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 shared, navigating divorce — informs his work. We delve into the intricacies of comedic structure, the tightrope walk that is satire for Black creators, and the moral considerations of challenging the status quo. Plus, we reflect on our time on set together. I'm a huge fan of Kenya's, and if you aren’t already, I have a feeling you will be soon.

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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 performance: diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia at a young age, Emily often struggled to master the intricate anatomical jargon week after week. Pushing through panic attacks on set and challenging moments with showrunner Hart Hanson, Emily persevered, going on to carry one of television's longest-running dramas. We look back at her career and unpack the very real demands of balancing constant filming with mental health, as well as raising a family, and we get into my experience directing her on Bones. I even toss my notecards aside to try to solve the true mystery of an authentic conversation.

Fail Better is now on YouTube! Watch this episode here.

You can watch and listen to Emily Deschanel and Carla Gallo rewatch and revisit episodes of Bones and interview past cast and crew members on Boneheads.

Follow me on Instagram at @davidduchovny. Find more video podcasts on our YouTube channel. Stay up to date with Lemonada on X, Facebook and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia.

Joining Lemonada Premium is a great way to support our shows and get bonus content. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

For a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and every other Lemonada show, go to lemonadamedia.com/sponsors.

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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 hear more episode of You Made It Weird with Pete Holmes, head to https://lemonada.lnk.to/YouMadeItWeirdPHfd

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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 examine the ways we’ve grown since. Gillian also caught me up on all her ventures and adventures — her work, her writing in the sexual fantasy compilation Want, and her cheeky new “unconventional wellness” line of soft drinks. It’s good to rediscover an old friend.

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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 King, John is unpacking his family’s legacy — including hidden stories of exploitation and cruelty. It was great to re-connect with John, someone I hadn’t seen since we were both undergraduates at Princeton in the '80s, particularly to hear him dissect the complex patterns of privilege and patriarchy that echo through not only the halls of Ivy League institutions, but our entire country.

Fail Better is now on YouTube! Watch this episode here.

Check out John’s latest book The Spinach King, wherever books are sold.

Follow me on Instagram at @davidduchovny. Find more video podcasts on our YouTube channel. Stay up to date with Lemonada on X, Facebook and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia.

Joining Lemonada Premium is a great way to support our shows and get bonus content. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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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 horn wasn’t the ticket to self-expression he craved. He pivoted to acting, finding a new sense of wonder and challenge working opposite legends like Diane Keaton. At the heart of it all is the idea he explored in his academic work: the inextricable link between art and artist. And hey, he even gives me a few tips for finishing a dissertation.

Fail Better is now on YouTube! Watch this episode here.

Follow me on Instagram at @davidduchovny. Find more video podcasts on our YouTube channel. Stay up to date with Lemonada on X, Facebook and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia.

Joining Lemonada Premium is a great way to support our shows and get bonus content. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

For a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and every other Lemonada show, go to lemonadamedia.com/sponsors.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 entertainer who shoots from the hip, stage actress Kathryn is the thoughtful connector who sees all the nuance, and Gideon is the brave soul keeping them on track — or at least trying to. Many and Kathryn don’t always agree on what advice to give; in fact, they rarely do. But they draw from their highs and lows as artists, parents, lovers, and humans, to give their unique take on real dilemmas submitted by you.

You’re about to hear the first episode from Don’t Listen To us. After you listen, head to: https://lemonada.lnk.to/DontListenToUsfd to hear the full episode and follow the show wherever you get your podcasts.

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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 unforgettable and mysterious worlds. I look back at my time on set with Kyle as the iconic Dale Cooper on Twin Peaks, and we dissect our characters in the 2017 sequel series. Plus, we learn how Kyle’s Pacific Northwest roots led him to become a winemaker, and why he started a podcast to learn from 20-somethings. As I feel at any opportunity for us to connect, I’m reminded why perhaps David Lynch was just as lucky to find Kyle.

Read Kyle’s New York Times opinion piece about David Lynch here.

Fail Better is now on YouTube! Watch this episode here.

Follow me on Instagram at @davidduchovny. Find more video podcasts on our YouTube channel. Stay up to date with Lemonada on X, Facebook and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia.

Joining Lemonada Premium is a great way to support our shows and get bonus content. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

For a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and every other Lemonada show, go to lemonadamedia.com/sponsors.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.