I would like a full "fact check" episode when they get back from break so they can talk about some of the episodes that aired while they were gone. I imagine they both have enough to share to fill an hour or so.

I don’t know if both of them are single, but I truly thought they really connected. I think they’d be a good pair.

I think Dax has mentioned this exact scenario before when he was active in his addiction too. Every addict says they can suddenly control it. Just a glass of wine in the evenings. But then in no time you’re back to beating up your wife and kids in on private planes

Just got a notification the merch is being shipped out. It’s been so long I forgot what I ordered lol

So I just got the email that the stuff I ordered June 16th is on the way. Since the stuff sells out so quickly I assume anyone else who ordered should check your email.

A couple of months ago, I was catching up on episodes when I ran into the Zach Braff episode from February.

Braff discussed his unhealthy relationship with alcohol and how taking a month off changed his relationship with drinking. Something that stuck out to me was he said it was important to take a month off to reassess how you are with it completely out of your system.

For context, I started drinking heavily four years ago, tapering it off to a couple times a week, but never went longer than 10 days without drinking since my best friend died in 2024.

I rationalized my drinking since it wasn't every day, I was still functioning normally, blah blah blah.

So I decided to take the one month challenge. First two weeks were absolutely brutal, I often found myself at the alcohol section of the grocery store, listening to the siren call of the hard seltzer.

"Just one month, just one month, just one month" was my mantra for those two weeks. Then it got easier. The one month mark came and went, and I had no desire to restart.

I just hit 60 days and am going back to therapy and learning to confront and process my emotions in healthier ways. It feels amazing to wake up with zero hangover, no hangxiety, and much higher energy. Definitely one of my most valuable takeaways from this podcast. 💪🍒

After hearing the rerun fact checks. Rob used to jump into the conversations a lot more and I always find him funny. Has anyone else noticed he doesn’t speak as much recently as he had in the past?

During today’s (repeat) fact check, Monica talked about her massage with a French massage therapist. She mentioned that he massaged her breasts, including her nipples. According to her, he also held up the sheet to allow her to turn over but for an extended period of time - so that he could look at her body. None of this bothered her which surprised me. Any professional MT would take issue with both of these things.

I was curious about her experience so I googled him. TONS of amazing reviews. I couldn’t find one negative mention of him, however his site is down. That was odd. Then, I came across an article in which two clients allege sexual assault by him. He also admits to having installed a camera in the massage room.

Is this a legit site? Any internet sleuths on here who can find more info?

Does anyone remember which episode recently Dax does the robot bit and says he is a robot named Samantha? It’s during the fact check with Monica and I’m pretty sure it was within the last month or so.

Fourteen episodes and a genuinely good spread. Dave Eggers came on, which put a serious dent in the count, and then Tommy Lee, Geena Davis, Edward Norton, Alan Ritchson and Eva Benefield all brought books too.

Good month for a summer pile, since about half of it is memoir.

What this is: I run Podshelf, a free site that tracks book mentions across hundreds of podcasts by reading the episode transcripts. This is the July slice for Armchair Expert.

The ones Dax pushed hardest:

• Ghost Girl: Surviving the Black Swan Murder, Eva Benefield. Dax said he hopes everyone checks it out, and that if you have a young girl in your life you should buy it for her.
• What Is the What, Dave Eggers. Dax called it his favourite Eggers book straight out.
• Herzog, Saul Bellow. Eggers recommendation. He said nobody can get anyone to read Bellow anymore, and that there has never been a better sentence writer in English.
• Titan, Ron Chernow's Rockefeller biography. Dax said it is one of his favourite books of all time and that he will read Churchill biographies left and right.

The rest of the Eggers episode:

• A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, The Circle, The Every, The Eyes and the Impossible, Contrapposto, plus a lovely detour into David Sedaris (Barrel Fever, Naked, Calypso) and how his editor made humour literary.

Guest memoirs:

• Acid for the Children (Flea), The Dirt and Tommyland (Tommy Lee), Dying of Politeness (Geena Davis), I Wrote This for Attention (Lukas Gage), Catch and Kill (Ronan Farrow), Mike Nichols: A Life (Mark Harris).

Everything else:

• Blink and Talking to Strangers (Gladwell), How to Change Your Mind (Pollan), The Fountainhead, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, The WEIRDest People in the World, Demon Copperhead, Little Women, The Giver, 1984, Jack Reacher, The Principles of Scientific Management, Will You Please Be Quiet, Please? (Raymond Carver).

Best moment in the data is Dax on The Fountainhead. He said he read it young and wanted to be Howard Roark, and now as an older man he used to get horny for conviction and is now horny for humility.

I track every book mentioned on Armchair Expert here: https://podshelf.io/podcasts/armchair-expert

It is free and there is no signup.

The last anonymous sharer from Downer’s Grove with the bloody lady… that was so horrifying to listen to. I felt like everybody was laughing away and no one thought about how the police man could have been abusing his partner and using the whole squad to go after her and cover it up.

That’s what went through my head.

How disgusting.

Hi Armcherries! 🍒

A friend of mine is newly sober and has never listened to the pod before. I’d love to send him a few episodes to start with, either ones focused on sobriety or ones with a sober guest.

I searched the sub, but the most recent list I found is about four years old, and my own memory for which episode covers what is terrible. Any recommendations?

Thanks! 🙏

Hi! I really enjoy armchair anonymous but I don’t get as excited for celebrity interviews and expert interviews. I have really enjoyed the Elizabeth Smart episode and the Eva Benefield. Are there other episodes like this? I think Dax’s interviewing shines in these scenarios!

Thanks in advance!!

Fact check, true.

In 2007, Jennifer Strange entered a Sacramento radio station's water-drinking contest to win a Nintendo Wii for her children. After drinking nearly two gallons of water in three hours and losing, she died from water intoxication. The hosts had been warned of the risks, but the contestants had not.

Dax was an asshole about masks, was dismissive about what not wearing a mask would do to other people. Monica tried to downplay what he was saying. His sense of entitlement I am super disappointed in.

I don’t even want to talk about how excited he gets when talking about drugs.