Why You Don’t Own Your Tech

Here’s the segment from last night’s Adam Ruins Tech on how tech companies use software and restrictive licenses to make sure that you don’t really own the gadgets you buy from them. 

Thanks so much to Kit Walsh, Staff Attorney at the EFF for appearing in this segment and helping us think through this issue. And I’m grateful to Andra Whipple and Mervyn Degaños for their fantastic writing and research on this episode; not to mention the inimitable Krys Marshall for bringing digital assistant Cori to life.

Raphael Bob-Waksberg and I Interview Each Other for the Talkhouse

It was a rare pleasure to sit down with my old friend, comedy partner, and former roommate Raphael Bob-Waksberg for the Talkhouse podcast.  Raphael and I were in a comedy group called Olde English together for many years; he went on to create Bojack Horseman, and I went on to do all the things you probably already know about if you read this website. 

In the podcast, we talked about what it was like to work together creatively at a young age, spill the dirt on our joint living situation (including our truly bizarre system for doing the dishes), and Raphael asked me some of the best questions I’ve ever been asked about Adam Ruins Everything in an interview. We got personal! Check it out.

Mattresses Are One Big Rip-Off (Plus Behind-the-Scenes!)

From Adam Ruins Sleep, here’s our newest segment: Mattresses Are One Big Rip-Off. Thanks to Brian Frange and Kate Doyle for their wonderful work on this piece; plus appearances by human sparkplug Arden Myrin and slimeball Ben Rameaka!

If you enjoyed this segment, check out this wonderful oral history Paste’s Alexis Gunderson wrote chronicling our creative process as we made the episode. It features accounts from head writer Alison Zeidman, head of research Natalie Shure, Executive Producer Jon Wolf, and myself.

New Adam Ruins Everything Segment – Everyone Leaves Black People Out of the Gun Debate

Adam Ruins Everything is back with all new episodes airing every Tuesday night at 10pm on TruTV! And you know what that means — new full segments of the show are going up on YouTube! This first is from our season premiere, Adam Ruins Guns: “Everyone Leaves Black People Out of the Gun Debate.”

I’m incredibly proud of this segment, and am enormously grateful to Rasheda Crockett, Sam Roudman, head writer Alison Zeidman, head of research Natalie Shure, and the rest of our creative team for doing such amazing work with one of the most difficult topics we’ve ever done. Not to mention the funny and heartfelt performances by Punkie Johnson, Landry Allbright, and Rick Overton, and Tim Wilkime’s fine directing. Hope you enjoy, and come back every week for more new episodes!

My Interview with Larry King

It was a great honor to appear on Larry King Now and be mercilessly grilled by the broadcasting legend himself. Larry is a great sport, and I had a blast. Check out the interview above!

My talk at XOXO

My friend Andy Baio was kind enough to invite me to speak at this year’s XOXO Fest. I was completely honored to do so — XOXO is a one-of-a-kind event where some of the most interesting creators on the internet speak about the personal stories behind their creative projects. (My personal favorites: ContraPoints, Open Mike Eagle, and Lisa’s amazing talk from 2015.)

In my talk, I cover a lot of ground – the dark history of Oregon, the origin story of Adam Ruins Everything, and the narrative and argumentative tricks we use on the show to try to change minds. Most importantly, though, I talk for the first time about the limits of our show’s message and method — the times that we’ve failed to convince those who most needed convincing, how that’s made me think differently about the goals of the show, and what the phrase “preaching to the choir” now means to me. That potion begins at 17:27 in the video; click this link to watch starting at that point.

2018/2019 Tour: See Me LIVE in Your City!

This December and January I’m taking my brand new show MIND PARASITES on a 24-city tour! I’ve been working on this show for a year, and I’m incredibly excited to finally take it across the country: It’s a brand new hour of never-before seen material that combines standup comedy with a psychedelic biology class, taking you on a tour of some of the weirdest organisms in nature, and revealing the cultural parasites that seek to control your mind and behavior.

Update: Sadly, these dates had to be rescheduled because of conflicts with Adam Ruins Everything’s production calendar. Stay tuned for updated tour dates for 2019!

Adam Ruins Everything on Netflix

Big news: Adam Ruins Everything is now streaming on Netflix! The first batch to go up is a great big glorious grab bag of 20 episodes from our first two years; I’m told that more will be added in the future. (In the meantime, every episode we’ve ever made is still available to buy on Amazon and iTunes.)

And after you’re done catching up, get ready for new episodes coming this November on TruTV!

(And hey, while you’re on Netflix, check out the new season of Bojack Horseman – a little bird told me I play a little bird on it!)

Adam Ruins Everything in the Pacific Standard

The Pacific Standard’s Andy Dehnart has written a thoughtful piece on how our show attempts to use comedy to change minds:

It’s that sense of humanity that makes the show work. There is so much resistance to having our ideological and filter bubbles popped that we protect them and fight off any perceived threats. But instead of coming at our bubbles with sharp swords of facts and judgment, Adam Conover sidles up in his own bubble, tells us a story, mocks himself, and lays out some facts. He’s humble, informed, and human. With that combination, he’s demonstrating a formula we might all use to attract, not repel, each other.

(Not too humble to post this flattering pull-quote on my own site, of course!) There are also some interesting thoughts in the piece on the pitfalls of satire, which has been shown to reinforce existing beliefs rather than puncture them.

My appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher

Last week I appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher. We discussed the upcoming season of Adam Ruins Everything, the Catholic Church abuse scandal, and the real cause of California’s wildfires. See the clip above; and another clip here.