Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

Jason Segel (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, How I Met Your Mother, Freaks And Geeks) is an actor, comedian, screenwriter, author, and producer. Jason joins the Armchair Expert to discuss his relationship with writing, how anxious he gets about making decisions that will affect his life, and how he’s only comfortable between action and cut. Dax and Jason learn that they are identical twins separated by 5 years, they bond over the “piece of shit at the center of the universe” phenomenon and share the same existential crisis.

Zeus walks among us, and today we honor him with a commercial-free replay of our celestial chat.

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

Best friend Aaron Weakley visits, Thanksgiving strategizing, and a love letter to olive oil.

Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman, An Education, The Great Gatsby) is an Academy Award-nominated actress. Carey joins the Armchair Expert to discuss her parents’ fear of her pursuing acting, landing Pride & Prejudice as her first role, and the benefits of having anonymity in the first few years of her career. Carey admits how stressful it is for her to have to be funny or sing on stage, how she met her husband in camp when they were kids, and her new movie, Promising Young Woman. In the fact check, Dax gives a TedTalk on diesel fuel.

Robert Livingston is a social psychologist at the Harvard Kennedy School, he studies the science underlying implicit bias and racism. Robert joins the Armchair Expert to discuss the science behind racism, how to synthesize and assemble it into something people can digest, and the ways to make profound and sustainable change around it. Robert explains his P.R.E.S.S. model, how empathy is the most important part of it, and the difference between equality and equity.

Jethro Bovingdon and Rob Corddry join the Armchair Expert to discuss all things Top Gear America. The group explains the prestige of the Top Gear brand, how high the bar was going into the new iteration, and Jethro explains how his job is mostly stopping Dax & Rob from doing weird bits. They discuss the competitiveness between Jethro & Dax, Rob’s personal arc over the last year on the show, and Jethro answers questions from the group about English people.

In this episode, we discover a weigh-in discrepancy, learn more about Aaron & Charlie’s eating habits, someone has an accident, and Monica double fists two bottles of wine.

Justin Timberlake (Palmer, Trolls, The Social Network) is a 10x Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter, a 3x Emmy award-winning actor and record producer. Justin joins the Armchair Expert to discuss masculinity, the similarities of growing up in Memphis to Detroit, and the challenges of raising sons. Dax & Justin recount Justin’s experience on Punk’d, how well he has navigated new opportunities, and the role naivety has played in it. Dax compliments Justin on his SNL performance, his willingness to take on challenges and his acting in the movie, Palmer.

Jamil Zaki (The War for Kindness) is a professor of psychology at Stanford University and the director of the Stanford Social Neuroscience Lab. Jamil joins the Armchair Expert to discuss all things empathy: why he was drawn to the topic, the roadblocks of it, the erosion of empathy and how to get it back. He explains the different types of empathy (emotional, cognitive, and empathic concern), the impact it has on motivation in the workplace, and how self-compassion is a bridge to having compassion for others. Jamil expresses how empathy leads to a healthier mental and physical state and the importance of tuning your empathy towards who you want to be.

In this episode, we meet the contestants: Perfect 10 Charlie (230lbs) and Best Friend Aaron Weakley (306lbs). The colorful history of their physiques, rules of engagement and week 1 results will be revealed!

Welcome to Race to 270– Armchair Expert’s first game show! Two competitors, Best friend Aaron Weakley and Perfect 10 Charlie, are on a race to see who can reach 270 pounds first. Aaron starts out the competition at 306 pounds and has 36 pounds to lose. Charlie starts at 230 pounds and has 40 pounds to gain. The winner will receive $5,000! Dax and Monica check-in with the competitors each week to track their progress and chat about life, Chinese food and everything in between. Let the games begin.

Common (Mind Power Mixtape, A Beautiful Revolution Pt 1, Hell on Wheels) is a rapper, actor, and writer. Common joins the Armchair Expert to discuss learning to love process, the value of character, and having gratitude for the moment. Common explains how he found strength in individualism and how grateful he is to finally be able to do the things he loves without the pressures of their monetary performance. Dax and Common bond over their parallel lives: their love of Pulp Fiction and Barack Obama, not having masculine figures in their lives, and disastrous first podcast interviews with a significant other. Best friend Aaron Weakley returns for the fact check and Dax & Aaron recount Dax’s worst smelling fart on the school bus.

David Farrier exposes Monica and Dax to a new conspiracy theory each month. Today’s episode: Bigfoot.

Brad Grossman is an author, entrepreneur, and creator of the Zeitguide’s Culture Class. Brad joins the Armchair Expert to discuss his role as a culture guide and how he seeks out all the interesting information in the world and synthesizes it for his students.  Brad explains the inspiring ways companies and individuals are pivoting in order to connect to consumers, how covid has been a magnifier to our systemic problems, and the ways it will help us reboot our sense of humanity. Dax and Brad explore what’s going to happen in 2021, the need to dismantle archaic systems and tweak them in a way that’s more sustainable to humanity.Go to Zeitguide.com and use code “ARMCHERRIES” for 50% off Brad’s first culture class of the year.

Randy Jackson (Name that Tune, American Idol) is a world-renowned musician, record producer, A&R executive, and founder of Unify Health Labs. Randy joins the Armchair Expert to discuss being a child in the deep south in the 60s, how he got started playing music, and his desire to live his life through music. He discusses his journey as a studio musician to an A&R executive, the ingredients that make up a star, and his vision of American Idol as the A&R process completely unfolded. Randy and Dax bond over the sexual power of Van Hunt and Dax pleads a defense to jazz-fusion.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta is the first three-peat Armchair Expert guest and an American neurosurgeon, medical reporter, CNN medical correspondent, and author. Sanjay, fresh off receiving his covid-19 vaccination, joins the Armchair Expert to discuss how much we’ve learned this year about human behavior. Sanjay explains the evolution of neurogenesis and why cognitive decline is not inevitable. The two discuss that in order to heal the body you have to heal the mind, the importance of building the resiliency of your brain, and the power exercise has on it. Dax tells Sanjay about Monica’s psilocybin experience and Sanjay tells us that the best thing you can do for your brain is to take a brisk walk with a friend and discuss your problems.

Jackie Tohn (Glow, Best Leftovers Ever, CHiPs) is an actress and musician. Jackie joins the Armchair Expert to discuss getting into acting in New York at nine-years-old, how she and Kristen became best friends and how being a boundaries-less person has affected her relationships. Jackie opens up about her past boyfriends and how they’ve all become megastars, how much her mom gave up in order to make her dreams come true, and how self-awareness is what separates the assholes from the non-assholes. Jackie explains how she landed a hosting role on Netflix’s Best Leftover’s Ever while Dax explains the cup full of urine in the attic.

On this special episode, we revisit some of our favorite moments from 2020.

Join us for our annual holiday party featuring remote guests Josh Gad, Leslie Odom Jr., Emmy Raver-Lampman, Bob Mervak and Kristen Bell.