Joy, a Podcast. Hosted by Craig Ferguson - #124 - Craig's Book Club (Plot Twist: He Hasn't Read The Books)

Episode Date: January 20, 2026

Coming at you live from London as Craig is on location for the week before returning stateside. But the jetsetting has left Craig jetlagged but rather than being unproductive he decided to give us an impromptu book club. So he went online and ordered 4 books that he has to recommend to us. But there’s a catch, he’s yet to read the books. So he’s flying purely on titles and descriptions for us. Buckle up. Have a question for Craig? Drop him an email at: ⁠[e-mail]⁠, send him a message on social media, or drop a comment below. _______________________________________________ Craig is also on the road. Dates and tickets can be found here ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.thecraigfergusonshow.com/tour ⁠⁠⁠⁠_________________________________________________ FIND CRAIG: Website - ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.thecraigfergusonshow.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram - ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/craigyferg⁠⁠⁠⁠ TikTok - ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@craigy_ferg⁠⁠⁠⁠ X - ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.x.com/craigyferg⁠⁠⁠⁠ Facebook - ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/thecraigfergusonshow⁠⁠⁠⁠ ABOUT THE JOY PODCAST: Storied late-night talk host Craig Ferguson brings his interview talents and singular world view to a discussion of the modern state of JOY, sitting down with notable guests from the worlds of entertainment, science, government, and more. How's our Joy doing? Bridled? On life support? Where do we find joy in a world that seems by any rational measure to be collapsing around us? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This 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 more as the tour continues throughout 2025 and beyond.

For 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.

it was a kind of kind of ironic satiric kind of jokey thing to say and because I'm not TV's Craig Ferdinson I'm just Craig Ferguson and when I'm saying I'm podcast

Craig Ferguson I feel like it has a similar vibe anyway this is the Joy podcast where many it seems like many years ago it was like I don't know about 18 months ago or two years ago I started doing a podcast where I was going to talk to people about what they found enjoyable and what gave them joy in their lives.

And 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

nomadic in my, I've been very traveling around so much. Well, you know what nomadic means. The availability of me and other people that I want to talk to to be in the same room is very tricky. I try doing the Zoom things. I don't care for it. I don't

care for trying to have a conversation with someone on Zoom and then have someone else look at it as like, it doesn't work for me. I don't like really like doing Zoom calls. I do it because it's part of business now but I don't really like it. But this is different because this is like

does I just get to talk to you? You don't have to talk to me. You can turn it off right now if you want. All right. So welcome back the one of you who's left or didn't go away. Welcome back doesn't make sense. Anyway, look, here I am in London town. I'm in

London. 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 another week and then I'm going to New York City where there's a chance I might be able to interview someone but in the meantime probably I'll just talk to you like this because I'm busy when I'm in New York City

but I'm going to New York City in a week's time but I'm here for another week now what I want to tell you is this the I I had terrible jetline this trip I came in from New York but it's a bit fancy saying I came in from you

I 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,

is 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 been working very hard, so I've been trying to stay awake with coffee, and then I would like fall

asleep 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 this shit really kicks in. That's when my sleep pattern really gets disrupted, because then I start, you know, I'm looking at I don't know if any of you do this, I look at property porn, so I look at

property porn is not like naked houses. It's like, I suppose it is no way. It's like looking at real estate websites and imagining myself buying houses in far-flung areas. I tend to look

at beach property in Florida a lot. I don't own beach property in Florida. But I feel like one 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.

I 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 do that didn't involve a screen when 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,

but 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.

So 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 through I'll tell you about them I'm not going to tug you through anything you don't need me to talk you through anything anyway look as I went about four books

and here are the four books I bought I bought a biography of Spinoza the Freedom's Messiah Spinoza was a philosopher Jewish gentleman I don't know much about them

I've read it yet right but what I know about is this Spinoza was a philosopher 1600s I think in Amsterdam I think he was in Amsterdam He was originally Jewish We got a lot of trouble with

With the Jewish people at the time Because he was very Irreligious He was very anti-religious He was very ahead of his time really Look again I haven't read it But anyway he hung about With a kind of

A rather enlightened bunch of Dutch Mennonites Not 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.

Or 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?

Did 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.

If 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,

and 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 information that the author wants to get across,

I like to read the book. I realize this is not all. always possible if your sight is impaired or perhaps you have reading difficulties then by all means you know and it's nice to have someone read to you I just I have the ability to read a book and I do like to do it so I bought a book biography of Spinoza I know that's gonna light the internet up I also bought another biography of another gentleman I'm quite interested in called Arthur Schopenhauer another philosopher

this picture with Schopenhauer I think is probably you know was probably done I was going to say it was taken but it's a painting

but this portrait of Schopenhauer probably done before he'd been done much in the way of philosophy he looks like he's still kind of going to the club at this point as he got older

he looked a little different as we all do I imagine that's not what the book is about now I haven't read the biography of Schopenhauer. Again, I know a little bit about him. Not much.

I know that his mother, I think Joanna, her name was, was a very famous writer in her day. She was a novelist, quite an interesting person because he's much more famous than her. And I suspect

that might have something to do with the innate sexism of history, but we'll see. Because after I've read about him, I'm probably going to want to read about her. 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,

actually. It's a very interesting person and she's very... You know how Mary Wollstonecroft Roel Frankenstein? But Mary Wollstonecroft's mother was actually, to my mind, much more interested than Mary Walsdencroft. And when you... And when you hear

about 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 writer who died giving birth to her, which that happened a lot back in those days,

very 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 are Mary 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

about 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 good health from the big milestones to the quiet winds. That's why our annual health assessment offers a physician-led, full-body checkup that provides a clear picture of your health today and may uncover early signs of conditions like heart disease and cancer. The healthier you means more moments to cherish.

Take 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.

Now, obviously, this is self-explanning snakes in a plane. There are 10 arguments within this book Why You Should Or 10 arguments Why You Should for deleting your Social Media accounts. Now, I've done this. I don't have social media accounts. I mean, you're thinking, hang on a minute, Greg.

You got Instagram, you got X or formerly Twitter or 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 show or if I'm doing a live gig or something like that because that's my job.

It'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 it and they'll put it on social media, but I'm not there scrolling through it

and 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.

Anyway, you know, if you know anything about me, you know, if it's possible to be addicted to something, I'm your man. So what I did was I got rid of them I handed off the responsibility to the social media account

so that it's really it's a publicity thing for me I'm not I don't scroll through cat videos or all that stuff I have done that and I'm not judging you if you do it but I don't like it I find it scatters my brain and makes me feel I don't enjoy so when I saw this I thought

well 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 of of its design and in 10 simple arguments, why liberating yourself from its whole will 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.

And 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'm an alcoholic and I haven't had a drink since the 18th of February 1992. I still identify myself as an alcoholic because I believe I still am. I don't drink alcohol because I'm an alcoholic, just like I used to drink it because it was an alcoholic, I know. It's a thing. Anyway, addiction is something I feel like I have some experience with personally.

And 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.

care for that stuff. And the other part, I think sometimes when you say, or when someone says that they're not into social media and I'm not, I don't, it's not for me. I am, but

I'm not anti-technology. I'm talking to you right now on the Facebook account or the podcast account that you get this either audio or visual from. That's me. This is me talking to you, but but it's not

what it isn't is me scrolling through a bunch of things I'm not I guess I'm not social in that regard I'm not socially involved in it I'm involved in it as if you want to know what I think here it is that's that and I know people on social media do that too

but I don't want to know what everybody else thinks and it's like it's hard enough to say it's hard enough for me to know what I think or to even express it. And I wonder sometimes, because I made a decision a while ago to 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.

Because 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.

So 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 that impulse that they must it must be about politics I must get my thing and

and it has that addictive give me a hit give me a hit thing that I think I instinctively steer myself away from not because I'm judging you or anyone else for having it do your thing man you have your king

I don't care but it's a self-preservation for me I don't like to get drawn into that when I was drinking and damn near killed me so the impetus of being drawn into something addictive with that again

I try and avoid I mean I am very careful about it so this book having read one tenth of it I find it very compelling so do I endorse it yeah why not it's a book I endorse all books

well not all of them but I endorse the idea of reading how's that because, 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.

I 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,

I'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 people who 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.

I like digital technology. I just think that there 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 business about AI or people in general conversation about AI,

everyone's like, oh, it's SkyNet and when's it all going to happen. But you talk to a surgeon or someone in crime or genetic analysis or someone in science, scientific analytical work, which I occasionally do talk to people in those films. And the AI is amazing.

In 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 you or it can chop up

your lunch and make you a delicious sandwich. How you use the tool is very important. Are you stabby or are you sandwiches? See what I mean? So I'm not against the technology of itself. I'm not trying to villainize the technology. I'm just trying

to articulate a discomfort that I have with how the technology interacts with me. And I suppose it kicked up

because I had jet lag because I'm traveling and it became more evident to me that I would, I could I mean I can disappear for hours on a

on a, you know, a Wikipedia bowl or a Google hole 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,

or, you know, a kind of, clever set of arguments by someone who does know what they're talking about. Or, and I'm going to bring you to my fourth book because this is the book, which I'm surprised I bought. But I did. And I haven't even cracked it over yet. But I'm going to...

This is because in the bookstore, this is what I liked about it, I was in a bookstore. Actually, I was in Waterstones in Chelsea on the King's Road in London. And I was in the bookstore, and I happened to be at the philosophy section, because I was buying a biography of Schopenhauer and a biography of Spinoza,

which 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.

And the lady who worked in the bookstore rather kindly came over and said, oh, I have a book you should get if 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...

Now, 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

that 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.

this is actually a book written by someone who's well, 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 recommended and put it on my glasses because I want you to read the blurb at 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?

That is the question threaded through this vivid patchwork of philosophy. Fiction, history and memoir, a one mixture 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,

10 arguments for deleting your social media accounts right now, there's also an analogy about how cats have 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 like a coincidence. And like many detectives,

I don't like coincidences. Anyway, it comes recommended from the new statesman, the Times, and Will Self. Will Self is a British writer. Very clever. Well, he's

I 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 a clever, 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.

I 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.

And 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 but I'll be here for a few more days she brought a hat because it's cold in London she brought this black hat and she leaves it lying around I keep thinking it's the cat because the cat is black our cat

is black and it looks a bit like this hat and then I thought oh my God she hasn't made a hat out of the cat has she but she has the cat is fine and well and she would never do that actually the cat's the cat to her very friendly much, 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.

So 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 involved that it's thought-provoking and tiring in that odd way. And then I found that I couldn't relax looking at a screen

in the same way that I can relax and absorb and be awake looking at books and absorbing books. And so, I guess for this episode, which I've decided to call Book Club, codicil I haven't read any of the books I think probably some

like that um the I've read a little bit of some of them and I know a little bit about but I'm just energized by the idea of having four new books

in my life there's something about the tactile nature of it as well you know what I mean like just having a book in your hand you read it and in an ass

I don't know you don't need me to advertise books to you. I suspect most of it, most of you who listen 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.