BONUS EPISODE with Isabel Wilkerson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and the author of The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration and Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. Isabel joins the Armchair Expert to discuss caste systems in the United States, the patterns of regression in civil rights in this country and giving someone the basic benefit of the doubt. She explains assumptions of competence, how embedded assumptions are and that caste systems aren’t only about race.

Isabel Wilkerson

Hi, Dax Shepard here. I’m fascinated by smart people with a unique point of view. On this show, I leverage people’s vague awareness of me as an actor to talk with a bunch of bona fide experts.  It’s a soothing mix of brain candy and defensive humor (my response to feeling intellectually outclassed). Join me on a layman’s journey through the Land of Specialists!

Education

Training

Language Courses

Higher Education

K-12

Educational Technology

Comedy

Tara Stoinski is a primatologist and President, CEO and Chief Scientific Officer for the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund. Tara joins the Armchair Expert to discuss studying gorillas for more than two decades, her desire work with animals from a young age, and how ecotourism in Africa is helping the conservation efforts and the local economy. Tara explains gorilla mating rituals and communication tactics, the new technology they use to study and collect data on primates, and how gorillas have an effect on global climate change. Tara also talks about losing her husband to cancer and how she threw herself into her work to help cope with the trauma.

Tara Stoinski

Barry Meier (Spooked, Pain Killer) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and a former New York Times journalist. Barry joins the Armchair Expert to discuss investigating the opioid crisis, how Big Pharma played a role in perpetuating the problem, and the depths in which people will go to make money on people’s addictions.  Barry and Dax talk about the modern-day private spy industry, news media bias, and how the spread of misinformation has shaped the political landscape. Barry explains how spy companies use digital tactics to acquire information, how phone hacking has become harder and harder to police around the world, and that the use of dirty tactics in private espionage is being solicited more frequently.

Barry Meier

Chris Bosh is an eleven-time All-Star, two-time NBA champion, and an Olympic gold medalist. Chris joins the Armchair Expert to talk about growing up in Dallas, what it was like being 6’ 11” in high school, and going to Robotics Club before basketball practice. Chris and Dax discuss young athletes learning how to manage their money, winning championships with your friends, and how much they both love Austin.  Chris talks about being forced into early retirement because of health issues, finding a new identity outside of basketball, and writing his first book, “Letters to a Young Athlete.”

Chris Bosh

Bubba Wallace is a professional stock car racing driver in the NASCAR Cup Series. Bubba joins the Armchair Expert to talk about growing up in North Carolina, learning to race in his Dad’s go-kart, and how he was more interested in playing basketball as a kid. Dax and Bubba discuss the mental strength needed to be a race car driver, the Confederate flag being banned by NASCAR, and becoming an activist for cultural change in his sport. Bubba talks about having Michael Jordan as his new boss, wanting to be known more for winning races, and being tougher on himself than anyone else.

Bubba Wallace

Susan Stryker is a professor, author, filmmaker, and theorist whose work focuses on gender and human sexuality. Susan joins the Armchair Expert to discuss the transgender experience in today’s modern world, consulting on the Lady and the Dale docuseries, and how transgender hate is rooted in racism, colonization, and oppression. Susan and Dax talk about the history of criminalization of non-reproductive sexuality, the cross-cultural view of transgender people, and what transmisogyny means. Susan and Dax debate how people should approach transgender Olympic athletes, beliefs about masculinity, and what actually gives an athlete an advantage.

Isabel Wilkerson

Download our free app to listen on your phone