Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

Dax and Monica talk to Armcherries! In today's episode, Armcherries tell us about a time they made the news.

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Jake Tapper (All the Demons are Here, The Devil May Dance) is a journalist, news anchor, and author. Jake joins the Armchair Expert to discuss his thoughts on Evel Knievel, what going to summer camps as a kid was like, and how he originally wanted to be a cartoonist. Jake and Dax talk about his path to journalism, what lessons can be learned from failing, and the difficulties in being a political centrist. Jake explains why he loves thrillers, how he does research for his own novels, and the biggest movie he's ever been in.

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Elizabeth Banks (Cocaine Bear, The Beanie Bubble) is an actor, producer, and director. Elizabeth returns to the Armchair Expert to discuss her feelings about using AI in film, what her experience doing a USO tour was like, and her approach as a director. Elizabeth and Dax explain the party game Empire, their thoughts on the Beanie Babies phenomenon, and if they would ever want to go back to college. Elizabeth explains her obsession with her kids' futures, how she views open romantic relationships, and why she loves when people compliment each other.

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Dax and Monica talk to Armcherries! In today's episode, Armcherries tell us about a prank gone wrong.

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Neil Theise (Notes on Complexity) is a diagnostic pathologist, stem cell biologist, and complexity theorist. Neil joins the Armchair Expert to discuss the principles of complexity theory, the way it works at different levels of scale, and how it differs from chaos theory. Neil and Dax talk about emergent self-organization, how randomness encourages change, and negative feedback loops. Neil explains the importance of your microbiome, how the universe is an endless unfolding range of possibilities, and how he learned to fear a lot less.

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An update on Flightless Bird! David explains to Monica and Rob why he’s had to take flight to New Zealand. Defeated by the US healthcare system and his bad health insurance plan, David has temporarily returned to Aotearoa, New Zealand for some minor back surgery! This has disrupted the usual smooth flow of making the show, so for July and August, Flightless Bird will arrive fortnightly instead of weekly.

Michael Shannon (George and Tammy, Nocturnal Animals, Boardwalk Empire) is an Academy Award-nominated actor. Michael joins the Armchair Expert to discuss what he thinks about non-alcoholic beers, how theater became a refuge for him, and what shooting a movie in a real prison was like. Michael and Dax talk about who their favorite jazz musicians are, the dynamics of having a stepdad, and how they approach taking on different roles in movies. Michael discusses being fired from an acting job, how he feels about country music, and his experience raising daughters.

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Dax and Monica talk to Armcherries! In today's episode, Armcherries tell us about their craziest fraternity/sorority stories.

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Valerie Fridland (Like, Literally, Dude) is a professor, sociolinguist, and author. Valerie joins the Armchair Expert to discuss why people dislike the word "moist" so much, how accents are a part of social identity, and where modern English developed from. Valerie and Dax talk about what language prescriptivism is, the issues people have with the use of "like," and how discourse markers in language are used. Valerie explains what linguistic tricks people use to fit in with popular culture, what it means when words go through semantic bleaching, and what the original meaning of the word "dude" was.

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This week on Flightless Bird, David Farrier sets out to investigate what the heck is going on with Independence Day, one of America’s 11 officially mandated holidays. What makes this day so American and how is he meant to spend it? To learn about Independence Day the day, Farrier turns to Independence Day the movie. Farrier talks to film critic David Chen of DecodingEverything.com to find out what made this film so patriotic it was literally named after the 4th of July. Farrier then tracks down Phil Grucci, President and CEO of “Fireworks by Grucci” - America’s so-called “First Family of Fireworks”. Grucci’s company holds the Guinness World Record for the "Largest Fireworks Display" ever recorded and he educates David about why fireworks are practically baked into the Declaration of Independence.