toddler hot is.

• 13:30Dax Shepard?

  Hot toddler. Hot toddy.

• 13:32Speaker 01

  Hot toddy. Do you think that's what it stands for? Oh my God, that's disgusting.

• 13:40Speaker 04

  Hi, how are you?

• 13:42Dax Shepard?

  We are wonderful. What a glorious recording instrument you have.

• 13:45Speaker 04

  Yeah, my husband is very musical, so we have lots of musical equipment around our house. So when he heard I was coming on the podcast, he was like, I've got you. We've got a blanket screwed onto the wall in our closet. We really workshopped it yesterday.

• 13:57Dax Shepard?

  And Chelsea, would it be fair to assume all this gear has driven you nuts over the years? But now it finally has come to benefit you?

• 14:05Speaker 04

  Yeah, it's finally come to pass that it's actually useful.

• 14:07Dax Shepard?

  Okay. So where are you, Chelsea?

• 14:09Speaker 04

  I am in Kentucky.

• 14:11Dax Shepard?

  Are you watching Chase for the Crown? It's about the Triple Crown. It's on Netflix. It just came out. It's about horse racing.

• 14:17Speaker 04

  I haven't, but I'm actually in Louisville and it's Derby week.

• 14:19Dax Shepard?

  That's why I bring it up because it makes me want to go to Louisville so bad because it's so fricking green and hilly and beautiful.

• 14:27Speaker 01

  Do you have a hat picked out?

• 14:29Speaker 04

  I'm actually not going to the track this year. I've gone the last two years.

• 14:32Dax Shepard?

  Should I go? Is it a great time?

• 14:34Speaker 04

  Yeah, you totally should come. We're such a good food city. It's like gorgeous scenery. I'm going down to the track for Derby is a blast.

• 14:41Dax Shepard?

  I should have built a house there instead of Nashville. I feel like.

• 14:44Speaker 01

  You've made a lot of mistakes in your life.

• 14:45Dax Shepard?

  Do you have any lakes?

• 14:46Speaker 04

  We've got some smaller lakes. We don't have as many lakes as Nashville or as Tennessee has.

• 14:51Dax Shepard?

  Okay, I feel less bad now.

• 14:52Speaker 04

  We do have a river.

• 14:53Dax Shepard?

  Okay.

• 14:53Speaker 01

  No, flesh eating bacteria.

• 14:55Dax Shepard?

  No, no, no, no, no. Okay, so you were the recipient of a act of kindness.

• 15:02Speaker 04

  I was. It's the summer of 2018 and I've just graduated college and I'm waiting on my first real big girl job to start. And so I'd picked up a couple gigs as a second shooter for some local photographers. And if you're not familiar with second shooting, the photographer basically hires you to be an extra body with a camera. You're getting some of the background shots, some of the wide angle shots, but you're not really in charge of anything. And a lot of times, second shooters aren't professional photographers themselves, myself included.

• 15:31Dax Shepard?

  What was your degree in?

• 15:32Speaker 04

  My degree was in economics.

• 15:33Dax Shepard?

  What if you said photography?

• 15:35Speaker 04

  But I'm actually not a professional. I'm not that good at. Although I'm now getting my PhD in English, so I did like a hard pivot. But yeah, so I'd picked up a few gigs and I'd worked one wedding with a photographer. We'll call her Jane. And this wedding that Jane and I had worked together went really well. We got along. And so she texted me about a week after the wedding and said, hey, I am shooting a surprise proposal next week at a park. Would you come along to get some of the wide angle shots for me so I can get the detail stuff? And I was like, yeah, sure, why not? So it's summer in Kentucky, which is miserably hot outside. Okay, 95 degrees, 100% humidity. You walk out your

• 16:16Speaker 04

  door, you're like sweating your ass off. And the proposal is going to take place at a park. And it's going to be scheduled for the middle of the afternoon. So like hottest part of the day. So the day of the event comes around and Jane is pretty insistent that we drive together because the park we're going to is about 30, 40 minutes away from where we both live. She's like, we can save on gas money. Let's go together. I'm a little skeptical because I don't know Jane very well. Like, we got along fine enough, but I'm like, this is gonna be a lot of small talk. Like, I'd rather listen to a podcast in the car or something on my way. But she's pretty insistent. I'm like, sure, why not? So we drive, it's fine. We make our way to the park and park in the parking lot. And she's sort of giving me the lowdown on how this is gonna go. The proposal is gonna take place at this big

• 16:58Speaker 04

  overlook at the top of a giant hill. It's gorgeous. You can see for miles. Perfect place to get engaged. But to get to the overlook from the parking lot, you have to walk up this Really long winding path to get to the top. It's like a wide concrete path. And you can think about it kind of like a giant switchback. It's kind of like in a U shape. And to get to the top, it takes like 30 minutes.

• 17:21Speaker 01

  Oh, Jesus. It's a full hike.

• 17:22Speaker 04

  Yeah, so the plan for the couple is for them to park and take this nice leisurely stroll through the park. And then he'll propose at the top. So Jane and I get out of the car and she's like, you know, I really feel like we could save some time if we find an alternate path up to the top of this overlook.

• 17:39Dax Shepard?

  Okay, she's going rogue.

• 17:41Speaker 04

  She's like, I'm looking at the map and I see that if we avoid the long winding path, we can cut straight up the side of this hill through the woods. Like, this is not what I signed up for today, but okay.

• 18:04Dax Shepard?

  This episode is brought to you by McDonald's. Ah, the Quarter Pounder with Cheese with Medium Fries and a Drink is now $8.

• 18:14Speaker 01

  What?

• 18:15Dax 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.

• 18:59Dax Shepard?

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

• 19:05Speaker 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 it when there's effort.

• 19:18Dax Shepard?

  The love. Don't tell anyone this, but I'll put two of them back.

• 19:21Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 19:21Dax Shepard?

  I'm sitting.

• 19:22Speaker 01

  I'm not surprised.

• 19:23Dax 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. We get support from Skims. Okay, I have a confession. I genuinely love matching pajamas. It's the best part of Christmas morning, really. Everyone in the same matching set, looking ridiculously cute in front of the tree.

• 19:54Speaker 01

  I love matching pajamas. I'm literally gonna be in coordinating sets with all my friends this holiday season. Because I got them, spoiler to my friends who are listening, the same Skims pajama set I've been living in. They are so soft and cozy, and they look cute. So you can leave the house and go get a late night hot chocolate and be cozy.

• 20:15Dax Shepard?

  It's so great how Skims has sets for everyone, too. Women's, men's, kids, even your pets. So nobody in your life has to be left out this year.

• 20:24Speaker 01

  I have a bunch of different pajama sets. One of my favorite is the Organic Cotton Sleep Long Sleeve Set.

• 20:31Dax Shepard?

  Okay, tell me more.

• 20:33Speaker 01

  It is so comfortable, very chic, too. The top is a button down, but very, very soft, easy to sleep in. But as I said before, you can multipurpose this and look super cute.

• 20:44Dax Shepard?

  Hot chocolate runs. It's like the pajamas we grew up in, except without the scratchy polyester that made opening presents feel more like a hot yoga class that nobody signed up for.

• 20:54Speaker 01

  All the nostalgia, none of the discomfort. Shop my favorite loungewear and pajamas at skims.com. After you place your order, be sure to let them know we sent you. Select Podcast in the survey and be sure to select Armchair Expert in the drop down menu that follows. If you're looking for the perfect gifts for everyone on your list, the Skims Holiday Shop is now open at skims.com.

• 21:13Dax Shepard?

  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.

• 21:23Speaker 01

  That's when you really need to ground yourself.

• 21:25Dax 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.

• 21:56Speaker 01

  Ah.

• 21:56Dax Shepard?

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

• 22:02Speaker 01

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

• 22:06Dax Shepard?

  And 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.

• 22:14Speaker 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.

• 22:23Dax Shepard?

  Stay stronger than the season. Head to nobullproject.com all holiday season to shop new deals every week. This episode is brought to you by Dell. Gifts mean more when they have the power to give more. They can inspire more discovery, give more confidence, and unwrap more of who you are. This Black Friday, give a gift that goes beyond the box. The Dell XPS 13 laptop. With a beautiful design and cutting edge performance, it helps you unlock more possibilities. It's the thinnest, lightest XPS laptop yet. With touchscreen, a backlit keyboard, and long lasting battery life to power you through your day. Built with a durable aluminum chassis, weighing just 2.2 pounds, and Intel Core processors.

• 23:08Dax Shepard?

  It's fast, reliable, and portable enough to keep up wherever you go. Visit dell.com to explore the possibilities of XPS. While shopping, you'll also find great perks like Dell Rewards. Fast free shipping, premium support, and financing. With flexible payment options. Plus you can find great deals on monitors and accessories. That means you can score a whole new setup now for less. This Black Friday sale is one you don't want to miss. Head to dell.com/deals. That's dell.com/deals.

• 23:50Speaker 04

  So we make our way up this hill. I really am shocked we didn't get poison ivy. We're like pushing branches out of the way, climbing over logs. It's really intense. We've got camera bags on our shoulders and it's so miserably hot outside. So I'm like, oh my gosh, we're both panting. We're most of the way up to the top and Jane's like, I really need to find a bathroom when we get up to the top.

• 24:10Speaker 01

  Jane's become unhinged.

• 24:13Speaker 04

  It's a public park. I'm sure there's a bathroom up at the top. We're a little closer and we can now see the path.

• 24:20Dax Shepard?

  Can I pause you for one second?

• 24:22Speaker 01

  I know what happened. Do you?

• 24:24Dax Shepard?

  No, I was gonna suggest she has to poop.

• 24:27Speaker 01

  Yeah, she was like, I'm not gonna make this 30 minute walk, so we have to get there fast.

• 24:32Dax Shepard?

  Oh, that's your theory on why she was high tailing it. Mine was more like, if you got a squirt in the woods, you would just squirt in the woods. She's not gonna take a shit in the woods next to her.

• 24:40Speaker 04

  Although it is incredibly steep, so I do think it would have taken quite a lot of balancing to find a spot to appropriately go to the bathroom. But anyway, we're making our way up to the top and she's like, no, I like really need to find a bathroom. I then hear the loudest stomach grumble I've ever heard in my life. She starts screaming, pushes her way out of the woods, runs across the wide concrete path into this little grassy clearing where there's woods behind her, but she's not under any coverage. She's out in the open. She starts halfway taking down her denim shorts and starts shitting her pants.

• 25:18Speaker 01

  Oh no, oh no.

• 25:22Speaker 04

  And she's just standing there, pants halfway off. Just screaming like, oh my gosh, like I'm so embarrassed. Don't look, don't look. I'm so embarrassed. Her face is red. You can tell she's in a lot of pain. And when I say shitting her pants, I mean, it's like liquid and spraying. Like I've never seen diarrhea.

• 25:43Dax Shepard?

  And she chose a clearing.

• 25:45Speaker 04

  Yeah, it's like she couldn't control herself. She just had to get them off and start going. And the poor thing couldn't stop. It was coming in waves. So she would like have one around. She thought it was done. And then it kept coming, kept coming. So I'm just standing there in the middle of this wide, concrete walking path. I don't know what to do because I don't really know this person. So I'm like, do I need to walk away and give her privacy? Or do I need to offer her help? I just don't know what to do. She's clearly embarrassed.

• 26:14Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 26:15Speaker 04

  She's like, you have to go find something to help us clean this up. And I'm like, OK, because we have nothing on us.

• 26:23Dax Shepard?

  OK, meaning her person?

• 26:25Speaker 04

  Her person. It's gotten all over the place. Like, it's running down the back of her legs. It's like in her shorts. It's a real mess. And I'm like, OK, there's probably like a public bathroom at this park. I can go look for something. She's like, well, before you go, can you check my phone? Because she can't check her phone because there's shit all over the place. So I grab her phone and I look to see that the future groom has texted.

• 26:49Speaker 01

  Fuck.

• 26:50Speaker 04

  And said, hey, we parked in the parking lot. We're on our way up the path. OK, so now imagine this like an action movie where there's like a timer in the corner. And we've got maybe 25 minutes to get this all cleaned up and go get in position before the couple is up at the top of the hill, like, ready to get engaged.

• 27:08Dax Shepard?

  And that's assuming she's had her last wave of it.

• 27:11Speaker 04

  And we also don't know how fast the couple is walking.

• 27:13Speaker 01

  And is the couple gonna pass you?

• 27:15Speaker 04

  Yes, so we are still about 200 or 300 yards away from the overlook, probably. But I mean, she's standing right off this path. So the couple will walk right past the spot. So I take off sprinting further down the hill to try to find a bathroom. And I finally find one. And I'm like, OK, perfect. Try to get in. Everything's locked. I'm like climbing on things, trying to push through the window at the top. Can't get into this building. And I have to then make a calculated decision. I can keep running further down the hill, but I don't know if there's a bathroom there. And I also risk running into the couple and not being able to stop them in time until they- Come across Jane standing there covered in her own shit. And so I'm like, I just have to go back up to where Jane is. So I go back up the hill.

• 28:00Speaker 04

  Poor thing is like sticky, covered in her own poop. She is using leaves and branches to try to clean herself up. And it's 95 degrees and humid. So the smell that's wafting up into the air.

• 28:11Speaker 01

  This is a nightmare.

• 28:13Dax Shepard?

  It's a horror movie.

• 28:14Speaker 04

  And so we're just kind of standing there at a loss. We have a timer ticking down and we have no way of cleaning this up. Cause we're wearing like shorts and a tank top. Like we don't even have extra clothes on us. And Jane is certain that she doesn't have anything in her car that can help us. Cause she just cleaned it out. And Jane also can't just go hide in the woods and let me do it. Because the couple knows her personally. And so if the groom shows up to the engagement and Jane isn't there, he's going to be like, red flags are going off and it could risk ruining the whole proposal. Then out of nowhere, we hadn't seen a single soul at the park yet that day. We look toward the direction of the overlook and this lovely, middle aged woman is jogging in our direction. She's very fit, very in shape. This poor woman doesn't know what's coming.

• 28:59Speaker 04

  So I flag her over. I'm like, ma'am, excuse me. She gets close to us. She looks horrified, like it stinks. There's poop everywhere. She's like, what did I just run across? I'm like, ma'am, we're clearly in a situation. We're photographers. We're here shooting an engagement. The couple is on their way. We have no way of cleaning up this poop. Like, do you have anything? She's looking very skeptical, but for some reason is nice enough to agree. You know, I think I have some like old beach towels or something in my car. I can run down to my car and look. And I'm like, okay, but here's the catch, ma'am. You can't go down the normal path because you're going to run out of time. So I ask this poor woman to please cut down the very steep hill back down to the parking lot.

• 29:43Speaker 04

  And she by some miracle says, okay, sure.

• 29:47Dax Shepard?

  Oh, what a good Christian woman.

• 29:49Speaker 04

  Seriously, like that's southern hospitality. She runs down the hill. Jane and I are standing there. She is so embarrassed, like can barely look at me in the eyes. I'm trying to be like, it's okay, it's okay. You know, it feels like a lifetime that we're standing up there, but it was probably 10 minutes. 15 minutes, the woman comes running back up. She has a bottle of hand sanitizer and these old musty beach towels. And she's like, yeah, you guys can obviously keep these. We don't get her name, we don't get her phone number, her address. I have no idea who she is, but we just say, thank you so much. And she takes off finishing her jog back down the path and we never see her again. And so anyway, Jane uses the hand sanitizer and the towels to wipe up as best as she can.

• 30:29Dax Shepard?

  Sure. There's only so much you can do without a shower.

• 30:32Speaker 04

  She pulls her denim shorts, fastens them, turns around and there is just like a huge shit stain on the back of these denim shorts. And I'm like, okay, well, we gotta go. They're five minutes away. So we make our way to the overlook and she's like, here's what's gonna happen. You're gonna do the shoot, you're gonna take my camera, I'll get the wide angle shots and just stay far away. So I'm like nervous because I'm not a real photographer. But anyway, we go hide in the bushes, the couple comes up, they get engaged, it's lovely, they're so happy, the girl is crying. I get some nice detail shots, Jane is waving at them and like strategically maneuvering to like keep her backside away from them the whole time. And then they say, thank you so much, they take off hand in hand back down the hill.

• 31:15Dax Shepard?

  They had no idea.

• 31:16Speaker 04

  No idea. And Jane had to stay far away because she smelled like shit. Anyway, we cut back down through the woods, back to the car and Jane had insisted on us driving together. So she had to sit on these dirty beach towels the whole way home and it smelled like a porta potty.

• 31:32Dax Shepard?

  Did you guys discuss, did she go like, yeah, I fucking ate some shrimp tacos?

• 31:36Speaker 04

  That's what we were trying to figure out. I was like, did you get food poisoning or something? Cause she seemed fine after that. She dropped me back off at home and made me swear that I was never gonna tell a soul.

• 31:48Dax Shepard?

  Sure.

• 31:49Speaker 04

  So I was like, you know what, I'm not gonna tell anybody, I promise. So I get back to my apartment and my roommates are like, how'd the photo shoot go? And I'm just like, it was great. I sat on this story for like a year and then I ended up running into Jane at an event. And she was laughing about it and was like, I don't care. You can tell people it's so funny. So then I was able to unburden myself.

• 32:11Dax Shepard?

  I got a commender on her work ethic. She didn't fucking bail.

• 32:15Speaker 01

  But this is like a movie. It's so high stakes, a proposal.

• 32:19Speaker 04

  If this woman hadn't been on her little jog, this couple's engagement story would be so radically different. And she really saved the day.

• 32:27Dax Shepard?

  I wonder if the couple though, on their stroll up, when they pass that little clearing, they're like, did you fart? That could have also unhinged the engagement. If she was like, God, Brad always.

• 32:37Speaker 01

  We're doing this nice thing and you can't even not fart?

• 32:40Dax Shepard?

  Or he's like, oh no, she smells. Should I do this?

• 32:43Speaker 04

  Yeah, truly the wildest thing I think I've ever experienced.

• 32:46Speaker 01

  Wow.

• 32:47Dax Shepard?

  Oh, I love that. I was not expecting a poop your pants story in the middle of gestures from a stranger. So what a blessing.

• 32:53Speaker 04

  Yeah, I listened to the crazy proposal story episode. I was like, I should have written this story. And then I saw the kind gesture and I was like, oh yeah, this woman.

• 33:02Dax Shepard?

  She's a hero.

• 33:02Speaker 01

  I'm trying to think. I would say, yeah, I have stuff in the car.

• 33:06Dax Shepard?

  You can come grab it.

• 33:08Speaker 01

  No, no, I would help, but I wouldn't go the steep way. Cause I'd be like, I might fall and die.

• 33:14Dax Shepard?

  I would have been like, no, cause then she would have thought that was a scam. I was gonna say, I would say, what's your car? Give me your keys. I'm gonna run down, grab them out of the trunk and I'll run back up. But then she probably would have been like, oh, this whole thing's a scam to steal my car.

• 33:27Speaker 01

  Right.

• 33:27Dax Shepard?

  That's why fake duty.

• 33:29Speaker 04

  An elaborate plot.

• 33:30Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 33:31Dax Shepard?

  Super sophisticated ploy to steal a car. And you've left someone behind as a witness too.

• 33:37Speaker 01

  Oh, what a story.

• 33:38Dax Shepard?

  Chelsea, that was great.

• 33:39Speaker 01

  That was fun.

• 33:40Speaker 04

  Thanks for letting me share it. Can I have two friends come say hi really quick? They happened to have the day off work and they are the biggest arm cherries that I know. And Dax, you are my friend Rebecca's biggest celebrity crush.

• 33:52Speaker 05

  Hi.

• 33:53Dax Shepard?

  How are you?

• 33:54Speaker 04

  And this is Brian.

• 33:55Speaker 05

  Good. Longtime listener, first time caller.

• 33:59Dax Shepard?

  This looks like everyone's sharing a coffin.

• 34:01Speaker 04

  Basically.

• 34:03Dax Shepard?

  And are you a Kentucky native?

• 34:04Speaker 05

  Yes, all Kentucky natives.

• 34:06Dax Shepard?

  Oh, the bluegrass. Well, it's lovely meeting all of you.

• 34:10Speaker 03

  You too.

• 34:10Speaker 05

  Yes, lovely to meet y'all too.

• 34:12Dax Shepard?

  Okay, bye guys.

• 34:13Speaker 01

  Bye.

• 34:13Speaker 04

  Bye, thank you guys.

• 34:16Speaker 06

  Hello.

• 34:17Dax Shepard?

  Hello. Is it Janay?

• 34:19Speaker 06

  Yes, it is.

• 34:20Dax Shepard?

  And where are you at, Janay?

• 34:21Speaker 06

  I'm in Abington, Massachusetts.

• 34:24Dax Shepard?

  Okay, so you received a kind gesture from a stranger.

• 34:27Speaker 06

  Yes, I did. During the height of the COVID pandemic, so about May, my husband and I had just found out we were pregnant with twin girls. And so that was a bit of a shock. But at the same time, we also had horrible news that both of my parents had been diagnosed with cancer.

• 34:46Dax Shepard?

  Oh, my God.

• 34:47Speaker 06

  One right after the other. So my dad with a rare skin cancer and my mom lymphoma. So they had lived in New York at the time. And so when they found that out, they decided that they needed to move close to Boston to be able to go to Dana Farber. It's like the best cancer center you can go to. So we needed them just as much as they needed us for support. So we were at a point where we were ready to look at buying a house. And so we decided, why not look into like a multi-generational house with an in-law suite? During COVID, it was like finding a needle in a haystack. So my parents were still in New York. They hadn't quite come out yet because we didn't really have a place to live yet. So it was my husband and I really looking at all these places.

• 35:32Speaker 06

  So I was super pregnant. I was probably six months. Our realtor was like, oh, gosh, you gotta find them a house. So he knew the ramifications of it wasn't just us, but it was my parents that needed a home, too. We finally found a house that had everything we needed. It was a complete, separate apartment that my parents could live in on the lower level. And we were in the upper level, had everything we needed. It felt like it was perfect, but it was $100,000 over our budget, which was just too much over at that time for us to be able to make it work. Needless to say, we were heartbroken, but we still decided to put in an offer and it was below asking, obviously, hoping that the sellers would come down a little bit.

• 36:13Speaker 06

  And they did. They countered our offer, but only by 30,000. It helped, but it was still not enough.

• 36:29Dax Shepard?

  We are supported by Squarespace. So here's something I think about a lot. Most people I talk to on this show, the ones doing really interesting things, they all had a version of their work that existed before anyone else saw it. It was just theirs, notes, ideas, projects they were tinkering with. And then at some point, they made the decision to share it. That's the part that's scary, right? Going from, "I'm working on something," to, "Here's what I made." Rob went through the exact same thing, building our site on Squarespace. And what made it doable was that he didn't have to become a web developer overnight. He just had to show up with the idea. Squarespace handles the rest. Beautiful templates that actually look like you hired someone, built an SEO so people can find you, email campaigns, scheduling, analytics, all under one roof. No code, no patchwork of random tools.

• 37:14Dax Shepard?

  And honestly, the thing I keep coming back to is how low the barrier is. If you've got something you've been building quietly and you're ready for people to see it, Squarespace makes that leap feel a lot less traumatic. Head to Squarespace.com/dax for a free trial. And when you're ready to launch, use offer code DAX to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.

• 37:36Dax Shepard?

  We are supported by Walden University. You know that feeling when you've been thinking about making a move, going after the degree, the promotion, the thing you keep telling yourself you'll get to someday? Walden University is built for that moment. For over 50 years, Walden has helped working professionals get the W, the knowledge, the skills, and the confidence to create real change in their careers and communities. Their programs are designed around your life, not the other way around. With Tempo Learning, available in select programs, there are no rigid schedules or set weekly deadlines. You move at your own pace. And Walden's faculty aren't just academics. They're practitioners who bring real-world experience into everything they teach. From your first class to career coaching and beyond,

• 38:21Dax Shepard?

  Walden is your partner the whole way. Take the first step and learn at a pace that works for you. Visit waldenu.edu. Walden University. Set a course for change. Certified to Operate by CHEV. This episode is supported by Helix.

• 38:39Speaker 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.

• 38:50Dax 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.

• 39:01Speaker 01

  That was me before Helix. I took their sleep quiz, which is so fast, it's taking 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 that doesn't have a Helix mattress on it, and I really could tell a big difference in my sleep.

• 39:24Dax Shepard?

  Temperature was all over the map.

• 39:25Speaker 01

  It was a mess. I need a new one.

• 39:27Dax 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.

• 39:41Speaker 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.

• 39:48Dax 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.

• 40:13Speaker 06

  So we kind of let it go, and we thought, all right, this isn't gonna happen, we're just gonna keep looking. But a couple days later, we got a call, and the sellers had accepted our offer, a difference of $70,000. And we were stunned. I was like, did the realtor tell them a sob story about us, pulled a cancer card? But he didn't mention any of that. We felt so lucky, we cried tears of joy, we were so ecstatic. My parents moved in, they started their treatments, and we were getting ready to welcome our twins. So we never really heard. Anything from the other Realtors at that point, it just was done and all was taken care of. But a year later, we found out the truth. Our Realtor had come to us. He was so kind and he said,

• 40:56Speaker 06

  I couldn't let this go and I couldn't see you guys without this perfect home. So he had decided to pay the $70,000 difference.

• 41:06Speaker 01

  What? The Realtor did.

• 41:07Dax Shepard?

  What?

• 41:08Speaker 06

  He debated even telling us. He didn't want to make it about himself.

• 41:12Dax Shepard?

  Did you know him prior to working with him? Were you guys friends?

• 41:16Speaker 06

  I had heard of him as a Realtor before, but no, we didn't know him.

• 41:21Dax Shepard?

  Wow, that's extraordinary.

• 41:24Speaker 06

  It was amazing and to this day, I don't really have the right words to express to him how thankful we are and he didn't want anything in return. We invite him over and we have barbecues in the backyard and things like that, but we call it our miracle house. And now my twin girls are four years old. They're just a joy and my mom's cancer is gone. My dad's cancer is very stable.

• 41:50Dax Shepard?

  Wow.

• 41:51Speaker 01

  Amazing. Oh my gosh, how wonderful.

• 41:54Dax Shepard?

  Yeah, that's spectacular. And you still love the house? You've been there for four years?

• 41:59Speaker 06

  We love it.

• 42:00Dax Shepard?

  That's wonderful. Well, if you sell it, make like a huge profit.

• 42:04Speaker 06

  We'll definitely have to find a way to pay it forward.

• 42:07Speaker 01

  That's a beautiful story.

• 42:08Dax Shepard?

  Not shocking because one of the greatest gifts of generosity I received was when we were stranded at the airport in Boston and those kind people in Wellesley hosted all of us. That was mass holes going against the stereotype.

• 42:21Speaker 06

  Yeah, not everyone is terrible.

• 42:24Dax Shepard?

  Did you watch the Jerry Springer documentary by chance on Netflix?

• 42:28Speaker 06

  No, I haven't.

• 42:29Dax Shepard?

  I gotta tell you just the funniest. A, if you watch it, you'll be like, I can't believe that was on television and we just accepted that. That's one shocking thing. But then the other funny thing is they had a rule on Jerry Springer, no guests from Boston.

• 42:44Speaker 01

  Oh my God.

• 42:45Dax Shepard?

  It was like a hard rule.

• 42:47Speaker 01

  Really?

• 42:47Dax Shepard?

  Yeah, because they had so many guys from Boston come on. They were either lying or they had made up their story. They just wanted to get on TV and raise hell. And so I think that's a real feather in the cap of Boston. All Bostonians banned from Jerry Springer.

• 42:59Speaker 01

  Too crazy for Jerry Springer. Wow.

• 43:03Speaker 06

  I just have to say I'm a brand new armcherry.

• 43:05Speaker 01

  Oh, exciting.

• 43:07Speaker 06

  You get a lot of people who have listened from the start, but I have a 30 minute commute to work, home and back. And so I thought I need to find some new podcasts and I stumbled upon it and I've been listening since.

• 43:20Dax Shepard?

  Oh, welcome. What guests brought you in?

• 43:22Speaker 06

  It was just one of the anonymous. It was one of the nurse stories. So I started on a good one.

• 43:27Dax Shepard?

  Yeah, I was just telling my mother in law, who's a nurse, that there's nothing more dependable than the nurse prompt.

• 43:33Speaker 01

  It's a good one. Well, thank you so much.

• 43:36Dax Shepard?

  Thanks so much.

• 43:36Speaker 06

  Thanks for having me.

• 43:37Dax Shepard?

  All right. Bye bye.

• 43:38Speaker 01

  Bye.

• 43:40Speaker 07

  Hi.

• 43:41Dax Shepard?

  Hello. How are you?

• 43:43Speaker 07

  I'm so excited. I'm great.

• 43:45Dax Shepard?

  Where are you, Georgianne?

• 43:47Speaker 07

  I am in Terrell, Texas, which is about 30 miles east of Dallas. It's hometown of Jamie Foxx.

• 43:54Speaker 01

  Oh, nice.

• 43:55Dax Shepard?

  That's a feather in y'all's cap.

• 43:57Speaker 07

  Yeah, it's great.

• 43:59Dax Shepard?

  Okay. So you were the recipient of some kindness.

• 44:02Speaker 07

  The story takes place in Friendswood, Texas, which is kind of down the Houston area, right in the shadow of Johnson Space Center. And when I was nine years old in fourth grade, I could not decide if I wanted to be an astronaut or a teacher. Then the most amazing thing happened. My teacher, Peggy Lathlane, was named one of the finalists for NASA's Teacher in Space Program.

• 44:26Speaker 01

  Oh, wow.

• 44:27Speaker 07

  So cool. She had, I'm assuming a sabbatical. I don't know. She didn't like clear it with the nine year olds what was happening with her release time, but she wasn't there. She would come back and give us updates on the training that she was doing with the space program. And we had little experiments that we got to design that the teacher in space was going to take up on the Challenger. So of course, we were so sad that she wasn't selected to be the teacher in space.

• 44:53Dax Shepard?

  Well, as soon as you said this, I'm back in fifth grade, watching it live in my classroom, and I'm terrified for what's coming.

• 45:02Speaker 07

  Yes. So January 28th, 1986, I will never forget, Ms. Cheever came in the classroom and told us to come to the carpet. We knew, of course, that Miss Lathlane hadn't been selected, but we were excited because we were told that our experiment was still going on board the shuttle and that Krista McAuliffe was going to come to our school and share all of the findings from our experiment. I'll never forget sitting on the carpet and watching her chin quiver as she told us what had happened, that the challenger had been lost.

• 45:34Dax Shepard?

  You guys weren't watching it live?

• 45:36Speaker 07

  No, because our principal, it was such a big deal for our school and our community that she had this foreboding feeling like if something terrible happened, she didn't want us all watching this collective traumatic experience.

• 45:51Dax Shepard?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 45:52Speaker 07

  I was devastated, as were so many of our class. Sad for our teacher and for those families. And then for me too, I'd been so excited that I don't have to choose between being an astronaut and a teacher. I can do both like Miss Lathlane. And a little part of that dream died for me that day. So by the time I got home from school, I was nearly inconsolable. And my mom owned a flower shop and we lived in an apartment above the flower shop. I'm just sobbing by the time I get off the bus and she says, I want you to go upstairs, just take a breath, get a snack. It's gonna be okay. About an hour, hour and a half later, I come bouncing down the stairs and she's like, George Anne, you seem so much better. I'm like, why am I called NASA?

• 46:37Speaker 07

  And she's like, you did what? I said, yeah, I called NASA and I talked to my teacher and she told me she was okay and that I'm okay and I feel better. I remember very vividly marching up the little stairs. I pulled out the Yellow Pages from under our counter to Monica, other young people. It was this big book of phone numbers.

• 46:57Speaker 01

  Oh, I know a Yellow Page.

• 47:00Speaker 07

  I looked up the number for Johnson Space Center and called. The operator there connected me to Cape Canaveral, where my teacher was to watch the launch in Florida. So when my mom tells the story to this day, I am the hero of the story. Can you believe it? She was nine years old and called NASA. But really, as I have reflected on that so many times in my life. And I tell the story often in different contexts is that really the hero of that story was an operator. She was the operator on the worst day. Can you imagine what NASA was like that day? The calls that were coming in, the devastation, the grief, the hurt and a stranger. She didn't know me, but heard this sad, scared little girl. She could have easily said, honey, your teacher's

• 47:44Speaker 07

  in Florida. She's busy. I can't find them. Bless your heart. But she took the time to connect me to Cape Canaveral, to find someone there who went to track down my teacher and connect that call to a private place. And I really remember Ms. Lashlane saying, I'm okay and you're okay and it's all gonna be okay. There's just a lot of times in my life and in the work that I do that I tell that story, but just the reminder, the acts of kindness that we get to perform to people we know and don't know is what is going to make the world be okay.

• 48:21Dax Shepard?

  You're right. It can have a real lasting impact.

• 48:24Speaker 01

  And a domino effect.

• 48:25Speaker 07

  Yes.

• 48:26Dax Shepard?

  Yeah, what a hero she is.

• 48:27Speaker 07

  An unsung hero. I never was able to track her down and find her, but if she happened to be listening, thank you. Cause she made a difference like all these years later.

• 48:38Dax Shepard?

  Yeah, that's pretty radical. What a day that was. Cause we watched it live and every class was watching it. All of the teachers started crying. The explosion was one thing that was alarming, but it was seeing all of our teachers, which we didn't think cried. That was really unsettling. I was like, oh, the adults are really, really all scared right now.

• 49:01Speaker 07

  It's like the defining moment of my childhood, one of those, you know where you were.

• 49:06Dax Shepard?

  Wow. Well, George Anne, that's a very sweet story.

• 49:09Speaker 01

  Yeah, thanks for sharing it.

• 49:11Speaker 07

  Thank y'all for giving me the chance to, we have some of the biggest arm cherries in our house. Can I get them in?

• 49:17Dax Shepard?

  Yeah, let's get them all in.

• 49:18Speaker 07

  So my husband, Matt, and then this is our biggest fan here. This is Mitchell. He is our college kiddo. He just finished a final.

• 49:29Speaker 01

  Congratulations. I'm thinking I want to play this cool, but there's no way I'm going to fail miserably. I have to send a very profound thank you to what you guys do as parents raising boys. It can be

• 49:41Speaker 03

  Scary because we want our boys to be manly men, but we also want them to be sweet and kind. And Dax, you have created this model for what that can be, that you can like muscle collars in sports, but be an engaged dad. You can work hard, but be a caring and loving husband. You can be tattooed and ripped, but also be curious and empathetic and kind. And Monica is a young, beautiful, intelligent woman. You have made that okay. And not just okay, but preferred. I so appreciate the gifts that you guys bring to the world, and I hope that is not lost on you.

• 50:14Dax Shepard?

  The notion you thought you were gonna botch this, that was incredible.

• 50:18Speaker 01

  Overwhelming.

• 50:19Speaker 03

  This guy right here, Mary, a week goes by that he and I don't connect about something that we heard or learned on Armchair Expert. Mitch, did you wanna say something? My little brother and I grew up absolute fans of Zathura. You kinda got us into bonding over movies and stuff like that. And then I started listening to the podcast and both of y'all have seriously just brought me so much knowledge and comfort and happiness in a lot of difficult times, especially going through college and stuff like that. And thank you so much from the bottom of my heart. I'm such a big fan.

• 50:50Dax Shepard?

  Oh, this family, y'all made our day.

• 50:53Speaker 07

  He just finished a final and he was like, if I have to fail the final. But he didn't fail. He did great.

• 51:01Dax Shepard?

  Okay, well, thank you. You truly, truly made our day.

• 51:04Speaker 07

  Thank y'all. It was a joy.

• 51:05Dax Shepard?

  Take care. Oh, man.

• 51:08Speaker 01

  Sweet family.

• 51:10Dax Shepard?

  Delightful.

• 51:11Speaker 01

  That was a nice family.

• 51:12Dax Shepard?

  Hey, you intelligent, beautiful woman.

• 51:15Speaker 01

  Listen, I don't wanna go to space.

• 51:17Dax Shepard?

  No, me neither. Well, I used to want to until we interviewed the astronaut and I found out it's not pleasant up there. Headaches, can't sleep, bursts of gamma rays in your eyes. They're closed. You can't shit.

• 51:30Speaker 01

  Yeah. I loved this prop.

• 51:32Dax Shepard?

  Me too.

• 51:33Speaker 01

  And it has made me feel like I want to do something very nice for someone.

• 51:39Dax Shepard?

  Yeah.

• 51:40Speaker 01

  Today, but I am going to the Beyonce concert.

• 51:44Dax Shepard?

  That's a good thing to do for Beyonce.

• 51:48Speaker 01

  That's something, that's a kind gesture I'm doing for her.

• 51:51Dax Shepard?

  What if Beyonce was on a podcast about kind strangers and she said, "This girl Monica, I didn't even know her and she bought a ticket to come see me perform. And she bought my merch and she cut in line."

• 52:05Speaker 01

  Okay, yeah, this isn't a good day for me to do it. I'm probably gonna receive a kind gesture from somebody.

• 52:11Dax Shepard?

  You're gonna do a little taking today, probably.

• 52:13Speaker 01

  No, I'll buy everyone in line a shirt.

• 52:16Dax Shepard?

  Oh, wow.

• 52:17Speaker 01

  I can't commit.

• 52:18Dax Shepard?

  All right.

• 52:18Speaker 03

  Probably a big long.

• 52:19Speaker 01

  I know, I just realized that.

• 52:21Dax Shepard?

  All right, well, I think you're a kind stranger.

• 52:24Speaker 01

  I think you are too. You know what I like to do? This is nothing, but in LA, because we have a lot of parking meters.

• 52:31Dax Shepard?

  Yeah.

• 52:31Speaker 01

  If I see that one's out.

• 52:34Dax Shepard?

  Oh, you slide your credit card in there?

• 52:35Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 52:36Dax Shepard?

  Oh, that's really nice. You know what I make a habit of doing is if I have to fart and I'm about to get on an elevator, I fart in the foyer before I get in the elevator.

• 52:46Speaker 01

  Wow, that's so nice.

• 52:48Dax Shepard?

  Yeah. My wife doesn't extend that kindness to strangers. She'll toot right in the elevator because she knows they'll blame me.

• 52:54Speaker 03

  Or they'll like it.

• 53:03Speaker 01

  You love that, huh?

• 53:04Dax Shepard?

  That's so funny. You know, Rob's got my number sometimes.

• 53:07Speaker 01

  Yeah, he sure does.

• 53:10Speaker 01

  All right, well, I think that's it for kind strangers. That was really lovely.

• 53:15Dax Shepard?

  All right, love you.

• 53:16Speaker 01

  Love you.

• 53:18Speaker 03

  Do you want to sing a tune or something? We have a theme song.

• 53:20Dax Shepard?

  Oh, okay, great. We don't have a big song for this new show, so here I go, go, go. We're gonna ask some random questions and with the help of our cherries, we'll get some suggestions. On the fly, rhyme dish, on the fly, rhyme dish, enjoy.