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#124 - Craig's Book Club (Plot Twist: He Hasn't Read The Books)

January 20, 20260 comments♥ 0
00:00This is me, Craig Ferguson.I'm inviting you to come and see my brand new comedy hour.Well, actually, it's about an hour and a half,and I don't have an opener because these guys cost money.But what I'm saying is I'll be on stage for a while.Anyway, come and see me live on the Pants on Fire Tour in your region.Tickets are on sale now and we'll be adding moreas the tour continues throughout 2025 and beyond.
00:25For a full list of dates, go to the Craigfergersonshow.com.See you on the road, my dears.Hello, everyone.Welcome to the Joy Podcast.My name is Craig Ferguson.I am your host for the Joy Podcast this day and every day that a Joy podcast comes out.I would go as far as to say that if there was a podcast Craig Ferguson, I'd be it.When I used to present the old late night show on TV, I would say I'm TV's Craig Ferguson.
00:57it was akind ofkind of ironicsatiric kind of jokey thing to sayand because I'm not TV'sCraig Ferdinson I'm justCraig Ferguson andwhen I'm saying I'm podcast
01:13Craig Ferguson I feel like it has a similarvibe anyway this is the Joy podcastwheremany it seems like manyyears ago it was like I don't knowabout 18 months ago or two years agoI started doing a podcastwhere I was going to talk to people about what they found enjoyable and what gave them joy in their lives.
01:34And I think that's a noble intention.And I still would like to do that from time to time.But what's happened in the past six months or so is I've become very busy with other things.And because of that, the podcast has now morphed into a sort of vlog.A vlog is like a video log, I guess.And vlogs Craig Fierks.And what it is is because I'm busy and I've been.very kind of
01:58nomadic in my, I've been verytraveling around so much. Well, you know whatnomadic means. Theavailability of meand other people that I want to talk to to bein the same room isvery tricky. I try doing the Zoom things.I don't care for it. I don't
02:17care for trying to have a conversation with someone on Zoomand then have someone else look at itas like, itdoesn't work for me. I don't like reallylike doing Zoom calls. I do itbecause it's part of business nowbut I don't really like it.But this is different because this is like
02:35does I just get to talk to you? You don't have totalk to me. You can turn it off right now if youwant. All right.So welcome back theone of you who's left ordidn't go away. Welcome back doesn't make sense.Anyway, look, here I am in London town.I'm in
02:50London. As you can see out of the window.It's a beautiful day here in London.And I've been here for a week. I'm here for anotherweek and then I'm going to New York Citywhere there's a chanceI might be able to interview someone but in the meantimeprobably I'll just talk to you like thisbecause I'm busy when I'm in New York City
03:08but I'm going to New York Cityin a week's time but I'm here for another week nowwhat I want to tell you isthis theII had terrible jetlinethis trip I came in from New Yorkbut it's a bit fancy saying I came in from you
03:26I don't know why it sounds fancy.Everybody travels now or most people.Anyway, or everyone's traveled, I think, more than they used.They used to say things like the jet set.Like if you'd been on a jet, it was a big deal.And now I don't think it's such a big deal unless you own the jet,which I most certainly don't.It's owned by, for the most part, Delta United or Virgin,
03:50is who I flew on one day.They have a deal with Delta.Anyway, I don't have a deal with any of the airlines,so I'm not going to stop.I'm not going to talk about them.So I terrible jet lag, and I don't know about you, but I have a propensity when my sleep pattern is interrupted, which happens to everyone, I think, from time to time, especially if you've had children, and you've had jet lag, when my sleep pattern is interrupted. And I'm going somewhere with this, just so as you know, this is not, I'm not rambling. I have a destination in mind of something I'm talking about. I'm going to get us there, is that I've been,I've been very, my sleep patterns, you know, I've been like napping during the day, but I've beenworking very hard, so I've been trying to stay awake with coffee, and then I would like fall
04:35asleep when I get back from work, but then wake up at like 9 o'clock at night, and then,you know what I disrupted sleep pattern, as I'm sure. And when my sleep pattern is disrupted,like I suspect many of you, I pick up my phone. And when I pick up my phone, that's when thisshit really kicks in. That's when my sleep patternreally gets disrupted, because then Istart, you know, I'm looking atI don't know if any of you do this, I lookat property porn, so I look at
05:05property porn is not likenaked houses. It's like,I suppose it is no way.It's like looking at real estate websitesand imagining myselfbuying houses infar-flung areas.I tend to look
05:21at beach property in Florida a lot.I don't own beach property in Florida.But I feel likeone day I'd like to.Anyway, that's not the point.The point is this.I go online and I end up looking up things and go out.I'm not on social media.
05:38I think that's important for where I'm headed.Anyway, the thing is this.I realized that my sleep pattern was disrupted.And I had to find something to dothat didn't involve a screenwhen I was jet-lack.so I did something I haven't done in a long time.And I used to live my life doing this,
06:01but I haven't done this in a long time.I went to a bookstore, and I bought some books.And that's where I'm headed.Because this episode today, this is the book club episode.This is like Reese's book club or Oprah's book club,except with a twist.The four books that I'm about to discuss with you,I haven't read them yet.
06:18So it's a twist.I bought four books, and I can't really talk.I've read a little bit of some of them.but I'm going to talk you throughI'll tell you about themI'm not going to tug you through anythingyou don't need me to talk you through anythinganyway look as I went about four books
06:34and here are the four books I boughtI bought a biographyof Spinozathe Freedom's MessiahSpinoza was aphilosopherJewish gentlemanI don't know much about them
06:51I've read it yet right but what I know aboutis thisSpinoza was a philosopher1600s I thinkin AmsterdamI think he was in AmsterdamHe was originally JewishWe got a lot of trouble with
07:07With the Jewish people at the timeBecause he was veryIrreligiousHe was very anti-religiousHe was very ahead of his time reallyLook again I haven't read itBut anyway he hung aboutWith a kind of
07:21A rather enlightened bunch of Dutch MennonitesNot like German men of nice, Dutch menace, different.And again, I don't know much about it.I haven't read the book yet, but he was a real force in the burgeoning enlightenment.And I want to know more about Spinoza.So I bought a book of a biography as Spinoza.And the reason why I did that is because I want to learn a book.I don't know much about them, so I'm sure many of you do.
07:55Or some of you do.But if you don't, then I recommend this book.Well, I don't know if I recommend it because I'm read it yet.But I haven't had a look at it.It looks like I'll be interested in that.You're watching your hands?All right, so Mrs. Fergis has just come back from where did you go to the vintage store?And?
08:16Did it?All right.So, anyway, my darling wife has come back from the vintage store.and she's down there.Anyway, I'm up here and I'm talking to you.And the truth is this.Spinoza, haven't read it, looking forward to it.Here's what I would say about this.
08:36If you're having trouble sleeping,I do recommend biographies of philosophers.They, I mean, they will knock you out.The idea of...Audio books are good for this as well.Get a good audio book.or maybe about philosophy, you'll be out like a light.But then I just wake up again as well,
09:00and the voice is still growing on.So I find to get information,and I know a lot of people listen to books and then say,I read this book,but I don't feel like I absorb the information in the same way.Maybe you do, but I don't.So in order to actually get the informationthat the author wants to get across,
09:20I like to read the book.I realize this is not all.always possible if your sight is impaired or perhaps you havereading difficulties then by all means you know and it's nice to havesomeone read to you I just I have the ability to read a book and I dolike to do it so I bought a book biography of Spinoza I know that's gonna lightthe internet up I also bought another biography of another gentleman I'm quiteinterested in called Arthur Schopenhauer another philosopher
09:53this picturewith SchopenhauerI think is probablyyou knowwas probably doneI was going to sayit was takenbut it's a painting
10:03but this portrait of Schopenhauerprobably donebefore he'd been donemuch in the way of philosophyhe looks like he's stillkind of going to the clubat this pointas he got older
10:16he looked a littledifferent as we all doI imaginethat's not what the book is aboutnow I haven't readthe biography of Schopenhauer.Again, I know a little bit about him.Not much.
10:29I know that his mother,I think Joanna, her name was,was a very famous writerin her day. She was a novelist,quite an interestingperson because he's much more famousthan her.And I suspect
10:45that might have something to do with the innate sexismof history, but we'll see.Because after I've read about him,I'm probably going to want to read abouther. I'm interested in historical characters, whether the philosophers or not.And I like reading biographies. So the two books, the two biographies I bought,biography of Schopenhauer and a biography, Spinoza. And the,anyway, Schopenhauer's mother, I think her name was Joanna. She, you should Google her,
11:22actually. It's a very interesting personand she's very...You know how Mary WollstonecroftRoel Frankenstein?But Mary Wollstonecroft's motherwas actually, to my mind, much more interestedthan Mary Walsdencroft. And when you...And when you hear
11:41about how... I mean, she died giving birth to...Was it Mary Walson Cove the Rolls Frankicstein?Yeah, it was. She was called Mary Shelley.She took the name Mary Shelley from her husband,but her name was, she was Mary Walsoncroft.And her mother was a very important writerwho died giving birth to her,which that happened a lot back in those days,
12:05very dangerous business giving birth in those days.Still, you know, hardly, you know,walk in the park now, but much, much more deadly than,no antibiotics, people not know about things.in.So, yeah, two writers that I'm interested in, Athosob and I areMary Walsamcroft and their mothers, I think, I suspect, are more.Also, if you want to know about something, if you want to know about somebody, you know
12:36about their mother, if you knew anything about my mother, I've talked about her a bit.If you knew anything about her, you'd know that there are no mysteries.At Medcan, we know that life's greatest moments are built on a foundation of goodhealth from the big milestones to the quiet winds.That's why our annual health assessment offers a physician-led, full-body checkup that providesa clear picture of your health today and may uncover early signs of conditions like heartdisease and cancer.The healthier you means more moments to cherish.
13:07Take control of your well-being and book an assessment today.Medcan. Live well for life.Visit medcan.com slash moments to get started.Now, this next book in my book club edition of the show is a book that I think is going to interest you.Because I'm sure that these have limits as a appeal.This book, it caught my attention.Ten arguments for deleting your social media accounts right now by Jaron Lanier.I don't know how he pronounces it.
13:40Now, obviously, this is self-explanning snakes in a plane.There are 10 arguments within this bookWhy You ShouldOr 10 argumentsWhy You Should for deleting yourSocial Media accounts. Now, I've done this.I don't have social media accounts.I mean, you're thinking, hang on a minute, Greg.
14:00You got Instagram, you got X or formerly Twitteror Twix, whatever it is.There's a presence on Facebook.That's all true.But none of them am I directly involved with.I've fessed up to this before, and this is true.I use it so that you can know about, you know, so to advertise like if I'm doing a TV showor if I'm doing a live gig or something like that because that's my job.
14:29It's what I do and is my profession and my art, I guess, that I do it.And I would like people to know about it.But the idea of being on social media and scrolling through things and stuff, I don't do that.I have to pay these guys, the guys that do this podcast.and of them else.They cut down pieces of itand they'll put it on social media,but I'm not there scrolling through it
14:52and looking at it.It's not,because I don't find that,I didn't like the way it was making me feel.It made me feel awful,and I didn't have any kind of,I don't know,it felt weirdly addictive to me, I'm sure.
15:08Anyway, you know,if you know anything about me,you know, if it's possible to be addictedto something, I'm your man.So what I did wasI got rid of themI handed off the responsibilityto the social media account
15:24so that it's really it's a publicity thing for meI'm not I don't scroll through cat videos or all that stuffI have done that and I'm not judging you if you do itbut I don't like itI find it scatters my brainand makes me feel I don't enjoyso when I saw thisI thought
15:43well that's interesting so I'm not the only one who feels this way I mean I knew I wasn't but I thought well this is interesting and I'm just going to read you a little bit at the back here of this book because I want you to know who this guy is Jaron Lanye is the world famous Silicon Valley scientist pioneer who first alerted us to the dangers of social media in this witty and urgent manifesto he explains why its toxic effects are at the heart ofof its design and in 10 simple arguments,why liberating yourself from its wholewill transform your life and the world for the better.Now, that's a pretty fucking lofty claim.So I thought, no, I'm going to have a look at this.And I read the first argument, and I went,done, I don't need the other nine.
16:36And I haven't read them yet.But I have read the first one.And what I think is interesting is he equates it very,closely with what I was saying was addiction. Now I've talked a lot about the fact of, you know, I'man alcoholic and I haven't had a drink since the 18th of February 1992. I still identify myself as analcoholic because I believe I still am. I don't drink alcohol because I'm an alcoholic, just like Iused to drink it because it was an alcoholic, I know. It's a thing. Anyway, addiction is somethingI feel like I have some experience with personally.
17:17And having equated to that because there was something about when I was on social media that made me,I would go to it even though I didn't want to do it.I didn't want to look at it and yet I would be on it.And it felt kind of the same.And it made me feel bad, but I still ended up doing it.I mean, is it the same as alcoholism?No, I don't think it is.But it has an addictive quality.
17:42care for that stuff. Andthe other part,I think sometimes whenyou say, or when someone says thatthey're not into social mediaand I'm not, I don't, it's not for me.Iam, but
17:58I'm not anti-technology. I'm talkingto you right now on the Facebookaccount or the podcastaccount that you get thiseither audio or visual from.That's me. This is me talkingto you, butbut it's not
18:15what it isn't is mescrolling through a bunch of thingsI'm not I guess I'm not social in that regardI'm not socially involved in itI'm involved in it asif you want to know what I think here it isthat's that and I know people onsocial media do that too
18:34but I don't want to know what everybody else thinksand it's like it's hard enough to sayit's hard enough for me to know what I thinkor to even express it.And I wonder sometimes, because I made a decision a while agoto not include politics in anything I was doing,contemporary politics, and I wonder if it's connected,and I think it is, and I'll tell you why.
19:02Because the great American writer, Hunter S. Thompson,once talked about politicians.And he said politicians were like junkies.They always kind of, you know, they're always looking for the next thing,the next thing that they can get.The next fix, if you like, he, he, now, the good news, you know,the reliable source about Hunter S. Thompson, also a junkie.Great writer, also junkie.
19:28So kind of knows what he's talking about.And he equated politicians to junkies.And I think sometimes, no, not sometimes.I think now it seems to me that everyone,or so many more people have thatimpulse that they mustit must be about politicsI must get my thing and
19:48and it has that addictivegive me a hit give me a hit thingthat I thinkIinstinctively steer myself away fromnot because I'm judging youor anyone else for having itdo your thing man you have your king
20:05I don't carebut it's a self-preservation for meI don't like to getdrawn into thatwhen I was drinking and damn near killed meso the impetus of beingdrawn into something addictive withthat again
20:18I try and avoid I mean Iam very careful about it sothis book having readone tenth of it I findit very compellingsodo I endorse ityeah why not it's a book I endorse all books
20:36well not all of thembut I endorse the idea of readinghow's thatbecause, and this is kind of where I'm heading with the book club episode,is that I think my brain waves error.Look, I have no basis.I'm not a scientist.I'm not a doctor.
20:57I don't know.I can know this for sure.But I think reading from a book, the manuscript, a piece of papers,has a much more calming,and contemplative effect on me than looking at a screen.I feel like, does that make me a Luddite in some way?A Luddite, by the way, just an expression,if you don't know what Luddite means,
21:30I'm sure you do, most of you do it,but for any of you who don't,a Luddite, it's just based on there were some 17th century peoplewho were against technology it kind of took.So it's just a catch-all expression for,I'm against new technology.I'm not against new technology.I'm all for it, in fact.
21:46I like digital technology.I just think thatthere are some great advantages to it.Even with AI, I don't know, like, well,some of it's okay.I mean, if you talk to people in show businessabout AI or people ingeneral conversation about AI,
22:02everyone's like, oh, it's SkyNetand when's it all going to happen.But you talk to a surgeon or someonein crimeor genetic analysis or someone in science,scientific analytical work,which I occasionally do talk to people in those films.And the AI is amazing.
22:22In the areas of medical research, AI is really helping.So I'm not against technology.I'm just kind of wary of how to use it.Look, give you an example.A knife is a tool.It's a technological thing.a tool. Now a knife can stab youor it can chop up
22:44your lunch and make you adelicious sandwich. Howyou use the tool is veryimportant. Are you stabby orare you sandwiches? See what I mean? So I'm notagainst the technology of itself. I'm not tryingto villainize the technology.I'm just trying
23:00to articulateadiscomfort that Ihavewith how the technologyinteracts with me.AndI suppose it kicked up
23:17because I had jet lagbecause I'm travelinganditbecame more evident to methat I would, I couldI mean I can disappear for hourson a
23:31on a, you know, aWikipedia bowl or a Googlehole or, you know, on a headnet.And, you know, and, you know,like everyone else, I'm sure, I'd look at the news, and I'm like, oh my God.And I think my brain, I don't know about anybody else's brain, I'm not a brain expert,but my brain is more comfortable being a little more singular in what it's looking at.So I end up reading about lives of a couple of long-dead philosophers,
24:10or, you know, a kind of,clever set of argumentsby someone who does know what they're talking about.Or, and I'm going to bring you to my fourth bookbecause this is the book, which I'm surprised I bought.But I did. And I haven't evencracked it over yet.But I'm going to...
24:32This is because in the bookstore,this is what I liked about it, I was in a bookstore.Actually, I was in Waterstones in Chelseaon the King's Road in London.And I was in the bookstore, and I happened to beat the philosophy section,because I was buying a biography of Schopenhauerand a biography of Spinoza,
24:49which we've talked to you about.And then we've talked to you about it.I just used the royal wheat, which we've talked about,which I've talked about.And if you're still here, you've heard about.Anyway, that's not the point.I'm in the philosophy section in the bookstore,and I was looking at different things.
25:08And the lady who worked in the bookstorerather kindly came over and said,oh, I have a book you should getif you're going to get a book on philosophy.Oh, yeah.Now, she's a lady who works in the bookstore.So again, I consider it a source where I think.If you know so...
25:21Now, if she had chosen a super expensive book of, you know,pop-up philosophy or something,that I'd be like, ah.But it was a small book,and I'm going to show you it in a minute.It's a small, slim volume,not overly priced,and it's not something
25:37that would have caught my eye immediately,but I bought it, and I will read it.And maybe in a further episode of this podcast, I've ever made another one,and there will be, I'll give you an update on this thing,and maybe it's fascinating, and maybe we'll dedicate a whole podcast to it.Anyway, the book is called feline philosophy, pets, and the meaning of life.Now, I know what you're thinking, Craig, you can get cats on the internet.I know, I know, but that's not what I'm saying.
26:09this is actually a book written by someone who'swell, I'm sitting by this gentleman here, John Gray, right?That's him on the back.I haven't read the book, but it comes very highly recommendedand put it on my glasses because I want you to read the blurbat the back of it or I'm going to read it to you.This is, he says,why can't a human be more like a cat?
26:32That is the question threaded through this vivid patchworkof philosophy.Fiction, history and memoir, a onemixture of flippancy and profundity,astringency and tenderness, wit and lament.Again, it's an attractive sound and blurb to me.What was interesting to me was,in the first chapter of this,
26:5510 arguments for deleting your social media accounts right now,there's also an analogy about how catshave got it sussed.And I'm like,I do these guys not?each other? Are these works influenced by each other?I don't know. But it just seemed likea coincidence. And like many detectives,
27:15I don't like coincidences.Anyway,it comes recommended fromthe new statesman, the Times,and Will Self.Will Self is a British writer.Very clever.Well, he's
27:31I don't know how clever he is. I haven't read any of his stuff.But a fair problem.Anyway,but the new statesman, which is aclever, uh, like a smarty pads, magazine.Engaging, amusing, perceptive and ultimately in the most admirable Nietzsche in sense,this book is about the inability of thought, intelligence, to cure our human restlessness.Come on. That's got to be interesting. And it's got cats in it. As you know, I, uh, I have a cat.
28:09I say I have a cat.I have a cat in the way anybody has a cat.There's a cat lives in our house.I don't think that cat thinks that it's my cat.I think that where's my food?And I think I'll lie over there.I think that's what that cat thinks.But I get her the cat's kind of like living her best life.
28:34And I thought about the cat because my wife, as you know, is with me on this trip.she's going home tomorrow actually or the day after butI'll be here for a few more daysshe brought a hat because it's cold in Londonshe brought this black hatand she leaves it lying aroundI keep thinking it's the catbecause the cat is black our cat
28:58is black and it looks a bit like this hatand then I thought oh my God she hasn't made a hat out of the cathas she but she has the cat is fine and well and she would never do thatactually the cat'sthe cat to her very friendlymuch, they have a stronger bond, I think, than I have with anyone.Anyway, the upshot is this.I got quite energized this week with the idea I've been working.
29:28So obviously that, that's energetic.And the work that I'm doing is writing work.I think that's part of it.I'm not really allowed to talk to you about it right now,but it is writing work and it's busy and it's involvedthat it's thought-provoking and tiring in that odd way.And then I found that I couldn't relaxlooking at a screen
29:50in the same way that I can relax and absorband be awake looking at booksand absorbing books.And so, I guess for this episode,which I've decided to call Book Club,codicilI haven't read any of the booksI think probably some
30:12like thatumtheI've read a little bit of some of themand I know a little bitaboutbut I'm just energizedby the idea of having four new books
30:25in my lifethere's something about the tactile nature of itas well you know what I meanlike just having a bookin your handyou read itandin an ass
30:35I don't knowyou don't need me to advertisebooks to you. I suspect most of it, most of you wholisten or anyway, half-we interested me already read books. I know that.But I had been away from it for a while. Just distracted. And I'm grateful to be back to it.So, this episode of the podcast has been brought to you by books. Just like me.