Podcast Summary: You Made It Weird with Pete Holmes

Episode: Jake Johnson (Re-Release)
Date: August 27, 2025
Host: Pete Holmes
Guests: Jake Johnson & Gareth Reynolds

Overview

This re-released episode of "You Made It Weird" brings together Pete Holmes, Jake Johnson (known for New Girl, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and more), and comedian Gareth Reynolds for a characteristically open, meta, and honest conversation. The episode orbits around themes of creative drive, gratitude versus dissatisfaction, the realities of show business, the paradox of spiritual optimism and genuine grief, and living with the awareness of mortality—all delivered with warmth, humility, and quirky humor.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Podcast Game & Chasing "Gold"

• Podcast longevity: Pete and Jake reflect on recording in various locations, marking 11 years in the biz ([01:51]).
• Staying relevant: Pete laments the difficulty marketing a long-running podcast in a media world obsessed with "the new" ([02:02]).
• Metaphor of prospecting: Jake riffs about Hollywood as gold mining—prospecting for new opportunities, and sometimes seeing others "find gold" with ideas similar to yours ([05:08]).
• Game vs. Gratitude: The group jokes about the drive for "gold" in creative pursuits, enjoying the challenge and having something to hustle for ([05:08]).

2. Changing Media & Creative Jealousy

• Short-form culture: Jake discusses his discomfort with the rise of short, Buzzfeed-style media and viral clips replacing substantive interviews ([02:52]).
• Creative theft: Jokes are made about ideas being recycled; Pete teases Derek Waters (creator of Drunk History) for "stealing" Jake's stories, but ultimately celebrates collaboration and serendipity in entertainment ([06:09]).

3. Fact, Fiction, and The Otis Redding Story

• Jake retells a beloved—but untrue—story about Otis Redding’s wife, reflecting on how rumors become lore and the joy of telling a tale, even when it's debunked ([07:11]).

4. Drug Experiences, Death, and Last Words

• Drug parallels: Discussion about psychedelics, coffee, affirmation, and gratitude providing "little kicks"—all as forms of longing for different experiences ([11:00]).
• End-of-life humor: The trio riffs on humorous and blunt last words (“Shut the fuck up, I’m dying!”), and debating whether to experience death fully aware or comfortably medicated ([10:24]).

5. Gratitude vs. Dissatisfaction: Motivation and Complacency

• The "virtues" of ingratitude: Jake provocatively claims that too much gratitude makes him complacent—dissatisfaction drives him to grow and continue creating ([12:00]).
• Pete’s counterpoint: Pete asks if one can be grateful yet still productively ambitious: “Isn’t it possibly better to stop and just go, I don’t want...?” ([14:12]).
• Resolution: They discuss “higher octane” motivation that comes not from self-loathing but from connection to purpose ([15:10]).
• Wavy Gravy mode: Jake describes days steeped in contentment (“smoothie with a weird salad”), but emphasizes the joy really comes after grinding for something ([17:21]).

6. Creative Projects, Direct to Audience, & The Grind

• Jake expands on moving into podcasting, the appeal of direct connection with audiences, and how podcasting empowers creators compared to traditional Hollywood gatekeeping ([18:32]).
• Pandemic lessons: Both Pete and Jake note how the pandemic rekindled their creative survival instincts—needing a project, building something (Jake literally built a cabin), and realizing it’s the “doing” and growth that matter more than any finished product ([25:08]).

7. The FOMO of Creative Scenes & Making Peace with Missing Out

• On nostalgia: Pete and Jake talk about arriving “just after” golden eras—whether Del Close in improv or the original Grateful Dead—acknowledging that every loss opens space for something new ([54:46]).
• Hard truths: “There needs to be a clock on the game. There needs to be found.” ([63:38])
• Paradoxes: Both celebrate the tension between appreciation and dissatisfaction; the drive to create balanced by the thrill of the chase ([63:10]).

8. On Death, Loss, and Meaning

• Personal loss: Jake gives a moving account of caring for his aunt as she died, and the aftermath—emphasizing the fleeting nature of life and the creative urge to honor “the now” ([91:29]).
• On grief’s honesty: “Feel the loss. Because it’s okay. It’s okay to go. That is better than me. And I’m not done.” – Jake Johnson ([70:12])
• Spiritual paradox: Pete and Jake debate the comfort (or emptiness) of beliefs about oneness and the afterlife, both ultimately seeing value in living the contradiction: “Your dad’s gone. And he was never here.” ([109:32])

9. Family, Pets, and Self-Projection

• Jake humorously rants about loving his dog as much as he can love “anything constantly shitting on my lawn,” and the family dynamic with outdoor cats vs. suburban dogs—that maybe their irritation at pets mirrors their own restless drive ([73:38]).
• “If we’re being rough with somebody or a dog, I think we are just treating them how we treat that part of ourselves.” – Pete Holmes ([83:41])

10. The Role of the Audience

• Jake expresses a newfound appreciation for not just pleasing creative partners but putting the audience first and respecting the “relationship” between performer and the people watching ([126:10]).
• “I feel like every podcast, there’s like, one or two things, and I’m like, I’ll remember that in 10 years. And I think that was it.” – Pete Holmes ([125:14])

11. Notable Movie & TV Work

• They dig into Jake’s film Self Reliance (recently on Hulu), discussing the speed of modern movie pacing, the technical choices in cinematography and editing, importance of tone, and the joy of finding the right collaborators (notably, Biff Wiff) ([47:03]).
• Pete gives genuine praise for the film’s craft: “You could have gone slower because I love the fisheye or whatever you call that lens. I thought that was awesome.” ([49:00])

12. Personal Anecdotes & Brotherly Bits

• Jake shares that his hardest laughs are with his brother, with whom he’s maintained elaborate comedy bits for decades—jokingly referencing their never-written “Still Chatting” show: “He’ll go: New idea for Still Chatting, hour 32...I gotta go.” ([137:37])

Memorable Quotes

• On the paradox of gratitude and dissatisfaction:

  “If you have too much gratitude, I start feeling complacent...But then people with a lot of gratitude will justify anything. They'll go: ‘I'm breathing!’ Such a low bar.”
  – Jake Johnson ([12:00])

• On honest ambition:

  “What we have to do gives me paralysis. Why I want to do what I have to do will make me start.”
  – Pete Holmes ([15:15])

• On mortality:

  “You can pull everyone you love into your bed with you, but it's still you going on the toboggan.”
  – Pete quoting Thomas Merton ([97:12])

• On losing:

  “I don't buy it. When you lose, you lose. And it fucking hurts. And it should because you lost.”
  – Jake Johnson ([70:02])

• On creative purpose:

  “If you need money to pay your bills, you work, you grind. And so I then get back to the thing of, I haven't done anything in this game. I haven't started. The race is happening.”
  – Jake Johnson ([88:30])

• On the audience:

  “I don't view us as teachers…I view us as—We give people a break and we entertain.”
  – Jake Johnson ([125:11])

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Podcasting and creative hustle: [01:26]–[06:03]
• Otis Redding anecdote & creative mythmaking: [07:11]–[09:15]
• On drugs, dying, and last words: [09:40]–[12:00]
• The gratitude/dissatisfaction paradox: [12:00]–[15:23]
• Wavy gravy mode, comfort after the grind: [17:21]
• Podcasting vs. Hollywood gatekeeping: [18:32]–[21:07]
• Pandemic and creative survival: [25:03]–[27:16]
• On missing golden eras (Dead, Del Close): [54:46]–[58:55]
• Losing, mortality, and finding meaning: [68:15]–[73:15]
• Disneyland as a metaphor for life’s paradoxes: [66:32]–[68:29]
• Pets, family, and projection: [73:20]–[77:20]
• Jake’s story honoring his late dad at Wrigley Field: [102:28]–[107:12]
• New Girl/acting riff & audience focus epiphany: [129:38]–[132:33]
• Hardest laughs, brotherly bits: [136:16]–[137:43]

Notable Moments and Tone

• Pete and Jake’s shared affection for digging below the surface (“Let’s get weird!”), their willingness to challenge each other's worldviews playfully, and the underlying warmth—never mean-spirited, always searching (“I want you to know—let’s get weird, it’s coming…” – Pete Holmes [14:07]).
• Running gags about gold prospectors, “wavy gravy” days, animals living on their terms, and reverent irreverence toward the business side of comedy and art.
• Genuine vulnerability: dialogue on death, family, and fear, as when Jake recounts being present for his aunt’s last moments, or Pete muses on the transcience of self.

Conclusion

This episode is an expansive, honest, and deeply human conversation—a masterclass in weird, thoughtful, and boundary-blurring talk. Jake, Pete, and Gareth riff on success, creative identity, loss, and the balancing act between contentment and drive, all while keeping it funny and real. The spirit is summed up by Jake’s final words, delivered in various characters:

“Keep it crispy.” ([137:53])

For anyone considering a creative life—or just navigating the human condition—this is an episode not to miss.