Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.

: Does it deaden your sex life to participate in a sex study? That’s just one of the questions host Kelly Corrigan tosses out to best-selling author Mary Roach in a quest to find out whether it’s really better to know more about everything. No topic is off limits as Roach and Corrigan roam through sex and death, oysters and martinis, and meeting the “Other” with an open heart. Along the way, they discover just a few of the ways human life can have meaning.

Mary Roach is an award-winning science writer who has produced nothing but bestsellers since she hit the scene with “Stiff” in 2003.

The greatest human kindness amid the worst human atrocities—that’s what Kristof says he’s witnessed in more than three decades as a reporter around the globe. Kristof could have every reason to be cynical, but he believes in the value of every act of compassion, no matter how small. Probing the nature of hope with host Kelly Corrigan, Kristof offers a grounded, rationale view of the vast realm of human potential.

A skeptical outlook on everything fosters an honest recalibration of how things really are versus how people think they are, says the author and actor from “The Office,” and that creates comedy. Novak and host Kelly Corrigan dig into how dark comedy can bring people face-to-face with an ugly truth, and dish on Hollywood, but the surprise is Novak’s insight into the visceral nature of comedic truth.

How do we forgive the people we don’t like? Writer Anne Lamott doesn’t pretend she knows the answer to one of the toughest questions humanity faces, but, then, it turns out she kind of does. Lamott and host Kelly Corrigan drop wisdom as they trade stories about compassion, empathy, growing older and doing love. Through it all spill the honesty, hilarity and transparent self-awareness that have made both women best-selling authors.

Innovation is not a solo act, says the founder of the Aspen Institute and biographer of Steve Jobs and Albert Einstein. Isaacson confesses that even many biographers participate in the mythology of the lone inventor, struck by a bolt of lightning. But that’s not how it really is, he tells host Kelly Corrigan, as they range over everything from how Ada Lovelace prefigured the personal computer to how to cultivate our imagination.

Optimistic, pragmatic and multi-talented, actor and screenwriter Jason Segel is convinced that every person has moments of magic, when possibilities from the future nudge our hearts. Segel and host Kelly Corrigan talk about choosing to stick to something when you aren’t very good at it. For anyone who imagines taking flight, Segel is air under your wings.

Funny and insightful, the iconic novelist muses on visions of human life a century from now, reflects on the meaning of bioengineering, and tells tales of growing up in the wilderness of Canada where there was literally, she says, nothing there. From first to last, Atwood’s directness and humanity leave you with a sense of peering into a future both dark and hopeful.

That demonic inner critic who drives you crazy? Musician Matt Nathanson assures us that, not only do we all face down the naysayer, there may even be a role for pessimism. Host Kelly Corrigan and Nathanson trade stories about what keeps them chipping away at making art, and offer up a survival manual for arguing with a spouse. Hint: it involves a 5-year-old.

Creativity requires a space where nothing much is happening, says the iconic British comedian. Cleese offers his recipe for getting out of ruts, defines humor, and serves up some ingeniously bad behavior, leaving host Kelly Corrigan both dumbfounded and delighted.