681. How to Host a Talk Show, with Dick Cavett

I have a confession to make. Back in 2020, when COVID hit and the world shut down, I saw a silver lining. The death and illness and uncertainty, those were all horrible. Early on we had a bad COVID case in my family and things were Touch and go for a while, but once we got through that, I was excited about spending every day in solitude.

That's just the way I'm built. I've been a writer since I was a kid and Rating requires you to be comfortable with long hours all by yourself. So I just focused on making the best freaking comics episodes we could, and I did all my recording from a makeshift home studio. And for a while, this isolation did make me happy. There was no obligation to go anywhere or see anyone. But the happiness faded.

And I thought of something the economist Gary Becker. Once said, Becker had studied the economics of addiction, and when he was asked to name the most addictive thing on the planet, Becker's answer was. People. I never would have thought of that, but it makes sense. We are a social animal, we need other people the way we need food and water, so When the Covid restrictions lifted.

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