The Lou Perez Podcast

Lou Perez
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Lou Perez is a comedian, producer, and author of That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore. You may have seen him on FOX's Gutfeld! and Open to Debate (with Michael Ian Black). Lou was the head writer and producer of the Webby Award-winning comedy channel We the Internet TV and produces Comedy Is Murder, a sketch comedy series with Free the People. Lou is a FAIR-in-the Arts fellow, on the advisory board of Heresy Press, and hosts the live debate series The Wrong Take and The Lou Perez Podcast. During my tenure at We the Internet, I made the kind of comedy that gets you put on lists and your words in the Wall Street Journal: "How I Became a 'Far-Right Radical." How'd I start out? I began doing improv and sketch comedy while an undergrad at New York University, where I was part of the comedy group the Wicked Wicked Hammerkatz. For years, I performed at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater (both in NYC and L.A.) in sketch shows with the Hammerkatz and my comedy duo, Greg and Lou. G&L are probably best known for our sketch "Wolverine's Claws Suck," which has over 20 million views across online platforms. I was a writer for Fox Sports' @TheBuzzer; produced The Attendants with the Above Average Network; produced pilots for FOX Digital and MSN Games; and was a comedy producer on TruTV's Impractical Jokers. I hosted the stand-up show Uncle Lou's Safe Place in Los Angeles, performed at the Big Pine Comedy Festival, Bridgetown Comedy Festival, and co-created the political comedy podcast Unsafe Space. I've opened for Jimmy Dore, Rich Vos, Dave Smith, and Rob Schneider. I'm currently on tour with Scott Thompson. I taught creative writing at the City College of New York, "writing the web series" for Writing Pad, and comedy writing workshops for the Moving Picture Institute.

  1. 5d ago

    Andrew Hartz

    Andrew Hartz is a psychologist and the founder of the Open Therapy Institute — a national directory of vetted, non-activist therapists, plus a peer-reviewed journal, conference, and podcast. He wrote a Wall Street Journal op-ed about political activism in mental health, got a grant to do something about it, and hasn't stopped since.   We talked about: what an activist therapist actually looks like (APA's division on psychoanalysis lists 90 talks with zero mention of therapy, evidence, diagnosis, or treatment — but plenty on colonial domination, carcerality, and proximity to whiteness); how APA accredited a drag show called "Feel the F***ing Fantasy Redux" for continuing ed credits; a keynote speaker who co-translated Communism for Kids and wrote Abolish the Family; clinics diagnosing patients differently based on their race; patients being referred out for having the wrong politics; how mental health activism is backfiring on the people it claims to help (secondary gains and the evidence against rewarding symptoms); when this all started (earlier than you think — 2014, accelerating through 2019); why Lacanian nonsense writing infected academic psychology and what that sentence actually is; what CBT can and can't do; humor as a mature defense mechanism and why patients who laugh have better outcomes; why AI therapists worry Andrew more than most people realize; and Lou volunteering to coach soccer for a team of first graders despite having never played the sport.   Find a vetted therapist → opentherapyinstitute.org Read the journal → Open Inquiry in Mental Health on Substack https://openinquirymentalhealth.substack.com/?utm_source=global-search   TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 — Intro — Andrew Hartz and the Open Therapy Institute 3:23 — What is an activist therapist? The APA call for papers read aloud 6:24 — APA's division on psychoanalysis: 90 talks, 800 attendees, zero mention of therapy 8:29 — APA accredited a drag show for continuing ed credits 10:08 — Keynote speaker co-translated Communism for Kids, wrote Abolish the Family 11:53 — Lou's SJW Therapist sketch — and how close to reality it actually is 12:21 — Diagnosing people by their race — a white girl's anxiety vs. a black girl's anxiety 13:17 — The intake form that starts with pronouns — and what that signals 14:01 — Patient referred out for thinking she didn't get a fellowship due to affirmative action 14:41 — Who's paying for this? Insurance, premiums, and activist therapy 16:16 — "Evidence is Western" — activist therapists and why they reject research 17:25 — When did therapy start going this route? 2014, accelerating through 2019 19:47 — Lou's SJW Therapist video: January 2019 — right on time 20:12 — Mental illness as identity — secondary gains and how compassion backfires 21:33 — Test anxiety, extra time, and why rewarding symptoms makes them worse 23:52 — Lou used to wet himself before tests. He is not ashamed. 26:06 — The incoherence of activist academia — can anyone read this sentence? 27:23 — "Counter the extractive relations of cis heteropatriarchal racial capitalism" — a real sentence 29:54 — Lacan, oracular interpretations, and how academic nonsense writing spread 33:45 — If you have to build a birdhouse, the sentences have to make sense 36:36 — Greg Lukianoff, CBT, and what good therapy actually looks like 38:10 — Anger, dysregulation, and slowing down the loop 41:53 — What therapy cannot do: eliminate human emotion entirely 42:44 — Lou and the spiral — and why self-control matters 45:32 — Lou volunteered to coach soccer. He doesn't know how to play soccer. 49:30 — Humor as a mature defense — why patients who laugh have better outcomes 52:56 — Was it Good Will Hunting? What Robin Williams got right about therapy 54:55 — AI therapists — what they can replace and what they can't 57:17 — The danger of chatbot therapy for people who struggle with real relationships 58:03 — Open Inquiry in Mental Health journal and how to find a vetted therapist   Watch full episodes on YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4Vb53s4I0A&list=PLb5trMQQvT077-L1roE0iZyAgT4dD4EtJ Listen on Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lou-perez-podcast/id1535032081 Listen on Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/2KAtC7eFS3NHWMZp2UgMVU   🍺 Co-host of Happy Hour Econ → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/happy-hour-econ/id1863476697 📖 Lou's book — That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore: https://amzn.to/3VhFa1r 🌐 TheLouPerez.com | 📧 info@thelouperez.com ✉️ Newsletter: https://substack.com/@louperez   #MentalHealth #Therapy #ActivistTherapy #OpenTherapyInstitute #AndrewHartz #CBT #Psychology #LouPerezPodcast #LionsOfLiberty #AITherapy

    Andrew Hartz

  2. 5d ago ·  Bonus

    You Might Also Like: The Oprah Podcast

    Introducing The Lindsay Clancy Case, Understanding Postpartum Psychosis from The Oprah Podcast. Follow the show: The Oprah Podcast The Lindsay Clancy case has captured the nation’s attention, causing heated debate in the national conversation. On January 24, 2023 Lindsay Clancy strangled her three children in her basement and then attempted suicide by jumping from a second-story window in her house. The resulting injuries left her paralyzed from the waist down. After 21 days of testimony from more than 80 witnesses, the jury was not able to reach a unanimous decision. Lindsay Clancy’s defense team has argued that she is not guilty by reason of insanity as she was experiencing postpartum psychosis, while the prosecution argued she committed premeditated first degree murder. Oprah is in Massachusetts for a wide-ranging conversation about the case with an audience including an exclusive interview with Meg Hamp, a nurse who worked alongside Lindsay for 7 years and testified at her trial - plus medical experts, legal scholars and women who have personally experienced postpartum psychosis. Their stories give us a rare, first-hand insight into what it is to experience this challenging mental health issue. Oprah will also talk with social critics who will share their opinions and she will hear speculation on many sides of the case. Oprah has hosted conversations on postpartum depression and psychosis for 40 years with the intention of providing a platform for a mature discussion. This podcast episode contains discussions of murder, suicide, and mental illness that may be upsetting to some listeners. Listener discretion is advised. Follow Oprah Winfrey on Social: https://www.instagram.com/oprahpodcast/ https://www.facebook.com/oprahwinfrey/ Listen to the full podcast:  https://open.spotify.com/show/0tEVrfNp92a7lbjDe6GMLI DISCLAIMER: Please note, this is an independent podcast episode not affiliated with, endorsed by, or produced in conjunction with the host podcast feed or any of its media entities. The views and opinions expressed in this episode are solely those of the creators and guests. For any concerns, please reach out to team@podroll.fm.

    You Might Also Like: The Oprah Podcast

  3. Sep 4

    Barry Maher

    Barry Maher spent 20 years as a corporate speaker and wrote six nonfiction books. Then he discovered he had a brain tumor the size of a baseball. He woke up from surgery with Lady Gaga playing on loop in his head and a complete, fully formed novel already there — vivid as a memory, not a dream. Two years later, that novel became The Great Dick and the Dysfunctional Demon, published at age 76. He's also in remission and can tell time again. We talked about: the moment on an Asian cruise when he couldn't read a clock and didn't know why; why his wife figured out something was wrong before he did (he was putting his clothes on backwards); introducing a ship's captain on stage and then asking him what he did for a living 15 minutes later; the doctor's clock-drawing test and the nurse who wouldn't let him go to the bathroom alone; why a brain cancer diagnosis is like an impending hanging — it concentrates the mind; the novel that emerged from surgery (complete with open crypts, dark spells, sudden death, and the Ralph Lauren version of the Manson family); why The Great Gatsby and Moby Dick are the same story; and the Lady Gaga song that played on loop in his head for three straight days (it's "Always Remember Us This Way" from A Star Is Born — he was not a fan before, and he is definitely not one now). Get the book → The Great Dick and the Dysfunctional Demon by Barry Maher https://amzn.to/4xqVD4y TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 — Intro — who is Barry Maher? 0:24 — Six nonfiction books, 20 years of corporate speaking — and now a novel 1:18 — The speaking business: cold calling, articles, PR, and repeat clients 2:37 — Lou bombing at a Christmas party and waiting to get paid after 4:21 — The speaking escape hatch: "and the point of that was..." 5:41 — His first presentation: an hour of solid content, to a funeral home audience 6:50 — The cruise where he couldn't read a clock — and didn't know why 7:55 — His wife noticed something was wrong on the second cruise 9:15 — He introduced the captain — then 15 minutes later asked what he did for a living 10:06 — What it's like when your mind is the thing that's broken 10:46 — The doctor's clock test — and the nurse who wouldn't let him go to the bathroom alone 11:29 — He wrote himself off. He didn't let her accompany him to the bathroom. There are limits. 11:53 — Waking up from surgery with Lady Gaga on loop and a complete novel in his head 12:27 — The TikTok husband who can't draw clocks — and why that's not funny 14:01 — The seizure during surgery — and why the story felt like a memory, not a dream 15:01 — A brain cancer diagnosis is like an impending hanging — it concentrates the mind 15:38 — He was in his early 70s. He decided to finally write the novel he'd always wanted. 16:47 — Writing it took two years — and the memory never faded 18:26 — Lou hates writing. Barry loves it now. The brain tumor may be responsible. 20:21 — The title: The Great Dick — as in Great Gatsby meets Moby Dick 21:59 — Lou read Moby Dick aloud at his wife's hospital bed. She put pages in the wedding bouquet. 23:35 — The Great Gatsby and Moby Dick are the same story — he makes the case 24:03 — What the book is actually about 25:22 — Always Remember Us This Way — the Lady Gaga song that played for three days straight 27:15 — Did the tumor affect the part of the brain responsible for creativity? 28:16 — His wife likes the book — even with the original subtitle 29:43 — The antihero Steve Huskey — and why women are rooting for him anyway 30:09 — Health update: cancer in remission, can tell time like a champ 30:36 — Outro Watch full episodes on YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4Vb53s4I0A&list=PLb5trMQQvT077-L1roE0iZyAgT4dD4EtJ Listen on Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lou-perez-podcast/id1535032081 Listen on Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/2KAtC7eFS3NHWMZp2UgMVU 🍺 Co-host of Happy Hour Econ → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/happy-hour-econ/id1863476697 📖 Lou's book — That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore: https://amzn.to/3VhFa1r 🌐 TheLouPerez.com | 📧 info@thelouperez.com ✉️ Newsletter: https://substack.com/@louperez

    Barry Maher

  4. Aug 21

    UFC Hall of Famers Don Frye & Dan Severn

    Recorded live at FreedomFest 2026 in Las Vegas. Lou Perez sits down with two UFC Hall of Famers — Don Frye (The Predator) and Dan Severn (The Beast) — alongside host Eric Carroll of Dad Talk Today, to talk about the early days of MMA, the wild west of the original UFC, and what it took to compete when nobody knew the rules. Topics include: how Don and Dan each got into the Octagon in the mid-90s (Don needed an outlet during a rough divorce; Dan saw an opportunity when wrestling had nowhere left to go); what it was like to fight in a tournament format — three fights in one night, no idea who your next opponent was, and the whole event might be illegal; Dan starting his UFC career at 37 using Just For Men Number 45 to look more intimidating; the legendary Don Frye vs. Yoshihiro Takayama brawl at Pride FC and how it almost didn't happen; Pride FC's testing policy (there wasn't one); Dan Severn at 68 still going to the gym every day with both ACLs gone; how neither of them had ever heard of Brazilian jiu jitsu when they stepped into the Octagon; Don fighting a 600-pound grand sumo champion; and Don Frye's extremely candid prediction on the McGregor vs. Holloway rematch. TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 — Intro — Lou Perez with Don Frye and Dan Severn at FreedomFest 2026 0:27 — 33 years of the UFC — how Don and Dan first got into the Octagon 1:00 — Don Frye: going through a divorce, needed an outlet, got in the cage 1:56 — Dan Severn: wrestling had no professional outlet — MMA filled the gap 3:22 — Dan started fighting at 37 — and used Just For Men to look more intimidating 4:36 — Early UFC: no weight classes, no idea who you'd fight, three fights in one night 5:47 — The UFC was illegal — Indian reservations, no guaranteed payouts 6:10 — Dan Severn: 120+ fights, no training camps, never told anyone about his injuries 7:39 — Don Frye vs. Yoshihiro Takayama — the legendary Pride FC brawl explained 9:32 — Pride FC didn't test for anything 10:18 — Dan Severn at 68 still goes to the gym every day 11:44 — The evolution of MMA — no Google, no footage of opponents, style vs. style 12:46 — Dan Severn had never heard of Brazilian jiu jitsu when he entered the Octagon 14:42 — From the cage to entertainment — pro wrestling, movies, and the cowboy look 15:30 — Q&A: Have the Beast and the Predator ever fought each other? 17:15 — McGregor vs. Holloway prediction — Don Frye's honest take 18:17 — No weight classes in early UFC — imagine fighting a 600-pound sumo champion 18:36 — Don Frye fought Akebono — 6'11", nearly 600 pounds, grand sumo champion 20:06 — Obesity in America — Dan Severn on the food pyramid and standards 21:23 — Dan Severn shows off an original UFC belt 22:09 — How sports can push back on division — capitalism and the dollar 23:30 — One moment you'd want to relive — both legends answer 24:46 — Outro Watch full episodes on YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4Vb53s4I0A&list=PLb5trMQQvT077-L1roE0iZyAgT4dD4EtJ Listen on Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lou-perez-podcast/id1535032081 Listen on Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/2KAtC7eFS3NHWMZp2UgMVU 🍺 Co-host of Happy Hour Econ → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/happy-hour-econ/id1863476697 📖 Lou's book — That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore: https://amzn.to/3VhFa1r 🌐 TheLouPerez.com | 📧 info@thelouperez.com ✉️ Newsletter: https://substack.com/@louperez

    UFC Hall of Famers Don Frye & Dan Severn

  5. Aug 14

    What Killed Late Night Comedy?

    Recorded live at FreedomFest 2026 in Las Vegas. Lou Perez moderates a panel on politics, comedy, and the death of late night TV. Panelists: comedian Boris Khaykin, comedian and podcaster Andrew Heaton, Georgetown law professor and author Randy Barnett, Consumer Choice Center head of media Stephen Kent, and comedian Peter Stewart. Topics include: why Colbert was losing $20 million a year and what that tells you about the economics of late night; the no-monoculture problem — Joe Rogan now outperforms Fox News; how going political gave Colbert a short-term ratings boost and gutted the comedy long-term; the Daily Show's original rule (cut anything designed to get applause, not laughs) and how every show that copied it forgot the rule; the math of splitting one sixth of a dying market; whether Trump actually pressured CBS to cancel Colbert (the FCC and Kimmel story is more interesting); Kill Tony, YouTube, and the new formats replacing late night; the democratization of comedy and what AI tools mean for talent in Nebraska; why writing 252 episodes a year is an impossible creative ask; what it's like to be on Gutfeld! and whether he's actually the new Johnny Carson; and what's still off-limits in comedy. TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 — Intro — Lou Perez moderates the panel at FreedomFest 2026 1:39 — Is late night actually dead? The panel's opening takes 2:35 — We live in the clips economy — nobody watches late night live 3:33 — When did you last watch late night live? The panel answers 5:12 — Colbert lost $20 million a year — the economics of late night explained 5:50 — No more monoculture — Joe Rogan outperforms Fox News 6:43 — Why going political gave Colbert a short-term boost and a long-term problem 8:15 — Short term gains for long term pains 9:33 — The Colbert Report was brilliant. The Late Show was a dad reading the NYT with a band. 10:35 — The Daily Show's original rule: cut anything designed to get applause, not laughs 11:25 — The math: Kimmel, Fallon, and Colbert splitting one sixth of a dying market 12:18 — The Weather Channel sitcom and the pre-cable era of tepid centrist content 13:39 — Did Trump pressure CBS to cancel Colbert? What actually happened. 14:05 — The FCC, Brandon Carr, and Kimmel — government jawboning explained 14:46 — Kill Tony, YouTube, and the new model replacing late night 15:23 — SNL, Alec Baldwin as Trump, and the Instagram kid doing it better 16:37 — Ben Burke live in Naples, Florida — the demographics that surprised everyone 17:39 — Johnny Carson was unifying — a conservative Republican family from the Midwest loved him 18:10 — Kill Tony as an evolution of late night 19:34 — YouTube as a gateway to live comedy 20:18 — Is the FCC still necessary? The property rights argument for radio airwaves 22:23 — Howard Stern and transgression — you need a line to cross it 23:29 — Richard Pryor's masturbation jokes and why taboo topics lose their edge 25:12 — What podcasting did to late night — Conan's pivot 26:47 — Reality TV is cheap. Writing jokes is hard. 27:09 — The democratization of comedy — from 3 channels to 31 flavors 28:16 — Randy Barnett got in trouble on X — Georgetown security called 29:11 — The future: AI tools, zero barriers, a flood of new talent 30:41 — Human connection — why people still show up live 33:39 — Joe Rogan is now an institution — new late nights are forming 36:22 — Lou on Gutfeld! — what it's like to be on the number one late night show 37:57 — Gutfeld vs. Carson — is he actually winning or just winning on the right? 39:30 — The volume problem — 252 shows a year is impossible to do well 41:42 — Kimmel's Charlie Kirk joke, the FCC, and when both sides can be wrong 42:28 — Q&A — what's currently off-limits in comedy? Watch full episodes on YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4Vb53s4I0A&list=PLb5trMQQvT077-L1roE0iZyAgT4dD4EtJ Listen on Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lou-perez-podcast/id1535032081 Listen on Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/2KAtC7eFS3NHWMZp2UgMVU 🍺 Co-host of Happy Hour Econ → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/happy-hour-econ/id1863476697 📖 Lou's book — That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore: https://amzn.to/3VhFa1r 🌐 TheLouPerez.com | 📧 info@thelouperez.com ✉️ Newsletter: https://substack.com/@louperez

    What Killed Late Night Comedy?

  6. Aug 7

    Jon Miltimore

    Jon Miltimore is back — writer, commentator, and one of the sharpest guys covering arts, culture, and politics on Substack. This is his second time on the show and we did not run out of things to talk about. Topics include: why California can't fight wildfires and why Native Americans had better land management practices; the World Cup finally breaking through in the US; what to actually expect at a Bob Dylan concert when you're a Dylan fan (Jon didn't get what he wanted; he has no regrets); Ben Askren's double lung transplant and why elite athletes bounce back from things that would end most people; the new Stallone biopic about how Rocky got made — specifically the part where a broke, dog-selling, parking-car Stallone turned down $1 million because he refused to not play the role himself; the Rocky franchise and what it means that it somehow worked as it became more absurd; working out at 44 and 47 and why exercise is mental health; the case for travel sports (and why Matthew Yglesias is wrong); and why you should never outsource teaching your kid to ride a bike. Follow Jon on Substack → https://substack.com/@miltimore TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 — Intro — Jon Miltimore, writer and commentator 0:31 — Canada's wildfires — black skies over New York and Minnesota 2:37 — Why California can't fight fires — federal land, bad policy, and arson 4:38 — Native Americans had better land management — and we stopped listening 5:21 — Private land vs. federal land — the tragedy of the commons 5:38 — Happy Hour Econ — a comedian and an economist walk into a bar 8:50 — The World Cup in America — how soccer finally broke through 10:26 — Bob Dylan at a Bob Dylan concert — what you should actually expect 13:38 — Lou cries at a Bob Dylan concert. He's not embarrassed. 17:21 — Ben Askren's double lung transplant — and why athletes bounce back when others don't 20:44 — Askren retires on his shield — and makes peace with his rival 23:26 — The new Rocky biopic — Stallone turned down $1 million to play the role himself 27:53 — Lou used to go by Rambo as a kid. Old ladies still ask about him. 28:29 — Jon's 13-year-old son shadowboxed like Clubber Lang at age two 29:11 — The Rocky franchise — from gritty 70s realism to superhero movie 32:50 — Working out at 44 and 47 — rowing machines, air bikes, and getting back at it 36:30 — Russell Crowe's comeback — individual agency and why exercise is mental health 41:14 — Travel sports — expensive, worth it, and Matthew Yglesias is wrong 45:34 — Teaching your kids to ride a bike — don't outsource the best moments 51:07 — Auto-deleting tweets and cancel culture — how we need to treat speech differently 52:10 — Outro — find Jon on Substack Watch full episodes on YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4Vb53s4I0A&list=PLb5trMQQvT077-L1roE0iZyAgT4dD4EtJ Listen on Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lou-perez-podcast/id1535032081 Listen on Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/2KAtC7eFS3NHWMZp2UgMVU 🍺 Co-host of Happy Hour Econ → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/happy-hour-econ/id1863476697 📖 Lou's book — That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore: https://amzn.to/3VhFa1r 🌐 TheLouPerez.com | 📧 info@thelouperez.com ✉️ Newsletter: https://substack.com/@louperez

    Jon Miltimore

  7. Jul 31

    Liza Libes

    Liza Libes is a writer and literary critic at Pens and Poison. Her parents escaped the Soviet Union. She went to Columbia. She found that Columbia's English Department had replaced literature with Marxist theory, postcolonial studies, and critical theory. She's been pushing back ever since. We talked about: the teachers who made us both writers; reading Wallace Stevens's The Snowman — out loud, in full — and the seventh grade class that made Liza stand in the snow for an hour to understand it; Hemingway, Ezra Pound, and the fascism problem; what happened to Columbia's English Department and why it matters for publishing; why Marxism is fundamentally an ideology of resentment (Bertrand Russell said it 100 years ago); the novel Yesteryear and what it reveals about contemporary literary self-righteousness; why writing characters who disagree with you is the whole point; the Emily Wilson translation of the Odyssey and what "a complicated man" does to Odysseus's character; and Christopher Nolan's Odyssey film — specifically the Cyclops scene he cut, why it was the scene that defined Odysseus, and why its absence drains the heroism from the entire story. Follow Liza at Pens and Poison on Instagram → @pensandpoison TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 — Intro — who is Liza Libes and what is Pens and Poison? 1:20 — Looking back on your 18-year-old writer self 2:51 — The teachers who made us writers — Brother Patterson and Poetry Friday 5:34 — Standing in the snow to understand Wallace Stevens — The Snowman read aloud 10:31 — The Lost Generation: Hemingway, Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot — and the fascism problem 13:03 — Shakespeare and Co., Paris, and missing Notre Dame before the fire 14:57 — Columbia's English Department: literary theory replaced literature 16:58 — Marxist literary theory, critical theory, and postcolonial studies explained 18:28 — Her parents escaped the Soviet Union — why she takes Marxism personally 19:28 — What literature used to be — humanistic inquiry vs. class consciousness 21:41 — Academia made literature esoteric — and publishing followed 23:01 — The DSA voter: overeducated, underpaid, and resentful 24:44 — Yesteryear — the trad wife novel, Anne Hathaway, and literary self-righteousness 26:03 — When the author's voice drowns out the character's voice 27:14 — Dostoevsky, Lionel Shriver, and characters the author disagrees with 30:23 — Writing outside your experience — her trans character, Lou's gay character 33:22 — Lou's story published alongside Joyce Carol Oates and Junot Diaz 35:20 — Her new novel — exploring faith and Jewish theology 37:32 — Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter in Waiting for Godot 39:03 — The Emily Wilson Odyssey translation — "a complicated man" vs. "cunning" 41:10 — What makes Odysseus great — the Cyclops, the cunning, the hubris 43:25 — Nolan's film: the Cyclops scene is gone — and why that ruins everything 45:42 — Greek hubris — Icarus, Arachne, and why pride destroys heroes 47:24 — The sirens scene: what it should have felt like vs. what Nolan did 48:30 — The overall verdict on Nolan's Odyssey — heroism is missing 49:46 — Outro — find Liza at Pens and Poison Watch full episodes on YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4Vb53s4I0A&list=PLb5trMQQvT077-L1roE0iZyAgT4dD4EtJ Listen on Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lou-perez-podcast/id1535032081 Listen on Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/2KAtC7eFS3NHWMZp2UgMVU 🍺 Co-host of Happy Hour Econ → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/happy-hour-econ/id1863476697 📖 Lou's book — That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore: https://amzn.to/3VhFa1r 🌐 TheLouPerez.com | 📧 info@thelouperez.com ✉️ Newsletter: https://substack.com/@louperez

    Liza Libes

  8. Jul 24

    Michael Angel Zervos

    Michael Angelo Zervos is a Guinness World Record holder — he visited all 195 UN-recognized countries in 499 days. Along the way he interviewed people in every country about the happiest moment of their life. That project became a book, published by Penguin Random House, out February 23rd.   We talked about: how the record works and what actually counts as "visiting" a country; a year and a half of planning vs. the Brazilian who claimed he did it by accident; getting jailed overnight in Liberia for taking a photo of a building; being deported from Nicaragua because they thought he was a journalist; how he got into North Korea during a two-week window that's since closed permanently; what North Korea is actually like (his answer: Plato's allegory of the cave, in real life); Cuba on the ground vs. what the left says about it; traveling through Ukraine, Palestine, Syria, and Sudan; asking people about happiness in active conflict zones; and what his grandfather being forced to fight for communist guerrillas in the Greek Civil War has to do with any of it.   Get the book → The Happiest Moment of Your Life: True Stories from a Journey to Every Country in the World https://amzn.to/4pHdYav   Follow Michael on Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/theprojectkosmos/   TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 — Intro — who is Michael Angelo Zervos? 0:34 — Greeks in America — diners, Coney Islands, and the varsity jacket problem 5:05 — Christopher Nolan's Odyssey — not a single Greek in the cast 6:25 — 195 countries in 499 days — how the Guinness World Record works 8:04 — A year and a half of planning — and the Brazilian who claimed he did it by accident 9:33 — What counts as "visiting" a country? The Guinness rules 11:08 — Project Cosmos — interviewing people about the happiest moment of their life 13:13 — Brand deals, sponsorships, and the reality of Guinness World Record celebrity 14:35 — Traveling as a man vs. a woman — the real differences 16:37 — Married with two kids — how he pulled this off 20:24 — The happiest moment of the trip — waking up in Ghana 21:33 — The Swiss man who came out as bisexual at a phone-free party in Zurich 23:45 — The worst moments: jailed in Liberia for photographing a building 26:57 — Deported from Nicaragua — they thought he was a journalist 27:41 — Left-wing dictatorships and the memory hole 29:50 — North Korea — getting in through a two-week window that's now closed 32:14 — North Korea as Plato's cave — the allegory of the cave in real life 33:44 — His grandfather forced to fight for communist guerrillas in the Greek Civil War 35:29 — Dennis Rodman's translator was a libertarian 36:44 — Cuba — what it's actually like on the ground 38:40 — Poverty porn, romanticizing socialism, and what Cubans actually think 43:42 — The Facebook argument: "Oh no, Starbucks is going to ruin Cuba" 45:38 — What's actually lost when wealth is generated — community and dependency 47:27 — Traveling through conflict zones: Ukraine, Palestine, Syria, Sudan 49:37 — Asking people about happiness in a war zone 50:27 — The book: published by Penguin Random House, out February 23rd 52:23 — Chicken soup for the soul meets Anthony Bourdain — what the book actually is 54:14 — Outro — follow Michael and get the book   Watch full episodes on YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4Vb53s4I0A&list=PLb5trMQQvT077-L1roE0iZyAgT4dD4EtJ Listen on Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lou-perez-podcast/id1535032081 Listen on Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/2KAtC7eFS3NHWMZp2UgMVU   🍺 Co-host of Happy Hour Econ → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/happy-hour-econ/id1863476697 📖 Lou's book — That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore: https://amzn.to/3VhFa1r 🌐 TheLouPerez.com | 📧 info@thelouperez.com ✉️ Newsletter: https://substack.com/@louperez

    Michael Angel Zervos
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About

Lou Perez is a comedian, producer, and author of That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore. You may have seen him on FOX's Gutfeld! and Open to Debate (with Michael Ian Black). Lou was the head writer and producer of the Webby Award-winning comedy channel We the Internet TV and produces Comedy Is Murder, a sketch comedy series with Free the People. Lou is a FAIR-in-the Arts fellow, on the advisory board of Heresy Press, and hosts the live debate series The Wrong Take and The Lou Perez Podcast. During my tenure at We the Internet, I made the kind of comedy that gets you put on lists and your words in the Wall Street Journal: "How I Became a 'Far-Right Radical." How'd I start out? I began doing improv and sketch comedy while an undergrad at New York University, where I was part of the comedy group the Wicked Wicked Hammerkatz. For years, I performed at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater (both in NYC and L.A.) in sketch shows with the Hammerkatz and my comedy duo, Greg and Lou. G&L are probably best known for our sketch "Wolverine's Claws Suck," which has over 20 million views across online platforms. I was a writer for Fox Sports' @TheBuzzer; produced The Attendants with the Above Average Network; produced pilots for FOX Digital and MSN Games; and was a comedy producer on TruTV's Impractical Jokers. I hosted the stand-up show Uncle Lou's Safe Place in Los Angeles, performed at the Big Pine Comedy Festival, Bridgetown Comedy Festival, and co-created the political comedy podcast Unsafe Space. I've opened for Jimmy Dore, Rich Vos, Dave Smith, and Rob Schneider. I'm currently on tour with Scott Thompson. I taught creative writing at the City College of New York, "writing the web series" for Writing Pad, and comedy writing workshops for the Moving Picture Institute.

Information

  • Creator
    Lou Perez
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    188
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Cancelled Productions LLC 2025
  • Show Website
    The Lou Perez Podcast