"David Duchovny"
The hosts talk with David Duchovny about his path from top-tier academic studies in English literature at Princeton and Yale to a multifaceted creative career as an actor, novelist, screenwriter, musician, and director. Duchovny describes how his family's literary background shaped his love of reading and writing, his early acting experiences and commercial work, the rise of The X-Files and its global impact, and his later work in music and fiction. They also discuss the challenges of reading discipline, managing multiple creative pursuits, fandom around The X-Files, and Duchovny's thoughts on the likelihood of extraterrestrial life.
SYSK's 2025 Shocktober Halloween Spooktacular
Josh and Chuck present their annual ad-free Halloween Spooktacular by reading and lightly commenting on two public-domain horror stories. First they perform E.F. Benson's "Caterpillars," about a haunted Italian villa, grotesque luminous caterpillars, and a possible supernatural link to cancer. Then they read Allison B. Harding's science-fiction tale "The Deep Drowse," in which a writer and his wife survive a mysterious global sleep catastrophe thanks to an air-sealed room, only for animals to inherit the Earth.
A Question-Asker Becomes a Question-Answerer
In this feed-drop conversation from Design Matters, Stephen J. Dubner talks with Debbie Millman about his life, from a turbulent religious upbringing and early encouragement from a beloved teacher to his time in a rock band and eventual career as a writer and podcaster. They explore how inhabiting two faith traditions shaped his views on identity and belief, the power of curiosity, the making and impact of Freakonomics, his struggles with hero worship and anonymity, and his evolving thinking on creativity, confidence, and the human side of economics.
TED Talks Daily Book Club: How to Be Free: A Proven Guide to Escaping Life's Hidden Prisons | Shaka Senghor
Host Elise Hu interviews Shaka Senghor about his new book "How to Be Free: A Proven Guide to Escaping Life's Hidden Prisons," which draws on his journey from childhood trauma and 19 years of incarceration to personal transformation. Senghor explains his concepts of "hidden prisons" like grief, shame, guilt, anger, and unworthiness, and shares practices such as gratitude, forgiveness, journaling, vulnerability, and presence as keys to freedom. He also discusses masculinity, mentoring young men, his work with incarcerated people, and how embracing joy and hope coexist with accountability for past harm.
TIP757: Richer, Wiser, Happier Q3 2025 w/ Stig Brodersen & William Green
Host Stig Brodersen and co-host William Green have a wide-ranging quarterly Richer, Wiser, Happier discussion on universal truths, money and happiness, and the role of books and teachers in living well. They explore epistemic humility, cultural and psychological differences in values, and how these insights apply to investing decisions. They also examine research on income and happiness, how wealth can and cannot improve life, and share their own reading habits and spiritual influences that shape their thinking about how to live.
TECH002: Jensen Huang & NVIDIA w/ Seb Bunney - Review of The Thinking Machine by Stephen Witt
The episode is a book-club style discussion of Stephen Witt's "The Thinking Machine," focusing on how NVIDIA evolved from a niche gaming graphics company into a central player in the AI revolution. Preston and Seb trace the technical and strategic milestones behind NVIDIA's rise-parallel processing, GPUs, CUDA, and neural networks-while examining Jensen Huang's leadership style, culture-building, and obsession with speed and iteration. They also touch on the implications and risks of AI, Huang's reluctance to address them directly, and preview their next book on OpenAI and Sam Altman.
#611 - Louis C.K.
Theo Von talks with Louis C.K. about performing edgy stand-up in different kinds of venues, parenting, childhood neglect, race and taboo language, and the creative process behind Louis's novel "Ingram". They explore the American literary voice, the evolution of language, and broader cultural issues like polarization, social media addiction, and technology's physical footprint. A large part of the conversation centers on Louis's public downfall, his struggles with sex and pornography addiction, 12‑step recovery, and how confronting his own failures has reshaped his life, work, and friendship with Theo.