Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard - Adam Scott Returns

Episode Date: January 20, 2025

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

Wondry Plus subscribers can listen to Armchair Expert early and ad free right now. Join Wondry Plus in the Wondry app or on Apple podcasts, or you can listen for free wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome, welcome, welcome to Armchair Expert. I'm Dan Shepard and I'm joined by the Duchess of Duluth. Hi. Hi.

Our sweetest friend, Adam Scott, is here today. Yeah. We discovered, which I would have not guessed. Yeah. Our sweetest friend, Adam Scott is here today. Yeah. We discovered, which I would have not guessed. Yeah. I forget now, but in seven, and the interview we realized he was the seventh guest. It does feel like it's been a long time since he's come on, but not that long.

No, I just didn't think he was that early. I felt like we were up and running for a while and I reached out. Me he was that early. I felt like we were up and running for a while and I reached out. Me too. But yeah. So this is his second trip. Oh, this will be good. Cause I remembered this.

There's a point in the interview where I go, weren't you super into hip hop? Yeah, you did. And he's like, no. Yes. And I was so discombobulated by that. Cause I'm like, I know I remember this. Okay.

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

I knew he went through a phase. Oh. And he was wearing like the tri-color Africa shirts and it was do the right thing. Oh. So I wasn't totally insane. There was some connective tissue. Got it, that makes sense.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And also lends itself to him being a cinephile. Yes, big time. Parks and Recreation, Step Brothers, Big Little Lies, Party Down, The Good Place, and alas, arguably the greatest show on television, which returns to Apple TV Plus on the 17th, Severance.

I can't wait. So excited. God, it's so good. It's so, so good. And I got to do the Severance podcast that they're doing, which was really, really fun. That's great. Yeah. I do recommend, it's been three years. I have a pretty good memory.

I don't remember anything. It is so worth starting it from the get-go. It's so enjoyable. I had forgotten so many great things about it. Me too, I rewatched it as well. Oh, you did? Yeah. I mean it's just what a show. It's fantastic. Please enjoy Adam Scott. I wonder what it is I'm supposed to be looking at. Yes, this is very nice.

You're fucking hot as hell. Hold on Adam, you're 1000% sexy as fuck. Yes, this is very nice. You're fucking hot as hell Thousand percent sexy is fun. What is this from? I've always known you've had good hair like enviable hair But this photo I can't do things like like you can take big swings with your hair Would you acknowledge that and I would say that's a big swing and I think it might be a bit of a miss No, no, no. Oh my god. The whole thing just feels a little stupid. No Adam. Listen to me. You can own this Can I hold this up? Can you see that Rob? But look at this. This is great. You do have great hair Fuck you have good hair. You're welcome. I'm stealing this from Arnett. He would call it the 40 yard stair like that Yeah, the like middle distance stare.

Yeah, like am I seeing a sniper in the background that you're not? Right, me and Pratt used to do it on parks. It would be saying something stupid to each other and then just kind of breaking into, and it's like, what are you, what exactly, there is this middle distance where it's so clear.

I wasn't looking at anything. It was just look over there. Yeah. That's maybe part of why it's embarrassing. No, no, no. You're so self-deprecating. It's a gorgeous picture. It is gorgeous.

I don't think I'm. Just gorgeous. It's absolutely gorgeous. By the way, it's so different in here than where we are. I know, right? Oh, sure, let's take a second to process this. How long have you been in here? Three months.

Because I listened to the show, I don't watch it. So I don't know. Yeah, take it in, first of all, Rob did all of this. It's really nice. Can you believe? It's like homey. Thank you. Yeah, it is.

And well-designed. I know you have impeccable taste, Monica. Thank you, but this wasn't me, this was all Rob. It's really lovely. Yeah, you can almost forget, right? That's the dream. It's nice. And you got the camera sort of hidden.

It's really nice. Orna style. Well, we have overs in this podcast, which people don't have over. They line up in a line. Overs, it's so good. You're a director, you know these things. What if I said I'm a director at heart?

Ew. That's gross. I'm a storyteller at heart Eww. That's gross. I'm a storyteller at heart. That's worse. I'm even scared to admit out loud how much I hate that because so many people I love I've heard use that term. I know. And it's true, we are story animals. Stop it. Just cut it out.

Since the dawn of man, we've gathered around the fire. We tell stories. We can stop saying that. Yeah, stories. We can stop saying that. Yeah, I would like to stop. Yeah. You've seen people you love say it, right? Of course. Yeah.

I'm sure I've said it. Jesus. He just run out of things. We're gonna pull up for the fact check. Both of you saying it. A thousand times. Yeah, yeah, yeah. A stream.

Is there any other current- Words that piss me off. Yeah, nomenclature that's rubbing you the wrong way. I have too much of it. To the degree that I'm not proud of myself. Too much of what? I am hypersensitive to words people are using in pop culture. To the degree that I have to be a little self-reflective

and go like, this is the kid in high school. Like I'm still looking for reasons that all the popular kids have their code. You feel left out. I got that. I think that all the popular kids have their code you feel left. I got that I think that's why it's such an acute cuz Monica will tell you I've called out words like artisanal the second artisanals I said you watch that's gonna be on a fucking Arby's sign. It was on Arby's but it was on subway My current one I'm tracking is a tillie. This is the new word. Wait. I don't know this one great You're getting it on the ground floor. You do know it, it just means like a shop.

You don't know it. It just means a nice shop. Apothecary bubbled up a few years ago in the wrong places. Yes, Atelier, which I learned this from Monica, this is like a small bespoke, handcrafted luxury item and it's the studio for it, which I'm fine with those Italians having their Atelier's or French, whatever it is. Yeah, it's where the for it, which I'm fine with those Italians having their ateliers or French whatever it is.

Yeah, it's where the designer actually makes the items. It's a real word. Sure, but we don't use it to describe the sandwich shop in Beverly Hills. Correct. Which is coming. I just started hearing atelier a little too much and I was like Monica you watch the gap's gonna have an atelier. Okay, so we have storytellers. That's rough for me. That's rough. And again, so many people, I love it. I see you.

I don't think people can get through an interview without saying it these days. Holding space. Can't you just do that without talking about? Does that trigger you at all? I've never said it. I do think it's rough. This is where the left is losing people, by the way.

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

Yeah. So it's shit like that, 100%. But wait, holding space means I'm just creating space for myself? Well, I think it's more often used in like, I just want my husband to be able to hold space for me to have my emotions or hold space for a coworker or a friend.

Right. It sounds a little too sanctimonious. I think I tuned that one out. So I use one that probably people hate. I will say often, my story, my story about you and I is this, or my story about losing that job. That to me feels a little more honest,

which is I know I'm a storyteller. Yeah. It all comes back to storytelling. This is just a story. Monica's visibly uncomfortable. We thought our pants were gonna explode, but they retracted. Yeah, it's the opposite.

It's literally the opposite. More belts. Were you wearing three belts when you walked in? I didn't notice. Isn't it funny in movies where they flash to the future and you see them taking stabs at what will happen fashion-wise in the future? I think in Back to the Future people have two ties

in the future. Right, right, in 2015, which by the way, you would have known that already. That's right. You know what no one's playing with, which they should be, is that as we see drugs like Ozempic become ubiquitous and people will more and more have the same body shape it's almost interesting think no one's projected that in the future everyone just virtually there'll be like three versions of people. Also with Botox and fillers and

all of those yeah people's faces are starting to just look like one thing I mean young teens are doing Botox and filler. I know. I wish I was alive when they were 90 so I could see how perfect they look. I bet it's really gonna work out. I feel like an old lady to say I'm against it, but I am.

You are, even though you're honestly- For kids to do that. For like an 18 year old, you don't even know what your face is yet. But also you're not done forming. Exactly. And growing. I have two teenagers, so they're always on TikTok

and Instagram and stuff. And yeah, there's a lot of perfection and redefining perfection. It's all really crazy. It's very sci-fi. It does make me think, did you ever have these days when you were in elementary school,

I'm plagued with a lot of cowlicks. I don't have the head of hair you do, back to your hair. Cowlicks. You know, where your hair juts this way and then that way. It's all skating wampus and back. I have a swirl. So the middle part with a feather when you and I were kids was king. Totally.

You had to have that hairdo. Bo and Luke Duke had it. And I just couldn't get it on the middle. It was always off to one. It was like a 60-40 split. And so occasionally I would have a morning like in fourth grade where I would feather it. It would look great. And I would make this weird promise to the deities.

I would say like, I commit to this hair for the rest of my life, if you can keep it looking sweet. If it can remain this perfect, I will keep this. Parted down the middle, feathered construction for the rest of my days. Okay, now did you ever do any dumb thing like that in front of the mirror? I remember my brother had the little lead figurines

for Dungeons and Dragons. They were made out of lead. And as a kid, I heard lead is poison. So you need to be careful. I used to just steal all his shit and look at it. He's older than me. So I remember one day taking one of these little lead figures and just sticking my tongue out and just touching it.

And then just being like, what am I doing? And I remember looking into the mirror in our living room, there was a mirror hanging there and just going, I don't want to die. Thinking that it was imminent. Okay, what you stumbled upon right there is called the call of the void. Do you know this term?

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

And I would have done the exact same thing. Like, whoa, it's pretty powerful. It's powerful, that's what it is. But you got to be on the other side of answering the call of the void, which is you laughed. I did it. And it sounds like you had immediate regret. Yeah, it was a stupid thing to do.

Did you think in your mind at that time you thought you'd be dead before the day's end? I thought I would drop dead any second. And where you're like in your mind at that time you thought you'd be dead before the day's end? I thought I would drop dead any second. And where you're like touching your tongue. Getting under the faucet. On Instagram, I'm constantly shown, you know those kids that are now climbing skyscrapers all over the world without any equipment.

What? Yo, they're just free balling it. And they're running and jumping. They're not like being careful. Oh, they're getting up to the top of literally the Empire State Building and balancing on one leg. Taking some pics. Yeah, they have their drone up there

and they're just like, what's up? Some toss them a beer. Crazy. And there's a documentary on a couple that do this in Eastern Europe on Netflix. Their whole group of friends are traveling the world doing this and they die often.

Of course. Because they fucking fall. But I'm on that algorithm on Instagram and I'm constantly being shown these. Those are because there's nothing that I enjoy more than watching these people on the edge of a fucking skyscraper and I love it. Yeah. It makes my hands sweat so profusely. I get butterflies and I get an adrenal rush, I think,

watching them. And then I have to just put it down and not look anymore. For sure. Yeah, it's weird. Look in front of the mirror and say, I don't wanna die. It's like, well, it's just a video. You're fine.

Were you a really good kid? It sounds like you were a really good kid. That's the extent of- Mischief. Yeah. Yeah, I must you a really good kid? It sounds like you were a really good kid. That's the extent of- Mischief. Yeah. Yeah, I must have been a good kid. I can really relate to being the younger brother who he'd leave the house to go do something fun

and I would run to his bedroom, like a chimp, just like hold his objects. 100%. And covet them. Oh yeah, look at chim, your little possessions. His idols. I felt like I was holding special idols. I remember once he came home

when I was in the midst of one of my archaeological digs and I hid behind a chimney that came through the middle of his room and I just hid there for 15, 20 minutes while he just sat on his bed, reading a comic book or something. I was staying at my grandparents roadside motel in the summertime and I had an uncle Robb

who was five years older than my brother. So this guy was on top of the world. He had a 68 Camaro, he played the guitar very well, he had a dirt bike and I got into his room when he was out and I found just a treasure trove of firecrackers. Oh shit. And I was like, this motherfucker's got major power movement in here. Firepower?

I was like, oh, there's 60 of these. I'm going to steal one. Black cats. And then later I was out in a field next to the motel and I lit them off and I was like very scared and excited. And then I just hear, they're loud, aren't they? Oh fuck. And I turned around and it was Uncle Rob.

And he fucking called me red-handed. Just like the cool uncle you'd guess, he didn't mind too much. Yeah. He understood what was going on. The other day you told me you've never stolen. I didn't say that. Yes you did.

No. Yes you did. No. Because then I said, yeah, you tried to steal a. Parking meter. Parking meter. Again, I did steal. And then I said, no, I did steal a parking meter.

Yeah, you said then I did. And I tried to rob seven a lot of them. And I put that in a different compartment because I was drunk, but then I said, no, I did steal a parking lot. Yeah, you said, then I did, but I put that in a different compartment because I was drunk, but now here we go. It sounds like sounds like he was in his right mind when he stole these fireworks. It does. I was pretty hammered. What is that? That's a nicotine spray. You've certainly seen me use these on our yearly vacation.

Yeah, I've got. Yeah. What are you rocking? Zin's. Yeah, that's right. you're a Zin man. So stupid. What's a Zin? A Zin is like a little pouch of chemicals. It's kind of like a Skull Bandit. Except it's non-tobacco, or maybe Skull Bandits are non-tobacco.

No, they're tobacco. Okay, these are non-tobacco. It's just nicotine. Bandits are made in an atelier in Raleigh, Durham. So are Zins. They're made in- So are they, one by one. Gorgeous atelier in Raleigh, Durham. So are Zans. They're made in a gorgeous atelier in Terre Haute, Indiana. Very bespoke, very dismal, and they fold each packet. Bespoke, that's another one.

That one doesn't bother me. Agents started using it describing different kinds of movies and shows. By the way, that's a great source for trigger words is agents, because agents, kind of like Silicon Valley bros There's a lexicon and you got to stay abreast and political talking heads There's always a new word kind of cycling through a few years ago. It was Crossing the Rubicon so and so is going to cross the Rubicon into

You're so right this cycle. It was something else. else but yeah it's annoying. Okay now I got to go all the way back because when I talked about your hair so basically we're getting into this era where the Faustian promise could be we're nearing a technology that I could have injected myself with something and my hair would have looked like that for the rest of my life. That's where I was going with that entire story. Like the notion of freezing your face at 16 is kind of interesting. I don't have a moral judgment on it.

Quite yet. Maybe I have to mull it over. My face has gotten better over time. So that would have been a big mistake. Mine too. Is yours improved? I think so. I look at photos of me when I was 30

and I'm like, what's going on? And it might just be the way you perceive yourself. It's hard to gain perspective on that. I just saw the substance, which was super interesting. Yes. So good. But remember when the kid in the doctor's office introduces her to the idea and that kid's perfect face?

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

And it's become this standard that people are looking at on social media. It's hard to say what's better or worse. Is that better or worse than you and I thinking you got to look like Brad Pitt and there's no chemicals or I can't freeze my... There's nothing you can do. No! I'm not sure if it's getting better or worse. Yeah. Okay but my sci-fi fantasy is this. So if we just think really quickly that your cells divide and they make perfect copies of themselves. So there's this great mystery, how then does your body evolve and look differently if it's

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

And everyone is immortal? Probably unless they get hit by a car, unless some kind of accident happens. Their cells are just gonna make perfect copies of themselves. So that would be an interesting sci-fi movie where everyone's 30. One guy's 130 and one guy's 30,

but they look exactly the same. And it just makes me wonder like status wise and how you treat people at a grocery store and all this weird stuff. If everyone was the same age, what would that do? That would be really weird. Also it would make the first 30 years of your life or 28, whatever number everyone designs. Shut it down, yeah.

You'd like be living in a bubble because you have to protect yourself until you get to 28. Yeah, so you don't get messed up or die before 28. I did think of that as once you get the procedure, it'll heighten your fear of accidental death because you're not going to die of any diseases. People would be so much more accident phobic and also there would probably be some sort of celebration when you hit 30 or 28 or whatever it is. I bet 27, that's when they always say

you just start going downhill from there. Is that right? Is that like the peak? I think that's when you like kind of peak. Remember Looper, one of the great sci-fi movies of the last 20 years or so, Ryan Johnson. They have that party when you close your loop and you know your death date.

Is that what it was? They throw a party and it's a really dark, weird thing. But that's the great thing about really good sci-fi is when you drop in and you see kind of the customs of this new altered environment and when it's pulled off well, like in looper, it's really kind of mind-bending. Yeah, that's the fun stuff to think about is not the actual big juicy tech. Cultural reverberations of like if a guy that's 130 is dating our actual 30 year old woman, but they look the same.

Do we throw out that whole thing we care about? And what are the apps that would be created to catch you up on what a 30 year old is into? You're fucking. Yeah, that's true. What if? OK, we we gotta get back to reality, but after this, no, but listen. Dating a 430 year old. Although then it's like, they're mature.

Right. That's cool, I don't know. What if, okay, so these new meta glasses, they have a speaker right behind whatever, the arms. I'm told that you could be in China and you can have the AI be translating what someone's telling you in Mandarin and you'll hear it in English.

I think we're really close to the Star Trek. Like we're wearing glasses, Chinese guys wearing glasses, and we're just communicating. So knowing that that's close, now what if back to the 300 year old, let's call it a woman dating a 30 year old man. That's safer, yeah.

That's safer, we like that. And then the 30 year old man goes, I loved this new show, Tobacco Weep Crossing. It's a great show, buddy. It is a good one. And then the woman in her ear hears, I'm watching this new show,

Dawson's Creek. The AI knows where this reference is going so they can communicate. They can have the conversation. Wait, what? Different references. Do you understand what I'm saying? Sort of, but they're still living in the same world.

Like you'd be talking about Taylor Swift. Like let's say you and I were on a date. You'd be talking about Taylor Swift and how great she is, but I'd be hearing Madonna so that I understood. It's a cultural equivalent. Translator, cultural translator. So you can have the same emotional interaction and just be on the same level at all times.

So all cultural references become the same too. Yes. Everything evens out. So all cultural references become the same too. Yes. Everything evens out. So there are no obstacles anywhere. No, it's just emotion. I'm conveying an emotion I have. You say you like Raiders of the Lost Ark

and I hear Tron. Tron 3D. I mean, that just made me sound so much older than I intended. These aren't real relationships. You're just hearing what you want to hear. Because what if you didn't like Taylor Swift objectively? And I'm talking about Taylor Swift and you're hearing Madonna something you do. It's just translating into what you like.

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

That's not what I think. None of us think that. We don't, we don't say that. So I'm hearing you talk about someone who's a perfect comp and then I feel the way about, and then I go on and she's not for me, I don't like. But your AI would be so attuned to you that it would know if you say Taylor Swift

to perfectly translate that to someone. I love. Maybe it's not Madonna. Maybe it's Emmylou Harris. It's attuned to you and your taste. If the objective is to get along with this person you're talking to and create an emotional connection and get rid of any snags along the way. It'll just provide equilibrium for everything.

So in your version, like a liberal and Democrat are wearing the glasses and the liberal goes, I'm so afraid the earth's gonna catch on fire. And the person hears, I'm so afraid of immigration. Yeah. And everyone's like, I know, I know, I know, I agree. I totally agree. Yes, I'm scared too. Oh, everyone's like, I know, I know, I know, I agree. Totally. I totally agree.

Yes, I'm scared too. That's wild. OK, this actually brings me to a real question. First of all, and I told you this privately, so I'm not just fluffing your pillows now that we're in public. Fluffing your pillows, I like that. Not a really common colloquial.

We go on this trip every year. It's the funnest trip of the year for us. Yes, so fun. Our friend Jimmy Kim will host all of us in the most generous possible capacity. The loveliest. And there's a lot of things you could say were the bells and whistles of it, the location, the accommodations, the activities. But for me, it's dinner every night.

Yeah, it's a giant table. How long would you say this table is? 40 feet. Probably 50 people, 40 people, would say? Yeah that feels right. Everyone is terrific and every year there's additions and people can't make it and someone else arrives and it's always just a fascinating group. So you can't miss no matter who you're seated next to but, and I don't want to rank, it's not polite to rank, but if you and I get seated next to each other, I'm like this is going to be the greatest three hour dinner.

You're the funnest person to talk to. I love talking to you. That is so flattering. And when you texted that to me, I immediately went and got Naomi and told her. Because my immediate reaction when finding a seat at that dinner is if I'm sitting across from you or next to you, I'm like, I really don't want Dax to feel like he has to talk to me. Oh my God. And I'm trying to engineer getting seated across from you. And I love sitting with you too, because you're an inherently interested person and you're

so fun to talk to. And I've always felt that way about talking to you, even when we didn't really know each other that much, you can just drop in with you and talk about stuff and you always have something to say and you telling me that was a huge deal because I also feel comfortable sitting across from you or sitting next to you. Like I'm immediately at ease. Same. So, so much of our conversations, and this is where one of my questions comes in, we

have a lot of nostalgic conversations. We have a lot of the same favorites from the 80s and 90s. We did, I don't know, 90 minutes on Against All Odds. Oh, you had Jeff Bridges. I did, and I brought up the car chase scene and I asked how much of the driving he did. Questions only you and I would want answered. Yeah. Yeah, if I'm wearing the glasses, I just hurt her now and then maybe.

That's a pretty good comp. Okay. He talked about that being the first movie he started physically training for and how it created a lifetime interest in exercise. That's so interesting. I was watching a behind the scenes thing on Temple of Doom and they're like, Harrison really had to bulk up

for this one and it shows him at like a shitty gym, just like doing bench presses. With those plastic weights filled with sand. Yeah, like nothing. He did some bench press. Not nothing. He's definitely exercising, but gyms have changed a lot. There's no trainer there. He's just by himself. No squats, no deadlift. Just bench and some curls. And then a couple of beers. A couple of beers and a doobie and let's get this out. But I guess what I was wondering

is you have this deep nostalgia. I want an explanation for it. And I'm wondering, do you think we're just that way? Or is there something about childhood that was so comforting? You would recognize you're more encyclopedic about that whole era than most people you talk to. You always blow me way out. Once we start talking, yeah, you've watched the behind the scenes of Temple of Doom. I have. Right in the last three months. It's so comforting to think about that era.

And I think movies in that era in particular were geared for us. Yeah. When I referenced Temple of Doom, that is my favorite movie. I was 11 when that came out. That and Goonies and E.T. I know it's kind of tired now because our generation has beat the nostalgia to death a little bit, Back to the future. Those movies, at least for me, they meant everything. Yeah. I ask myself that a lot. Why did this stuff mean so much to me? At least for me, that whole period of time from 82 to 88,

when I started getting interested in beer and just a social life hip hop. For me, it was like the dead. Why do I think you had a crazy hip hop phase in high school? I didn't. I think you're thinking of Macklemore. Oh, I don't know if I am. If I could count the amount of times. You get that all the time, I know.

Oh my God. That's why we wanted to do this on video, to be honest with you. To see if Macklemore and I, cause he's not here, so you don't know. But is he? But I think people would think it was Macklemore posing as Adam, probably. You're right.

It's a particularly potent period of time. Stay tuned for more Armchair Expert, if you dare. New year, new resolutions. And this year on the Best Idea Yet podcast, we're revealing the untold origin stories of the products you're obsessed with. And we promise you have never heard these before. Ever wonder how the iconic Reese's peanut butter cup was invented? Because it was by accident. H.B. Reese, a former frog salesman-

True story. Stumbled upon the idea after accidentally burning a batch of peanuts. Classic. Proving that sometimes our best ideas arise from what seem like our biggest mistakes. And Jack, did you know there's a scientific explanation why humans crave that surprising combo of peanut butter and chocolate? I didn't, but it sounds delicious. It is delicious.

So if you're looking to get inspired and creative this year, tune in to the best idea yet. You can find us on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. And if you're looking for more podcasts to help you start this year off right, check out New Year New Mindset on the Wondery app. Who knows your next great idea could be an accident that you burned. This is Nick. And this is Jack. And we'll see you on The Best Idea Yet. On January 5th, 2024, an Alaska Airlines door plug tore away mid-flight, leaving a gaping hole in the side of a plane that carried 171 passengers. This heart-stopping incident was just the latest in a string of crises surrounding the

aviation manufacturing giant, Boeing. In the past decade, Boeing has been involved in a series of damning scandals and deadly crashes that have chipped away at its once sterling reputation. At the center of it all, the 737 MAX, the latest season of Business Wars, explores how Boeing, once the gold standard of aviation engineering, descended into a nightmare of safety concerns and public mistrust, the decisions, denials and devastating consequences bringing the Titan to its knees and what if anything can save the company's reputation now? Follow Business Wars on the Wondery app

or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge Business Wars, The Unraveling of Boeing, early and ad free right now on Wondery Plus. Okay, last thing I will say about this. Then I started watching this Brat Pack documentary. Yes, that's another chapter of that same period of time. Those movies hit me so hard. Pretty in Pink, oh my God. Oh my God, Pretty in Pink, and then the psychedelic furs and how that was making you feel.

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

Right, from that period, they still don't look that young to me And I think it's because they were six years older than me or something they looked Sophisticated and adult like of course they were driving a Porsche and dressed nice and had a big apartment and they were 21 Yeah, did you have that Monica my wrong about that? That's a unique aspect You didn't have that when you were 12. Oh the 21 year old. Yeah, it was like a whole Crop of movies every weekend. Who would that have been?

Zac Efron, a little bit before. A little after, a little after. I'm sorry, I'm not calling you a baby. Yeah, I'm a big girl. Harry Potter stars? No, I was like the Friends era. They were young, I guess they were young too, but yes, older than me.

But I was gonna say nostalgia I think exists because it's the things that you consumed before everything got complicated. That's right. And also before you started wanting things for real, chasing things and deciding I wanna do this with my life. It was just pure. And there's only a very small amount of time

you get in life of purity. Totally. And that window for us happened to be during this Spielberg era where Elliot in E.T., Indiana Jones, the kids in Goonies, Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future. These were heroes, Luke Skywalker. Changing the world.

Yeah. And they were all scrappy nobodies and divorce was making its way into these movies which I like ET is a very divorce driven movie I was in a divorce family on my maybe second stepdad feeling like I want to just be in the world on my own a bit yeah all these kids these protagonists in these movies were just kind of on own. The parents weren't figuring prominently into any of these things. No, and I think that was really appealing.

It sure was. Get them out of here and let me run the show a little bit. Let's see what we can do. Cause those kids in ET were just like, yeah, okay mom. And they would just go up on their bikes. But we're gonna deal with this alien on our own. Yeah dude, we're gonna outrun the cops.

So when I went back to consult your previous episode, I would have not guessed this. What number do you think Adam was? Early, I think really early, maybe 32. Right, I would have gone 40s. What would you say? First five? Seventh.

Stop. Seventh guessed that you had. Yes. I remember it being early, but I was kind of taking a flyer by saying five. Seven. Yeah, seven, not only seven, but Monica, as I listened to it,

the episode starts with housekeeping and it's me explaining. Monica's a part of the show. She's gonna talk and she's not interrupting. Like I read in comments that she's a integral part of the show, like it's me explaining. Oh boy. That's so funny. Oh, I just got like sweaty there.

Yo, I got sweaty listening to the whole thing. Oh, so funny. How long ago was that? Seven years ago in February. Wow, congratulations you guys. But obviously so much has happened since then. Yeah, seven years. What I learned in a bunch of interviews

I listened to of you today, one was I heard you on Fresh Air saying, which I thought was really funny, that you were just obsessed singularly on TVs and movies and that's all you thought about. Yeah. And I was thinking if you go into acting that was a great use of time but if you're just an average person that says no all I've ever thought about and obsessed about was TV and movies, somehow that sounds like a loser-y endeavor. Yeah.

Right? And I was thinking like, just by the fact that you landed in it, means that it was totally justified, and what a great thing to be focused on your whole life. I think in the low points of trying to do this, that certainly crossed my mind. Like, what have I done with my life?

Because it's all I thought about and talked about and cared about. It was 99% screen time. Right. And here I am with nothing to show for it and no practical skills of any kind. There was a real low point in 2000 when I had not gotten six feet under.

I tested for that with Michael C. Hall. Thank God he got it, cause he was incredible and I was not ready to do that. That's heartbreaking. And then you're watching it. Oh, that was a hefty role. A hefty role and a hefty show. Yeah.

But you played his lover ultimately, didn't you? Yeah, I did play his boyfriend for a couple episodes. So they brought you back. That's nice. Yeah, they did. But before it was even on TV and when I did not get the role, it was after a series of blows work-wise, just not having worked in six months.

One of those, we all went through it and I was nowhere. I had been at it at that point for like seven years or something and was at square one because when you're living like guest spot to guest spot and Indie movie you never hear from those people again. To remind people you and I were in one of those together Hair shirt slash too smooth. Too smooth. This is when you were a volunteer. I was a volunteer But do you know what his role was? I don't know if you knew your role the last time we talked. Guy at bar?

Fan at bar. Fan at bar. Almost worse than guy at bar, because it's his status. It is way worse. It's far more humiliating. And who were you? Vomiteer at party. What does vomiteer mean?

Someone who vomits at a party. Are you on camera vomiting? Yeah, I think so. Oh man. I hope so. Wow. That's what was promised. I've never seen too smooth slash hair shirt. Have you seen it? I've seen it.

I don't want to get bogged down in that, but you want to know who else was in that movie that I doubt you know, wasn't it? Rebecca Gayheart. Rebecca Gayheart, Neve Campbell, of course. And then our two leads, which I looked at the poster this morning, our poor two leads are in the deep, deep background

and Neve and Rebecca are front and center. And they maybe have like, I don't know, three scenes. Nev was playing like a big star. Hence you being a fan. Fan at bar. At bar, yeah. That's right. So me being volunteer at the party.

That's right. Alfonso Cuaron was in that movie. What? I remember he and Dean were good buddies. Yeah, he played a director in the movie. That is so wild. So you and I have been in a film with Alfonso Caron Absolutely. We are colleagues of Alfonso Caron

Clearly. We are peers with Alfonso Caron. That's really really funny. So obviously since then you have done a ton of stuff, but Severance is the most spectacular thing and as you know, cause Chris and I sent you voicemails almost after every episode. I'd like to play a couple of these. Hey, so we're in bed and we just had a quick question. Hi, we just had a quick question. Are you guys fucking drawing this new season? Is that what's taking so long?

What in the goddamn hell is taking so long? These are the kind of messages you would receive after every... You son of a bitch. You wanted the compliments or here comes the fucking complaints. Bell and I just sat here on the edge of our seat, waiting to find out what happens when you guys come to... You fucking prick. You piece of shit prick.

And that goes for Ben too. Losers. Oh buddy. Are we fucking pissed that this episode just ended when the switches were thrown. So you wanted the fucking cake and now you gotta take the rat poison too, you piece of shit. Okay, so that's kind of an average.

Was that for the finale? That was I think one before the finale. Oh the one right before, yeah, yeah, I think, one before the finale. This ended up being three. Oh, another thing. It's going to be a long fucking week for us and for you. Yeah, because we're waiting. So either block my number or get used to this shit.

Fuck you, you piece of shit. And then the last one. Big update. You'd probably find funny. My wife just ran through a plate glass window off the second story of our home and was rushed to the hospital. You probably want to know if she's still alive.

I will tell you next week. I have all those on my phone as well. I want to play one of your responses, which is so good. You can't imagine how much pleasure it gives me to have the both of you over a barrel like this. Amaze will tell you now that the entire season was created just to frustrate and destroy the both of you. Eat shit.

Look at her, she's so fucked. Oh yeah, Naomi popped in. Oh, that's cute. But you went into Severance, and I learned this from you, I don't know if this is secret or not, but you were involved and then maybe you weren't involved for a minute and then you were involved. So it doesn't start on the firmest footing maybe,

or I don't know what you go through before you end up there. Yeah. But you go right at really what point in the pandemic? Well, we were scheduled to start the end of March, 2020 or beginning of April, something like that. And actually went and did a table read March 7th or something.

And then I was gonna go home, get all my shit and come out. And at the table read, they passed Purell around. We were like, this pandemic thing is, this is weird. And then as I was there, just for like two days, shit was contracting in New York. And I was like, maybe I should go get Lysol wipes for my room, like what's going on?

Then I flew home and then everything happened. So we didn't start shooting till October, but even that- But that was early. We were one of the only shows actually shooting. So a lot of shows were doing this where you have a mask, a plastic thing in front of your face and all that shit. For the actors, the only time we saw people's entire faces was when camera was rolling.

We would rehearse with all that stuff and there was a special person with your own box to put your mask and all your equipment in. Yeah, oh my God. All that to say the isolation from each other and in general. Cause I would wake up in my apartment, go down to the van that took me to set

with it had a plastic sheet between me and the driver. Oh my God. Then go to my room where you weren't allowed to have anyone in your room. Suffice it to say the only real human contact was after action. Right. So it kind of fed into the show. I didn't notice that your mom had died as well right before, I guess it would have been the table read.

Two days before the table read. I think the most interesting part of this is so then the Memorial gets kicked all the way to December or something. December of 21. Okay, so very far away. But what immediately happens after she dies is you go into quarantine with your family and it's like groovy, right? You're with your family. I think in particularly a time like that where there's the loss of this person, but at least you're connected to the fact that the whole thing just carries on

and that's comforting and maybe misleading. And then you get completely by yourself in an apartment in New York in this very lonely situation already. And I'm imagining everything kind of must hit the fan at that point. Yeah, it really did. And it really was sort of from the moment

I walked into the apartment and closed the door. And it was dead silent. And I was like, Oh, okay. I need to come to terms with at that point, she had died six months before. But like you said, I was cocooned with my family, with the people who love me the most and was insulated, which is, I guess, one of the things love is for, is to make you feel better. And they suffered a loss as well,

but obviously I was the one who was going to be grappling with it in sort of a unique way for my kids in the Ami. So I'm in that apartment and I needed to find a way towards grieving and defining what this is and what happened. And I really did it through the show. I mean, I sort of just decided I'm going to figure this out. But the show is about grief. I hate to say it was a good coincidence, but by God, if you have to go through this, the fact that you got to play someone

who's grieving the loss of somebody, and you're lonely as fuck in real life. Yes. You don't have to act, really. Yeah, just gliding right into it, and very directly letting it out and processing it in the show. There's a scene in the show, actually,

where we were on the side of the road at the site of my wife's car accident in the seventh episode. And just by sheer coincidence, because we shot the whole season at once, it was on the one year anniversary of my mom dying. And I didn't realize it till that day. And so there were things like that where I could pretty directly process. When you shut the door to the apartment and you go, hmm, we got some dealing to do. Are you overcome with fear for that process?

What's your reaction to knowing that, oh, we're gonna go through some stuff now and we're gonna be by ourselves and we're gonna get into this? I'm a person who tries to compartmentalize and push things to a later date. And so I busied myself with getting ready for the show and the election was about to happen.

And so I was preoccupied with that. And so I closed that door and was like, oh shit. And really felt the loss right there. Like there is a giant elephant in this room with me, but it'll be there. I'm here for eight months or whatever. It'll be there. I'll be fine.

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

And sometimes it feels like it happened 10 minutes ago, and sometimes it feels like it happened 50 years ago. And sometimes it's surreal that that person is no longer in your life. It's just like unbelievable. It's really hard to imagine someone exists and they don't. As dumb and simple as that is to say, it is so weird that you can exist and they don't. As dumb and simple as that is to say, it is

so weird that you can exist and then not exist. Yeah, and someone that is so instrumental in who you are, you know, this thing that I'm doing for a living, when she was gone, I realized that part of the reason I was doing this in the first place was for her to see it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course. Yeah. And so when that was gone, I was sort of like, who am I going to impress? Yeah. So I had to straighten that out and sort of come to terms with the fact that these feelings and this love that you have for a person and their love for you doesn't go anywhere. It's still here.

It's kind of what you're made of. Yeah. The structure of you is that. That's right. And a parent dying, it's like part of the sky going away or something. It's sort of a big thing. Well, it's the thing you're most tethered to. Yeah. So when my dad died I had these conflicting feelings of like, A, he had become a dependent of mine. You were taking care of him. Supporting him. So unfortunately a lot of our

conversations over those last few years were like, I need this. This is not a great dynamic. Yeah. And then you you know, I lived with my mom primarily my whole life. When he was dying, it was a lot of work for me. So I had this conflicting, I felt a sense of relief when he died. And I was like, okay, this battle's over. We got him through it without too much carnage.

That's a win. I had a misleading sense of relief for a few months. And then opened up the door to like, oh, I'm never gonna chat with him again, or he's not gonna see anything I do, you know. But through all of that, I was like, also, think about it's not my mom, because my mom for me is the thing you're talking about.

Like, Dax wants to live in the woods and fucking be annihilated drunk all day. And anything I've ever done positive was because my mom believed enough that I was a good boy and I needed to make her happy. And so I've often thought if she's not around for me to even think what would she think, that feels like a very scary place for me to be in.

I really rely on her to almost be my super ego. Just like in the back of your head, your mom is this very unique station. It's so fucking thankless. Do you watch Naomi and I watch Chris and I go, I can't believe what it goes through. And meanwhile, I'm walking around like. And they're like, dad, oh no.

You know that Mick Kroll special where he's just like, moms are annoying. They are, why? It's so unfair. Because they know you so well. Yep. In a way that no one else does, not your dad, no one. They just know. They were in your body.

Whether who you were able to be scared in front of, vulnerable. Yeah, even as an adult, something would happen. I would call her, no matter how embarrassing, you know that that call is there. Yes. You know? To your point, guaranteed I'm feeling better

when I get off the phone with my mom. 100%. She'd somehow find the silver lining in this horrific. That's right. And give you the kernel of whatever it is. At least for me, part of a son's journey, and I'm sure it's the same for no matter what gender you are, there is a period of time where you need to peel away and show that you don't

need your mom. You've got this. You're good. You're a big boy. Yeah, that's right. And I already know anything you're gonna say anyway, cause I'm a grownup now. But thinking back on that stuff is painful, but I think also just being a parent now, you just know you don't care. No. Anytime my kids are shitty to me,

ultimately I don't really give a shit. I almost think good for you. Yeah. Sometimes like when they tell me off, I'm like, for you. You got some backbone. Yeah, not bad. You're supposed to hate me from time to time. That's right.

It would be weird if you didn't roll your eyes and slam the door right now. Yes. If you're lucky, you get two sources of unconditional love. And then when that starts going away, it's so scary what's left. It is scary. We have the great luxury and gift of,

I think what you do with that is, you just turn it on your kids. It's like, I don't have that thing. I miss that thing. I'm never gonna have that thing, but I have this thing. Imagine when you don't have kids and you go through the loss of a parent.

It's gotta be really destabilizing because you're kinda now not tethered to really anything. I can't imagine. Monica, are both of your parents with us? Yes, they are. I live with so much fear of something happening to them. I think part of it is that I don't really have a place to channel it.

But in some ways, I think not that it's a cop out, but like you said, in the pandemic, you could sort of channel it with your family. We're all ultimately by ourselves really. And so when you really sit with it, you are gonna have to process it anyway. At some point. Yeah, and the kids aren't really gonna be

the answer to that. They probably don't deserve to be the answer to that. They're gonna bail like every other kid does. My son's in his senior year in high school, and that's gonna happen in less than a year. Yeah, that's awful. He does. My son's in his senior year in high school and that's gonna happen in less than a year. It is awful. Oh my God.

It's so awful. Why? Why is life structured like this? It's crazy. It's so wild. And you were so kind too. He came over and interviewed you for his film class. Oh yeah.

Boy oh boy was that a feather in his gash. Doing a little mini doc on cars and Dax Shepard's in his film class. And boy, oh boy, was that a feather in his gau. Doing a little mini doc on cars and Dax Shepard's in his fucking hands. That's pretty cool. Showing us all my cars. He's so smart and such a kind, lovely person and into really cool stuff. It's the best, but it's going to be incredibly sad

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

Now we just have each other. Yes. Pfft. Ah. Jesus. Maybe they'll come back. My brother went back home for a while. Really? Yeah.

Like after college or? Okay. He just recently left. Yeah. Wow. Really? Yeah, so you never know. You never know. Good for him. I was panicking for my mom,

cause that's even worse. It's like, then you have a really long time. I think you probably trick yourself into this is forever. Great, he'll live here. This is just the way it's gonna go. She gets to make sandwiches for him every day. And now he's really gone. Did she have to go through the grieving all over again?

She went to YouTube instead. She likes YouTube. I think she's still- You mean just watching YouTube. She's dealt with a ton of shit and she's figured it out. Where do they live? Georgia. So anyway, I was like, oh no.

And also she just lost her dad and I was like, oh my God, my brother's leaving and that's happening and this is a disaster, but she's alright. Well, And I was like, oh my God, my brother's leaving and that's happening and this is a disaster. But she's, Well, you know what? When that happens sometimes, the second time they leave. Instead of this middle ground, maybe it's like, okay. I remember when I came back in between years at school,

I had only been gone for eight months. And I remember moving back into my mom's house and she was a little like, huh, okay, yeah, you're here now. She had processed and transitioned. She had already moved on. So there was some adjusting to happen. The baby blooners did it quicker. They knew how to get through something really bad.

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

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

I wonder if you've done the same thing. I had the same crisis of morality. Or I was like, I want to so bad, but I don't think I should. And mainly actually because I want to be watching it while the world There's something about you being like we have to wait a week. That's makes fun really fun. It's fun I guess but that's not why I didn't watch the new ones I watched the recap and I was like hun. Are you remembering this?

Yeah, yeah And she's like not as much as normal and Kristen can really remember a TV show. Monica will tell you. We come back from Game of Thrones. She still remembers. She has a great memory for you. Yeah. So I was like, I'm inclined to start over, which I've done. I can't recommend this enough to people.

You should start right now in anticipation. I'm doing the same thing because Ben and I are hosting a podcast. Which I hope to be on. Yes, where we go through every episode of the first season and then we'll be doing a weekly thing for season two I love that and rewatching the show. I hadn't seen it in a long time and it's been three years So we're encouraging people to rewatch the whole season

I can't believe how much I forgot about it and I can't believe how much I'm enjoying rewatching I think more than I've ever enjoyed rewatching is there's a lot of it that feels like I'm watching it for the first time. I think because of the gap between seasons, but then also the density of it and the subtlety of it. And it's interesting watching it, knowing more about it. I think you get more from it. But anyways, all that to say, I didn't watch any of the new season

because now I'm on episode four. Kristen went out of town. I already decided, fuck her. I'm going on without her, which is another rare. I don't do that. That's a tough decision to make. Whether or not you're going to be honest about it I went out of town, I already decided, fuck her. I'm going on without her, which is another rare. I don't do that. That's a tough decision to make, whether or not you're gonna be honest about it

or re-watch those episodes pretending it's the first time. Yeah, three viewings before we settle on it. I guess my fear, cause I love the show so much, is what do you do with the second season? How long did that take for them to crack that? Also, Dan, is that take for them to crack that? Also, Dan, is that the writer, the creator's name? The only thing he had ever written for before this

was Lip Sync Battle. Do you know this story? He wrote for Lip Sync Battle. He sent the pilot for Severance as a writing sample to Red Hour. Yeah, and Nicky Weinstock and Jackie Kong at Red Hour read the script and thought it was great and brought it to Ben.

And so yeah, it was more of a sample like, Hey, I'm a writer. But they were like, what about this as an actual thing? And Dan was working at a door factory when that sample was sent to Red Hour. Oh my god. Yeah. In what state? Holy shit. In California? Pure somewhere.

Good for us, we're manufacturing doors. I thought that was more of a Wisconsin thing. Yeah, doors, listen, without doors, what are you gonna do? This city would collapse. He's just the coolest guy and brilliant, obviously, and he and Ben just started working on this and developing it, and Jackie and Nicky, I'm sure,

Dan was kind of scooped up from nowhere, having no real credits. It's fun talking to him about the show and where it can go and Nikki, I'm sure, Dan was kind of scooped up from nowhere, having no real credits. It's fun talking to him about the show and where it can go and stuff, and he has it all in his head. And also when he's thinking of something new, it's really fun to hear him sort of go, oh yeah, that's cool. And then little cul-de-sacs and roads he goes down, he always takes an unexpected strange direction. But also as far as the kind of language of Lumen, there is no one who can really

crack it and write it like he can't. It's a really particular thing that he invented and has a real direct line to is the strange phrasing and nomenclature of Yeremen and Kyr and this whole world. It's really fun. How much of Ben's fingerprint is on it directorially? Because and I'll admit this, I had not seen Escape from Danemore or I saw the first one. I don't know why I didn't continue. But we just watched it, I don't know, three weeks ago and fucking loved it. It's amazing.

I just rewatched it too, last week. And did you see the parallels? Yes. It's a similar thing. You're like trapped in a world. You don't have your autonomy. You're trying to escape. I know it's interesting.

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

And in Severance, it almost seems dangerous. You're looking at all those hallways, they're stark white, they're meaningless, and then the painting that he hangs up, it's like the most exciting, it's like the fucking sphere in Vegas in that world. Totally. And when Christopher Walken's delivering the new tote bags for the manual, that's a huge deal. Yeah. It's an event. Could you see all this stuff when you read the script?

Not like this. The tone of it was really found during the first season. And I think, you know, usually when you go back and watch the first season of any show that you know and love the first few episodes, it's like, okay, they're figuring it out. Since we shot the season all at once, we were still shooting the first episode 10 months in. So something that worked in our favor is us finding our sea legs was spread out over the season. There's no moment you can detect that. And that's to Ben and Dan's credit.

Were you guys worried? Were you like, maybe we should put masks on and maybe we should redo the COVID experience while we shoot season two to keep it home. Right, to keep our isolation. Cause that was magic and that's scary. It's scary going back to anything that worked or works. As much love I have for the show,

as I have anxiety about how we perpetuate this world in a way that ends up being satisfying logically. It's a big endeavor. You know, when we started season two, it was like, there is this steep mountain in front of us. Holy shit, okay, let's go. Should I be doing Pulp Fiction too? Dude, yeah.

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

is complete trust. And how often is that? But I do with him. I have no business saying this, evaluating his career in this way, but I'm going to. So it's like, he did Tropic Thunder, he made that movie so big and glossy and action-y, which is cool.

He showed he could do that. I was watching Dan Amor and I was like, okay, so this is him saying like, I don't have to fuck with comedy, I know exactly how to do drama. And I feel like Severance is the beneficiary of him having proved he can do everything and now letting in some of the comedy and the weirdness.

This to me just feels like the total synergy of all the previous work. That's really interesting. There's just like a confidence. It can be anything, because the show is often hysterical, I think. And it's just all things now. Yeah.

Stay tuned for more Armchair Expert. If you dare. OK, walk in in Turro. Doesn't sound like you got to bond with them in season one too much because you guys were in lockdown. With Totoro I did because we had so many scenes together. With Walken in season one didn't really have all that much time with him. I had a couple scenes and it was incredible to just be anywhere near Christopher Walken. I couldn't fucking believe it.

Actually on my first day shooting with both of them, it was like six weeks into the shoot and they both were starting on the same day. And I was so excited and actually took a picture of the call sheet and send it to my friend Stu. It was like, guess who I'm working with tomorrow, bro. It's so fun to still be that excited. Oh my God. That's great.

I was so excited, but couldn't get to sleep because I was so excited. Stiff to like four. Oh boy. Woke up, not because of my alarm, but because of pounding on my door. I was supposed to get in the car at probably 6 a.m. and it was 8.30.

Oh no! Oh my God, two and a half hours sleeping. Set was an hour away. Oh no, now it's rush hour. My assistant was pounding on the door, which means he had time to drive from Set all the way down to Tribeca and pound on my door. This was the first day with John Turturro

and Christopher Walken. After you'd bragged to your buddy the night before. Yes, which is the kiss of death, right? You're showing up feeling great about yourself. I let him in and was running around the apartment crying, trying to get all my shit together. Cause usually I wake up with at least an hour of just time to drink coffee and read the fucking whatever.

Okay, so you finally show up on set. Presumably you know these two legends who you can't wait to work with. They've been told our lead actor, we can't find him. I just had to go apologize. And what did you say? I said, I am so sorry. I just flew in from China.

The thing that really sucked about it is that I knew no matter what I say, it's gonna sound like bullshit. No matter what I say. Yeah, you're a guy who just slept into an hour. I now have put myself in a position where I have to earn it back with these two guys who I don't know, and I've been working on this first impression now

for a while, and I am starting at a serious deficit. Yeah, you're in a hole. No matter what I say, no matter how gracious they are, they're gonna be like, fucking dick. The number one on the call sheet ends up being an asshole. I might've been tempted, I don't know if this is manipulative,

it's also just dead honest. I probably've been tempted, I don't know if this is manipulative, but also just dead honest. I probably said to them, you're to blame. I was so excited to work with both of you that I couldn't go to sleep till 4 a.m. That would have been a good move. Maybe bury in some flattery, but also that might've sounded like,

God, this guy's a pathological liar on top of being, these guys are drug addict. Probably. That's what it is. There you go. Just immediately went to, is that what you immediately think everyone is thinking about you as this guy's a drug addict?

This guy relapsed. Totoro was just like, oh, happens to everybody. Happened to me. In the seventies. Yeah, right. I have so much curiosity about both those gentlemen. They're in a similar category for me where there's this group of actors where I'm like,

they're so intrinsically interesting and unique and different that I almost can't believe they can also act. They're so genuinely authentic. I can't believe that Christopher Walken finishes work and then goes home and makes himself something to eat and watches television and goes to sleep. Yeah. I'm like, what?

Or he's behind a guy at the parking garage arm who can't get his credit card to work. He's just there for 12, 15 minutes. Should I get out and try to help him? He's dealing with that stuff. Christopher Walken. So to see him in the makeup chair, looking at his phone, I'm like, oh my god.

Totoro is similar for me. I went to see his directorial debut, opening night in 92, Mac. Anyway, I held all that back till I got to know him a little bit and then eventually kind of unleashed it all on him. And did he like it?

Yeah, he's the coolest and such a sweet. Who is he? He would be such a great person to have on. We're trying, we're trying. Oh, I would love. A fascinating guy and one of the great actors that we have. I mean, he is a beautiful actor. Yeah. That's another word I feel is overused more so like 10 years ago,

but beautiful, everything's beautiful. I like you describing him as beautiful. And I have often described that, that whole storyline on Severance, it's hard to imagine that show without it. I know. It's really the heart of the show. It really, really is.

It's beautiful. It is fucking beautiful. They're both beautiful. The way they play it is just impossibly perfect. They're really close friends and have been for a long time. And it was John's idea to have Christopher walk and play that part you can just See the love there that they have for each other

He was really taking care of Chris on set not that he needs to be taken care of but he would come in for a scene Every few weeks it was just so sweet and lovely and that's a rare thing to have someone who is that Kind of embedded in our Consciousness I'm gonna put you in that category Which is I think the most impressive thing about those two from the outside not knowing them at all is just going yeah I mean these two are still fucking starving to make art like they're still dying To express themselves. I don't have that as much sadly, but I see that you have that a ton. I think that'll be you as long as you want it to be you.

That's very kind of you to say. I'll close on this. But you're doing that here. I'm doing a different version, I guess. Yeah. Yes. No, we're all storytellers. I mean, we're just three storytellers.

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

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

he somehow is there. I keep thinking about Nicolas Cage walking out on that talk show and doing those kicks. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. That's on Instagram all the time. Have you gone down the full YouTube rabbit hole of his compilations of talk show appearances? No, I should. He's number one of all time. He's the best. all time. The best.

I'm just gonna tell you, he's talking to Letterman about, you know Dave, you know I have this king cobra, it's Daryl or whatever his name is. You know, I just love getting home from work and I go over to see how Daryl is and I put up the sheet and Daryl just kinda like, he looks at me and he's saying hi

and then all of a sudden he just says, fuck you, Ned Cage! He just starts screaming at Letterman, he's doing this cobra attacking the cage. The fact that you thought he was attainable is super gross. Yeah, that's amazing. I thought I could get that wild on TV. I could see the direct line from Dax to Nicholas Cage. And I'm sure Letterman loved that. Yes.

Well, I'll say that that is so kind of you to say, and I'll accept it just as much as I did this summer when you said it to me, which is not really at all. Yes, of course. But I appreciate it, and you're kind and lovely to say so. And I think that this show as a fan is so great and it is where you're able to funnel and express yourself in a really direct, important way.

And I think you being so actualized and you journaling every morning is a really important thing. And the fact that there is many people listening to this as there are hearing that healthy behavior from you, because listening to you talk about that makes me want to do it. I'm like, yeah, that makes sense. And without being preachy or self-helpy about it, you're just talking about yourself and how you're living your life.

And I think that that is incredibly important and you're doing a lot of good just by sharing yourself in a more direct way than you would have been able to by acting. You're really kind of sharing your insides here and that's really hard to do. So I'm grateful that you're doing this. Well, thank you, Adam.

And I'm grateful that you're doing this, Monica. Thank you, Adam. And I'm grateful that you're doing this, Monica. Thank you. From episode seven to episode 807. What a gap. 807? 807. That would be incredible. Rob, what would it be?

Oh, damn. Oh my God. That's a lot of episodes. So I just don't want you to let 832 episodes go by between Torsen and X-Fizz. Wow, that's a lot. All right, everybody see Severance. It comes out on Apple TV Plus on January 17th.

And the podcast comes out on January 7th. Two episodes initially and then weekly as the show unveils. Yeah. Two episodes initially and then one episode per day until season two premieres on the 17th And then season two will have one episode per week. Okay, wonderful. That's a complicated schedule I just got to say this new season We also add alia Shawkat who we are obsessed with love her Merritt Weaver who I loved on nurse Jackie Gwendolyn Christie Brianne of tarth. Oh wow

Casting choices are as good as it gets. Yep. All right, that's all. I love you. Can't wait for our next chit chat. Thank you. Everyone watch Severance. Thank you, Monica.

He is an armchair expert, but he makes mistakes all the time. Thank God Monica's here. She's gotta let them have the facts. New shirt. Old shirt, new attitude. Oh boy. Oh wow.

I don't know. Who's Roxanne? Motocross racer. Oh. Is that you Rob? Oh okay. Did you take a little fall? I think it's almost in the split.

Even though you haven't done them before, apparently you can still do them. It's your New Year's resolution. Great segue to talk about don't die that doc, because he was working so tirelessly on his splits, which I guess he had identified as something that was youthful. Yeah, well, limber.

Limber. You want to be limber and flexible. Uh-huh. That is, that's important. That's why people stretch and stuff. Yeah, it's just such a specific goal, the splits. I can see myself making one like that, because a lot of my goals aren't totally logical. Well, remember, it's Max's New Year's resolution.

To do the splits. Yeah, and you said, Does it scare him? I don't think he can, because if you don't learn by a certain time. I think there's an anat New Year's resolution. To do this flitz. Yeah, and you said, I don't think he can because if you don't learn by a certain time. I think there's an anatomic reality to all this, but maybe I'm wrong.

Not according to Don't Die Guy, Brian Johnson. That's nice, you remembered his name. I didn't think I had it, but I do. For people who don't know, it's a doc about a guy who has sold an internet company and has some $400 million or something, and is spending two and a half million dollars a year to reverse his aging and try to live as long as possible.

Yeah, he's doing it with this company where they have steps and it's all in. Like it's wild, it's diet, the exercise. It's his whole life, It's just devoted to that. Yeah. And I didn't finish. Oh, you didn't finish. No, I got, okay, I got to a part

that was a critical part of the story where I think it explains a lot of his backstory and perhaps what led him here. But then I stopped and then I forgot to pick it back up. And then I remembered we were probably gonna talk about it. So I thought, oh, I should finish it. But then I watched Conclave instead. I did too.

Not in that order, but I did see Conclave last weekend, which is not the type of movie I'm gonna run towards cause it's the Catholic church. But I'm gonna get derailed by that. I'm a little bummed you didn't finish because again, there's so many knee-jerk, immediate things you wanna say about this. And I was just kind of wading through those

and trying to resist that urge. And you're watching all these pundits who just, they have vitriol for this man, like hatred. They're so mad at this man for doing it, which, who cares, ultimately? Right, it's his life doing it, which who cares ultimately. It's his life. Yeah, he made this money. He can spend it any way he wants.

If anything, he's dumping it right back into the economy. So maybe they should be delighted about that. But there's some obvious things. First and foremost, you're right. It appears at least from the doc, that it's his entire day. Yeah. And then, so yeah, the first question begged for me is like,

well, what's the point of being alive if the only thing you do while you're alive is try to stay alive? Mm-hmm. Which I think is semi-relevant, but then also, no, that implies there's some qualitative way to measure how one's spending their time. I'm choosing to spend my time one way.

That would not be pleasurable for me to do it his way. So yeah, for me, that would be a bad cost benefit. But for him, I think he's very, very lonely. The doc is kind of sad and sweet. And his house looks like it's so nice, but it looks empty. And cold. And cold. It's very modern. It's probably supposed to be cold because I think you're supposed to it looks empty. And cold. And cold. It's very modern. It's probably supposed to be cold,

because I think you're supposed to keep your body kind of cold. Sure. And you probably shouldn't have too much color, because maybe that's bad for your eyes or something. I thought about him this morning. I was like, I am incredibly envious of his 30 days in a row of a 100 sleep score.

Yeah, that's, I mean. That is dialed. It is, but then for what? I know. Then you don't, the energy you're saving is used to just like do the red light therapy. Get a better sleep. And yeah, however anyone wants to live their life,

if it's not causing harm to somebody else is fine. Yeah, yeah. But I did think, spoiler, this is sort of where I stopped, but I got some information that he was Mormon. Oh yeah, yeah. You weren't really towards the end. I think you're about halfway through. Yeah, that's probably right.

He was raised Mormon and had a Mormon family before he left the church. Yes, and his mom and dad got divorced and the dad had his own struggles. He loved Coke, which made me like the dad right away. And was in jail, was a drinker. Yeah. You know. He set up on all of these friends

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

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

And we were like, ah. And I was like, maybe not, you know, maybe it's just a little scratch, you're probably fine. And then he was like, well, I know, I know what this feeling is. And then he went, but whatever. The next morning I came downstairs and I asked my mom, I was like, is he sick?

And she was like, you know if he was sick. And I was like, what do you mean? And she was just saying like, he's just very vocal when he's sick. He talks a lot about it. He needs a lot. He needs, and she said, you have never been like that. You just went to sleep always since you were little.

If you were sick, you just went away you just went to sleep always since you were little if you were sick You just went away and just went to sleep right and I was like, huh I guess I still kind of do that when I'm sick and she was like, yeah people don't change that much Right, right, right. And like a mom can see from day one till Whatever you could do fast math 365 times 36. That's a biggie 37 37 Whatever, you could do fast math if you wanted. 365 times 36, that's a biggie. 37. 37. 13,505.

Thank you. That's it? No, it's more than that. 365 times 37? There's only what? 13,505. That seems like. It's not that many.

I did it in my head, so I might be wrong. Ha! Ha! Ha! I did it in my head. That's some Aaron Rodgers can do insane amounts of math in his head. so I might be wrong. Ha! Ha! Ha! I did it in my head. That's some, Aaron Rodgers can do insane amounts of math in his head. Oh, whoa.

Yeah, like his one kink is he can square anything. Real time. Oh, weird. You can throw him any number and he can square it, which is cool. That is cool. But at any rate, he has a very militant and somewhat applaud and I have no actual opinion on it, but he is, he's in a five day silent room with no light.

He's on an Ayahuasca trip every few months. He's like, if he's not playing football, he is pursuing this spiritual path he's on, but with a veracity that just feels very still religious. Yeah. And then I of course, I'm like, yeah, I don't believe there's a guy in the sky. I understand why you're rejecting that.

But then there's also a lot of angles of this ayahuasca thing cause you get to see and practice that a lot where it's, you know, to me it's just as, you know, you gotta play drums and do the whole thing and the incense and I'm like, oh, you're just out in another, on another ledge? Yeah, and it has similar things, rituals and all of the same things that religion has.

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

So yes, he was raised Mormon. And so in some ways that he brings that same diligence and work ethic to this pursuit. But what gets really sweet and sad about it is he's very, very lonely. He had this really bad experience with this one woman after he had been divorced, who he broke up with when she had cancer.

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

Yeah. So the guy very publicly got sued by this woman and of course people just, because he's rich, he's the oppressor and she's the oppressor, forget the other stuff. What also because she had cancer. That's a tricky, that's tricky. I think for anyone to hear that,

it's a little like, you left her during that? Well again, you assume they left because the person had cancer. Well no, but the problem is when you leave someone in their time of need, regardless of how bad they are personality, I mean this gets just gets, it gets complicated. It's a bad look.

It's a bad look. But you can't imagine you've been with someone for a year, you're already on the verge of breaking up, and then they get a cancer diagnosis. So you're just like, I was already out, there's no way I have the capacity to now care for you for two years, you're already on the verge of breaking up and then they get a cancer diagnosis. So you're just like, I was already out. There's no way I have the capacity to now care for you for two years when I was already not wanting to be with you. I don't know.

Anyways, let's not get him up there. He's long-legged and he has this boy and his son and him are so, so close. And his son also had left the religion. So he's dealing with the same, they can relate on that. And the kid's gonna go to college college and you can tell he's really, really scared about losing his buddy. And all of that's really touching. And by the end I liked the guy, I guess is what I'm saying.

That's nice. Yeah. So he does have a company that's helping him, but he also, he's going down to this little, you know, there's a smidgen, it's called like opportunity land or something down in Honduras. They've carved out this little Prosperia, I think it's called. Geez. The government granted this little area on a peninsula and basically total free market everything. You don't have, there's no FDA. So there's a lot of experimental medicine

happening down there. There's a lot of like crypto-y weird financial stuff happening. It's just a free for all. It's a free for all. Wow. And he goes down there and he gets this gene therapy, which is just not allowed anywhere but Prosperia. So it's like he has got a company and a pro-call, but he also- He's going rogue a little.

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

doing that or whatever. And for me, it feels completely normal. And it's not taking over my life. Yeah, again, I think whatever people are doing for themselves to get through life, if it's not hurting people is fine. I think people, maybe rightly so, maybe not, I don't know. It's a scale of luxury, right?

Like this guy gets to, because of his work, like, you know, he created this thing and he made this money. Got divorced over, worked nonstop. Because of that, he has the luxury to devote his life to living forever. And I think for a lot of people who watch that, they might say like, oh, that's crazy,

but there's probably an element of, well, why does he get to devote his time to living forever? And I don't, I have grandkids or, you know, I wanna live to see my grandkids and I have to work a nine to five, I could never do that. And so there's just, it just gets hard. I would like to do something very self-serving, but I don't really know how else to get the message out.

I desperately need a tattoo artist in LA. I don't wanna fly anywhere. I don't want anyone how else to get the message out. I desperately need a tattoo artist in LA. I don't wanna fly anywhere. I don't want anyone to have to fly here. I want a good tattoo artist who is open to, this is a total transaction, going in and altering all of my tattoos enough that it is now an original piece of work and then sign me over the rights to that.

And I will pay for that so that I own my art It is now an original piece of work, and then sign me over the rights to that, and I will pay for that so that I own my art and can go short sleeve in commercials again. Got it. Is someone experiencing coverups? Okay, experiencing coverups. Yeah, if you could hit me in the comments of this episode and I'll find you, but I definitely need to sit down

and have someone go through and alter every single thing so I can have my arm back. That was self-serving, but I've been meaning to, I don't know how else to solve that. Yeah, great, okay. Anything else, any appeals to the audience you wanna put out there? You looking for any specialists in any categories?

No. No. Not Carnaval. Conclave, what a movie. Conclave was great. Please see it. I think it's like, yeah, a hard sell just based on the genre. It's a Pope movie kind of.

It's really not. It's about the process of electing. Yeah, vetting, electing. Is that even the word they use? A Pope. Yeah. And it's so much more complicated and human. It's so human. Yeah. At the end of the day, even though it's supposed to be godly and, you know, above us, it's not. It's people making these

decisions. There's ambition and power. The things I liked right away is they are encased in traditions down to the tiniest things. Like the way it starts and the way you take the ring off the Pope and there's a device that already exists. You put the ring in this thing, you chisel off this one piece and like that instrument exists and then the wax press and every single thing has a way of doing it and in order to it,

and all these little devices that go along with it. I think to add validity and credence to the whole thing, I mean, I think it's very calculated, but there's something I loved about watching all these little weird customs that go along with this whole process. It's really good. Shout out to Tucci, he was phenomenal.

Stanley Tucci was in it, loved him so much, double res prada, friend of the pod. Yes, Ray Fiennes is good too. Oh my God, he's so good. Can you explain to me why Ralph Fiennes is Ray Fiennes? That still is a big mystery to me. I'm just not sure. Okay, but his name is R-A-L-P-H Fiennes,

and you pronounce that Ray Fiennes. That's a huge mystery to me. I'm not sure. Okay, but his name is R-A-L-P-H, Fines. Yes. And you pronounce that Ray Fines. Yeah. That's a huge mystery to me. Yeah, I guess maybe his parents made that up. I don't know. Cause you know his brother, Joseph. His brother I think is Ralph Fines, spelled R-A-Y.

It's apparently a UK tradition. Is it? The person that you get to pronounce Ralph as Rafe. Rafe. Rafe. Strange English quirk where something is pronounced entirely different than how it's spelled. Well, his brother, the actor-

Joseph. Joseph Fiennes. He doesn't have a fun one like that. He doesn't get to go by like Zoe. Right. People do sacrifice a lot for what they believe to be bigger than them. Not everyone does, but a lot of people do.

I'm a little more cynical. I think a lot of people try to do it, and then there's just cracks everywhere in pursuit of that. Sure. Yeah, that's probably true. I mean, again, it's back to the don't die. Like, I think that's fine. Like, that's their decision.

Yeah. I actually think it's a fairly noble one, whether it's possible or not. I think the pursuit is fine. Can I ask what's noble about it? Why is it good to not have had sex with a woman? That's not it. It's giving up your life to the service of something else.

Got it. Not having sex part is a piece of that that they've decided that I didn't grow up in that, so I can't speak to it. Yeah. But they, whatever, have their own reasons for it. And- It's a weird one to pick. Speaking of giving up your life for your sacrifice,

you know, sacrificing, I remembered during the fight, you know, the fires, they're still happening, but they're getting contained, more and more contained, which is really good. My hot professor, he was a firefighter before he was a professor. Oh, he was? Yes, and it just like occurred to me when I was walking

and I was like, oh yeah. Of course. Of course. Scotty had it all. I know. He had the brains, he had the brawn, and the firefighting skills.ty had it all. I know. He had the brains, he had the brawn, he had the firefighting skills. He had it all.

By the time this airs, I'll have gone to see the Lions play. Oh fun! Which I'm so excited about. Oh that's great. Oh yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Is it a playoff game?

Yeah. Nice. They had a bye week, so they got to sit out the first round of the playoffs and now we commence. That's very exciting. They're going to play the Washington commanders commanders. Yeah. OK, were they not so they were the Washington Redskins. Correct.

Which is the no no for obvious reasons. So they got rid of that name. But weren't they for several years, Rob, just called like Washington football team. Yeah. Yeah. A lot of sports. There's like a hockey team like that right now, too. That called like Washington football team. Yeah. Yeah. A lot of sports. There's like a hockey team like that right now too. That's just the hockey team. Oh, that's kind of cool.

They take a little while to name and brand everything. So there's like two or three seasons occasionally where they're not a real team yet. It's just so funny. Are you going to go to the Washington football team game? Doesn't have a great ring to it. Yeah, there's a Utah hockey club right now. The Utah hockey club, that sounds so triple A or,

it does sounds really far down, it doesn't sound like NHL. Yeah, that's true. Hockey club, hockey friends, Detroit hockey friends. Well, that's very exciting. Yes, I'm taking my boyfriend Aaron. Fun. Oh, that'll be great. We also get to be on the field during warmup and stuff.

Oh, cool. Yeah. That's very fun. Oh, I'm very excited. You're gonna be like the McConaughey? I mean, A, I don't deserve to be the McConaughey. Nobody can be the McConaughey,

but of course I would love to be the McConaughey. Sure. And I haven't earned being the McConaughey. McConaughey, but of course I would love to be the McConaughey. Sure. And I haven't earned being the McConaughey. McConaughey has not missed Longhorns game, I think in 30 years. He has left vacations. You know that incredible story I told that Kutcher told me that he heard him partying very late at night

in the Bahamas at four in the morning. Then when he woke up at nine and turned on the football game, McConaughey was magically standing on the field in Austin. Yeah, he knows how to teleport. He's the only one. Yeah, so I just, I don't even deserve that. But, and I'm also wondering if I'll bump into other Detroiters, like, well, I see Sam Richardson,

but you know, I see any of these folks. That's very fun. Well, I see Eminem, who I've never met. If they go to the Super Bowl, are you gonna go? No. Where is the Super Bowl? New Orleans. No Orleans.

New Orleans at the Caesar's Super Dome. You've been to the Super Bowl. I've been twice for work. I went once for Ellen and once to promote chips. Yep. And as I said, it's the only two times in my life I've been nervous somewhere. Yeah. As I said, it's the only two times in my life I've been nervous somewhere.

I just don't like what kind of targeted potential. I don't know. I just start ruminating. And then I enjoy the Super Bowl so much being at home and eating the snacks and being able to actually follow the game. This was even a decision when I was like, do I go to one of the early playoff games or you know, God willing, they'll go all the way. Do I go to a later one?

And I was like, no, as it's getting more and more intense, I actually need to be at my house watching play by play with a close up and hearing the calls and all the stuff, because I can't follow things all that well in person. Yeah. I'm not great at that. A little distracted. I feel like football is a newer interest and that's fun. Yeah.

I'm just not my sport. I'll watch two or three games throughout the year, tops. But I do generally watch the playoffs because I want to be very excited about the Super Bowl because I love the Super Bowl just as a holiday. And I feel like I can amplify it if I actually know the stakes and who went through what to get there.

So I generally will start watching and maybe the second round of the playoffs. But the Detroit thing adds a whole new thing. I watched a ton of Detroit games. I put it as a season pass and I actually watched all the games. I know. I think it's fun to have a new interest as we get older.

For sure. Yeah, I think you gotta fight the inclination to stop being interested in anything. I think that's the natural arc of life. We just get interested in less and less things. Stay tuned for more Armchair Expert, if you dare. Have you seen the coach Dan Campbell? Dan Campbell's bigger than all of the players.

He is an enormous, he's an ex player. Oh cool. And he just has an enormous head and neck and shoulders. And it's really encouraging for your leader to look bigger than the players. Yeah. Like at any moment he might pad up. I like a coach that knows the game.

Walks the walk. Personally. Like at Waffle House when they have to work at a Waffle House in order to be the CEO. Oh, they do. Yeah, they have to have. Serve some time. Yeah, walk through the, do all the jobs. Break up a couple thousand fights at 2 a.m.

Exactly. Okay, JJ Reddick, the Lakers coach. OK. Isn't he? We're putting Rob to the test. You know, the funny thing is Rob knows fantasy football. Is that fair to say, Rob? Yeah. Yeah.

Like, he doesn't have any coach on his roster. I know. In fantasy. So there's no reason for him to not. I still expect you to know all of it. I did win Charlie's League this season. Nice! You had Gibbs though, right? Yeah, I had Gibbs and a lot of Bengals players.

So the running back right now for the Detroit Lions is absolutely insanely talented, and he got four touchdowns in the Viking games, which was the Lions record. I mean, he is young, very tiny and unstoppable. That's awesome. Okay, I'm right about JJ Reddick. He's the head coach of the Lakers.

And this is a sad thing, but I didn't know that. And I saw he popped up on my Instagram because he lost his home. But I was looking at him and I was like, this is the coach? He looks so young. Oh, okay. This is now the age bracket looks so young. Oh, okay. This is now the age bracket you've entered.

Yes, now I'm at this point where I'm like, what is going on? But he is 40, which is better. I thought he was younger than me when I saw and I got very unnerved. I think you can measure your age in this very predictable way where it's like for a long, long time, all the players are older than you.

Then you have a moment in your early thirties where you go, oh geez, I'm older than all the professional athletes. And that's startling. But then you still have the coaches. And now I am at the age, Monica, where I am older than quite a few of the NFL coaches, which seems impossible. Growing up, those were all old, old men.

And- Is part of it also that they are hiring younger? I think they are. They are. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Speaking of age,

because we were really trying to figure it out while we were watching it. Nate and I had an impromptu dinner last night. Fun. At Morton's, our home base. He was saying how much he liked watching the clips of Brolin and just how masculine Brolin is. We just kept talking about how,

could there be anyone more masculine? Then we were talking about No Country for Old Men. Then I was like, we gotta watch that shit. We still watch Once Upon a Time in Hollywood together. And then I just had this moment of recklessness and I go, should we go right now and watch No Country on a school night? Wow.

And we did, we came back here and we watched No Country for Old Men last night. Sleepover? Damn near, he left at like 1130 at night on a weeknight. But Brolin is 38 in that movie. Oh, he's. But he carries himself like he's a little over 40, we concluded.

Okay. You know, he looks like a man that's been around for a while. And then Javier Bardem. Oh, love him. What a performance. I mean, he won the Academy Award for it. That was in 2007.

2007. That's so long ago. It's so long ago. Woody Harrelson is very young in it. Brolin's 38, great movie. Very unsatisfying ending, but great movie. I am accumulating a list of rewatches. I would like to rewatch Minority Report.

Interesting. Okay, Tom Cruise and Spielberg. Yeah, I'm gonna watch it tonight. I need to remember to watch it tonight. Well, this is, we're talking about movies because Adam Scott loves movies. He's a movie file. A cine file.

A cine file, yeah. Oh, also we talked about words that have entered the zeitgeist that people, Atelier, you know, things people are saying too much really. There's a new one. Oh, there is. Yeah, I learned. I learned that elevated is out.

People say elevated a lot, like, it's this, but elevated. It's high end. It means high end. Yeah, but- No one says that now? No, we're not, people say it too much. Oh, I was thinking you were saying it was canceled, and I couldn't wait to hear the connective issue

between elevated and some kind of a- No, it's like a tilly-ay. It's like everyone's just saying it. But I don't think, so elevated is already a little pedestrian though. What do you mean? It's not foreign, elevator, elevated. Atelier and artisanal,

those have the appeal of being foreign and very exclusive. We were just talking in general about words that are just overused. He even said beautiful when people are like, oh, like it's so beautiful, like using beautiful a ton. Yeah. And elevate, I learned it's somebody said they were so annoyed by that word.

And I was like, I do hear it a lot. My trigger isn't, what did I say about glimmer? Glimmer. That was the thing that came up in comments a while back. We were saying there should be a positive version of triggered. Oh. And a lot of people wrote, oh, there is a term for it

and it's glimmer. Huh. Yeah, it's when you're activated, like if you're triggered, you're activated. Right. By a word. Yeah. In a negative way, generally.

But a glimmer is something that activates you, but in a very positive way. Oh. Because some fact checks ago I was talking about being triggered in a really good way. Oh. Right? But I was like the word feels wrong. And then I learned there is a term and it's glimmer or glimmer and I like that.

Yeah. But my specific trigger about Atelier and Artisanal is it feels elite-ist. It feels like it's someone trying really hard to sound super sophisticated. And so that's my trigger. It reeks to me of being a snob. Whereas elevated doesn't do that for me.

Sure. You know? I get it. Yeah. I get that. But they're ironically, they're not trying to be a snob, they're trying to be elevated. Sure, which is a little bit of snobbery.

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

This is a little bit tempting for me to get back on chewing tobacco. The notion that I could be getting it fresh off the line in Nashville is very tempting. Fresh, minutes old. You could get it minutes old. Brings me back to the time we put the roof on the hot dog and hamburger bun factory in Detroit, and we got to have hot dog buns that came right out

of the conveyor belt, and they were one of the most delicious things I've ever had in my life. You can't imagine how good they are a second after they're made. But are they? Yes. But is it, it's so hard to know what's mental. It's really hard to know.

I guess, but then you're kind of getting into placebo effect. Sure. Which is real. Yeah. Remember when we went to the- Hawaiian sweet roll. Hawaiian sweet roll factory.

Kings Hawaiian sweet, that- And we got them straight off the bell. And what do you think? How did those taste? Of course they taste amazing, but I also know, I know what I don't know, and I can't know if that's placebo or not. I mean, hot.

One is just that it's hot. But it's like, it's not even set yet. Like the molecules haven't even totally formed. The thing that also made that, um, King's Hawaiian sweet bread factory tour so awesome is that at the tasting station where we were eating them right off the conveyor belt, there was a block of butter the size of that refrigerator. I've never seen a block of butter that big in my life.

It must be what they dump into the mix. And we just had these fucking spades that we were just carving off huge chunks of butter and slathering it all over. You know butter sculptures are a thing now? No. Yeah, people are getting into butter sculptures. Oh.

So they should use that big butter and make it into some sort of branded. Every part that's not David. Okay, now, okay, is 27 the age you start going downhill between 25 and 30? Physically, physical peak. Physically. Physical peak between 25 and 30.

That's not to say you shouldn't keep working on your exercise and your physique. As you said, you've never been in better shape. Yes. I think I'm superior to my 27-year-old. Yeah. Four 7-Eleven chili dogs a day and a 12-pack of beer at night and a pack and a half of camel lights. But I guess in some ways you were at your physical peak

because now if you did all that, you'd die. I, this morning when journaling, I'm like, I, what is going on? Like I couldn't sleep for longer than an hour last night. Yeah. I woke up with a headache and my body's so sore. And I'm like, what happened? Nothing happened to me. Sprinting's not helping for sure.

Yeah. And the air's bad. I mean, we all have headaches. I'll leave this to you to decide if this is too gross for the fact check. It likely is, but at the same time, I am proud as a peacock about this. As you know, and maybe I've shared in the past, a weird hobby of mine is I do like to weigh myself

in the morning right before I go evac. Sure. Because I'm curious. You wanna see. I wanna know how I go evac. Sure. Cause I'm curious. You wanna see. I wanna know how much that weighs. Yeah. And I have been doing that for a year or two. What's the biggest?

It's never above a pound and a half. Okay. There are times I look and I go, well, buckle up. We're gonna, this is okay. Okay. Never been a more than a pound and a half. I swear to God, this was four mornings ago three mornings ago I couldn't even finish journaling. I had to go evac and it had been I didn't have a couple good days prior to that

Oh, okay. The first round was robust Then I was doing some posting then round round round round round round round round round round round round Are you going back and forth? Are you just sitting just stay, yeah. I'm in there for probably 30 plus. I just read that's really, really bad. People hate that, yeah. They're convinced I'm gonna get hemorrhoids. Yeah, which you've had. And they can have a good laugh if I get them,

but I haven't, yeah. I thought you've had them. No, never had a hemorrhoid, thank goodness. You just had an anal fissure. Anal fissure, yeah. I wouldn't believe this if I told, if someone told it to me. I got on the scale.

I was one ninety seven point eight. I was on there for a half hour. I was not getting experience I never had in my life. Got on one ninety three point eight. No. Yes. Is part of it water, though? No, because I'd already peed a bunch. But did you have diarrhea? Very little pee came out. Was there diarrhea?

What do we call diarrhea? It was little pee came out. Was there diarrhea? What do we call diarrhea? It was like- Water. It wasn't water. But- But it was mud. Then there's water in there.

Okay. Whatever the case. Okay. I 3X'd my previous. I thought about that every 20 minutes the whole rest of the day. Yeah. It's like hard to compute. Four pounds.

Like at your body weight, that's almost 5% of your total mass in 30 minutes. I've never had an experience like that. That is a lot. It was wild. Did you feel much lighter after? I felt so much better. I had woke up that morning, cranky, headachy, body achy,

got all the poison out. Yeah, sure. Yeah, yeah, I felt good. I did my sprints that day. Were you much faster? There's no way for me to know. I just run as fast as I can. I'm just clicking my clicker.

So John Turturro, he said Mac, first movie in 1992. Now in the Wondering Plus, I said he was wrong and he's not wrong. Oh, interesting. This is really speaks to how hard it is to get facts right. No, I actually think if we go back, so I said, he's right, Mac, 1992, oh wait, he's wrong. Like I read the same thing I'm reading,

but I think my brain definitely wasn't working that day but I was like no it's Illuminata 1998. So I think in my head 1998 was before 1992. Okay but six years after. But actually upon reflection. Yeah. So he's right. He's right, Mac, 1992, first film he directed. I'm not surprised he's right, not because I think you're prone to be wrong, but just he is such a steel trap with these. I agree, I was surprised that he was wrong,

and turns out we didn't need to be surprised because he was right. Yeah. What's the name of Nicholas Cage's king cobra? He has two, Sheba and Moby. Great names. They're really good names for a king cobra. Yeah, I already can't compute.

Let's get some of the animals that live outside to live inside our house. Although I caveat to that, there are three birds that going on now four months, it used to drive me a little crazy cause I'll be in bed journaling, I hear whapping on the window. They fly out of the tree and then they try to sit

on a little piece of the window. There's a little green guy, he's a little guy, he's about this big and he's green. And he sits there and he like pacts at the window and he flaps his wings, pap pap pap pap pap. Then he goes back in the bush, then he comes back up. Then we have these two larger birds with a big red crest and long tail feathers.

They are also on this one. There's something about this window into the bathroom and I can't decide if they wanna come in or they're just curious or they're confused. I don't know what's going on, but we have a veritable aviary just outside the window now. That's exciting. Yeah.

Are you putting out food and stuff? No, I was kind of laughing at that. Like the amount of effort I put into getting crows to woo crows to no avail and I'm doing nothing for these three birds and they want to get involved. It's a life lesson hard to get. Play hard to get, yeah. No one wants availability. They don't, no.

Jesus. All right, that's it. That's everything. Yep, that's it for Adam. Well, I sure do love that boy. What a. Jesus. All right. That's it. That's everything. Yep. That's it for Adam. Well, I sure do love that boy. What a lovely man. He is. He is the loveliest man.

I'm just delighted I got to meet him. And we're sorry that the crickets came in the middle of his sweet moment. Was it audible in the car? I didn't hear it. Okay. But if you heard it, we apologize. All right. All right.

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