Advertise on podcast: Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

Tara Stoinski (A Gorilla Story) is a primatologist, conservationist, and CEO and Chief Scientific Officer of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund. Tara returns to the Armchair Expert to discuss growing up outside Philadelphia, her academic path from Tufts to Oxford to Georgia Tech, and balancing motherhood with a career studying gorillas in Rwanda. Tara and Dax talk about documenting rare gorilla dominance battles, the challenges of filming endangered animals in the wild, and how gorilla social structures differ from chimpanzees. Tara explains the importance of long-term behavioral research, how early life trauma can impact animal behavior, and why strong social bonds are key to survival in both gorillas and humans.

Dax and Monica talk to Armcherries! In today's episode, Armcherries tell us a crazy twin story.

Alvin E. Roth (Moral Economics) is a Nobel Prize-winning economist, Stanford professor, and author. Alvin joins Armchair Expert to discuss growing up in Queens with two schoolteacher parents, skipping a traditional high school path to attend college at 16, and how early academic exposure shaped his curiosity about markets and human behavior. Alvin and Dax talk about pioneering kidney exchange programs that have saved thousands of lives, the surprising ways incentives influence behavior in everyday systems, and how market design applies to everything from matching students to schools to allocating scarce resources. Alvin explains the difference between repugnance and disgust in economics, why some markets are morally contested yet necessary, and why solving complex social issues requires designing better systems rather than relying on good intentions alone. Take printer ink off your to-do list with HP Smart Tank | hp.com/SmartTank Check Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds: https://www.allstate.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Tom Pelphrey (Task, Ozark, Love and Death) is an Emmy-winning actor and mental health advocate. He joins Armchair Expert to discuss growing up in New Jersey near the Shore, the impact of his intense high school acting teacher, and how he maintains lifelong childhood friendships. Tom and Dax talk about early success colliding with addiction, the relentless pace of daytime television, and rebuilding a life through sobriety. Tom explains why tying identity to achievement can be dangerous, how awareness unlocks real change, and why fatherhood is the ultimate ego reset. Take printer ink off your to-do list with HP Smart Tank | hp.com/SmartTank Check Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds: https://www.allstate.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Dax and Monica talk to Armcherries! In today's episode, Armcherries tell us about a time they were scammed. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Rachel Zoffness (Tell Me Where It Hurts: The New Science of Pain and How to Heal) is a psychologist, pain scientist, and author. Rachel joins the Armchair Expert to discuss why she was drawn to pain in her early neuroscience studies, the most pressing question regarding pain being made in the brain, and how a pain psychologist is like a used car salesman. Rachel and Dax talk about the biopsychosocial factors that contribute to pain, definitive psychological origins of phantom limb syndrome, and the sensory map on our brain called the cortical homunculus. Rachel explains the tale of two nails, compelling evidence that pain and physical damage are not the same, and why data we give the brain that amplifies danger will also amplify pain. Take printer ink off your to-do list with HP Smart Tank | hp.com/SmartTank Check Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds: https://www.allstate.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jennie Garth (I Choose Me, 90210, What I Like About You) is an award-winning actor and author. Jennie joins the Armchair Expert to discuss her vegan journey, being discovered in a pageant and moving to LA to work as an actor, and the recent experience of watching herself in Beverly Hills, 90210 for the first time. Jennie and Dax talk about how tense dynamics between their characters began to seep into real life, what it means for her to have been ‘born blue,’ and the layered, heartbreaking connection she had to Luke Perry. Jennie explains how having kids young saved her life amid the industry, having her stomach pumped at the end of her marriage, and healing through Buddhism and learning to care for herself after a near-divorce. Take printer ink off your to-do list with HP Smart Tank | hp.com/SmartTank Check Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds: https://www.allstate.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Dax and Monica talk to Armcherries! In today's episode, Armcherries tell us about a really bad date. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Emily & Matt Hyland (Emily, Pizza Loves Emily, Emmy Squared Pizza) are restaurateurs and authors, with Matt a Michelin-recognized chef and culinary creator, and Emily an educator, poet, and mindful movement teacher. Emily and Matt join the Armchair Expert to discuss meeting when Emily was Matt’s college RA, how yoga has been one of the biggest through lines in Emily’s life, and their favorite pizza’s favorite pizza. Matt, Emily, and Dax talk about when THE burger entered the scene, how a difficulty to compartmentalize working together caused their relationship to break down, and the underlying friction that resulted from conflating her identity with his food. Emily and Matt explain getting divorced after opening a restaurant based on their love story, how through therapeutic work healing their dynamic as partners after each remarrying, and the clarity that came from an arrest and a restraining order during a really dark moment. Take printer ink off your to-do list with HP Smart Tank | hp.com/SmartTank Check Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds: https://www.allstate.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Nikki Glaser (Good Girl, Golden Globes, Alive and Unwell Tour) is an Emmy, Grammy, and Golden Globe-nominated comedian and television host. Nikki returns to the Armchair Expert to discuss not wanting to miss out on something because she’s afraid of looking stupid, why she wants another shot at Dancing with the Stars, and receiving self esteem from helping out. Nikki and Dax talk about pulling up to Hollywood tour buses to give them a little thrill, being so out of the loop as a result of comment sobriety, and her take on online incel culture. Nikki explains how being a hater can provide a form of bonding, why she doesn’t actually want people to watch her specials, and the pressure of aesthetic expectations attached to having money as a woman in entertainment. Take printer ink off your to-do list with HP Smart Tank | hp.com/SmartTank Check Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds: https://www.allstate.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Dax and Monica talk to Armcherries! In today's episode, Armcherries tell us a crazy spring break story. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Michael Pollan (A World Appears: A Journey Into Consciousness) is a science and environmental journalist. Michael returns to the Armchair Expert to discuss why choosing surrender is liberating in both psychedelics and life, what the “hard problem” of consciousness is and how we get to it, and how sentience serves homeostasis in living beings. Michael and Dax talk about asking what the world would be like without consciousness, the remarkable fact that plants can see, hear, and fight, and experimental evidence via the ginger test that disgust originates in the gut. Michael explains the qualitative redness of red, that there’s so much more going on in consciousness besides computation, and what strange places to visit our minds are.  Take printer ink off your to-do list with HP Smart Tank | hp.com/SmartTank Check Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds: https://www.allstate.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ike Barinholtz (Artificial, Funny You Ask, The Studio) is an award-winning actor, writer, and comedian. Ike returns to the Armchair Expert to discuss the agony and the ecstasy of colonoscopy prep, how all his winning has changed his personality, and what a great group he gets to work with on The Studio. Ike and Dax talk about his crying triggers as he nears 50, why he made the decision not to try standup comedy, and how the idea hit him for his new podcast. Ike explains why everyone loves to answer questions, living his fantasy as a Jeopardy writer, and his adorable obsession with capybaras. Take printer ink off your to-do list with HP Smart Tank | hp.com/SmartTank. Check Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds: https://www.allstate.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Dax and Monica talk to Armcherries! In today's episode, Armcherries tell us a crazy story. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

David Sussillo (Emergence: A Memoir of Boyhood, Computation, and the Mysteries of Mind) is a technologist, neuroscientist, and professor at Stanford University. David joins the Armchair Expert to discuss growing up with two parents that were addicts, experiencing extreme poverty throughout his childhood, and the joy of finding a best friend during that time. David and Dax talk about how the immersion and rules of video games amid the chaos of his life became the precursor to his research today, ending up in a series of group foster homes for several years, and his dream of going to college functioning as a protective shield for his future self. David explains being orphaned by the living while in foster care, the elation of receiving a full ride to Carnegie Mellon to study computer science, and the deep learning neural network research he now leads at Stanford. Check Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds: https://www.allstate.com/ Head to turbotax.com to find a store location near you and get matched with a TurboTax expert — with real-time updates in the iOS app. This episode is sponsored by AppleTV. Learn more at: https://tinyurl.com/mr2caw2c See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.