Paul Giamatti’s CHINWAG with Stephen Asma

🎴🎴🎴THIS IS PART 2 of Paul and Stephen’s wild time with Amy Sedaris -- which finds them debating the definition of a few choice sexual terms, discussing their love and appreciation of the grotesque, and hearing about the southern charm she’s cultivated in her home of New York City. Her thoughts on Marie Kondo’s book, which she ALSO got rid of during her great purge to raise money for Diabetes research. Explore the reasons behind Paul’s manic collection of books and why he wants a human skull. Also learn what she thinks of astrology, psychics and talking to dead people, and how she fact-checks brother David Sedaris’s stories. BONUS: Amy’s two favorite movies (both animal-themed!), and oh yeah, that time she took speed and learned to read tarot cards.  BONUS #2: Paul’s sports-phobic except for one sport - can you guess which? Hint - it’s really violent! Paul Giamatti is an award-winning actor and producer. Stephen Asma is a professor and author specializing in the philosophy of science, religion, and art.Amy Sedaris is a comedian, writer, talented crafter and actress. She appears in the Disney+ series The Mandalorian, Amazon Prime’s Somebody I Used to Know, Ghosted on Apple TV+, and the feature film Theater Camp. DISCLAIMER: THIS EPISODE WAS RECORDED PRIOR TO THE SAG STRIKE.🎴🎴🎴=========Vocab Word of the Week: KINTSUGI=========New episodes of CHINWAG drop Wednesdays for free... n(🧊)Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 YT: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

🐦🐦🐦David from Burlington, VT writes in about Paul and Stephen’s obsession with the famed Loch Ness Monster but elevates the discourse to regale us with the lore of his local lake monster, Champ.This Chinwag explores various theories on cryptids and ponders: has there been a fold in time and are these sea creatures ghostly time-jumpers from the future? Or are they from the past? What’s the famous Mansi photo?Stephen invokes Occam’s razor and for some reason Paul relates all this to the poor vision of chickens and pigeons.Don’t miss this Chinwag, it’s clucking fun!🐦🐦🐦=========Vocab Word of the Week: PROGNATHISM=========New episodes of CHINWAG drop Wednesdays for free... n(🧊)Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 YT: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

🍄🍄🍄Ever wonder about the real medicinal uses of psychedelics? Wanna hear tales from the guy who did time training in the bad trip tent at Burning Man? Paul and Stephen do, so they go to the tip of the spear - straight to Johns Hopkins’ foremost psychedelics expert, Dr. Matthew Johnson.In this mind-expanding chat, hear about Dr. Johnson’s trailblazing work to help advance the therapeutic use of psychedelics to treat depression, addiction, cancer, trauma, and PTSD.Find out how psychedelics act as lubricants to the brain to change unwanted behavior, and finally learn the difference between a heroic dose, a moderate dose, and a micro-dose! Also - what’s the deal with sensory deprivation tanks, and why do the CIA, Cary Grant, and Nazis come up? Can Paul actually sign up to be a test-subject?Settle in and relax as Paul and Stephen hold your hand on this trip through the very important and fascinating study of psychedelics! BONUS: The stoned ape theory explained! (You know you want to know!) Paul Giamatti is an award-winning actor and producer. Stephen Asma is a professor and author specializing in the philosophy of science, religion, and art.Matthew W. Johnson, Ph.D., is The Susan Hill Ward Endowed Professor of Psychedelics and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins. Working with psychedelics since 2004, he is one of the world’s most widely published experts on psychedelics. In 2021 he received the first grant in 50 years from the US government for a treatment study with a classic psychedelic, specifically psilocybin in treatment of tobacco addiction.🍄🍄🍄=========Vocab Word of the Week: HYPNAGOGIC=========🎥 CATCH A LIVE RECORDING OF CHINWAG 🎥 October 14th at MASS MoCA in North Adams, MA October 17th at the Murmrr Theatre in Brooklyn, NY 🎟️ Buy Tickets before they sell out! 🎟️=========New episodes of CHINWAG drop Wednesdays for free... n(🧊)Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 YT: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

✍🏼✍🏼✍🏼Paul and Stephen love their history, so who better for this Chinwag than brilliant essayist, author and historian, Sarah Vowell?Listen in as they contemplate the tricky business of retelling history that doesn’t live up to the current moral code. Which President is the biggest zero? The least sexy? And what did Benjamin Harrison – our 23rd president – actually do while in office? You know you want to know!All that and a front row seat to Sarah’s midlife crisis spent watching a difficult camel birth. Not enough? Well Sarah’s not into all that “woo woo stuff”, but a chance moment at the town pump in Ennis, Montana challenges her literal mind. BONUS: Sarah’s unvarnished thoughts on cowboys and why they call it a “10 gallon hat” (no one actually knows - write in and tell us your theory!)  Paul Giamatti is an award-winning actor and producer. Stephen Asma is a professor and author specializing in the philosophy of science, religion, and art.Sarah Vowell is an author, journalist, essayist, social commentator and actress. She has written seven nonfiction books on American history and culture including Assassination Vacation, The Wordy Shipmates, and The Partly Cloudy Patriot. She was also the voice of Violet in the 2004 animated film The Incredibles and its 2018 sequel.✍🏼✍🏼✍🏼=========Vocab Word of the Week: UNGULATES=========🎥 CATCH A LIVE RECORDING OF CHINWAG 🎥 October 14th at MASS MoCA in North Adams, MA October 17th at the Murmrr Theatre in Brooklyn, NY 🎟️ Buy Tickets before they sell out! 🎟️=========New episodes of CHINWAG drop Wednesdays for free... n(🧊)Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 YT: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

🧙🏻‍♂️🧙🏻‍♂️🧙🏻‍♂️Catch PART 2 of Paul and Stephen’s dip into the profoundly thoughtful mind of Mr. Stephen Colbert.Explore the power of prayer and magical thinking, the importance of unlearning what you know, and Paul and Colbert’s shared love of sci-fi, or as Stephen Asma calls it, “Gandalf and sh*t.” What’s the difference between sci-fi and fantasy, and can Lord of the Rings help process one’s grief?Tune in for musings on improvisation, zen master Amy Sedaris, and the fantastic conclusion to Colbert’s inspirational chance meeting with astronaut, Orly.Stephen Colbert is an Emmy award winning writer, performer and late night host who also loves to fish. Paul Giamatti is an award-winning actor and producer. Stephen Asma is a professor and author specializing in the philosophy of science, religion, and art.🧙🏻‍♂️🧙🏻‍♂️🧙🏻‍♂️=========A special shout out to Mary Ellen Matthews, who provided such a beautiful headshot of Mr. Colbert for the episodic artwork. More on MEM's portfolio here: https://www.instagram.com/maryellenmatthewsnyc/=========🎥 CATCH A LIVE RECORDING OF CHINWAG 🎥 October 14th at MASS MoCA in North Adams, MA October 17th at the Murmrr Theatre in Brooklyn, NY 🎟️ Buy Tickets before they sell out! 🎟️=========New episodes of CHINWAG drop Wednesdays for free... n(🧊)Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 YT: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

🐟🐟🐟Paul and Stephen get their daily dose of happiness during PART 1 of this illuminating and hilarious chat with writer, comedian, late night host, Mr. Stephen Colbert.Have you ever wondered why some spell Stephen with a V, while others with a PH? No? It’s great party fodder, trust us!Mr. Colbert captivates with his love of fishing, the evolution of the flounder, the consequences of unaddressed grief, and the religious sermon that changed him forever. Stay tuned for talk of Jungian archetypes and two transformative stories from Colbert’s Northwestern University days. Also on the docket: some causes of atheism, Paul’s affinity for contact guilt and contact sin, G.K. Chesterton and the difference between belief and faith. All this and Talking Heads make an appearance. It’s too much, yet it’s all in this week’s Chinwag! Bonus: you might’ve been saying Colbert wrong all this time.Vocab word of the week: OrthographicallyStephen Colbert is an Emmy award winning writer, performer and late night host who also loves to fish. Paul Giamatti is an award-winning actor and producer. Stephen Asma is a professor and author specializing in the philosophy of science, religion, and art.🐟🐟🐟=========And, a special shout out to Mary Ellen Matthews, who provided such a beautiful headshot of Mr. Colbert for the episodic artwork. More on MEM's portfolio here: https://www.instagram.com/maryellenmatthewsnyc/=========🎥 CATCH A LIVE RECORDING OF CHINWAG 🎥 October 14th at MASS MoCA in North Adams, MA October 17th at the Murmrr Theatre in Brooklyn, NY 🎟️ Buy Tickets before they sell out! 🎟️=========New episodes of CHINWAG drop Wednesdays for free... n(🧊)Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 YT: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

🪐🪐🪐Welcome to Paul’s happy place, discussing the ins and outs of the Hollow Earth Theory!Listen in as Paul and Stephen go deep to the chewy center of this fringe theory that the earth is not a solid sphere but a hollow shell with its own universe living within it. This is not your mama’s flat earth theory, or any of that fake moon landing stuff – welcome to the Hollow Earth.And what’s all this got to do with Nazis, UFOs, AI and the Imp of Perversity? Learn about Cyrus Teed (the hero of the hollow earth theory), and the rectilineator - a contraption he built with his cult! It’s ok - he’s in good company - Charles Manson also believed the earth was hollow. Bonus: Hear about the controversial theory that Shakespeare might not have written Shakespeare - WHAT?!? Also - sit at Paul’s knee and learn a bunch of new SAT words, like claustrophilic and chthonic (not a typo!) 🪐🪐🪐=========Vocab Chin-Word of the Week: CHTHONIC=========New episodes of CHINWAG drop Wednesdays for free... n(🧊)Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 YT: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join Paul Giamatti and Stephen Asma as they delve into the wondrous mind of master illusionist Derek DelGaudio. From exploring reality, deception, and imagination to discussing the absence of human connection in an online world, this podcast offers a captivating journey. Discover Plato's allegory of the cave and why children are more difficult to deceive than adults.

Discover the mysterious world of Thomas Edison's spirit phone and his quest to prove life after death. Dive into ghostly human voice recordings from the 1840s and explore the use of electronic devices to communicate with the dead. Reflect on the mysteries of the universe and the limited knowledge humans possess. Plus, enjoy a bonus visit from William Shatner discussing ghosts and paranormal activity.

Former NASA astronaut Mike Massimino, who overcame a fear of heights by going to space, joins Paul and Stephen to discuss space toilets, robot arms, and the importance of imagination in space exploration. They also explore topics such as the diversity of educational backgrounds among astronauts, the overview effect of being in space, and the credibility surrounding UFOs and the search for extraterrestrial life. The chapter ends with a discussion about their admiration for Radiohead and gratitude for meeting fascinating individuals.