Adam Savage

Summary

Podcast Summary: Joy with Adam Savage Joy, a Podcast. Hosted by Craig Ferguson
Episode: Adam Savage
Release Date: December 10, 2024

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Introduction

In this engaging episode of Joy, hosted by the charismatic Craig Ferguson, the conversation centers around finding joy amidst a seemingly chaotic world. Joining Craig is renowned designer and television host Adam Savage, best known for his role on MythBusters. The discussion delves into personal creativity, the transition from traditional media to digital platforms, and profound reflections on faith and humanity.

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Transition from Television to YouTube

[05:04] Adam Savage:
"I just did a YouTube channel. I know Tomas messes around with something, and I think I've got like a hundred subscribers or something."

Adam shares his journey transitioning from traditional television to creating content on YouTube. Unlike the rigid structures faced with TV executives, Adam enjoys the creative freedom that comes with managing his own channel. This shift allows him to explore projects at his own pace without external pressures, fostering a more authentic expression of his creativity.

[05:28] Savannah Guthrie:
"We put up a video almost every day. We're very excited about it."

Adam praises the collaborative spirit of Savannah Guthrie, emphasizing the joy of creating content without answering to corporate constraints. This autonomy contrasts sharply with their experiences in television, where creative visions are often compromised.

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Creative Processes and Collaboration

[09:21] Adam Savage:
"It's a magnificent collaboration of three dudes walking around this dinosaur for three full days, just adding and subtracting color and turning it into a real character."

The conversation shifts to the intricacies of creative collaboration. Savannah recounts the process of creating a Utah raptor costume, highlighting the teamwork and attention to detail required to bring imaginative concepts to life. Adam echoes this sentiment, reflecting on his own experiences in set painting and wardrobe design, where storytelling is paramount.

[34:49] Savannah Guthrie:
"We'll talk to all of the artisans about how, look, a movie crew is nothing but an army of storytellers all the way down."

Both guests emphasize that whether in filmmaking or digital content creation, the essence lies in storytelling. They discuss how every role, from painters to costumers, contributes to the overarching narrative, enriching the final product.

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Faith, Spirituality, and Science

[17:14] Adam Savage:
"I stopped saying that, and it happened in your kitchen in Girvan."

Addressing personal beliefs, Adam and Savannah delve into their perspectives on faith and spirituality. Adam shares his struggle with traditional notions of God, expressing an openness to abstract concepts rather than organized religion. Savannah reveals her shift from atheism to identifying as a "New Testament agnostic," influenced by profound personal experiences and psychedelic journeys.

[25:15] Savannah Guthrie:
"Measurement is the faith I get in numbers is misplaced because they aren't real. The measurement of these blocks only exists under circumstances that we agree upon."

This philosophical dialogue explores the intersection of science and belief. Savannah discusses how even precise scientific measurements are based on agreed-upon standards, paralleling the subjective nature of faith and societal constructs.

[32:04] Adam Savage:
"I feel like I'm with the Stoics, which is the only thing you really can control is your attitude to what's happening."

Both guests reflect on existential themes, contemplating consciousness, mortality, and the human condition. They acknowledge the limits of control and the importance of perspective in navigating life's uncertainties.

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Global Warming and Collective Action

[46:18] Adam Savage:
"When people are saying, you know, there might be riots, I went, well, what's the weather like?"

The discussion turns to global warming, with Adam emphasizing the need for engineering solutions over behavioral changes. He expresses skepticism about the effectiveness of individual actions, advocating for large-scale technological innovations to address climate challenges.

[48:25] Savannah Guthrie:
"Late stage capitalism posits that life is a zero sum game. Instead of what can we do to benefit all of us?"

Savannah critiques the framework of late-stage capitalism, arguing that a collaborative rather than competitive mindset is essential for meaningful progress. She highlights the importance of collective action and mutual benefit in tackling global issues like climate change.

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Storytelling and Human Ingenuity

[35:55] Savannah Guthrie:
"The thing you don't realize is all old clothes have shoulder burn because they've been sitting on a hanger for decades. They're always a little lighter right here on this line."

Exploring the art of storytelling, Savannah illustrates how attention to detail enhances authenticity in creative works. Adam connects this to his fascination with the storytelling elements in MythBusters and beyond, acknowledging how every small detail contributes to the larger narrative.

[55:46] Adam Savage:
"Life makes non-random shit at scale."

Drawing from a thought experiment by researcher Lee Cronin, Adam and Savannah discuss the definition of life and intelligence. This leads to a broader contemplation of how collective human ingenuity shapes our environment and society.

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Conclusion

[57:26] Savannah Guthrie:
"My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground on which I stand."

As the conversation winds down, Savannah shares a profound personal mantra inspired by Buddhist philosophy, emphasizing accountability and the enduring impact of one's actions. Adam resonates with this Stoic viewpoint, underscoring the importance of maintaining a positive attitude amidst uncontrollable circumstances.

[58:36] Adam Savage:
"All right, take it easy."

The episode concludes on a heartfelt note, reaffirming the value of friendship and shared creative endeavors. Both hosts express a desire to reconnect in the future, highlighting the episode's theme of finding joy through meaningful relationships and collaborative projects.

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Notable Quotes

• Adam Savage [05:04]:
  "I just did a YouTube channel. I think I've got like a hundred subscribers or something."

• Savannah Guthrie [25:15]:
  "Measurement is the faith I get in numbers is misplaced because they aren't real."

• Adam Savage [32:04]:
  "I feel like I'm with the Stoics, which is the only thing you really can control is your attitude to what's happening."

• Savannah Guthrie [48:25]:
  "Late stage capitalism posits that life is a zero sum game. Instead of what can we do to benefit all of us?"

• Savannah Guthrie [57:26]:
  "My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground on which I stand."

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Final Thoughts

This episode of Joy masterfully intertwines personal anecdotes with deep philosophical discussions, offering listeners a blend of entertainment and introspection. Adam Savage's transition to digital content creation and his thoughtful perspectives on faith and global challenges provide rich insights into finding joy and purpose in today's complex world.

Transcript

[Craig Ferguson]

All right, we're all set for the party. I've trimmed the tree, hung the mistletoe, and paired all those weird shaped knives and forks with the appropriate cheeses. And I plugged in the partisan.

[Adam Savage]

Partisan.

[Craig Ferguson]

It's a home cocktail maker that makes over 60 premium cocktails, plus a whole lot of seasonal favorites too. I just got it for 50 off. So how about a cosmopolitan or a mistletoe margarita?

[Savannah Guthrie]

I'm thirsty. Watch.

[Craig Ferguson]

I just pop in a capsule, choose my strength and wow.

[Adam Savage]

Beginning to feel more seasonal in here already.

[Craig Ferguson]

If your holiday party doesn't have a bartender, then you become the bartender. Unless you've got a Bartesian, because Bartesian crafts every cocktail perfectly in as little as 30 seconds. And I just got it for $50 off.

[Adam Savage]

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[Savannah Guthrie]

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[Adam Savage]

See how you can save on every.

[Savannah Guthrie]

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[Adam Savage]

It's Savannah.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Guthrie and Hoda caught me from the Today show. Nobody does the holidays like today. From festive performances and great gift ideas to tips for the perfect holiday feast, join us every morning on NBC and make today your home for the holidays.

[Adam Savage]

The Craig Ferguson Pants on fire tour is on sale now. It's a new show, it's new material, but I'm afraid it's still only me. Craig Ferguson on my own, standing on a stage telling comedy words. Come and see me. Buy tickets, bring your loved ones. Or don't come and see me. Don't buy tickets and don't bring your loved ones. I'm not your dad. You come or don't come, but you should at least know it's happening. And it is. The tour kicks off late September and goes through the end of the year and beyond. Tickets are available@the craigfergusonshow.com tour. They're available at the craigfergusonshow dot com tour or at your local outlet in your region. My name is Craig Ferguson. The name of this podcast is Joy. I talk to interesting people about what brings them happiness on the podcast. Today, we have a show business science member of the royal family. Now, that's not fair, because he's much smarter than any member of the royal family. He's a very old friend of mine, and he used to be a ginger, but he's all right now. Please welcome the fantastic Adam Savage. Adam Savage. Look at you. You look exactly the same. If anything, a little younger. I was going to say. Have you been moisturizing? What's happening?

[Savannah Guthrie]

It's all turned gray, but, yeah, no, the clean living is the secret to my face.

[Adam Savage]

Well, you know, here's the thing, though. You wear a ginger at one point. Gingers do go gray.

[Savannah Guthrie]

We go white. We go, like, sheet white.

[Adam Savage]

Yeah. No, I think it's kind of impressive. I think it's the compensation for having been a ginger that you then go completely white. I've seemed to be developing some kind of weird, kind of fluffy thing that's going on. It's very bad. I've noticed that my hair has dried out completely. If you're just joining us, by the way, this is the Hair Care podcast with Adam Sauvage and Craig Ferguson. It isn't French your name, is it?

[Savannah Guthrie]

Sauvage? It is French. I was just going to say that's the correct pronunciation, but we came over to Scotland around the 14th century.

[Adam Savage]

Right.

[Savannah Guthrie]

And from what I understand, the savages, the Sauvages, were mercenaries settling near the Antrim peninsula around the 14th century.

[Adam Savage]

That's been near Ireland then. Right.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I think there are a bunch of savages in Ireland as well.

[Adam Savage]

Oh, there most certainly are. I wonder if it was your family that brought the ginger to Scotland or if the ginger was already there. That's a good question. It is a good question. And not one. I think it would be an excellent mythbusters. Red hair was bought to Scotland or it was already there. What's going on with that franchise now? Are you guys making mythbusters Junior or.

[Savannah Guthrie]

No, dude, I haven't made television in years. I'm a YouTuber now.

[Adam Savage]

It's definitely the way to go.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah.

[Adam Savage]

Are you back at building? Are you back in your day job?

[Savannah Guthrie]

No, over Covid. We leaned in 100% to my YouTube channel.

[Adam Savage]

Oh.

[Savannah Guthrie]

We have almost 7 million subscribers now.

[Adam Savage]

Shut the fuck up. 7 million.

[Savannah Guthrie]

We put up a video. Almost every day, we put up a video.

[Adam Savage]

Oh, my God. Do you. You must be an influencer. Are you going to fight Mike Tyson or something? What's happening?

[Savannah Guthrie]

You know, the secret to having a YouTube channel is that you basically have to be your own ad agency. And that is what we do now.

[Adam Savage]

Oh, right. That's. That's a lot, though. I. I like. I think I've got a YouTube channel. I know that Tomas messes around with something, and I. And I know these podcasts go up on it, but I think I've got like a hundred subscribers or something. It's not. It's not anything that anyone's gonna be excited about, but it's. It's definitely the way to go for sure. Is it. Does it feel more comfortable being your own kind of executive?

[Savannah Guthrie]

Can I tell you, it's so nice because, you know, the TV executives, they ride you so hard on a pitch, they want everything buttoned down, and then the moment they award the show, they don't care about the show at all. They just want to know that the last five minutes will bring all of the world to watching what you're making.

[Adam Savage]

Yeah. And. And also the television executives, God bless them. I used to. I used to hate them, but now I feel bad for them because there's no work for those guys.

[Savannah Guthrie]

No. Can I tell you, when I pitched a book in 2016 in New York, I spent a whole day pitching all the publishers. And it was remarkable because I realized halfway through the day, I'm repeatedly in rooms pitching to people who love what I'm pitching. They love the industry that they're in. They love books. And that's not what I experience in television. I don't experience television executives being like, I love television. I'm a television person.

[Adam Savage]

No, it's a very rare thing. I met one or two of them, but most of them are just awful. And I think for many of them, it's kind of a realtor job. You know, it's like, well, it's not what I wanted, but, you know, it's decent money and, you know, I'll do it for now.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Well. And the networks nickel and dime them until they have no compunction left.

[Adam Savage]

I know, but it's quite interesting, though, because I know that I'm hurtling into my dotage. Whenever I talk to them, I'm like, what do you want, son?

[Savannah Guthrie]

It's exactly that.

[Adam Savage]

You're like, what the fuck you want? And like, well, we're very excited about. Are you really excited? Fuck you. You're not excited about it. Shut up.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Exactly that.

[Adam Savage]

But do people have to pitch you for your YouTube channel. Now, do they have to, like, say, well, we have this idea. We'd like to blow up a hat.

[Savannah Guthrie]

You know, that does happen from time to time. I just had a company ask me, could you send our product to space experimentally? And I came back with a totally different idea. Yeah. I am unwilling to do testing on behalf of people's products. I never was willing, and I still don't want to do it.

[Adam Savage]

Well, I mean, doesn't it. That would leave you open to some kind of legal ramifications, wouldn't it, as well, if you test something and then somebody hurts themselves or something completely.

[Savannah Guthrie]

But also, it's like the first time I make a test and adjudicate someone's product as being one way or the other, no one will trust me ever again. That's the way I feel about it.

[Adam Savage]

That's right. That's right. Now, so what do you do on your YouTube channel? Because, of course, obviously I subscribe to it, but for the people that don't.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Know about that, it's a fever dream of making. And so I'm in here five days a week, 40 hours a week in general, kind of making whatever I'm interested in right now. I'm currently. Currently working on. This is sitting on my bench here. This is part of an elevator panel I'm working on.

[Adam Savage]

Okay.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Because there's a scene in the movie Elf where. Where Will Ferrell walks into an elevator and he hits a button, and it's really pretty, and so he hits all the buttons at once. So I'm making that a Christmas decoration in my house this year.

[Adam Savage]

Oh, that's a lovely idea. And then as you make that, you will film yourself making it. It'll go on the YouTube. And then, hey, presto, cash.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Absolutely. Yeah. And so we do that, and then we also, like, I made a raptor costume, a Utah raptor costume, 16ft long, a few years ago. And just a few weeks ago, I brought in a couple of friends and we spent a week painting it. And just a magnificent collaboration of three dudes walking around this dinosaur for three full days, just adding and subtracting color and turning it into a real character.

[Adam Savage]

That's really interesting. So you kind of like, you've freed yourself. You've become like you're doing exactly what you want exactly on your own terms and becoming a patrillionaire at the same time.

[Savannah Guthrie]

A thousandaire.

[Adam Savage]

But it is.

[Savannah Guthrie]

It's so, like, the team is really small. It's just six of us making this YouTube channel. Everyone's having a really Good time. And we don't have to answer to anyone. I bought out all my business partners a couple of years ago.

[Adam Savage]

That's really interesting, because that's kind of. I kind of did the same thing when television started to turn into this weird kind of corporate homogenized fucking shit show where you say one thing wrong, and suddenly there's lawyers saying we don't encourage Craig Ferguson and all that kind of stuff. That I thought, no, I got to strip this down to analog. Right back down to me speaking into a microphone in a dark room with a bunch of people pointed in my direction. That. That's it. You know, just back doing stand up. And. And it was only recently, like, in the last. I don't know, I don't know how long I've been doing this podcast. Like, 18 months or something. Yeah. And you know the. I heart people who run it. I'm like, God, these guys are just the same fucking assholes as everybody else. So. So I probably won't keep doing it, but. But maybe I should buy my. Buy them out and.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Well, you know, one of the things that people who watch the channel tell me that they do is they take my videos, and some of them might be eight minutes long, and some of them might be 80 minutes of me, like, wiring something up. And they put their laptop on their workbench with me working, and then they work alongside. They do their own project while I'm working on mine.

[Adam Savage]

I think that's. That's very good. And I think that the Mythbusters is quite an interesting thing. I think Mythbusters was kind of like the equivalent is if you do a vampire movie. Like, no matter what you do in your career from that point on, the vampire crowd will always consider you one of their people. And I think Mythbusters has, like. Because I'm. That I'm like, Mythbusters is such a thing. Like, I still see Carrie quite often. I'd say I haven't seen you in ages, but you've been over in Scotland a couple of times. And I mean, I haven't seen you over in a while unless you've been there and you haven't told me.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I have not been there and haven't told you.

[Adam Savage]

I promise you that. All right, good. Because during the lockdown, we were stuck in Scotland all the time. We moved back to America, though. We're in New England now. Oh, wow.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Okay. Upper east coast.

[Adam Savage]

Yeah. Well, you know, that's where Meghan's people are from those icy blue blood Yankees who, you know, the Meghan can trace our ancestry back to the Mayflower.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Oh, so can I. Actually, we have some relatives that were on that boat together.

[Adam Savage]

Oh, my God. Because my theory is that only the crazy people made it through that first winter. Only the angry crazy. That genetic code through that first winter, that was like your Law and Megan law. I wonder if you're related to Megan.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I didn't get Covid for the longest time. For the first two and a half, almost three years. And there was this period of time I thought I was immune because my grandmother, who can trace my. Who is a Monroe, who can trace her, who could trace her ancestry back to the Mayflower, had survived the 1917 influenza.

[Adam Savage]

Oh, wow.

[Savannah Guthrie]

And so I was thinking, like, I'm an X Men. I've got that in my blood. But then I caught Covid and it's still.

[Adam Savage]

Well, Covid's kind of it. I don't know. Look, I'm not a scientist, but I feel like it's new. I feel like it's a slightly newer thing and. Yeah, I didn't get it for a while. I didn't get it at all. We had a party, our house afterwards. I still didn't get it. You were invited to that party. You didn't.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I was. I couldn't make it.

[Adam Savage]

I was at. Carrie, Byron was at the party.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I was so jealous.

[Adam Savage]

I think she got Covid at like 50 people got Covid at that party. But you didn't. I didn't. And then Megan, we went to. I was doing Name that Celebrity, Name that tune in Dublin for some reason. And Megan came with me and she made me go and see the Book of Kells, which I was. I couldn't give a shit about the Book of Kells. And while I was in there, it was all American tourists. And I got the Irish leprechaun. I got. That's when I got it from the Book of Kells. I got the original ancient Irish the O hi diddly Covid.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Did you get a wish?

[Adam Savage]

Yeah. Yeah. I wish they hadn't gone to see the fucking Book of Kales is what I wish. So listen, talk to me about your origins because I haven't really talked to you ever really about that. You're from Sleepy Hollow, right? Is that where you're from? I can born Crane country.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Born in Manhattan. My parents were lovely bohemians in the West Village in the late 60s.

[Adam Savage]

Wow, that sounds like a lot of body hair.

[Savannah Guthrie]

It was. They had a. They had a two. They had a 10 room duplex on 8th street and McDougall street.

[Adam Savage]

That'd be worth, like, a billion dollars now.

[Savannah Guthrie]

They. They sold it to the Robert Joffrey foundation in 1970.

[Adam Savage]

Wow.

[Savannah Guthrie]

To move their family up to Tarrytown to Sleepy Hollow, New York. And where I grew up, that's where I spent my whole childhood. About a block from the Hudson in.

[Adam Savage]

All lovely part of the world. It's gorgeous there. But isn't it, like. There's a lot of ghost stories and creepy stuff and all there. And I always think of you being someone who debunks all of that kind of stuff. Is that. Do you think that's what started there? Was it to protect yourself from scary stories?

[Savannah Guthrie]

No, I think it was.

[Adam Savage]

I think it was.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I never believed. You're reminding me that there's this one moment in Mythbusters when Guillermo del Toro called us up and he was like, why don't we go spend three days.

[Adam Savage]

In the most haunted place in the United States, an insane asylum in the Carolinas.

[Savannah Guthrie]

And Jamie was like, why would we do this? And I was like, we would do this because it's Guillermo.

[Adam Savage]

That's where we go. If Guillermo calls you, you gotta go.

[Savannah Guthrie]

You gotta go.

[Adam Savage]

Have you been. I haven't been in his crazy house of mad things. Have you been in it?

[Savannah Guthrie]

I've been to. I've been to Bleak House. And now, apparently, there is a second Bleak House. But, no, it's an amazing collection. It's a patholog, kind of. I mean, look, what are we if not a collection of pathologies?

[Adam Savage]

I was darn as sad. I was going to say you're kind of a bit of a hoarder.

[Savannah Guthrie]

High functioning hoarder, but. Yes.

[Adam Savage]

High functioning hoarder, I think is. But it's. But the kind of. The whole ethos of, like, Mythbusters and you personally as well, even right down to the. I don't know if you're still an atheist, but, like, you're a. You're kind of. You really do like to get to the science of just about everything, right?

[Savannah Guthrie]

I do like to get to the science of just about everything. But it's funny that you say, I wonder if you're still an atheist, because I stopped saying that, and it happened in your kitchen in Girvan.

[Adam Savage]

Oh, really?

[Savannah Guthrie]

Because we had come back from a thing back when we were hanging. Back when I was visiting you there, and you said, it's. It's pretty. You said, it's pretty fundamentalist to say atheist.

[Adam Savage]

Because I still believe that. Yeah.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah. And I couldn't. I couldn't disagree with that. And so I now call myself a New Testament agnostic. I can't know. I can't know who tipped the first domino, but I agree with everything Jesus said.

[Adam Savage]

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[Craig Ferguson]

All right, we're all set for the party. I've trimmed the tree, hung the mistletoe, and paired all those weird shaped knives and forks with the appropriate cheeses. And I've plugged in the Bartesian Bartisian. It's a home cocktail maker that makes over 60 premium cocktails, plus a whole lot of seasonal favorites too. I just got it for 50 off, so how about a Cosmopolitan or a Mistletoe margarita?

[Savannah Guthrie]

I'm thirsty. Watch.

[Craig Ferguson]

I just pop in a capsule, choose my strength and wow, it's beginning to.

[Adam Savage]

Feel more seasonal in here already.

[Craig Ferguson]

If your holiday party doesn't have a bartender, then you become the bartender. Unless you've got a Bartesian, because Bartesian crafts every cocktail perfectly in as little as 30 seconds. And I just got it for $50 off.

[Adam Savage]

Tis the season to be jollier. Add some holiday flavor to every celebration with the sleek, sophisticated home cocktail maker Bartisian. Pick up your phone and shake it to get $50 off any cocktail maker. Yes, you heard me. Shake your phone and get $50 off. For many of us, the holiday season means more travel, more shopping, more time online, and more of your personal information in more places you can't control. It only takes one innocent mistake, even if it's not your mistake to expose you to identity theft. Not to worry. Lifelock monitors hundreds of millions of data points every second and alerts you to threats you could miss by yourself. Even if you keep an eye on your bank and credit card statements. If your identity is stolen, your own U. S based restoration specialist will fix it, guaranteed. The last thing you want to do this holiday season is face drained accounts, fraudulent loans or other financial losses from identity theft all alone. Gift yourself the peace of mind that comes with LifeLock and spend more time doing more of the holiday things you love. Visit lifelock.com iheart and save up to 40% your first year. That's 40% [e-mail] iheart LifeLock for the threats you can't control. It's very interesting because I wrestle with it over and over and over again. It's like a constant refrain for me. I always kind of go back to I don't want to not believe things, but I can't believe in a kind of angry man on a cloud with a thunderbolts and stuff. I can't believe in that. But then I'm interested in mystics that I've become fascinated recently by Gore Vidal. Have you read Gore Vidal's book?

[Savannah Guthrie]

I have read a bunch of Gore Vidal. He's the only historical fiction writer who I like to read.

[Adam Savage]

Oh my God, it's great. So right now I'm in the middle of creation when he's got that guy from Persia who meets Buddha and confuses and Socrates. It's all like, wow, man, this is fucking pot boiler is fabulous.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I always feel, I always felt with him, the one I read and loved the most was Burr, which is a fever dream. And also with Vidal, I feel like I'm absolutely getting a whole bunch of editorializing an opinion, but it's in. Formed by the point of view he got in his research, not by a bias.

[Adam Savage]

Yeah, I feel it's quite. What's quite interesting about Gore Vidal as well is that I don't really know where he stands in the belief system. And I've read it extensively and I think what it is, I think he bounces around. I think he.

[Savannah Guthrie]

But I think that is almost a. That is almost a defining feature of real faith. Martin Luther King absolutely grappled with it in his personal diaries. I mean, John Donne, Hell spells, you know, was totally grappling with this the whole time.

[Adam Savage]

Yeah, I think it, I think it is an essential component of faith that it has to have doubt. If it doesn't have doubt, it's not really faith. It's certainty. And certainty is a very different thing. But there's a weird interview with Carl Jung. I don't know if you've ever seen it.

[Savannah Guthrie]

No.

[Adam Savage]

Where somebody asked him if he. It's a televised thing. I can't remember where it was. But it's towards the end of his life where someone said, do you. Do you believe in God? And he said, it's different for me now. I know. I know there's a God. I was like, oh, man. Jung freaks me out. I think he's so amazing. But. But I always. I think of you. It's interesting to hear you say that, because I didn't know you were into those Vidal historical novels because they. They seem quite mystical to me. And I feel that you aren't that. But I guess you are. I mean, the. The science thing is a search for truth, isn't it? It isn't in its way a spiritual hunger. I think science, it's absolutely.

[Savannah Guthrie]

And were grappling with the same questions I had. This seems germane to this. I had this epiphany about four years ago. I was researching measuring things.

[Adam Savage]

Okay.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I was researching. Which is the field of metrology. And within the field of metrology. Actually, I happen to have. I did not plan this prop, but I have this right here. Within the field of metrology, if you want to measure something, you pass a certain point, you don't measure it. You actually compare it to something. And this is called a gauge block. And this is the most accurate comparison system there is. This is a 1 inch block. And I can tell you that this block is one inch to within a, you know, a few nanometers. That's how accurate this block is. And I was showing my. I was doing a video about how to measure gauge blocks and how accurate they are. And then I had this idea and I put the gauge block in my hand and held it for 12 seconds and put it back under my measuring device. And I was able to show that in 12 seconds, the heat from my body had made the gauge block one micron thicker.

[Adam Savage]

Wow.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Because of heat expansion. And when I realized that and I was looking at the spec sheet for these, which is every one of these has been measured and certified. I realized that at the bottom of the certification, it says this is only accurate at 68 degrees Fahrenheit.

[Adam Savage]

That's amazing.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Which told me that measurement is. The faith I get in numbers is misplaced because they aren't real. The measurement of these blocks only exists under circumstances that we agree upon. Which means just like politics, just like culture, just like society, it's all based on us being polite and trying to work together. That's how it works.

[Adam Savage]

Yeah. It's funny, I had a similar experience when I was getting my pilot's license when I was learning to fly, because I kept asking people about airspeeds and altitudes and airspeeds and altitudes, which are extremely important if you're flying a freaking airplane. Well, altitude, there's kind of like five different types because there's altitude above the ground, but there's also sea level altitude, which we all kind of agree on. Then there's density altitude, because that's how the plane's going to perform at certain temperatures and moisture in the atmosphere. So it's like. It. Like radar altitude as well. I mean, it's like, no, we need to have one altitude. But there's not the same thing about the speed of sound. Like, how fast is sound? Well, it depends on the temperature and depends on the thickness of the air. And it's so fascinating to me. And I think you're right. I think. I think that it is. It is very, very confusing to try and agree on one thing, to make things black and white. That's why I'm. I'm against fundamentalism of all kinds.

[Savannah Guthrie]

And that's. That's where you turned me around in your kitchen table was. I realized, yeah, no, I. I can't know. So all I can do is keep gathering data. And I feel like performers, like, because we both spend a lot of time in front of audiences, we know that audiences can take on a character that is different than the people that compose that audience.

[Adam Savage]

Unbelievable. Unbelievable. I mean, right to the extent of that one night. And you'll know this because you did those live shows and you've done so many live shows. You can go out in front of an audience in a roughly the same size theater, at the same room temperature, at the same time of day in a town that's a similar demographic makeup and do exactly the same thing and have a wildly different experience. And that's people, collective personalities. I'm like, what is it? It's that Jungian thing, isn't it? The collective.

[Savannah Guthrie]

The collective unconscious.

[Adam Savage]

Right, the collective unconscious. Do you know, I once had interviewed Stephen King on the Late Night show, and I said, have you. He was talking about bringing stories down. He said, I bring the stories down from somewhere. I was like, oh, that's fascinating. And he. And I said to him, so about the. It's kind of like the young, the Collective unconscious. And he said, what is that? And he didn't know what I was talking about.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Oh, so great.

[Adam Savage]

I was like, what the. I mean, he might be fucking with me. He's Stephen King. But it was still fascinating.

[Savannah Guthrie]

But there is also that Arlo Guthrie, I saw him perform once, and he said, I don't write songs. I stand at the side of a river and I wait for one to come by and I scoop it out.

[Adam Savage]

Yeah.

[Savannah Guthrie]

And then he said. He said, I don't think anyone downstream of Bob Dylan has ever even seen a song.

[Adam Savage]

But. But I think that what's kind of interesting is, though, that that's a kind of. That's a kind of weird, unmeasurable thing.

[Savannah Guthrie]

But you've been. You've been in front of an audience where something came out of the ether into your head.

[Adam Savage]

Yes.

[Savannah Guthrie]

And dropped like a bomb in the room.

[Adam Savage]

Yes. It happened last night, actually. I was doing a show last night in Chicago, and that's why I'm in the hotel in Chicago now. And about halfway through the show, I had this idea, and I went with it, and I was making myself laugh. The audience seemed to be enjoying it, too, but I was having a great time with it. It's crazy.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I use that as. That's the other to me, right? That creative thing that happens late when you do all the practice and you do all the rigor that you do to get yourself to this point. And then you open yourself up and some creative thing comes in. You don't know where it came from, but it informs the whole thing you're building.

[Adam Savage]

Yeah. It's very interesting because it leads me as I. You know, again, as I get older, I start thinking about the inevitability of the, you know, corporeal decline and, you know, and mortality and all that. And I can't get my head to a place where I can endorse the idea of the continuation of consciousness. I'm quite happy to remain open to the idea of a God, a prime mover, or an unexplainable deity, but I can't get my head around the idea that it keeps going. I just don't see that.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Here's. Here's one that I'm always thinking about when this conversation comes around is in Africa, they took some termite mounds and poured concrete into them and then excavated to see the shape of a. Of a termite city. And when they do this, the cities are 15ft tall and 20ft wide. And they include waste management, and they include air conditioning and convection, breathable air they include temperature control. And I couple that with the fact that 99% of the cells in my body right now are non human in origin. Right. I'm mostly a colony of other bacterium and other types of organisms. So I find myself wondering if consciousness isn't just a level set for different groups of organisms and that maybe it's not that our consciousness continues, but we're just brought back into the continuum.

[Adam Savage]

Oh, that's fascinating idea. I think also if you get the idea of infinity, of infinite time, infinite space, then it would seem to me that anything that can happen will happen. And so anything that you can think of can imagine that I'm dead. It's gonna. I wonder if that's even possible. But it's, it's. This is one of the reasons why I don't take marijuana. I feel like. I feel like it would be bad. Do you take recreational drugs? I wonder if that's the thing for you.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I did do a lot of psychedelics back in my 20s.

[Adam Savage]

Really?

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah, absolutely. And it was a couple of mushroom. It was a couple of mushroom trips during which I really. Absolutely connected and still firmly believe that our consciousness is eternal and that we don't. That this is not a deterministic universe. That is, we have free will here, but I'm not sure where we come from that we do. And so I. I make this leap that we come here onto this corporal plane because eternity is exhausting and we come here to enjoy some beginnings and endings. Beginnings and endings. Beginnings and endings.

[Adam Savage]

Oh, that's a lovely ide. I think you might be on the edge of a new religion. There could be. I think I could get behind that as an idea. That's fascinating. I think that the idea though for me that the struggle I have with spiritual hunger or spiritual searching is. It's so littered with organized religion, which is not for me, you know, I can't make it work. Have you got any organizational structure for that for yourself?

[Savannah Guthrie]

Only that it seems to me that the Buddhists have been right all along.

[Adam Savage]

Maybe, maybe that conscious that.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Look at this age too. What turns out to be most important to me is the collaborations I get to do with people that I love.

[Adam Savage]

Yeah.

[Savannah Guthrie]

It's the taking a couple of minds and intersecting them on the same problem and enjoying doing that and learning from other point people's point of view. The more curious I get about other people and their process, the more I get a reward from that interaction.

[Adam Savage]

That's interesting. So you become fascinated by the way other people approach a problem which either you have looked at yourself or are trying to. Or investigate using.

[Savannah Guthrie]

One of the primary things we do on the channel is we go to movie sets. And on movie sets, the main thing that we do at a level that most people don't do it is we'll talk to all of the artisans about how, look, a movie crew is nothing but an army of storytellers all the way down. And when you're talking to the painter painting the prophet, he's thinking that she's thinking about the narrative of that piece. And I love talking about that problem. You get this thing. How do you make it fit within that narrative? Go. And that's one of the great challenges of my creative life, is making things to do that. And I love talking to other people about how they do it.

[Adam Savage]

It's funny you mentioned that when we were in Scotland, we. We were. We wanted to paint an old part of the house, and we didn't know how to do it, and we didn't know how to do it. And then I thought, you know what? Let's call. I had a buddy who was a set painter on movies. Yes. And I said, let's him come and look at it. And he looked at it, and I said, I want it to look like it was painted 300 years ago, but it's got damp, but then it got dry again, and it's okay now. It had woodworm, but it doesn't have wood worm anymore. He's like, got it. And he did it in two days.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Right. Because he's a sun painter.

[Adam Savage]

Right? He's like, I got it. I know what you're doing. Yeah.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Probably bought a bunch of Hudson's sprayers to add some dirt coming down the walls. Right.

[Adam Savage]

It was amazing, though. I mean, the idea of it. I'm fascinated by the idea that. And you're right, everybody is a storyteller. And, like, I was always interested. I haven't made a movie in forever. But the wardrobe people always fascinated me because the investigation that they do and the work that they do is amazing.

[Savannah Guthrie]

And the stuff they don't even tell you. Like, I was talking to Danny Glicker, who's Jason Reitman's costumer, and he's like, the thing you don't realize is all old clothes have shoulder burn because they've been sitting on a hanger for decades. They're always a little lighter right here on this line. And if you don't do that, you'll know that it's not quite old.

[Adam Savage]

That's amazing. It's amazing. It's a real detective thing, Almost totally. Were you ever drawn to that? Were you ever drawn to, like, forensics or police work?

[Savannah Guthrie]

Absolutely. I love knowing how things work, so I love peeling behind the curtain and having, you know, mythbusters is put me in contact with tons and tons of cops all over the world. And I mean, I could not do that job. It is a view on humanity that is really intense and difficult and a. Yeah, a. And look, I have huge problems with the. With the American police, but that's not what I'm talking about here. I'm just talking about the general job of being a police person. Sounds both completely intriguing and I could never do it.

[Adam Savage]

It's funny. I got a. I got a tattoo once in New Orleans and it was late at night, as often tattoos are, and the guy was doing it, you know, you get to talk and he's working away and we were talking and he. He told me that he had been a cop. He had been a homicide cop. And then during Katrina, he was looking at three unsolved, you know, deaths a day. And he said, I couldn't do it anymore. I couldn't do it anymore. It was. I had to go and do what I really wanted to do. I couldn't. I couldn't do that. I. I always wanted to do, you know, to be a tattoo artist. And now I'm going to do that. And he's good, and I've got some good ink from him. And it was. It's a fascinating story. He said that weird thing, he said, civilization is. And it was a quote from some fancy French writer. I don't know who it was. Civilization is three meals away from chaos.

[Savannah Guthrie]

That's beautiful.

[Adam Savage]

Wow.

[Savannah Guthrie]

That's completely true.

[Adam Savage]

Yeah, I think so. I mean, it's like I always think as well, you know, when. When people are saying, you know, there might be riots. And I went, well, what's the weather like? Because people never riot in the snow. It's temperature based. It affects the amount of rioting you're going to get.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Totally right. And I was thinking, whoever said that quote, I feel like they had to be French because the French Revolution is where you learn that lesson.

[Adam Savage]

Yeah, I think it probably was. It was probably with some, you know, somebody that was up to no good during all that. Do you know what? Apparently during the French Revolution as well, that the revolutionary pamphlets were all hidden inside pornography. Oh, my God. Because the fancy pants aristocracy wouldn't look at the pornography because it was for poor people. And all the poor people were looking at the pornography And I'm like, oh, yeah. And apparently that I feel like I might be making this up, but I think there's some truth in it. The Marquis de Sade, that's why he was so involved in all. He was writing these crazy pornographic stories, but also he was a revolutionary as well.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Doris Lessing has a group of books that are field reports on planets around the universe and science fiction. And the first one is a field report on earth from about 20,000 BC till 300 years in the future when the world holds the white man on trial for crimes against humanity.

[Adam Savage]

Okay?

[Savannah Guthrie]

And in this arc, at one point, one of the benevolent aliens that sort of oversees the universe falls. He falls into the sickness of rhetoric, all right? And to cure him of his addiction to rhetoric, they send him to live a short, brutal life as a peasant during the French Revolution.

[Adam Savage]

Oh, man. Oh, man. I mean, it's kind of an interesting thing. I mean, you're still in San Francisco, right?

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah.

[Adam Savage]

In San Francisco is, I've always found a very complicated rhetorical environment. Because on the one hand, there's this very liberal idea, but we are very didactic and very hard line liberal idea of life, which is hard to navigate. I find it hard to navigate if I'm talking a lot there. Do you know what I mean? I feel like it's quite easy to annoy people, audiences. I mean, you know, it's because San.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Francisco exists in this tension between that very open, open ended philosophy that everyone should try what they want and let their freak flag fly, and we're all cool with it. But it's also one of the most beautiful physical places on Earth, which means there's a tremendous amount of money here. And the tension between the money and that hippie philosophy is, I think, one of the things that defines San Francisco well.

[Adam Savage]

And also then you get into that weird hypocrisy of Silicon Valley where they pretend to be flying a freak flag, but they are like Andrew Carnegie or William Randolph Hearst.

[Savannah Guthrie]

They're all happy the Trump won. Yeah.

[Adam Savage]

I always think that it fascinates me. Did you read the Vidal book? I think it was Hollywood, maybe Hollywood, or it may be the one before that. It's a historical novel. When he talks about the feud between William Randolph Hearst and Teddy Roosevelt, and Hurst comes off like Proto Elon Musk. It's very interesting. I was like, wow, that's a fascinating idea. And Teddy Roosevelt doesn't come out with too great either. Slashes everybody, trashes them all.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I mean, at that level, it's all life among the narcissists, right?

[Adam Savage]

Yeah, right.

[Craig Ferguson]

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[Savannah Guthrie]

I'm thirsty. Watch.

[Craig Ferguson]

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[Adam Savage]

Feel more seasonal in here already.

[Craig Ferguson]

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[Adam Savage]

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[Savannah Guthrie]

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[Adam Savage]

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[Savannah Guthrie]

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[Craig Ferguson]

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[Savannah Guthrie]

Every age.

[Craig Ferguson]

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[Adam Savage]

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[Craig Ferguson]

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[Adam Savage]

When's the first time you went and did that tour of Washington? Have you done that? Like you. You go to the Senate and somebody takes you around the Capitol building?

[Savannah Guthrie]

No, no, I haven't. I have never done that.

[Adam Savage]

Oh man, they used to. When I was doing late night. I. I thought it was a thing that everybody on TV did at some point that they would take you round. And I, I get introduced to all these different people at the Senate, the Senate and the Congress and all these different offices. And it was a whole day of just like, you know, shaking hands and schmoozing people. And at the end of the day, I was with Megan and we were sitting at the end of the day and I thought, Jesus Christ. You know what really surprised me is how fucking stupid most of these people are. They're like, not that smart. They're just like, they just kind of honk. They're like geese. Unbelievable. But it's an odd thing, but they've got a very nice museum there that. We've got a couple of nice museums there. But that Air In Space Museum, the Smithsonian, you've been in it.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Oh, God. I sit on the board, actually.

[Adam Savage]

Stop it. Of course you do.

[Savannah Guthrie]

And right now, actually, over at the airport at the Udvar Hazy Center, John Glenn's Friendship 7 capsule, the first American in space, is sitting about 30ft from a space shuttle. And to see these two things, this like 1 millimeter thick aluminum container.

[Adam Savage]

I know.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Versus this, you know, 120 foot long thing, and that compression of human ingenuity is a really beautiful thing to stand in the middle of.

[Adam Savage]

Yeah, I'll bet it's f. I mean, that was the thing that first fascinated me about America when I was, I think I was seven years old. Yeah, seven. When the moon landing happened. And I remember seeing it, I was allowed to stay up and watch on television. And that's when I like, you start seeing all that American stuff. And I was like, well, I'd like to hang out with those guys. What are they doing? I want to go there because there wasn't any. I didn't see any Scottish people doing it. But I thought, what's going on here? What are these people up to? I find out later it's all Scottish people coming over to America. But it's a fascinating thing because I think the science is part of America's not only just the rise of America as, as this global omnipresent superpower, but. Yeah, but the kind of spiritual soul of America is that technology and that strive and that, you know, it's kind of like when I hear people talk about global warming, which is kind of like it is the number one issue, I guess, or climate change. And I tend to think I would be interested to hear your take on it because I tend to think at this point, we've gone so far it's no longer an emotive problem. It's an engineering problem. We gotta, we gotta fix it a different way. It can't be. We have to stop grandma putting her, you know, Hot pocket thing in the correct bin. That's not gonna do anything anymore. It has to be. And have you been keeping track of anything with that stuff? Are you, Are you?

[Savannah Guthrie]

It's, I agree with you. It's, it's clear now that it's not a behavioral solution. There's not a behavioral solution to this problem.

[Adam Savage]

Right. It's not gonna happen.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Humans have been given the chance. We have the knowledge, we have the data, and we aren't willing to make the sacrifices. And so the response is, is, will have to be reactionary. It'll be, you know, at each stage that things get more difficult, what do we do to deal with that difficulty? And it's not a great plan. It's a terrible way to attack a problem.

[Adam Savage]

Yeah. But I mean, I feel like it's the only one. I mean, the idea of, you know, you know, this is. I live in hope that someone develops a bacteria that eats plastic in the ocean and shits out tiny little, you know, sea creatures or, you know, they seed the clouds that bring the temperature down or even it out or, and there is talk about all of these different things, right?

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah. I feel like philosophically, to me, the problem is around the framing, weirdly of late stage capitalism, which is, which is that late stage capitalism posits that life is a zero sum game. That my, my, if I gain, if you gain, it's because I lose. And I think that's why global warming or behavioral solutions to climate change aren't going to work. Because everyone has this frame of like, well, if I'm going to suffer, who's benefiting?

[Adam Savage]

Right.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Instead of what can we do to benefit all of us?

[Adam Savage]

Right. Yeah, that sounds, that does not sound politically attractive to a lot of people right now.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yes, I know. And honestly, the most amazing things that have ever happened to me in my life are because of collective action of me and a group of people.

[Adam Savage]

Well, I think, I think that also that I mean, we are the sum of the people that came before us. We all are. And it's funny, I'm in Chicago right now and Chicago always makes me feel like this because it's, it's a town that I always associate, I don't know why, with the 19th century and early 20th century, I guess, like Prohibition and Al Capone and, you know, and The World's Fair, 1897.

[Savannah Guthrie]

The Columbia Exposition in 1895. Yeah.

[Adam Savage]

Right. And so I think of all of that when I went. I walked down on the lake today and I look at it and just looking at the buildings and, you know, I'm 62 at them, you know, and I'm thinking it's. You're a mayfly, man. You're a mayfly. Yeah. And, and. But all of these buildings, all of this stuff, all of this, the. This Temple of Mammon that is Chicago. It's all built by people who have gone.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah. Have you. Chicago has this. I love Chicago.

[Adam Savage]

It's one of my favorite city. Great city.

[Savannah Guthrie]

And Chicago has an architectural boat tour up the river that is one of the great three hour tourist trips to.

[Adam Savage]

Do a three hour tour.

[Savannah Guthrie]

A three hour tour on a boat of Chicago's architecture. Everything from why there's little buildings on the sides of every bridge to talking about the Sears Tower. It's a really, really fun afternoon.

[Adam Savage]

That sounds like I've got the day off today, actually. I might try to figure that out.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Oh, it's a good one. That's a really good one.

[Adam Savage]

I don't know if I've got three hours to spare, but maybe. But maybe I do. Maybe I do have three hours to spare. I noticed that. I don't know if you have this. How are you with your phone addiction? Everyone's addicted to their phone, I think. Do you have a. Are you okay with it? Are you strict with yourself?

[Savannah Guthrie]

No, I go easy on myself about it.

[Adam Savage]

Oh, that's probably the idea.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I have a funny thing here in the shop, which is that I can't pick up my phone and look at web pages while I'm standing in my shop.

[Adam Savage]

Okay.

[Savannah Guthrie]

The ethos of this place. That doesn't feel good. I have to sit in my shop chair, which is in the corner if I want to pause and surf a couple of websites. So I almost never look at my phone while I'm working here in the cave, but at home. Yeah, it's fucked up. My reading. My reading is terrible. I used to read all the time and now I have to really push myself to put books through my brain because I am a better person when I am reading.

[Adam Savage]

I feel like my feeling now is that I push myself hard into analog experiences. So I don't like driving cars that have a lot of tech in them. I don't like, you know, I don't like. I like to go to a theater and talk to an audience who don't have their phones with them, you know, or they're not allowed to use them and, or a comedy club or a, or a, or watch a theater show. But it's hard because those fuck. I don't. I used to think it was my addictive personality because I, you know, clearly have one, but I don't think, I think everyone has a fuck. I look at everyone seems to be kind of drawn into this mess. It's weird.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Neal Stephenson wrote a book a few years ago called 7Eves and I'm going to spoil it right now, but it's been out for years, so I don't think that's a problem. And in it, the moon blows up and starts to break into chunks that are going to make Earth uninhabitable. And the book spans people leaving the Earth in order to survive and then going back to it several thousand years later.

[Adam Savage]

Wow.

[Savannah Guthrie]

And when they go back to it, they have access to all the technology that existed on Earth. And one of the things they do is, yeah, we're not going to do smartphones this time. That didn't work out for everybody.

[Adam Savage]

That's great.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Isn't that beautiful?

[Adam Savage]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's a book by, I think, I can't remember the author's name. He's great. I've read everything he's done. Richard Harris, maybe. Is that a guy who wrote a trilogy about Cicero? Oh, no, I don't know it. Oh, he's great. But he wrote a book called Second Sleep, which is set in 1483 after the, so the second Middle Ages, after the apocalypse. And as a guy starts finding old technology and starts to realize what happened because, you know, it's exactly like the Middle Ages where in fact you're, you're a couple of chapters into the book before, you know, he picks up something and he sees the little apple logo on it and you go, what the. Because you think you're in the Middle Ages and then suddenly you're not. You're in the Middle Ages again. It's a fascinating, fascinating book.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I was just reading a thought experiment from some researchers that were like, okay, if there, if it's possible that there was an intelligent civilization of some kind of creature before human beings on Earth that existed, you know, pre Pangea, because there's actually been, there's another Pangea that predates Pangea. And so all of the surfaces of all the land masses on Earth have turned over and, you know, sedimentary layers have built up. What would you look for to look for a civilization that existed that long ago? What sort of non random things would give you a hint that intelligence had yielded some sort of effect on Earth's atmosphere, on its landmass.

[Adam Savage]

And what would you look for?

[Savannah Guthrie]

Well, this is the thing. They were just opening up the thought experiment. But there's a lovely guy, Lee Cronin, he's over in Scotland or Ireland, and we were at a dinner party talking about what is a reasonable definition of life. And he said, I've got it. I've got the simplest definition of life. Life, he said, makes non random shit at scale.

[Adam Savage]

Yeah, all right. That's pretty good.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Isn't that beautiful?

[Adam Savage]

Yeah. I read something recently about, you know, the. I can't remember the name of it, so it's passed into the dotage. But it was about the idea of the most successful forms of life on Earth. And that was postulating the idea that wheat is the most successful form of life on Earth because, you know, it takes up the most ground and everybody needs it. And I was thinking I also try that with Louis CK had a bit which I loved about Humans are the most successful because we're not in the food chain anymore and wheat most certainly fucking is. And I think it's a different perspective on the same thing.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I once saw a biologist give a talk from the frame of sheep and cows were really smart when they traded sexual selection for protection from humans.

[Adam Savage]

Oh, yeah.

[Savannah Guthrie]

That'S just a. I love an alternate frame of mover.

[Adam Savage]

I think that ultimately where I come back to or where I am at the moment anyway, is that I kind of feel like I'm with the Stoics, which is the only thing you really can control is your attitude to what's happening. Everything else is outside your control. You can look at it, you can see it, you can absorb it. But there's so few things can actually be altered by your. By anything other than the way you think about it.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Well, this is like. This is one of my favorite Buddhist prayers actually, or slogans is. And it's actually, it's important enough that Julia, my wife, wrote this down for me and put it in my wallet. And it's germane to what you just said. And it's about the fact that, you know, we come here and we leave here and we're not here for very long and we don't have much that we can get done in the time we're here. But the last part of this is my actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground on which I stand.

[Adam Savage]

That seems like a great place to tie it all up. Well done. It's lovely. It's lovely to catch up with you, Adam. It's been way too long. I'll be in San Francisco. I've got to be there soon. I'm on tour. It's got to be in the future. Will can you and Julie and I please have dinner?

[Savannah Guthrie]

Please? Absolutely.

[Adam Savage]

We love that. It's been way too long.

[Savannah Guthrie]

She sends her love. I told her I was doing.

[Adam Savage]

This is in fact Megan saying turns to you and to her. So it's all good. We're back. We're back in the game, buddy.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I love it. I love you, my friend. It's good to see you.

[Adam Savage]

All right, take it easy.

[Craig Ferguson]

All right, we're all set for the party. I've trimmed the tree, hung the mistletoe, and paired all those weird shaped knives and forks with the appropriate cheeses. And I plugged in the Bartesian.

[Adam Savage]

Bartesian.

[Craig Ferguson]

It's a home cocktail maker that makes over 60 premium cocktails, plus a whole lot of seasonal favorites, too. I just got it for 50 off. So how about a Cosmopolitan or a mistletoe margarita?

[Savannah Guthrie]

I'm thirsty. Watch.

[Craig Ferguson]

I just pop in a capsule, choose my strength, and wow, it's beginning to.

[Adam Savage]

Feel more seasonal in here already.

[Craig Ferguson]

If your holiday party doesn't have a bartender, then you become the bartender. Unless you've got a Bartesian, because Bartesian crafts every cocktail perfectly in as little as 30 seconds. And I just got it for $50 off.

[Adam Savage]

Tis the season to be jollier. Add some holiday flavor to every celebration with the sleek, sophisticated home cocktail maker Bartisian. Pick up your phone and shake it to get $50 off any cocktail maker. Yes, you heard me. Shake your phone and get 50 off. Don't delay.

[Craig Ferguson]

This podcast is supported by BetterHelp, offering licensed therapists you can connect with via video phone or chat. Here's BetterHelp head of clinical operations. Hes Yoo Jo discussing who can benefit from therapy.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I think a lot of people think.

[Craig Ferguson]

That you're supposed to be going to therapy once you're, like, having panic attacks every day. But before you get to that point, I think once you start even noticing that you feel a little bit off and you can't maintain this harmony that you once had in relationships, that could be a sign that maybe you want.

[Adam Savage]

To go talk to somebody.

[Craig Ferguson]

There's always a benefit in talking to.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Someone because we can all benefit from.

[Craig Ferguson]

Improved insight about ourselves and who we are and how we behave with other people.

[Savannah Guthrie]

So if you're human, that's like a.

[Craig Ferguson]

Good indicator that you could benefit from talking to somebody. Find out if therapy is right for you. Visit betterhelp.com today. That's betterhelp.com it's beginning to sound a.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Lot like the holidays. The Roku Channel your home for free and premium TV is giving you access.

[Adam Savage]

To holiday music and genre base stations.

[Savannah Guthrie]

From iHeart, all for free.

[Adam Savage]

Find the soundtrack of the season with.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Channels like iHeart, Christmas and North Pol Radio. The Roku Channel is available on all.

[Adam Savage]

Roku devices, Web, Amazon, Fire TV, Google TV, Samsung TVs, and the Roku mobile app on iOS and Android devices. So stream what you love and turn up the cheer with iheartradio on the Roku Channel.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Happy Stream.