Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

In this week’s Flightless Bird, David Farrier sets out to understand the Amish, a group of Swiss Germans slash Alsatians that chose America as their home away from home. Why does a country that embraces fast cars, fast money, and fast food also embrace the very slow-moving Amish? David discovers why back in 2000 there were only 178,000 Amish in the US, and why that number has climbed to well over 367,000 - an increase of 106%. David sits down with Susan Trollinger, a professor from the University of Dayton, to talk about Amish tourism and culture. He also talks to Misty Griffin, who wrote a book critical of the Amish called “Tears of the Silenced” and consulted on the Peacock documentary “Sins of the Amish.” She discusses why she had a terrible time being Amish and the problems she says exist in the Amish community.

Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow, Her, Lost In Translation) is an award-winning actress. Scarlett joins the Armchair Expert to discuss her experience working with Bill Murray, what it means to have an "X-Factor," and being sexualized at a young age. Scarlett and Dax talk about why some people poop their pants, working with Spike Jonze, and how difficult it was to shoot a sex scene as an A.I. character. Scarlett explains how profound the feeling of embarrassment is, how she has dealt with skin issues over the years, and her new skincare company: The Outset.

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The producers of Armchair Expert present their newest podcast venture, Race to 35. Race to 35 is co-hosted by Monica Padman and Liz Plank and focuses on Fertility. Throughout this 10 episode podcast, Monica and Liz will be going through the egg freezing process as they hit the critical age of 35. The top of each episode will check in on the two women- see how they are feeling, how their hormone shots are progressing and share their ever evolving thoughts, emotions, fears, joys, etc. The rest of each episode consists of Monica and Liz talking to people with different fertility stories and/or those who are experts in the field. We hear about fertility successes, fertility fraud, surrogacy, celebrity stories...We will hear from women who chose not to have children, hormone experts, parentage law professors and so much more. The subject of fertility usually happens behind closed doors. The goal of this podcast is to open it wide. As with all shows under the Armchair Umbrella, this show aims to remind all of us that the human struggle is universal. We hope you enjoy this race against the clock...Race to 35.

Dax and Monica talk to Armcherries! In today's episode, Armcherries tell us about a time they had an unauthorized evacuation at the gym.

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Jonathan Abrams (The Come Up) is an author and journalist. Jonathan joins the Armchair Expert to discuss why he wanted to write an oral history of hip-hop, how he became a sports writer, and who some of his all-time favorite rap artists are. Jonathan and Dax talk about which artists shaped the hip-hop landscape, what the different geographic pockets of the industry are, and how sampling influenced the progression of the genre. Jonathan explains the east vs west coast wars, why masculinity is so prevalent among some artists, and how hip-hop broke out into the mainstream.

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In this week’s Flightless Bird, David Farrier embraces the American institution of game shows. He sets out to understand how in this time of high-caliber TV, Celebrity Wheel of Fortune still manages to pull in four million ahead of shows like Dateline, Undercover Boss, and Masterchef. David joins fellow kiwi Rhys Darby as he’s invited on Celebrity Family Feud - thrilled at the idea of meeting comic, actor, author, and Emmy Award-winning talk-show host Steve Harvey. Quickly David is shocked to learn he is not only attending a taping but also going on Family Feud as part of Rhys’ Kiwi “family.” Squaring off against actor and comedian Jay Pharoah (and Jay’s actual, real family), how will Rhys Darby and David Farrier cope? Will they be crushed or come out triumphant? Who will be the best team at guessing what the average American would answer? The American team or the New Zealand imports? Be warned: This episode quite possibly makes David the most American he’s ever been.

Kevin Bacon (They/Them, City on a Hill, Footloose) is an actor. Kevin joins the Armchair Expert to discuss why he thinks Footloose had so much success, what being cool means to him, and why he decided to make the move to television. Kevin and Dax talk about what it's like to do all those interviews to promote movies, why they embraced doing commercials, and how they view playing the role of an unlikeable character. Kevin explains how he views himself in the zeitgeist of American pop culture, what he thinks about being a mentor to young actors, and how working in the horror genre is different than it used to be.

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Dax and Monica talk to Armcherries! In today's episode, Armcherries tell us about a time they were caught masturbating in an inappropriate place.

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Saul Kassin (Duped: Why Innocent People Confess) is a professor and psychologist. Saul joins the Armchair Expert to discuss why some people give false confessions in criminal investigations, what tactics law enforcement use in interrogations, and how the language of memory and inference differ. Saul and Dax talk about why some investigators object to recording the questioning of suspects, why some people offer confessions in high-profile cases, and what the optics of silence often says to the public. Saul explains why the Innocence Project only gets involved with cases with DNA evidence, how the threat of punishment can affect the outcomes of learning, and why some people are afraid to confront authority.

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This week on Flightless Bird, David Farrier sets out to explore America’s adult film industry, which has its heart in California’s San Fernando Valley. In this episode Farrier heads for a mansion in the hills of Calabasas to attend an adult film shoot, hoping to understand why Americans spend an average of 9 minutes and 44 seconds on porn sites at a time. David meets a porn director also called “David” to ask why they still have all that dialogue and plot in amongst all the sex, before chatting with porn stars Hadley and Lucas about the joys, trials, and tribulations of their unique job. At the end of the day, David sits down for 45 minutes as the actors all have sex with each other and tries to come to a conclusion about what this all means. David also meets one of the (now adult) stars of the popular 90s sitcom “Boy Meets World,” to find out why Mailand Ward decided to make a late entry to the adult film industry. They discuss her new book “Rated X” and the challenges and misconceptions of the porn world.