Paul Giamatti’s CHINWAG with Stephen Asma

🌒🌒🌒 Ever since they tackled the hollow earth, Paul and Stephen have wanted to talk about weird moon conspiracy theories. Was the Apollo moon landing faked or was it really a movie set? Why does the American flag appear to be flapping on a windless moon? Where was Neil Armstrong’s camera in that famed picture and what about those eyewitness accounts of Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin playing the slots in Las Vegas? And then there’s filmmaker Stanley Kubrick’s interview with T. Patrick Murray that cast doubt on the whole thing. Then, Stephen digs into the historical context of the moon and tells of a Syrian named Lucian who imagined a civilization of people on the moon who were at war with folks who lived on the sun! And then the centaurs come in! German astronomer Johannes Kepler and the Copernican view get a mention, ice on the moon, folklore connections from different cultures, legends like the Zulu story of reptilian men bringing the moon to Earth, and yes of course - hollow moon theories are explored. Chin-term of the week: LUNAR PAREIDOLIA 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. 🌒🌒🌒 ========= 🚨🚨🚨 LIVE CHINWAG TAPINGS ANNOUNCED 🚨🚨🚨 CHINWAG is coming to a city near you! Los Angeles on Tuesday May 14th ➡ https://chinwagpod.fm/losangeles Portland on Thursday May 16th ➡ https://chinwagpod.fm/portland Seattle on Friday April 17th ➡ https://chinwagpod.fm/seattle 🎟️ 🎟️ 🎟️ 🎟️ ========= Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm ========= Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

⭐️📬🌎 Deep into the Chinwag Mailbag we go! Caroline writes about an incredible near-death experience that’s left her feeling like a ghost in her own life. Then, how almost dying can alter religious convictions and spiritual reality, DMT, the Bahá’í faith, and Victor Hugo! 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. ⭐️📬🌎 ========= 🚨🚨🚨 LIVE CHINWAG TAPINGS ANNOUNCED 🚨🚨🚨 CHINWAG is coming to a city near you! Los Angeles on Tuesday May 14th ➡ https://chinwagpod.fm/losangeles Portland on Thursday May 16th ➡ https://chinwagpod.fm/portland Seattle on Friday April 17th ➡ https://chinwagpod.fm/seattle ========= Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm ========= Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

⚾️⚾️⚾️ Part 2 of Paul and Stephen’s Chinwag turns to the religion of baseball with writer, comedian and passionate fan, Alex Edelman. If Paul is gonna talk sports, it’s bound to be about its spiritual pull and ability to expand space and time. They’ll get into all of it: superstition, Mark “the Bird” Fidrych, the legendary Bart Giamatti, George Grella, how “home” is a concept and not a translatable word. Then, baseball as a pastoral game and touchstone of American roots, and why the sound of baseball’s distinct silence on the radio is akin to a religious experience. Later, NASCAR and its roots in moonshine, hockey, boxing, bullfighting, and why sports today are like Bravo Housewives. All this, and the harrowing story of the time Paul saw The Palio, the legendary horse race in Siena. Chin-word of the week: SISYPHEAN 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. Alex Edelman is a writer and comedian whose acclaimed Broadway one-man show Just For Us is now streaming on HBO Max. ⚾️⚾️⚾️ ========= 🚨🚨🚨 LIVE CHINWAG TAPINGS ANNOUNCED 🚨🚨🚨 CHINWAG is coming to a city near you! Los Angeles on Tuesday May 14th ➡ https://chinwagpod.fm/losangeles Portland on Thursday May 16th ➡ https://chinwagpod.fm/portland Seattle on Friday April 17th ➡ https://chinwagpod.fm/seattle 🎟️ 🎟️ 🎟️ 🎟️ ========= Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm ========= Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

💬🛸🩻 We’re diving back into the Chinwag Mailbag! Billy C. wants to know how Paul would like to see UFOs portrayed in films. Should paranormal encounters be big and fantastical, or what about - no special effects at all? Then, Paul’s got some obscure film recommendations and of course, Betty and Barney Hill, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky make an appearance. Next, Chip writes in with a story about what happened in the ER after President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. And somehow we’re onto Plato and off to the Chinwag races! Don’t forget to Wag On! 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. 💬🛸🩻 ========= 🚨🚨🚨 LIVE CHINWAG TAPINGS ANNOUNCED 🚨🚨🚨 CHINWAG is coming to a city near you! Los Angeles on Tuesday May 14th ➡ https://chinwagpod.fm/losangeles Portland on Thursday May 16th ➡ https://chinwagpod.fm/portland Seattle on Friday April 17th ➡ https://chinwagpod.fm/seattle ========= Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm ========= Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

🦈🦈🦈 Paul and Stephen welcome brilliant writer and comedian Alex Edelman for a deep chinwag on spirituality, religion, improvisation, and paranormal leanings. Listen as they dive right in with why the CIA should use Baby Shark in its interrogation program, the importance and virtue of repetition in the process of joke writing, the Socratic method in comedy, and how AI and Chat GPT will affect the future of humor. The conversation then turns to Romanian religious historian Mircea Eliade and the importance and need for rigor in religion. Then, the disappointing physical location of Armageddon, Jewish belief in an afterlife, why murder is mentioned in the commandments, and Alex’s biggest Judaism pet peeve. 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. Alex Edelman is a writer and comedian whose acclaimed Broadway one-man show Just For Us is now streaming on HBO Max. 🦈🦈🦈 ========= 🚨🚨🚨 LIVE CHINWAG TAPINGS ANNOUNCED 🚨🚨🚨 CHINWAG is coming to a city near you! Los Angeles on Tuesday May 14th ➡ https://chinwagpod.fm/losangeles Portland on Thursday May 16th ➡ https://chinwagpod.fm/portland Seattle on Friday April 17th ➡ https://chinwagpod.fm/seattle 🎟️ 🎟️ 🎟️ 🎟️ ========= Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm ========= Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

📖🫱🏽‍🫲🏾👽 We’re diving into the Chinwag Mailbag! Paul in Australia writes to Paul and Stephen with a topic of biblical proportion! He brings to Chinwag the theory known as Paleocontact, which states that our ancient ancestors experienced contact with other non-terrestrial civilizations. Do ancient texts support the idea that paleocontact goes back to the Bible? Then, Chinwag listeners have asked, so behold, a peak at Paul and Stephen’s favorite sci-fi novelists. Piers Anthony, Ursula K. Le Guin, Philip K. Dick, Arthur C. Clarke, and so many more! Get waggin’ Waggers! Chin-word of the week: HERMENEUTICS 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. 📖🫱🏽‍🫲🏾👽 ========= 🚨🚨🚨 LIVE CHINWAG TAPINGS ANNOUNCED 🚨🚨🚨 CHINWAG is coming to a city near you! Los Angeles on Tuesday May 14th ➡ https://chinwagpod.fm/losangeles Portland on Thursday May 16th ➡ https://chinwagpod.fm/portland Seattle on Friday April 17th ➡ https://chinwagpod.fm/seattle ========= Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm ========= Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

🐒🐒🐒 Paul and Stephen are thrilled to talk Bigfoot with acclaimed actor Jesse Eisenberg who stars in the fantastic new movie Sasquatch Sunset. Sasquatch Sunset is an unprecedented look at a year in the life of a family of Sasquatches, as they forage, mate, and hope to find others like them in the forest. What do Sasquatches do in private, and how do our stories and beliefs about Bigfoot relate to the thoughts of our ancestors? Then, Jesse details the day he spent with the smartest animal in the world, a 43-year-old Bonobo monkey named Kanzi who lives in an ape initiative in Des Moines, Iowa. Evidently, there was plenty of incredible Bonobo behavior on display, including a lot of explicit, quick sex. Then, the physical achievement of capturing the Bigfoot strut, going to Sasquatch boot camp, and learning the “language” (OK, just 10 words). What’s the purpose of wondering about Sasquatch, what does its myth represent to our species, and how does Sasquatch relate to the definition and function of monsters in our society? Wag on Waggers - there’s prime Chinwag material afoot! 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. Jesse Eisenberg is a talented actor and writer who’s appeared in such films as The Squid and the Whale, Adventureland, Zombieland, The Social Network, Now You See Me, and Batman V. Superman. His latest movie is the Sundance hit Sasquatch Sunset - go see it! Note: Headshot for this week's cover art is courtesy of Wikipedia under the (CC) license. 🐒🐒🐒 ========= 🚨🚨🚨 LIVE CHINWAG TAPINGS ANNOUNCED 🚨🚨🚨 CHINWAG is coming to a city near you! Los Angeles on Tuesday May 14th ➡ https://chinwagpod.fm/losangeles Portland on Thursday May 16th ➡ https://chinwagpod.fm/portland Seattle on Friday April 17th ➡ https://chinwagpod.fm/seattle ========= Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm ========= Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

🎭👻👯‍♂️ The origin story of Paul and Justin Theroux’s friendship, formed 30 years ago while messing around backstage and onstage in a depressing Chekhov play. Justin’s memory is razor sharp and deep, and he shares the moment Paul first experienced fame after his breakout appearance as Pig Vomit in Howard Stern’s Private Parts. Also, theaters are spooky places and Justin reminds Paul of the eerie ghost (with a woman’s enormous bloody head!) that may or may not have found a home in that Chekhov theater. 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. Justin Theroux is an actor, producer, director and screenwriter who’ll next be appearing in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the long-awaited sequel to Beetlejuice. 🎭👻👯‍♂️ ========= 🚨🚨🚨 LIVE CHINWAG TAPINGS ANNOUNCED 🚨🚨🚨 CHINWAG is coming to a city near you! Los Angeles on Tuesday May 14th ➡ https://chinwagpod.fm/losangeles Portland on Thursday May 16th ➡ https://chinwagpod.fm/portland Seattle on Friday April 17th ➡ https://chinwagpod.fm/seattle 🎟️ 🎟️ 🎟️ 🎟️ ========= Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm ========= Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

🧘🏻‍♂️🧘🏻‍♂️🧘🏻‍♂️ Paul and Stephen are joined by Paul’s old friend, perpetually youthful actor and screenwriter Justin Theroux. Learn all you ever wanted to know about the Oakwoods temporary housing in LA from former inhabitants Paul and Justin. Then rattlesnakes in Runyon Canyon, coyotes in Central Park, and how the Lindbergh kidnapping made pitbulls popular and led to Petey the dog on The Little Rascals. Stephen and Justin reveal a few delicacies they’ve enjoyed overseas, like coffee made from civet cat poop and bird’s nest soup. Then, Justin on living in China, Buddhism, his experience learning meditation from David Lynch, dyslexia, and how breathwork can help prevent forward-thinking anxiety. All that and the question of preserving isolated cultures or introducing them to life-changing medicine and say, Ranch dressing. Dive in! This one reaches peak Chinwaggin’. Chin-word of the week: PERSEVERATION 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. Justin Theroux is an actor, producer, director and screenwriter who’ll next be appearing in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the long-awaited sequel to Beetlejuice. 🧘🏻‍♂️🧘🏻‍♂️🧘🏻‍♂️ ========= 🚨🚨🚨 LIVE CHINWAG TAPINGS ANNOUNCED 🚨🚨🚨 CHINWAG is coming to a city near you! Los Angeles on Tuesday May 14th ➡ https://chinwagpod.fm/losangeles Portland on Thursday May 16th ➡ https://chinwagpod.fm/portland Seattle on Friday April 17th ➡ https://chinwagpod.fm/seattle 🎟️ 🎟️ 🎟️ 🎟️ ========= Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm ========= Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

👓🎥🐦 On this Bonus-Wag, Paul and Stephen ask Academy Award-winning director Errol Morris about his ground-breaking invention of the Interrotron camera and how it takes the viewer closer to a documentary subject. Also, what John le Carré says in Errol Morris’s film The Pigeon Tunnel that makes Stephen wonder if being a spy is similar to being an actor. And what separates a good actor from a bad one? All this and the Errol Morris STFU school of directing!? Enjoy this week’s Bonus-Wag! Paul Giamatti is a Golden Globe Award-winning actor and producer. Stephen Asma is a professor and author specializing in the philosophy of science, religion, and art. Errol Morris is an Academy Award-winning filmmaker whose films include Gates of Heaven, The Fog of War, The Thin Blue Line, A Brief History of Time, American Dharma, and many more. He’s also authored two New York Times bestsellers, Believing is Seeing and A Wilderness of Error and his latest documentary, The Pigeon Tunnel about the storied life and career of spy novelist John le Carré is streaming on Apple TV+. 👓🎥🐦 ========= New eps of CHINWAG drop Wednesdays for free... n(🧊) Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YOUTUBE x CHINWAG Playlists ▶️ YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Full episodes playlist: https://bit.ly/chinwagYT Animated shorts: https://bit.ly/chinwaganimations Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

📽️📽️📽️ Paul and Stephen are excited to meet Academy Award-winning Director and avid book collector Errol Morris. Stephen’s funky blue lighting and Paul’s floatation tank-talk mark the start of this Chinwag and in just a few short turns, the conversation goes from the idea of the bodhisattva in Buddhism to the weirdness of Florida, in particular Vernon, FL (aka “Nub City”). In typical Waggy fashion, they’re on to a shared reverence for American novelist Harry Crews and a fascination with notorious serial killer Ed Gein (whom Errol actually met and misses!?). Anyway, Errol Morris talked to Gein about Sigmund Freud and somehow Gein is responsible for Errol’s long and successful marriage. Lots of talk about sociopathy, psychopathy and multiple personalities follows and Paul and Stephen wonder if everything is a sort of a function of imagination and fantasy. Then, why this celebrated documentarian is fed up with the medium, and the flack he caught for doing a film on Steve Bannon. And now of course the big questions - does Errol believe in UFOs, and how does that relate to his first colonoscopy? You know you want to know – it’s all in this close-up Chinwag with Errol Morris! Bonus: What reality TV series does this legendary filmmaker watch? Paul Giamatti is a Golden Globe Award-winning actor and producer. Stephen Asma is a professor and author specializing in the philosophy of science, religion, and art. Errol Morris is an Academy Award-winning filmmaker whose films include Gates of Heaven, The Fog of War, The Thin Blue Line, A Brief History of Time, American Dharma, and many more. He’s also authored two New York Times bestsellers, Believing is Seeing and A Wilderness of Error and his latest documentary, The Pigeon Tunnel about the storied life and career of spy novelist John le Carré is streaming on Apple TV+. 📽️📽️📽️ ========= New eps of CHINWAG drop Wednesdays for free... n(🧊) Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YOUTUBE x CHINWAG Playlists ▶️ YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Full episodes playlist: https://bit.ly/chinwagYT Animated shorts: https://bit.ly/chinwaganimations Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

⚔️🇳🇴🦈 Paul and Stephen talk about Stephen’s trip to Norway and his readings from an 8th Century book of spells found in the floorboards of an old church. Is Iceland or Norway known for delicacies like rotten shark? They’re not sure, but still not fans (of the shark meals). And listeners out there, do you want to hear Paul and Stephen explore Berserkers? Let us know! Also, if your genetic analysis says you’re part Viking, you’re actually not. Also not part Berserker, but neither here nor there. Stephen explains in this week’s Bonus-Wag! Chin-word of the week: GRIMOIRE Paul Giamatti is a Golden Globe Award-winning actor and producer. Stephen Asma is a professor and author specializing in the philosophy of science, religion, and art. ⚔️🇳🇴🦈 ========= New eps of CHINWAG drop Wednesdays for free... n(🧊) Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YOUTUBE x CHINWAG Playlists ▶️ YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Full episodes playlist: https://bit.ly/chinwagYT Animated shorts: https://bit.ly/chinwaganimations Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

👔👔👔 Paul puts Stephen in the hot seat for Part 1 of this rigorous round of “Ask the Philosopher!” This is not just your basic Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. You’ll learn the importance of Pythagoras, besides that theorem you learned in grade school (with an obligatory mention of passing gas). Then, hear about the mindf*ck of Zeno’s paradox, famed thinker and nudist Diogenes, all about cynics, roots of empirical thinking, Roman stoicism and Marcus Aurelius, and why prisoners of war like Senator John McCain passed around the stoic text, Enchiridion of Epictetus. All that plus the news that Epicurean philosophy doesn’t come from a love of great food, infinite regress, Stephen shines a much-needed light on great female philosophers like Hildegard von Bingen, and the intermingling of religion and philosophy in the Western tradition. So grab a cocktail, as Socrates would, and settle into Part 1 of “Ask the Philosopher!” Bonus: Did you know René Descartes invented the necktie? Stephen didn’t, but Paul’s running with it… 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. 👔👔👔 ========= 🎟️🎟️🎟️ New live taping alert!! CHINWAG is coming to Boston on Friday April 19th Tix on sale ➡ https://chinwagpod.fm/boston 🎟️🎟️🎟️ ========= New eps of CHINWAG drop Wednesdays for free... n(🧊) Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YOUTUBE x CHINWAG Playlists ▶️ YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Full episodes playlist: https://bit.ly/chinwagYT Animated shorts: https://bit.ly/chinwaganimations Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

🐙💭🪸 Paul and Stephen have a few more questions for resident Octopus expert, author, philosopher and biologist, Professor Peter Godfrey-Smith. When does consciousness emerge in the evolutionary process and does it exist in every bit of matter - even a grain of sand? Then, do Octopuses have language and what is its function? And controversial questions abound on whether animals dream, the role of memory, and what commonality of sleep phases suggests about our shared evolutionary origins. Dream on Chinwaggers! 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. Peter Godfrey Smith is a Professor of Biology in the School of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Sydney. He’s also a very accomplished scuba diver and the author of many books including “Metazoa: Animal Life and the Birth of the Mind” and the best-seller “Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness.” 🐙💭🪸 ========= 🎟️🎟️🎟️ New live taping alert!! CHINWAG is coming to Boston on Friday April 19th Tix on sale ➡ https://chinwagpod.fm/boston 🎟️🎟️🎟️ ========= New eps of CHINWAG drop Wednesdays for free... n(🧊) Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YOUTUBE x CHINWAG Playlists ▶️ YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Full episodes playlist: https://bit.ly/chinwagYT Animated shorts: https://bit.ly/chinwaganimations Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

🐙🐙🐙 The Octopus is fascinating and mysterious, and as Paul and Stephen discover, a cephalopod that offers incredible lessons in consciousness, intelligence, awareness and being. The octopus might also be the closest we have to studying the alien mind. Peter Godfrey-Smith is an author, Professor of Biology, philosopher of science and skilled scuba diver who’s looked right into the eyes of many an octopus, and they’ve observed him back. Listen as Professor Godfrey-Smith explains how the octopus’s unique brain architecture raises questions about the self. What’s the difference between consciousness and sentience, and does the ability to feel pain change our view of an animal? What about plants? Do sea squirts eat their own brains, and why would they do that? Is there a lights-on moment, or can one be half-conscious (like babies perhaps)? Then, is sentient AI possible, and how important is language to sentience? On to smart insects like bees and flies, and a discussion of whether brain size is a predictor of intelligence. A lot to unpack here…if you want to know what the octopus can teach us about our own minds, you’re Chinwagging in the right place! Bonus Chin-Word: PANPSYCHISM 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. Peter Godfrey Smith is a Professor of Biology in the School of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Sydney. He’s also a very accomplished scuba diver and the author of many books including “Metazoa: Animal Life and the Birth of the Mind” and the best-seller “Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness.” 🐙🐙🐙 ========= 🎟️🎟️🎟️ New live taping alert!! CHINWAG is coming to Boston on Friday April 19th Tix on sale ➡ https://chinwagpod.fm/boston 🎟️🎟️🎟️ ========= New eps of CHINWAG drop Wednesdays for free... n(🧊) Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YOUTUBE x CHINWAG Playlists ▶️ YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Full episodes playlist: https://bit.ly/chinwagYT Animated shorts: https://bit.ly/chinwaganimations Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

📊🔢🧮📐 Paul and Stephen dig into our Chinwag mailbag for this SETI-inspired question (that’s Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence to any novice listeners). The Drake Equation is explained and let’s just say there’s A LOT of math involved. It’s been 60+ years since last estimates were made on the odds of finding intelligent life in the Milky Way, and Chinwag listener Rick B. wants to know, how long could a civilization broadcast its presence through technology, and what current factors might affect a civilization’s ability to remain detectable? Is there a ticking clock to our existence, and what’s Twinkie-lung got to do with all this? 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. 📊🔢🧮📐 ========= New eps of CHINWAG drop Wednesdays for free... n(🧊) Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YOUTUBE x CHINWAG Playlists ▶️ YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Full episodes playlist: https://bit.ly/chinwagYT Animated shorts: https://bit.ly/chinwaganimations Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

🦑🦑🦑 The sea is deep, but it’s no match for Paul and Stephen’s boundless appetite for aquatic mysteries. Follow them as they dip into the strange world of three famed squids: The Giant Squid, the Colossal Squid, and the Bigfin Squid (a BigFoot squid, really??). Then, other Unidentified Submerged Objects (USOs) like humboldt squids, giant albino crabs, boat-attacking-squids (!), megamouth sharks, whale sharks, and the myth of a Japanese moon maiden. And of course, the theory that UFOs originate from the deep blue. Yes, it all goes back to the hollow earth! We only know 2% about the ocean, but after this, perhaps even less! Bonus: Another story about Paul getting peed on! 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. 🦑🦑🦑 ========= Bonus Chin-Word: PANSPERMIA ========= New eps of CHINWAG drop Wednesdays for free... n(🧊) Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YOUTUBE x CHINWAG Playlists ▶️ YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Full episodes playlist: https://bit.ly/chinwagYT Animated shorts: https://bit.ly/chinwaganimations Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

📫💭📆 We love our loyal Chinwag listeners and we love your letters! Keep ‘em coming and we may respond to them on the air! Miss B Havin wrote to Paul and Stephen and shared a message she received in a recurring dream about Paul. Does Paul understand the message therein? What does water represent in a dream, and what’s the least lucky month of the year? Put your ears on this Bonus-Wag and find out! 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. 📫💭📆 ========= New eps of CHINWAG drop Wednesdays for free... n(🧊) Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YOUTUBE x CHINWAG Playlists ▶️ YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Full episodes playlist: https://bit.ly/chinwagYT Animated shorts: https://bit.ly/chinwaganimations Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

🔱🔱🔱 Paul and Stephen wade through the deep waters and history of such aquatic mysteries as Atlantis and The Bermuda Triangle. Listen in as Stephen details Plato’s telling of Atlantis, with all its craven needs, imperialist ambitions and loss of virtue. The weird link between Atlantis and UFO/paranormal activity is legend, but did you know of the lasers in Atlantis and its connection to The Bermuda Triangle? It’s also a thing! Then Paul introduces Charles Berlitz (yes that Berlitz) who popularized The Bermuda Triangle myth, and the fact that no one actually has the vaguest sense of where the Bermuda Triangle begins or ends! Hear tales of disappearing ships like the USS Cyclops that helped build the mythos of the Bermuda Triangle (and its sister ship that also went missing years later - creepy!). Paul reveals a Speilberg Easter egg, many tales of boats and planes gone missing without a trace, and the unusual case of Donald Crowhurst, amateur sailor. Are these unexplained occurrences due to human error, magnetic fields, harsh weather, or a hoax? And our new tagline “Chinwag: Bear with Me” is born! Would you buy the t-shirt?? Ahoy! It’s a veritable Chinwag ahead! Bonus: Paul’s dramatic reading of the 1950s NY Times piece that first mentioned the mysteries surrounding the massive, mysterious swath of land later known as The Bermuda Triangle. 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. 🔱🔱🔱 ========= Bonus Chin-Word: SARGASSUM ========= New eps of CHINWAG drop Wednesdays for free... n(🧊) Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YOUTUBE x CHINWAG Playlists ▶️ YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Full episodes playlist: https://bit.ly/chinwagYT Animated shorts: https://bit.ly/chinwaganimations Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

👐🏼✝️👐🏼 Paul and Stephen have a few more questions for the "Long Island Medium," Theresa Caputo. Listen in to hear how she learned to interpret the messages she receives from departed souls and spirits? How Catholics respond to her abilities, and do demons and negativity in the spirit world get her down? And does she fear losing her gifts? T his bonus is Medium-well! Get it? Dig in Waggers! 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. The Long Island Medium Theresa Caputo is on tour. Check out www.TheresaCaputo.com for more information. 👐🏼✝️👐🏼 ========= New eps of CHINWAG drop Wednesdays for free... n(🧊) Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YOUTUBE x CHINWAG Playlists ▶️ YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Full episodes playlist: https://bit.ly/chinwagYT Animated shorts: https://bit.ly/chinwaganimations Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

🐄🐄🐄 Recorded live from the (possibly haunted) Marines’ Memorial Theatre in San Francisco at Sketchfest 2024 with special guest, comedian, writer, and host of the Beautiful/Anonymous podcast, Chris Gethard. Chris heard about a lot of brushes with the paranormal during his time at Weird NJ, and he relays one of the spookiest stories imaginable about a band of silent, menacing cows leading the way to a flannel-clad BigFoot lying supine on a mattress. Was there LSD involved? And what’s more terrifying, encounters with man, or the supernatural? You decide Chinwaggers! 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. Chris Gethard is a comedian, author, actor and host of the Beautiful/Anonymous podcast which was recently adapted into a 4-part series streaming on Topic. He also wrote the book “Weird New York” and hosts the podcast New Jersey is the World, a celebration of his home state. If you want to see Chris live, check out his tour dates on chrisgeth.com. 🐄🐄🐄 ========= Bonus Chin-Word: ONG'S HAT ========= New eps of CHINWAG drop Wednesdays for free... n(🧊) Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YOUTUBE x CHINWAG Playlists ▶️ YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Full episodes playlist: https://bit.ly/chinwagYT Animated shorts: https://bit.ly/chinwaganimations Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

🙋🏻‍♂️🍕🖋️ Paul, Stephen, and comedian Christ Gethard answer the weirdly awesome questions from our live audience at Sketchfest 2024. Have you noticed conspiracy theories have gone from “fun” to “crazy”? You have? Perfect segue to Chris’s rumored involvement with Pizzagate and the real reason behind that fake (but really creepy!) satanic ritual on The Chris Gethard Show with Will Ferrell (uh, ratings!?). Paul fields a doozy of an audience question and sidesteps it masterfully. More Norcal weirdness, Mount Shasta and its one-footprint inhabitants. Then, get to know Stephen better with a story from his sordid high school days (pointillist poison pen!). And a fan’s very close-call with Paul and his weirdest fan encounter involving, what else, a psychic goldfish. 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. Chris Gethard is a comedian, author, actor and host of the Beautiful/Anonymous podcast which was recently adapted into a 4-part series streaming on Topic. He also wrote the book “Weird New York” and hosts the podcast New Jersey is the World, a celebration of his home state. If you want to see Chris live, check out his tour dates on chrisgeth.com. 🙋🏻‍♂️🍕🖋️ ========= Bonus Chin-Word: SCIAPODS ========= New eps of CHINWAG drop Wednesdays for free... n(🧊) Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YOUTUBE x CHINWAG Playlists ▶️ YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Full episodes playlist: https://bit.ly/chinwagYT Animated shorts: https://bit.ly/chinwaganimations Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

🗑️🗑️🗑️ Recorded live from the (possibly haunted) Marines’ Memorial Theatre in San Francisco at Sketchfest 2024 with special guest, comedian, writer, and host of the Beautiful/Anonymous podcast, Chris Gethard. Is it possible someone doesn’t find Paul charming? Hear the real story behind how Paul ended up in a dumpster on Chris’s public access series, The Chris Gethard Show. Explore more folklore from Virginia (Bunny Man!) and Ohio (yes there are Melonheads in Ohio too!) and the many legends of Northern California’s Mount Shasta and the Lemurians rumored to live within its hollow core. Then, talk of the I Am Temple church, Alcatraz’s haunted past, and thoughts on why people need to believe in the unknown and unexplained. Also Valiant Thor, Bigfoot, religious impulses and ascended masters. And what’s this all have to do with the Avengers movies? Finally, it’s what you’ve all been waiting for - Paul on the theremin and Stephen on guitar! 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. Chris Gethard is a comedian, author, actor and host of the Beautiful/Anonymous podcast which was recently adapted into a 4-part series streaming on Topic. He also wrote the book “Weird New York” and hosts the podcast New Jersey is the World, a celebration of his home state. If you want to see Chris live, check out his tour dates on chrisgeth.com. 🗑️🗑️🗑️ ========= 📋 Please help us by completing our Chinwagger Survey 👉🏼 https://gum.fm/chinwag 📋 ========= New eps of CHINWAG drop Wednesdays for free... n(🧊) Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YOUTUBE x CHINWAG Playlists ▶️ YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Full episodes playlist: https://bit.ly/chinwagYT Animated shorts: https://bit.ly/chinwaganimations Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

🧟🪦🧟‍♀️ Paul and Stephen learn the history of zombies with spiritualism expert Lisa Morton who shares the influence of these phenomena in popular culture, folklore and horror films. Who brought the idea of zombies to mass awareness and what cultures first wrote about these mythical characters? Also, the impact of Bela Lagosi’s film White Zombie, how it gave way to Voodoo zombies, Sci-Fi zombies, George Romero’s human flesh-eating zombies and Frankenstein. Also why are zombies so popular and what do they suggest we’re really afraid of? All that and yes, vampirism! BONUS BONUS: In traditional folklore, what do zombies eat to cause them to regain consciousness and rebury themselves? The answer in this Chinwag! 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. Lisa Morton is a screenwriter, author, 6-time winner of the Bram Stoker Award, and a renowned expert on Halloween and the paranormal. Her recent books include Calling the Spirits: A History of Seances and The Art of the Zombie Movie. She also hosts the weekly podcast “The Ghost Report with Lisa Morton.” 📋 Please help us by completing our Chinwagger Survey 👉🏼 https://gum.fm/chinwag 📋 🧟🪦🧟‍♀️ ========= New eps of CHINWAG drop Wednesdays for free... n(🧊) Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YOUTUBE x CHINWAG Playlists ▶️ YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Full episodes playlist: https://bit.ly/chinwagYT Animated shorts: https://bit.ly/chinwaganimations Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

🖤🖤🖤 Welcome Waggers! Come for the ghosts, stay for the vomiting ectoplasm! Paul and Stephen walk through the myriad ways folks talked to the dead throughout history with spiritualism expert and author Lisa Morton. En route they discuss spirits, mediums, oracles, ouija boards, priming, and rampant charlatanry in the business of ghost-hunting. Hear ghostly experiences from the legendary Stanley Hotel (aka- the Disneyland of ghost hotels made famous in The Shining), the birth of the seance and the impact of the Fox Sisters in popularizing spirits and the supernatural - and which body part was the real secret to their success. Also hear about exploits in levitation by D.D. Hume and famed apporter Agnes Guppy. Were any of these true believers or were they just putting on a show? But then there’s the medium who claimed to communicate with great artists of the past - who’s now credited with the beginning of surrealism. All this, and the one who could regurgitate ectoplasm, the matter of the spirits, at will. And did you know wars and mass traumatic events like Covid trigger a rise in paranormal beliefs? Now you do! 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. Lisa Morton is a screenwriter, author, 6-time winner of the Bram Stoker Award, and a renowned expert on Halloween and the paranormal. Her recent books include Calling the Spirits: A History of Seances and The Art of the Zombie Movie. She also hosts the weekly podcast “The Ghost Report with Lisa Morton.” 📋 Please help us by completing our Chinwagger Survey 👉🏼 https://gum.fm/chinwag 📋 🖤🖤🖤 ========= Chin-word of the Week: NECROMANCER ========= New eps of CHINWAG drop Wednesdays for free... n(🧊) Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YOUTUBE x CHINWAG Playlists ▶️ YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Full episodes playlist: https://bit.ly/chinwagYT Animated shorts: https://bit.ly/chinwaganimations Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

🇷🇺😵‍💫🌀 Paul Giamatti shares a crazy Havana syndrome-like experience he had at the Russian Embassy in Budapest, which somehow leads to his love of acting on stage and sharing that mass-delusion with an audience. 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. 🇷🇺😵‍💫🌀 ========= 📋 Please help us get to know you better by completing our Chinwagger Survey 👉🏼 https://gum.fm/chinwag 📋 ========= New eps of CHINWAG drop Wednesdays for free... n(🧊) Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YOUTUBE x CHINWAG Playlists ▶️ YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Full episodes playlist: https://bit.ly/chinwagYT Animated shorts: https://bit.ly/chinwaganimations Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫 Paul and Stephen strive to understand the phenomenon of mass panic and incidences of collective delusion throughout history. Learn the difference between mass panic and mass hysteria, how our minds influence our physical reactions, and the power of the media in escalating these events. What caused the hysteria that surrounded the Beatles and Elvis, or the outbreak of panic after the infamous Orson Welles radio broadcast of H.G. Wells’s The War of the Worlds? Paul knows a thing or two about the “Mad Gasser of Mattoon” (look it up!), dancing manias in the Middle Ages, uncontrollable contagious laughing bouts, ergot poisoning, and the little-known Seattle windshield-pitting epidemic of 1954. Stephen takes a left turn into porn (we’ll let him explain) and flexes theoretical causes like socio political stressors, media and cultural influence, and of course, mirror neurons. It all comes back around to Havana Syndrome, psychogenic phenomena, and wait for it, PENIS THEFT. 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. 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫 ========= 📋 Please help us get to know you better by completing our Chinwagger Survey 👉🏼 https://gum.fm/chinwag 📋 ========= New eps of CHINWAG drop Wednesdays for free... n(🧊) Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YOUTUBE x CHINWAG Playlists ▶️ YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Full episodes playlist: https://bit.ly/chinwagYT Animated shorts: https://bit.ly/chinwaganimations Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

🤠🤠🤠 During Paul and Stephen’s first Chinwag with delightful author and historian Sarah Vowell (go back and listen to that episode from 10/4/23 now!), the term “10 gallon hat” came up. Both hosts, as well as Sarah, were stymied on the origin of the term. What does it really mean? Does it refer to the size of a cowboy hat? A measurement of water? Does it have to do with how much water a cowboy hat can hold, and why would you pour all that water into a hat anyway? Well, Paul and Stephen know when they’re licked, so they went straight to the source - to you, our loyal fans. And you responded in droves! And again, Paul and Stephen are schooled at the knee of you all-knowing Chinwaggers. Listen in and learn this special nugget of knowledge, and then feel free to drop it into conversation at your next dinner party! You’ll look wicked smart and be sure to be asked back! 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. 🤠🤠🤠 ========= 📋 Please help us get to know you better by completing our Chinwagger Survey 👉🏼 https://gum.fm/chinwag 📋 ========= New eps of CHINWAG drop Wednesdays for free... n(🧊) Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YOUTUBE x CHINWAG Playlists ▶️ YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Full episodes playlist: https://bit.ly/chinwagYT Animated shorts: https://bit.ly/chinwaganimations Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

🌺🌺🌺 Author and historian Sarah Vowell may have spoken a little too soon in her first Chinwag with Paul and Stephen. Behold the incredible tales of coincidence that challenge her literal mind and make Sarah question her woo-woo-ness. From Sacagawea’s chance meeting with her long-lost brother, to John Adams’ and Thomas Jefferson’s shared date of death, and odd details about the Lincoln assassination and the Booth brothers – do serendipitous moments in history actually mean anything? On to Ancient Rome and how renowned classicist Mary Beard’s approach to the Roman everyman is why she’ll win any debate. Also, what writing about Hawaii taught Sarah about herself, and convinced her she may not want to tackle Rome in a future book. And what’s the use of all this history anyway? Let us know what YOU think -- Chinwaggers, we want to hear from you! Vocab Chin-Word of the Week: KUMOLIPO 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. 🌺🌺🌺 ========= 📋 Please help us get to know you better by completing our Chinwagger Survey 👉🏼 https://gum.fm/chinwag 📋 ========= New eps of CHINWAG drop Wednesdays for free... n(🧊) Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YOUTUBE x CHINWAG Playlists ▶️ YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Full episodes playlist: https://bit.ly/chinwagYT Animated shorts: https://bit.ly/chinwaganimations Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

👻🥞🥤 Natasha shares her beliefs in the possibility of aliens, ghosts and Bigfoot, introduces the Fermi Paradox to the conversation with Paul and Stephen, enjoys a pancake lunch, and tells the story of her life with Rootbeer the dog. Bonus: Did Natasha’s dog Rootbeer get plastic surgery or consult a psychic? Tune in to this week’s Bonus-Wag to find out! 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. Natasha Lyonne is an actor, director, writer and producer whose recent projects include Netflix’s Orange is the New Black and Russian Doll, which she also co-created, wrote, produced & directed. Next she’ll appear in the film His Three Daughters and the 2nd season of Peacock’s Poker Face. She also directed the new Netflix comedy special Jacqueline Novak: Get On Your Knees! 👻🥞🥤 ========= New eps of CHINWAG drop Wednesdays for free... n(🧊) Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YOUTUBE x CHINWAG Playlists ▶️ YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Full episodes playlist: https://bit.ly/chinwagYT Animated shorts: https://bit.ly/chinwaganimations Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

⚛️⚛️⚛️ Paul and Stephen read a letter from Keith, an airline pilot in Idaho who shares his incredible UFO sighting and belief in Interdimensional Sasquatch Travel. Then.... Natasha Lyonne joins, and that’s when things get weird and quantum-physical. Listen in as Paul and Stephen follow Natasha around her house, feed Rootbeer the dog, and learn why she’s comforted by the dulcet sound of quantum physics audio books at bedtime. Hear why discipline and restraint and the structure of mathematics is grounding and leads to talk of Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon, and Peter Sellers. Paul quotes French writer Gustave Flaubert and kills the vibe, and this is before he reveals his desire to try cat food. Natasha’s man of choice is a doomsday prepper and there’s a crisis in American masculinity (ask yourself men, can you fix a toilet?). Next they go deep into body horror films, and Natasha goes down a Google search rabbit hole about the movie Slither (not a Cronenberg picture). Existentialism is definitively defined (thanks Stephen!), Russian Doll is unpacked, along with Kierkegaard, Ted Chiang, and Albert Camus. That’s a LOT - thanks Natasha! And you’re welcome Chinwaggers! 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. Natasha Lyonne is an actor, director, writer and producer whose recent projects include Netflix’s Orange is the New Black and Russian Doll, which she also co-created, wrote, produced & directed. Next she’ll appear in the film His Three Daughters and the 2nd season of Peacock’s Poker Face. She also directed the new Netflix comedy special Jacqueline Novak: Get On Your Knees! ⚛️⚛️⚛️ ========= New eps of CHINWAG drop Wednesdays for free... n(🧊) Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YOUTUBE x CHINWAG Playlists ▶️ YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Full episodes playlist: https://bit.ly/chinwagYT Animated shorts: https://bit.ly/chinwaganimations Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

🏺🌊🐆 More Cryptid lore for your listening pleasure. Meet one of Stephen’s favorites, the legendary Hodag of Wisconsin. The horned Hodag that never reclines, liked the taste of humans, and just might’ve been a hoax that stoked tourism in 1890s Oneida County. The Hodag conjures Native American folklore of the underwater panther, Mishipeshu, who lives in the water and fights Thunderbirds (a favorite of Paul’s). But have you heard of Thunderbird sightings? They’ve been reported from just about every state in the union, and are rumored to fly down and steal children! In fact Thunderbirds have been shot down, and there are photos! Maybe you’ve seen them…or is it the Mandela Effect that makes you only think you’ve seen one of these famed winged creatures? What say you Chinwaggers? Let us know! 🏺🌊🐆 ========= Bonus Chin-Word: MISHEPESHU ========= New eps of CHINWAG drop Wednesdays for free... n(🧊) Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YOUTUBE x CHINWAG Playlists ▶️ YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Full episodes playlist: https://bit.ly/chinwagYT Animated shorts: https://bit.ly/chinwaganimations Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

🫎🫎🫎 Paul and Stephen reveal some of their favorite American cryptids. Skip by the oft-told stories of Sasquatch and Chupacabra and follow Paul into the dark primeval forests of Maine to meet the Spectre Moose. Hear the legend of this mysterious prehistoric-looking giant of the Maine woods. Some sightings recall the Spectre Moose’s faint white glow and an ability to walk through solid objects. And if that’s not trippy enough, Paul recalls the time he took elk velvet to add some pep to his step. Next are sightings of the Big Muddy Monster of Illinois complete with actual police reports, but this cryptid has a sci-fi twist including epic screaming and slime residue. But was it all a hoax? Shout out to Ricky Kells to come forward and spill the tea about the Big Muddy Monster that hasn’t been seen since 1976. Then the legendary Melon Heads of Connecticut - not to be mistaken for the Wobbleheads of Michigan - make an appearance. All this and cannibalistic, inbred witches. Are these more urban legends than cryptids? And what’s the reason for our fascination with mythical, marginalized creatures? You decide, Chinwaggers! 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. 🫎🫎🫎 ========= Vocab Chin-Word of the Week: TERATOGEN ========= New eps of CHINWAG drop Wednesdays for free... n(🧊) Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YOUTUBE x CHINWAG Playlists ▶️ YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Full episodes playlist: https://bit.ly/chinwagYT Animated shorts: https://bit.ly/chinwaganimations Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

🦬🦬🦬 Paul and Stephen’s interest in history is deep and windy, so who better to get a riveting lesson from than award-winning documentarian, Ken Burns. Hear why the master auteur has wanted to tell the tragic story of the American Buffalo for 30 years, and trace the path of its near extinction in the late 19th century. Was the buffalo saved by the captive gates of zoos? What is man’s moral responsibility to nature in its quest towards advancement and a global economy? And as savior and destroyer, is man truly the most dangerous species on earth? And it wouldn’t be a Chinwag without a detour into obscure presidential facts, conspiracy theories, philosophical musings on certainty and doubt, and why skepticism is as necessary to storytelling as faith. And of course, what is history anyway? Bonus: What quote has Ken Burns used in 3 films? Extra Bonus: Stay tuned ‘til the end to hear Paul’s eerie encounter with a herd of buffalo as he changed a flat tire in Custer State National Park. 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. Ken Burns has been making documentary films for almost fifty years. He’s been honored with dozens of major awards, including sixteen Emmy Awards, two Grammy Awards and two Oscar nominations. American Buffalo, and all of Ken's films, are available to stream on the PBS app. 🦬🦬🦬 ========= Vocab Chin-Word of the Week: TRAVOIS ========= New eps of CHINWAG drop Wednesdays for free... n(🧊) Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YOUTUBE x CHINWAG Playlists ▶️ YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Full episodes playlist: https://bit.ly/chinwagYT Animated shorts: https://bit.ly/chinwaganimations Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

🕯️⏳🚇 Recorded live from the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA), Paul and Stephen field questions from our brilliant and inquisitive Chinwag audience. Paul and Stephen offer insights on precognitive dreams, past lives and reincarnation. The chains of causation and LaPlace’s Demon gets a mention, and what do prophecies in art and science fiction actually reflect? Paul and Stephen talk about their visit to the creepy Hoosac Tunnel of North Adams, MA (also known as the “bloody pit” with a reputation for ghosts). The latest viral BigFoot video, what Jane Goodall thinks of the existence of Sasquatch, Nostradamus, Rasputin and cryptids - it’s all here! Plus, can AI predict the future? Paul and Stephen answer all! 🕯️⏳🚇 ========= Bonus Chin-Word: PYROMANCY ========= New eps of CHINWAG drop Wednesdays for free... n(🧊) Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YOUTUBE x CHINWAG Playlists ▶️ YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Full episodes playlist: https://bit.ly/chinwagYT Animated shorts: https://bit.ly/chinwaganimations Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

🔮🔮🔮 Recorded live from the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA), Paul and Stephen discuss the power and historical impact of Nostradamus, prophets and clairvoyants. Who was Nostradamus and how did his vague predictions make him a legend in his time? Paul and Stephen reveal his cure for the plague and explain Nostradamus’s popularity in times of crisis. Was he just a shitty astrologer and what’s he got to do with Hitler? What’s the difference between clairvoyance and prophecy, and does a good con artist actually believe his own bullshit? Plus, Paul explains different methods of divination, the age-old tradition of tripping on nutmeg, and the real meaning of “mellow yellow.” Bonus: Jackie Stallone’s theory of rumpology (it’s exactly what you think) 🔮🔮🔮 ========= Vocab Chin-Word of the Week: SCRYING ========= New eps of CHINWAG drop Wednesdays for free... n(🧊) Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YOUTUBE x CHINWAG Playlists ▶️ YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Full episodes playlist: https://bit.ly/chinwagYT Animated shorts: https://bit.ly/chinwaganimations Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

☸️🙃⚛️ Paul, Stephen and fiction writer Ted Chiang discuss the pros and cons of our fallible memories and the human technological interface. Is that fight with your partner about “who said what” an essential part of developing a human relationship, or is none of that even the point? Is adopting a pact of truth and reconciliation the path forward in relationships as it is in some countries’ politics? Ted discusses the question of self-identity; are we defined by our memories and shared experiences, and how is the “self” affected by changing technology? Does Chiang believe in an immaterial soul or are we only a collection of atoms? And why do many believe materialism implies nihilism when we can make meaning with our own guiding morals? All this and more on existentialist thought, karma, AI, and moral philosophy! What else could you want? Dig in Waggers! 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. Ted Chiang is a fiction writer whose works have won him four Hugo, four Nebula, and four Locus awards. He has been featured in The Best American Short Stories and has authored two collections, Exhalation and Stories of Your Life and Others. The title story from Stories was adapted into the feature film Arrival. Chiang is also a frequent non-fiction contributor to the New Yorker Magazine, most recently on topics related to computer technology, and artificial intelligence. ☸️🙃⚛️ ========= BONUS Chin-Word of the Week: OMPHALOS ========= New eps of CHINWAG drop Wednesdays for free... n(🧊) Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YOUTUBE x CHINWAG Playlists ▶️ YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Full episodes playlist: https://bit.ly/chinwagYT Animated shorts: https://bit.ly/chinwaganimations Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

🦾🦾🦾 In this Chinwag, Paul and Stephen are thrilled to be subject to fascinating thought experiments by award-winning fiction writer Ted Chiang. Up for the discussion? The difference between fact and fiction when it comes to the existence of alien life, and whether Paul is indeed an assassin because he played one in an action film Ted once saw. Imaginations are running amok and people can’t differentiate between what’s real and what isn’t. Is social media to blame or was The National Enquirer the social media of yester-year? Online echo chambers and the dangerous speed of information may be a culprit for conspiracy theories. And is belief in aliens and monsters in pop culture a direct response to higher anxiety levels and an externalization of neuroses? Then, what is singularity and was it born with the invention of the wheel? Paul and Stephen are happy to learn that Ted’s not afraid that AI will take over, but the natural desire to do less work may lead to more romances between humans and AI robots. So buckle up and plug in your lady-cyborg and get ready for an all new fascinating Chinwag! 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. Ted Chiang is a fiction writer whose works have won him four Hugo, four Nebula, and four Locus awards. He has been featured in The Best American Short Stories and has authored two collections, Exhalation and Stories of Your Life and Others. The title story from Stories was adapted into the feature film Arrival. Chiang is also a frequent non-fiction contributor to the New Yorker Magazine, most recently on topics related to computer technology, and artificial intelligence. 🦾🦾🦾 ========= Vocab Chin-Word of the Week: OMPHALOS ========= New eps of CHINWAG drop Wednesdays for free... n(🧊) Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YOUTUBE x CHINWAG Playlists ▶️ YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Full episodes playlist: https://bit.ly/chinwagYT Animated shorts: https://bit.ly/chinwaganimations Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿✍🏼🇺🇸 Welcome to the Bonus-wag with Neil Gaiman! Neil's got a needy actor story that Paul relates to and understands. How being a Brit helps Neil write about America with the perfect amount of detachment to see it clearly. And is America the land of the trickster and huckster? How are George Santos and Donald Trump perfectly American creations and why are they celebrated? All this and John Wayne Bobbitt comes up (Google him, ywsm!). 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. Neil Gaiman is an award-winning, New York Times Best Selling author and prolific creator of prose, poetry, film, journalism, comics, song lyrics, and drama. His works include the comic book series The Sandman and the novels Good Omens, Stardust, Anansi Boys, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book. Neil is also a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN refugee agency UNHCR and his latest book What You Need To Be Warm is available now and every copy purchased helps refugees stay warm this winter. 📸 credit: Beowulf Sheehan 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿✍🏼🇺🇸 ========= BONUS Chin-Word of the Week: APOTHEOSIS ========= New eps of CHINWAG drop Wednesdays for free... n(🧊) Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YOUTUBE x CHINWAG Playlists ▶️ YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Full episodes playlist: https://bit.ly/chinwagYT Animated shorts: https://bit.ly/chinwaganimations Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

🎄🎄🎄 Wanna go on a tour of fringe places to visit with Paul, Stephen, and award-winning author Neil Gaiman? Paul, Stephen and Neil love a weird outing and this episode introduces you to a bevy of greats. From Wisconsin’s own House on the Rock, to the Winchester Mystery House. Hear about the Museum of Jurassic Technology in LA, the Soviet Arctic Exploration Museum in St. Petersburg, and the Museum of Old and New Art in Tasmania. If these sound like a dream vacation itinerary, then this is the Chinwag for you! Plus, Neil recalls the time someone tried to sell him Tang Dynasty antiquities from a museum in China…but at rock bottom prices! Dramatic readings of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and why the Brits love a good, creepy ghost story at Christmas time. Also, Norse Mythology, trickster gods, and why it’s healthy for children to be scared. Also, Gaiman on ghosts, the real definition of bravery, and which body part most helps Paul get into character. It’ll surprise you! 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. Neil Gaiman is an award-winning, New York Times Best Selling author and prolific creator of prose, poetry, film, journalism, comics, song lyrics, and drama. His works include the comic book series The Sandman and the novels Good Omens, Stardust, Anansi Boys, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book. Neil is also a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN refugee agency UNHCR and his latest book What You Need To Be Warm is available now and every copy purchased helps refugees stay warm this winter. 📸 credit: Beowulf Sheehan 🎄🎄🎄 ========= Vocab Chin-Word of the Week: LIMINAL ========= New eps of CHINWAG drop Wednesdays for free... n(🧊) Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YOUTUBE x CHINWAG Playlists ▶️ YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Full episodes playlist: https://bit.ly/chinwagYT Animated shorts: https://bit.ly/chinwaganimations Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

🏦 💰 🚔 More behind-the-scenes chat and wisdom with actor, filmmaker, and author Bruce Campbell! Bruce’s Christian Science upbringing and how it led him on his own spiritual journey. Why humor and horror are a winning combination, and old school Hollywood yarns about Lee Majors, Larry Fine, the Marx Brothers, Laurel and Hardy, Harry Houdini, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis (including impressions). Paul and Bruce lament their many close-calls on TV and film sets, and why they’ve reluctantly stopped doing their own stunts. All this and Bruce’s silent but almost-deadly turn on Xena Warrior Princess and that time he robbed a bank and drove the getaway car himself. 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. Bruce Campbell is an actor and filmmaker who played Ash Williams in the hit horror cult franchise Evil Dead. He’s also a prolific author who wrote back-to-back New York Times Best Sellers, If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor, and Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way. 🏦 💰 🚔 ========= New eps of CHINWAG drop Wednesdays for free... n(🧊) Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YOUTUBE x CHINWAG Playlists ▶️ YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Full episodes playlist: https://bit.ly/chinwagYT Animated shorts: https://bit.ly/chinwaganimations Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

🌌🌌🌌 Paul and Stephen are joined by raconteur, actor, author and Hawaiian shirt expert, Bruce Campbell. Tune in to hear about the first time he smoked weed on the set of Evil Dead (yes he got high), how moonshine was used to keep warm, and how Bruce keeps himself amused at horror film conventions. Plus, that time he went in search of the BigFoot trap near his house in Oregon, and heard an eyewitness account from a Sasquatch true believer (he met in a bar). Go deep with our hosts as Bruce explains how perception is changed by shape-shifting realities, and hear the precise moment Bruce found cosmic wisdom while sitting in an epic LA traffic jam. Oh yes and that time Bruce saw a UFO during a phone interview! Stay tuned for tales of the paranormal and ghostly entries from Bruce’s grandfather’s WWI diary. It’s all on this week’s Chinwag with The Chin himself! 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. Bruce Campbell is an actor and filmmaker who played Ash Williams in the hit horror cult franchise Evil Dead. He’s also a prolific author who wrote back-to-back New York Times Best Sellers, If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor, and Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way. 🌌🌌🌌 ========= Vocab Chin-Word of the Week: TRANSCENDENTALISM ========= New eps of CHINWAG drop Wednesdays for free... n(🧊) Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YOUTUBE x CHINWAG Playlists ▶️ YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Full episodes playlist: https://bit.ly/chinwagYT Animated shorts: https://bit.ly/chinwaganimations Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

⏳⏳⏳ Part 2 of Paul and Stephen’s chat with Academy Award winning actor, writer, and author Tom Hanks. Why are time travel fantasies perfect escapes and where does Tom dream of going? What’s the logic of time travel and what would be better: going back to the past or going forward into the future? Tom shares cautionary food for thought from Thornton Wilder and Charleton Heston, and lessons gleaned from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes. Also, what are the rules of infidelity in time-travel and has there ever been a real “golden age”? Tom explains what it is to be a “presentist”, why he’s a bit of a skeptic, and the guys chew on whether or not human nature has changed over time. 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. Tom Hanks is a 2-time Academy Award winning actor, writer and author. His novel The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece is a New York Times Best Seller. His charitable coffee line, Hanx: For Our Troops, can be found at givehanx.com or on instagram @givehanx. All profits go to those who serve, and their families. ⏳⏳⏳ ========= Vocab Chin-Word of the Week: PRESENTIST ========= New eps of CHINWAG drop Wednesdays for free... n(🧊) Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YOUTUBE x CHINWAG Playlists ▶️ YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Full episodes playlist: https://bit.ly/chinwagYT Animated shorts: https://bit.ly/chinwaganimations Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

🍠🍠🍠 Academy Award winning actor, writer, author and all-around wonderful human Tom Hanks joins Paul and Stephen to help unload specious facts about Quebec, Canada (lowest marriage rate in the world!), Blue Zones and the importance of purple yams. Paul, Stephen and Tom discuss the speed of information, Chat GPT, cognitive dissonance in AI, and question the use of Waze to beat traffic. How have our memories changed since the advent of cell phones? Are acting skills useful when it comes to writing a book? Plus, Tom still recalls his Bosom Buddies co-star Peter Scolari’s lines from 1980, and a baseball/acting analogy that puts it all in perspective. Stick around to hear about Tom’s debut fiction novel The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece, the ecosystem and unsung heroes of the Hollywood movie set (focus pullers!) and the thing MOST discussed on set? It’s not what you think! 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. Tom Hanks is a 2-time Academy Award winning actor, writer and author. His novel The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece is a New York Times Best Seller. His charitable coffee line, Hanx: For Our Troops, can be found at givehanx.com or on instagram @givehanx. All profits go to those who serve, and their families. 🍠🍠🍠 ========= Vocab Chin-Word of the Week: SPECIOUS ========= New eps of CHINWAG drop Wednesdays for free... n(🧊) Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YOUTUBE x CHINWAG Playlists ▶️ YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Full episodes playlist: https://bit.ly/chinwagYT Animated shorts: https://bit.ly/chinwaganimations Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

☥🪦🍕 Bonus time with comedian, writer, director and author Mike Birbiglia. The guys discuss their thoughts on leaving a legacy, art as a path to immortality, and the enduring comedy of Charlie Chaplin and W.C. Fields. Also, what’s the career advice one should never pass on to others? Lastly, Mike’s love of pizza (and the word “plaza”) leads to the end of the debate on the country’s best pizza. Is it New Haven, NYC, or Chicago? And what’s the correct amount of pizza for one person? Hint: it’s not the whole pie. 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. Mike Birbiglia is a comedian, actor, storyteller, director, producer, and writer. His podcast Working It Out is available wherever you get your podcasts, and his hit Broadway show Old Man & The Pool is now his latest Netflix Comedy Special of the same name. ☥🪦🍕 ========= New eps of CHINWAG drop Wednesdays for free... n(🧊) Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YOUTUBE x CHINWAG Playlists ▶️ YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Full episodes playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPC82XURv4qSrqu7vS9NEnRqOFzSELyY1 Animated shorts: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPC82XURv4qQQbe6Q6rQJV8tiy2IHZ_vk Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

🤳🏽🤳🏽🤳🏽 Tune in as comedian Mike Birbiglia, also our resident Swiftie expert and anti-hero, explains the Taylor Swift phenomenon to Paul and Stephen. Also, why is TikTok so addictive, and which host shares this obsession with Birbigs and 420 million Gen Zers? Then, how to talk to your kids about death and scary stuff (hint - don’t ask Paul!). Hear about Birbigs’ new Netflix special Old Man & The Pool, his sleepwalking disorder, and his fascination and fear of bears. And don’t sleep on his beliefs surrounding all things paranormal. Hint: Ghosts, UFOs, aliens, Sasquatch, and Nessie. It’s all in the realm of possibility! 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. Mike Birbiglia is a comedian, actor, storyteller, director, producer, and writer. His podcast Working it Out is available wherever you get your podcasts, and his hit Broadway show Old Man & The Pool is now his latest Netflix comedy special of the same name. 🤳🏽🤳🏽🤳🏽 ========= Vocab Chin-Word of the Week: TETRAPODS ========= New eps of CHINWAG drop Wednesdays for free... n(🧊) Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YOUTUBE x CHINWAG Playlists ▶️ YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Full episodes playlist: https://bit.ly/chinwagYT Animated shorts: https://bit.ly/chinwaganimations Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

✨🤩🌟 Recorded live at the Murmrr Theater in Brooklyn, NY on Oct 17th with the incomparable Paul Rudd. Chinwag’s studio audience jumps in on the action with their burning questions. More in-depth answers about fears, recurring dreams, pretend play and how improv plays a role in one’s success. Plus: Does I Love You Man mirror real life? And what’s its connection to Only Murders in the Building? Which Paul is actually a fan of the Almond Joy? What are Rudd’s favorite tunes from his Bar Mitzvah DJ days? And after retirement, would either Paul consider a career as a professional team mascot? It’s all in this Bonus Chinwag. And stay ‘til the end to learn Paul Rudd’s favorite social media meme! 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. Paul Rudd is a beloved actor and comedian whose held a variety of odd jobs, including glazing hams at the Holiday Ham Company in Overland Park, KS and working as a DJ at Bar Mitzvahs. ✨🤩🌟 ========= New eps of CHINWAG drop Wednesdays for free... n(🧊) Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm YOUTUBE x CHINWAG Playlists ▶️ YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod Full episodes playlist: https://bit.ly/chinwagYT Animated shorts: https://bit.ly/chinwaganimations Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

🛋️🛋️🛋️ Recorded live at the Murmrr Theater in Brooklyn, NY on Oct 17th. Paul and Stephen welcome Paul Rudd to discuss the genesis of his childhood fears, the difference between fears and phobias, and list all the things that give them the willies (puppets, clowns, and cockroaches OH MY!). Join our rapt studio audience as Rudd regales with his creepy childhood bedroom decor (velvet Charlie Brown portrait anyone?), explains why his recurring nightmares always took place in grocery stores, and how he got swallowed up by a sofa bed at 9 years old (thanks, Traymon Stampley)! Also, the 2 Pauls and Stephen recall growing up without seatbelts, debate if the world is actually more dangerous today, the many, many primates Paul has worked with, and consider the benefits of cloning and stuffing your pets. Bonus: Paul’s love of tight spaces, facial casts, and that time a dog relieved itself on his leg. 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. Paul Rudd is a beloved actor and comedian whose held a variety of odd jobs, including glazing hams at the Holiday Ham Company in Overland Park, KS and working as a DJ at Bar Mitzvahs. 🛋️🛋️🛋️ ========= Vocab Chin-Word of the Week: HIPPOPOTOMONSTREOSESQUIPPEDALIOPHOBIA ========= 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

🏛️🏛️🏛️ Like the popular TikTok meme says about men, Paul thinks about Ancient Rome every 7 seconds. Stephen’s never counted but nonetheless our Chinwag hosts love to talk about the Roman Empire, and there’s one heralded scholar they’ve been wanting to meet: Professor Mary Beard. Sure, Dame Mary Beard has debated former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, but now she enters the Chinwag! How much power did Emperors like Caesar, Caligula, Severus, and Nero, actually wield? And how much was just imagined? Hint: many Emperors weren’t even known by name back then! So how much of a role does our imagination play in our fantasies when recounting these legends? And what can these fantasies reveal about ourselves? Also, what did Emperor Tiberius get up to in the swimming pool? (We’re asking you dear listener! Please write in and tell us - we never found out!) But Paul and Stephen DO hear which Emperor suffocated his dinner guests with mounds of rose petals. Creative! And, where else but on Chinwag will you learn the hierarchy of the Emperor’s official food tasters? It’s all here! 🏛️🏛️🏛️ ========= Vocab Word of the Week: PRAEGUSTATORES ========= 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 are into learning about death. Not just what happens after one departs, not just about ghosts and spirits and the afterlife, but what happens in the days that follow - to the bodies, and to the workers in the trenches of the death industry. Enter journalist and author Hayley Campbell, who after a lifelong fascination with death, sought these answers from the hardworking people who make their living working with the dead. Learn about alkaline hydrolysis (water cremation), cryogenics, the euphemisms for embalming, crime scene clean up, and how women and men process death differently. Join Paul and Stephen as they dig into the different cultural traditions and attitudes around death, and discuss the merits of facing death directly as a means of fearing it less. BONUS: Why Paul prefers female crime-writers to men! 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. Hayley Campbell is a journalist and author whose work has appeared in WIRED, The Guardian, GQ, Empire, Vice, New Statesman, McSweeney’s, and more. Her books include All the Living and the Dead and The Art of Neil Gaiman. She lives in London with her cat, Ned. 🌺💀🌹 ========= Vocab Word of the Week: ALKALINE HYDROLISIS ========= 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