Armchair Expert With Dax Shepard

Ben Schwartz (Parks and Recreation, House of Lies, Middleditch and Schwartz) is an actor, comedian, writer, director and producer. Ben joins the armchair expert to discuss starting off in improv comedy, how Eugene Cordero is the funniest person in the world, and dancing with Dax at a pajama birthday party. Ben recounts working as a camp janitor as a minor, the importance of separating his self-worth from the work he does, and his experience going on the Letterman show. Monica divulges her attraction to Ben and the lengths she would go to be near him at his shows and Dax tells him how special his hair thickness is. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Dax and Monica host a conversation with Bill Gates about his new book, How To Avoid A Climate Disaster, for the Chicago Humanities Festival. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

George Saunders (A Swim in a Pond in the Rain) is a #1 New York Times bestselling, Booker Prize-winning author. George joins the Armchair Expert to discuss the mental phenomena of life, farting in an elevator, and romanticizing everything as a writer. George explains how he learned that being a writer wasn't about your adventure resume, how to trust your own mind and bless your reactions, and how he finds inspiration by revisiting great works. George discusses how underestimated the role of encouragement is, that self-remonstration is the enemy of art, and how writer's block is having artificially elevated expectations of yourself. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Rupert Grint (Harry Potter, Servant, Sick Note) is an English actor known for his role as Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter film series. Rupert joins the Armchair Expert to discuss how different of a role his character on Servant is from anything he's done before, how he can't fully detach from Ron Weasley, and what it was like going through puberty on camera. Dax tells Rupert he was obsessed with how handsome he got throughout the films and Rupert talks about buying a hovercraft, ice cream van, and alpacas. Rupert discusses the birth of his daughter during the pandemic and Dax explains why you never fight a redhead. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Michael Eric Dyson is a professor, ordained minister, political commentator, and the author of seven New York Times bestsellers. Michael joins the Armchair Expert to discuss preaching at the National Cathedral on the King's Sunday, the transition from going to an inner-city segregated school to a school with rich white kids, and how the church became a lifeline for him. Michael recounts the day when Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and his last great speech, the level of mastery of Jay-Z, and how race is shaped by the environment and context of the culture. The two discuss white privilege, the Capitol protestors, and their opinions on why the 2020 election was so close. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Amy Poehler (Moxie, Parks and Recreation, SNL) is an actress, comedian, writer, producer, and director. Amy joins the Armchair Expert to discuss how much she likes to identify as an outsider that worked her way in, how control is the dream state, and how important it was for Dax to do car stuff in Baby Mama. Dax & Amy bond over having a class warfare chip on their shoulder and how much they both rely on things in the future. Amy discusses the expectation for women to come at success with a sense of humility, how much her mom's encouragement and dad's attention affected her confidence, and the time she tried to be a third to Jason Momoa and Lisa Bonet. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Chad Sanders is the author of the book Black Magic: What Black Leaders Learned from Trauma and Triumph. Chad joins the Armchair Expert to discuss his experience at Morehouse College, how isolating code switching can be, and his journey to embracing who he really was while working at Google. Chad explains that race is the operating system of everything, how black people are expected to be bold enough to make a mark but not too bold to get kicked out of the club, and the theoretical liberalism of Silicon Valley. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute & UN Messenger of Peace is an ethologist and advocate for the environment, animals, and the natural world. Jane joins the Armchair Expert to discuss her journey to studying chimpanzees, how her approach of empathy allowed her to learn how human chimps are and that they have a culture of their own. Jane explains how similar the gender roles are between chimps and humans, her trajectory of going deep into the jungle and coming out a world icon, and how the Jane Goodall Institute has grown to 24 institutes in 24 separate countries. Dax admits that if he met Jane, he would try to groom her. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Viggo Mortensen (Green Book, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Captain Fantastic) is an Oscar-nominated actor, writer and director. Viggo joins the Armchair Expert to discuss why it took him so long to finally direct a movie, his ability to revert back to speaking Spanish based on what he's doing, and falling in love with ice hockey. Viggo opens up about the comfort he finds in being untethered and his relationship with dementia. The two discuss how subjective memory is and how it's just a collection of feelings and not facts. Dax asks Viggo about his naked fight scene in Eastern Promises, tells him how he's been modeling his parenting-style after his character in Captain Fantastic, and in the fact check, Dax & Monica discuss the Britney Spears documentary. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Erin Meyer (The Culture Map, No Rules Rules) is an author and professor at the INSEAD Business School, based in Paris. Erin joins the Armchair Expert to discuss how feedback is interpreted differently in various cultures, who the most direct and confrontational culture is, and how to move beyond stereotypes to understand the more complex issues we are unaware are affecting us. Erin teaches us how we need to build empathy and develop strategies when interacting with people from other cultures, the direct to indirect negative feedback scale, and why Americans are seen as superficial and hypocritical in most European cultures. Erin explains how we express disagreement differently in many parts of the world, how every culture is deferring to authority less than their parents did, and that you need to understand the differences in cultures in order to make the right adjustments. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Salma Hayek (Bliss, Frida, Desperado) is an actress and producer. Salma Hayek joins the Armchair Expert to discuss blackmailing her parents into letting her go to boarding school, how Robert Rodriguez discovered her while flipping through tv stations at 1am, and the choice to start over as an extra in the US after being a star in Mexico. Salma talks about her lovemaking scene in Desperado, how hard it was for her to shoot it, and how much she's had to combat the stereotypes of being a sexy woman. Dax and Monica share their simulation theory with Salma and Dax does his Owen Wilson impersonation. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Emily Morse is a sex therapist, author and host of the podcast Sex with Emily. Emily joins the Armchair Expert to discuss Dax's favorite subject: sex. Emily explains her theory on why sex is still the most taboo topic in America, how little has changed in sex education, and the effect pornography is having on young people. Emily stresses how important communication is for a thriving sex life, how much there is to discover about yourself if you're curious, and that you're responsible for your own orgasm, not your partner. The two discuss shame around self-pleasure, the impact sexual wellness has on your overall wellness, and Emily's vision of lube on every nightstand. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jason Segel (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, How I Met Your Mother, Freaks And Geeks) is an actor, comedian, screenwriter, author, and producer. Jason joins the Armchair Expert to discuss his relationship with writing, how anxious he gets about making decisions that will affect his life, and how he's only comfortable between action and cut. Dax and Jason learn that they are identical twins separated by 5 years, they bond over the "piece of shit at the center of the universe" phenomenon and share the same existential crisis. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Zeus walks among us, and today we honor him with a commercial-free replay of our celestial chat. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Adam Grant returns to discuss his new book Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know. Adam is an organizational psychologist, professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and TED speaker. Adam discusses how to open people's minds, the psychology of maximizing and satisficing, and the advantages of imposter syndrome. Adam weighs in on a disagreement between Dax & Monica, explains the dangers of desirability bias, and the different modes of thinking: preacher, prosecutor, and politician. Adam pitches building a competence and character political party while Dax shares one of his self-fulfilling prophecies. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman, An Education, The Great Gatsby) is an Academy Award-nominated actress. Carey joins the Armchair Expert to discuss her parents' fear of her pursuing acting, landing Pride & Prejudice as her first role, and the benefits of having anonymity in the first few years of her career. Carey admits how stressful it is for her to have to be funny or sing on stage, how she met her husband in camp when they were kids, and her new movie, Promising Young Woman. In the fact check, Dax gives a TedTalk on diesel fuel. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Robert Livingston is a social psychologist at the Harvard Kennedy School, he studies the science underlying implicit bias and racism. Robert joins the Armchair Expert to discuss the science behind racism, how to synthesize and assemble it into something people can digest, and the ways to make profound and sustainable change around it. Robert explains his P.R.E.S.S. model, how empathy is the most important part of it, and the difference between equality and equity. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jethro Bovingdon and Rob Corddry join the Armchair Expert to discuss all things Top Gear America. The group explains the prestige of the Top Gear brand, how high the bar was going into the new iteration, and Jethro explains how his job is mostly stopping Dax & Rob from doing weird bits. They discuss the competitiveness between Jethro & Dax, Rob's personal arc over the last year on the show, and Jethro answers questions from the group about English people. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Justin Timberlake (Palmer, Trolls, The Social Network) is a 10x Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter, a 3x Emmy award-winning actor and record producer. Justin joins the Armchair Expert to discuss masculinity, the similarities of growing up in Memphis to Detroit, and the challenges of raising sons. Dax & Justin recount Justin's experience on Punk'd, how well he has navigated new opportunities, and the role naivety has played in it. Dax compliments Justin on his SNL performance, his willingness to take on challenges and his acting in the movie, Palmer. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jamil Zaki (The War for Kindness) is a professor of psychology at Stanford University and the director of the Stanford Social Neuroscience Lab. Jamil joins the Armchair Expert to discuss all things empathy: why he was drawn to the topic, the roadblocks of it, the erosion of empathy and how to get it back. He explains the different types of empathy (emotional, cognitive, and empathic concern), the impact it has on motivation in the workplace, and how self-compassion is a bridge to having compassion for others. Jamil expresses how empathy leads to a healthier mental and physical state and the importance of tuning your empathy towards who you want to be. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.