Armchair Expert With Dax Shepard

Daryl Hall is a singer, songwriter and the lead vocalist of Hall & Oates. Daryl joins the Armchair Expert to discuss his relationship over the years with John Oates, learning how to sing from his mother, and being immersed in the R&B music scene in Philadelphia. Daryl and Dax talk about what having perfect pitch means, the amount of #1 hits Daryl has had, and how musicians today have more avenues for success than he had. Daryl explains how the music business can be compared to organized crime, what it's like to have Lyme disease, and how he met John after leaving a show because a fight broke out. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Matt Damon (Good Will Hunting, Ocean's Eleven, Stillwater) is an Oscar Award-Winning and Golden Globe Award-Winning actor, producer, and screenwriter. Matt joins the Armchair Expert to talk about his experience writing Good Will Hunting with Ben Affleck, what it was like attending the Monaco Grand Prix with Brad Pitt, and how your subjective experience changes when you become famous.Matt explains how easy it is to be generous when things are going your way, how he picked his movies based on the directors rather than the roles, and what he learned after surrounding himself with oil roughnecks for his new movie. Dax explains the role Matt has had in Monica's life and Dax and Matt bond over their love of Lisa Bonet. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Mark Ronson is a 7x Grammy Award-winning, Oscar Award-winning, record producer and DJ. Mark joins the Armchair Expert to discuss how he was obsessed with music from a very early age and his experience producing artists like Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, and Amy Winehouse. Mark and Dax talk about getting hyped up to perform on stage, growing up around strong women, and what it was like to see Quincy Jones' wall of Grammy's. Mark explains that he is not an expert at one specific instrument, how he was blown away by Bradley Cooper's talent, and that it doesn't bother him when other musicians don't recognize him. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Leon Bridges (Gold-Diggers Sound, Coming Home) is a Grammy Award-winning R&B recording artist and songwriter. Leon joins the Armchair Expert to discuss the Fort Worth music scene, developing his aesthetic, and his desire to keep evolving his sound. Leon talks about being bashful and quiet as a kid, tasting fame at his senior year talent show, and how he likes to recharge in solitude. Leon discusses how pressured he felt during the process of his second album, how he had to learn to embrace discomfort, and Dax asks Leon about his dating life. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Tim Grover is a mental and physical performance coach. Tim joins the Armchair Expert to talk about training athletes like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, how his parents really wanted him to be a doctor, and what he's learned over the years about defining what winning means. Tim and Dax discuss the difference between the physical and mental aspects of being a great athlete, his perspective on The Last Dance documentary, and that waking up at 4 am to work out isn't for everybody. Tim explains that being selfish to work on yourself is not a negative trait, how people can achieve greatness by taking it step-by-step, and what Dennis Rodman would eat before every basketball game. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Mila Kunis & Ashton Kutcher rejoin the Armchair Expert to explain how they got into cryptocurrency, how a decentralized currency can exist at the same time as a national currency system, and how El Salvador has recently adopted Bitcoin as their national currency. Mila tells us about her new NFT animation show stoner cats, how people can purchase a token to view it, and how it differs from current production models. Ashton explains that the cost of crypto is linked to the amount of energy used to produce it and what fail-safes you can implement to avoid losing large amount of cryptocurrency to hackers. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Esther Perel is a psychotherapist and New York Times best seller. Esther joins the Armchair Expert to talk about how social boundaries were affected during the Covid-19 pandemic, how helping people during this time helped her feel less anxious herself, and her thoughts on how people re-entered society after the lockdown ended. Esther explains the difference between fidelity, exclusivity, and loyalty when it comes to romantic relationships, how confirmation bias plays a role in how you deal with people you live with, and that you should be thankful more often to loved ones for things they do for you. Esther, Dax, and Monica play Esther's new card game, Where Should We Begin - A Game of Stories. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Kate Beckinsale (Jolt, Underworld, Pearl Harbor) is an English actress. Kate joins the Armchair Expert to discuss the impact of her father dying at a young age, how she's never been drunk, and how people often troll her for her height. Kate discusses her time at Oxford studying Russian literature, how it almost ruined reading for her, and the experience of being cast in Pearl Harbor. Dax and Kate discuss their love for Brad Pitt and how often women come up to her and tell her that she's their husbands' hall pass. In the fact check, we check in on Dax's road trip and Monica's camping trip. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Michael Pollan (This is Your Mind on Plants, The Omnivore's Dilemma) is an author, journalist, and professor at UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. Michael joins the Armchair Expert to discuss changing your consciousness through plant-based drugs, how drugs are nature's tools for coping with the ego, and the stigmas associated with psilocybin mushrooms. Michael and Dax talk about addictions to drugs like alcohol and caffeine, the social norms that were created for everyday drugs like nicotine, and getting into hot water for growing opium in his garden. Michael explains that there are evolutionary reasons for plants to produce psychedelic effects on humans and animals, how the war on drugs affected the public perception of controlled substances, and that psychedelics need to be regulated if they are ever made legal. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Quentin Tarantino (Once Upon a Time of Hollywood, Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs) is an Academy-Award winning & Golden Globe-Award winning film director, screenwriter, producer, author, and actor. Quentin sits down with the Armchair Expert to discuss how movie crews have a military aspect to their hierarchy, the phenomenon that is Pulp Fiction, and what it was like starting a sub-genre in crime and gangster films. Quentin explains how Reservoir Dogs made him a rockstar in Britain, how cool is an aesthetic and not an attitude, and that he doesn't want to work with actors who just want to be in a "Tarantino" movie. Quentin talks about how good-looking Brad Pitt is and his take on movie theaters closing. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Barack Obama (A Promised Land, Dreams From My Father) is a politician and served as the 44th President of the United States. President Obama joins the Armchair Expert to discuss the expectations that were set on him from his mother and how sports shaped his youth. Barack and Dax discuss being the brunt of the jokes from their children, growing up in single-mother households, and what it was like to be guarded by LeBron James in a pickup basketball game at the White House. Barack explains what he learned about being a father from his time helping to raise his siblings, why he transferred to Columbia after two years of college, and how most politicians will do anything to avoid public failure. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

J.B. Smoove (Curb Your Enthusiasm, Spider-man: Far from Home, May I Elaborate?) is an actor, comedian, and writer. J.B. sits down with the Armchair Expert to discuss his attraction to the era when men wore nice suits and shoes, how he custom-built his closet, and thrifting to find unique clothing. J.B. talks about his time starring on Curb Your Enthusiasm, his approach to working with Larry David, and how he feels like he can say things as Leon that J.B. would never say. J.B. talks about taking a job as a Saturday Night Live writer, his admiration for Jerry Seinfeld, and how you should look a man straight in the eyebrows when you meet him. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Tara Stoinski is a primatologist and President, CEO and Chief Scientific Officer for the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund. Tara joins the Armchair Expert to discuss studying gorillas for more than two decades, her desire work with animals from a young age, and how ecotourism in Africa is helping the conservation efforts and the local economy. Tara explains gorilla mating rituals and communication tactics, the new technology they use to study and collect data on primates, and how gorillas have an effect on global climate change. Tara also talks about losing her husband to cancer and how she threw herself into her work to help cope with the trauma. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Luke Wilson (12 Mighty Orphans, The Royal Tenenbaums, Idiocracy) is an actor. Luke joins the Armchair Expert to discuss cameramen being the coolest people on set, his interest in reading about music, and growing up as the youngest brother in Texas. Luke and Dax talk about wishing they had bought property in Austin back in the '90s, being fascinated with other people's acting process, and having to be reminded about storylines for their acting roles. Luke explains how he got involved in working with Wes Anderson, being nervous about playing a football coach, and that Dax does a pretty good Owen Wilson impression. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Fresh (Richfresh, Henry Mask) is a fashion designer based in Los Angeles. Fresh joins the Armchair Expert to talk about getting into fashion in middle school because he was told he didn't dress well, teaching himself how to tailor suits because no one would apprentice him, and being the youngest and only black tailor in most shops in New York. Fresh explains how he ended up in a homeless shelter because of his drug addiction, raising a daughter on his own, and becoming a symbol of alpha male culture which he later rejected. Fresh talks about how his father's passing affected his outlook on life, that he used to blame everyone else for his misfortunes, and how he identified the sacrifices he needed to make to achieve success. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Barry Meier (Spooked, Pain Killer) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and a former New York Times journalist. Barry joins the Armchair Expert to discuss investigating the opioid crisis, how Big Pharma played a role in perpetuating the problem, and the depths in which people will go to make money on people's addictions. Barry and Dax talk about the modern-day private spy industry, news media bias, and how the spread of misinformation has shaped the political landscape. Barry explains how spy companies use digital tactics to acquire information, how phone hacking has become harder and harder to police around the world, and that the use of dirty tactics in private espionage is being solicited more frequently. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jessica Biel (7th Heaven, The Sinner, Cruel Summer) is an actress and producer. Jessica joins the Armchair Expert to discuss having a baby during the pandemic, her experience on a hit sitcom early in her career, and starting her own production company at 22 years old. Jessica and Dax talk about being typecast in acting roles, trying to sell their tv scripts to studios, and Jessica's attraction to her husband Justin Timberlake. Jessica explains that she has always been a people pleaser, whether or not she wants her kids to get into show business, and what it was like hanging out with Jay-Z and Beyonce. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Chris Bosh is an eleven-time All-Star, two-time NBA champion, and an Olympic gold medalist. Chris joins the Armchair Expert to talk about growing up in Dallas, what it was like being 6' 11" in high school, and going to Robotics Club before basketball practice. Chris and Dax discuss young athletes learning how to manage their money, winning championships with your friends, and how much they both love Austin. Chris talks about being forced into early retirement because of health issues, finding a new identity outside of basketball, and writing his first book, "Letters to a Young Athlete." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Russell Brand (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Revelation, Under the Skin) is an English comedian, actor, podcaster, writer, and activist. Russell joins the Armchair Expert to discuss how addiction is just amplified attachment, his tendency to use material means to resolve his spiritual issues, and his initial reluctancy about recovery. Dax and Russell talk about their relationship with women, their shared impulse to move towards chaos, and the importance of valuing your inner life more than your outer life. Russell explains how he came to find transcendental meditation, the role community plays in his life, and how our brains are a tangled fishing net. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Bubba Wallace is a professional stock car racing driver in the NASCAR Cup Series. Bubba joins the Armchair Expert to talk about growing up in North Carolina, learning to race in his Dad's go-kart, and how he was more interested in playing basketball as a kid. Dax and Bubba discuss the mental strength needed to be a race car driver, the Confederate flag being banned by NASCAR, and becoming an activist for cultural change in his sport. Bubba talks about having Michael Jordan as his new boss, wanting to be known more for winning races, and being tougher on himself than anyone else. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.