Fail Better with David Duchovny

This episode originally aired July 22, 2025 The spotlight has certainly taken its toll on Robert Downey Jr. over the years. But much like his beloved MCU character Tony Stark, there's an undeniably powerful force inside Robert that keeps him pushing forward. When we sat down over iced coffees, we found ourselves unpacking the fraught relationship Robert had with his father — the experimental, coun...

This episode originally aired June 3, 2025 The X-Files was always about turning something mysterious and untraceable into something known — so what better time to capture the elusive podcast interview on camera? That’s right: Fail Better is now on video, and we’re kicking off this new chapter with the one and only Chris Carter, the creator of The X-Files. And he came prepared, alien embryo and all...

This episode originally aired November 19, 2024 It was a real magic moment to connect with Aimee Mann, a musician I’ve listened to for decades. She indulges my curiosities about lyric choices and instrumental training, and I learn how much goes on behind the scenes of an Aimee Mann production. We talk about the traumas of her past, which hardships do and do not influence her work, and why there fe...

This episode originally aired July 30, 2024 The nephew of Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne, and son of Dominick Dunne, becoming anything other than a writer feels almost sacrilegious. Yet Griffin Dunne only recently became an author, publishing his family memoir “The Friday Afternoon Club” after spending decades in other fruitful and wide ranging creative pursuits. The actor and producer, known...

This episode originally aired February 11, 2025 While Maggie Wheeler is known by millions as the iconic Janice on ‘Friends’, she has been my real-life friend for even longer. Back in the late 80s, we made our film debuts together, playing former lovers, which is a distinction we shared in real life, even at that time. And we’ve stayed close even as our lives and careers went off in the various way...

This episode originally aired August 13, 2024 When I first met Kumail Nanjiani, we were on set on the X-Files, chasing down the shape-shifting Were-Monster. Since then, I’ve seen Kumail undergo his own transformation — into a leading man and big-screen superhero, playing memorable characters with depth, heart and humor. Only, he doesn’t always see it that way. We chat about his love of the X-Files...

This episode originally aired August 16, 2024 Being “indie famous” is complicated, and Kathleen Hanna isn’t here to water it down. Her career making feminist punk music — most notably in the band Bikini Kill — meant she was attacked for her activism by some and objectified as a symbol by others. But Kathleen and her bandmates continued to fight for respect and wrangle messy topics into punchy song...

This episode originally aired January 14, 2025 Throughout his long and varied career, Rob Lowe has become an expert at reinventing himself. He left behind his bad-boy image from iconic 80s movies to work on a clever mix of dramatic and comedic TV roles. But I’ve known Rob for a while, and he’s a very layered individual. We look back at how Rob has pursued his passions and how he and his wife, Sher...

This episode originally aired October 15, 2024 I’ve known Jason Beghe for 50 years and counting, ever since we met one fateful day in a high school biology class. I watched as this rambunctious and rebellious kid grew up and carved his own path, never following trends. But when Jason became heavily involved in the Church of Scientology, we drifted apart — and I felt like I’d failed him as a friend...

This episode originally aired June 18, 2024 There are few actors left who embody the ethos of old Hollywood. Sean Penn is one of them. We got together at his place for a face-to-face exploration of Sean’s life and career. We discussed how his childhood in Malibu helped him create the iconic Jeff Spicoli, and how his first acting coach still shapes him today. We speak of his friends — Brando, DeNir...

This episode originally aired March 18, 2025 To me, there are few sitcom characters more memorable than Steve Urkel on Family Matters. So getting to talk to the actor Jaleel White — about his approach to acting, his take on Hollywood in the ‘90s and now, and what it’s meant to have a character follow him into adulthood — was as illuminating as I’d expected. As a pillar of show business and an astu...

This episode originally aired April 22, 2025 After an illustrious tennis career, of course Chris Evert cherishes the wins and broken records. Yet, the sting of defeat is also etched in her memory, marked by days secluded in hotel rooms with the worst missteps replaying in her mind. Life as a high-profile athlete began for Chris as a teenager, and it opened her up to intense scrutiny from tabloids....

This episode originally aired February 25, 2025 Kenya Barris, the creator of "Black-ish", knows a thing or two about resilience. Eighteen failed pilots before he finally struck gold? That's dedication — and, as it turns out, a family value. I’d always been drawn to Kenya’s humor and storytelling, but during our conversation it really clicked how much his experience as a father — and, as he openly...

This episode originally aired July 8, 2025. My interview with Emily was one of our most popular of 2025, so we’re playing it again to cap off the year. Emily Deschanel spent over a decade portraying the brilliant and meticulous forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance Brennan on the hit crime procedural Bones. Yet, what many viewers never knew about was her personal battle behind that confident perf...

While we’re on holiday break, I wanted to share one of my favorite conversations from 2024 — my appearance on Pete Holmes’s podcast, You Made It Weird. Pete and I dive into the big stuff: creativity, aging, family, ego, spirituality, and why trying (and failing) is often the most interesting part of being human. It’s funny, thoughtful, and wonderfully weird in all the best ways.  If you want to he...

This episode originally aired on November 12, 2024. Gillian Anderson and I share a connection unlike any other. The Dana Scully to my Fox Mulder, we are the only ones who understand what the other was going through during those X-Files years. But so much was left unsaid — until now. We got a chance to open up about the ways we might have failed one another during that wild ride, and we both examin...

John Seabrook is a journalist and author best known for his work at The New Yorker magazine. This means he didn’t go into the family business: large-scale industrial agriculture. During their heyday, Seabrook Farms was a household name in frozen vegetables. But an internal power struggle that lasted for generations ultimately tore the family and the business apart. In his latest book, The Spinach...

Sitting across from Dr. Peter Weller — another actor/author/academic like myself — I knew I was in for an engaging conversation. But as Peter explained the shape his life has taken, I saw beyond his vast accomplishments to his deep sense of self-knowledge. Long before he was Robocop, Peter was a masterful jazz trumpet player, idolizing innovators like Miles Davis. Yet, for all Peter’s talent, the...

For the Thanksgiving holiday, who better to hear from than a family who has fought hard for the communication, compromise, and comedy that fuels their daily lives?  Don’t Listen To Us is an advice show for advice skeptics and wisdom lovers, hosted by Mandy Patinkin, his wife Kathryn Grody, and their son Gideon. Legendary actor Mandy (The Princess Bride, Homeland, Criminal Minds) is the consummate...

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 Lynch led to a lifelong friendship and a filmography inhabiting the director's unfor...

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. A self-described "liberal-tarian", Megan has a unique way of articulating both s...

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 inspirations, debate poems versus songs, and I even read a few of our favorite...

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 learn throughout our conversation, Judd’s propulsion to create isn’t to prove that...

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 be out in the world. It’s called Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost, and it’s stre...

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 and numbers and graham crackers. Now it’s death, sex, taxes, and all the big, mes...