Fail Better with David Duchovny
To be human is to fail – period. And not just to fail once, but to fail a lot. As the author Samuel Beckett said: “Fail again. Fail better.” This saying means a lot to me and my family – so much so that my daughter got a tattoo of it. Why are we, and so many others, so deeply concerned by failure? And if it’s something we all do so often, why are we so afraid of it – especially those of us here in win-at-all-costs America? In this podcast, I sit down with successful, thoughtful people like Ben Stiller, Bette Midler, Sean Penn and more to talk about failure – or what they labeled “failure,” but what was really an unparalleled opportunity for growth and revelation. I even want to delve into my own hardest moments, when I wrestled with setbacks, shame, and fear. We’ll still fail again. And again. But maybe if we fail better, we’ll feel better -- and maybe if we can all laugh together in failure, that's a start.
Show episodes
The actor Kyle MacLachlan readily acknowledges the immense impact that the late director David Lynch had on his life and career. After making his on-screen debut starring in Lynch's sci-fi epic Dune (1984), Kyle expected superstardom — only to see the movie flop commercially. However, the connection he forged with Lync
As a columnist for the Washington Post, Megan McArdle tackles the most fraught political topics of our time. So why did we spend so much time talking about pie? It turns out, it's all connected. We discuss how the same forces that shape our nation — especially technology — have also shaped our relationship with craft.
Back in September, I sat down with powerful writer and past guest Jia Tolentino at the Strand Bookstore in New York City to discuss my first poetry collection, About Time. This book is a poetic autobiography of sorts, gathering moments and fragments from my life. In front of a hometown crowd, Jia and I explore my early
Failure? Success? Judd Apatow Says Give It 10 Years to Decide
Take a walk through Judd Apatow’s office, like I did, and you’ll be reminded of all the successful projects he’s helped create over the years: Anchorman, Bridesmaids, Superbad, The 40-Year-Old Virgin. I joined him there to discuss his new visual memoir, Comedy Nerd: A Lifelong Obsession in Stories and Pictures. As I le
You might remember from way back when this podcast started that my very first guest was Ben Stiller. It was a memorable interview for lots of reasons, including that Ben talked to me about his parents, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara and the documentary about the two of them he was working on. Well, that film is about to
Steve Burns was nice enough to join me on the show a few weeks ago, so I wanted to give you all a chance to listen to his new podcast. There are a thousand podcasts you can listen to; Alive with Steve Burns listens back. Steve Burns is continuing the conversation he began all those years ago. Back then it was letters a
