Paul Giamatti’s CHINWAG with Stephen Asma

Paul Giamatti’s CHINWAG with Stephen Asma

chin-wag: to have a chat, a friendly conversation. Actor Paul Giamatti and Stephen Asma, author and philosopher, join forces for a freewheeling series of conversations that dive deep (like, really, really deep) into the wilderness of the mind. Featuring prominent guests from diverse fields, Chinwag is esoteric in the best way possible, as Paul and Stephen delve into anything and everything: Are we living in a simulation? What’s the most perfect sentence in literature? Is Bigfoot interdimensional? Science, the occult, philosophy, magic mushrooms… it’s all fair game! Unexpected, hilarious, and maybe even profound — Chinwag is all about having a really, really good chat. Send your stories, Qs, or thoughts to 📧 questions [at] chinwagpod [dot] fm ========= Make sure to follow us @chinwagpod 👉🏼 YT: https://www.youtube.com/@chinwagpod IG: https://www.instagram.com/chinwagpod/ Tik: https://www.tiktok.com/@chinwagpod Website: http://chinwagpod.fm =========

Episodes

February 26, 2025 121 mins
🌋🏹🐷 This is it. The wag of all wags. The waggiest wag to ever wag. The final wag. But this one’s for you, Waggers—so we’re diving into the WagBag one last time. Schrödinger’s cat, Pompeii, volcanoes—oh my! We’re tackling everything from gulags to the greatest literary whodunit of all time: Did Shakespeare actually write his own plays? (Or was it, like, some guy named Francis?) And because n...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
🎞️🪖🤡 The incredible Bill Hader drops by Office Hours to dig deep into film, philosophy, and all the weird stuff in between. He breaks down how Taxi Driver and The Thin Red Line made a mark on his psyche, why horror movies are masters at playing with tension, and how directors like Sam Fuller and Terrence Malick weave big existential questions into their work.   Bill and Stephen also dive into the murky morality of Ba...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
February 12, 2025 35 mins
🐢🎸🌆 Paul and Stephen’s Q&A at Harvard! Megaliths! French comics where Gauls endlessly pummel Romans. Paul’s unexpected relationship with the theremin. And the big question—should Paul and Stephen finally start their paranormal blues band? Theremin, guitar… what more do you need? Let us know in the comments if you’d give that album a listen. Plus, will today’s skyscrapers become the megal...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
February 5, 2025 54 mins
🗿🗿🗿 Live from the hallowed halls of Harvard University, Paul and Stephen tackle one of the universe's greatest enigmas: monoliths. What's the deal with Stonehenge? Why were mysterious bodies buried nearby? Are aliens behind these stone wonders, or is it just really bored Druids? Paul’s got theories—and a suspicious amount of insider knowledge. Did he really climb Stonehenge? And how in the world did he fall asleep i...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
January 29, 2025 38 mins
🏴‍☠️🍔🥶 Join Paul and Stephen for a double feature that kicks off with a dip into the Wag Bag! Dave writes in about the May Day Mystery, which somehow spirals into airtime pirates, the Max Headroom hijacking, the Ashtar Galactic Federation, and the meaning of this entire podcast (yes, we go there). Then, DEVO co-founder Mark Mothersbaugh crashes the party to talk time travel, AI, Neuralink, and—wait for it—cheesebur...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
January 22, 2025 32 mins
👽🛸👾 Brace yourself for an intergalactic Chinwag as Professor Asma brings you into Office Hours to take on the ultimate extraterrestrial thought experiment: how would we deal with aliens? From UN protocols and risk management strategies to spotting laser pulses and heat signatures, they explore the practical, the philosophical, and the downright bizarre. Stephen looks at sci-fi classics like HG Wells’ War of the Worlds, an...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
🧜‍♂️👻👹 Paul and Stephen hit Town Hall in Seattle for a wild audience Q&A. Paul’s crowned King of Neptune, a Brooklynite gets deep with hardcore Buddhist philosophy, and Bigfoot? He’s back—and Stephen’s sure he’s still out there, buried somewhere. Fans fire off questions about ghosts, cryptids, mermaids, and Guillermo del Toro…  Later, Stephen drops a demon-hunting masterclass in Of...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
January 8, 2025 59 mins
🧜🦕🦇 Live from Town Hall Seattle, Paul and Stephen venture into the Pacific Northwest’s strangest and creepiest cryptids. What’s the deal with Batsquatch, the massive winged terror spotted near Mount Rainier? Or the Gumbaroo, a rubbery bear-like creature rumored to explode during forest fires? They also unearth the legend of the dog-headed saint—how does it stack up on the ultimate creepiness test? And let&rsqu...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
🎆🎆🎆 To ring in the New Year, we’re celebrating with a special encore featuring Natasha Lyonne, where the conversation takes a wonderfully strange and quantum-tinged turn. Paul and Stephen read a letter from a very interesting Wagger before they follow Natasha around her home, feed Rootbeer the dog, and uncover her unusual bedtime habit: falling asleep to quantum physics audiobooks. Hear why discipline and restraint and th...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
December 25, 2024 52 mins
🥳🎁🎄 This holiday season, we’re looking back at one of our favorite guests of 2024, with an encore incomparable Paul Rudd recorded live from Brooklyn! Two Pauls and one Stephen dive into fears, phobias, and weird childhood memories, exploring everything from stage fright to public speaking. Of course, it wouldn’t be a Chinwag without creepy puppets, recurring nightmares, and tales of real-life bears on a movie set. R...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
December 18, 2024 56 mins
🐰👣😱 Paul and Stephen welcome back Ian Simmons from the Fortean Times for another dive into the eccentric, the uncanny, and the downright bizarre. In this episode, the trio explores everything from conspiracy theories’ transformation from quirky fun to dangerous obsession, to the KLF’s wild antics, including burning a million pounds and wielding fake machine guns. They also venture into giant rabbit sightings, Taylo...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
December 11, 2024 36 mins
🤖🎞️🧬 Transcend into Office Hours with Professor Asma as he breaks down the consciousness of artificial intelligence through the lens of iconic films. He examines how movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey, Ex Machina, and After Yang tackle the question of whether AI can truly possess consciousness—or even the will to exist—delving into emotions, desires, and memory. Do you need language to be conscious? Could we one day...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
📺🤖🧐 We’re dipping into the Wagbag as Paul and Stephen kick off a fascinating journey into the Twilight Zone, sparked by a letter from Christopher! Join the lads as they share their favorite episodes like “Time Enough at Last,” “To Serve Man,” and “The Eye of the Beholder,” and celebrate the genius of Rod Serling. The conversation broadens to explore early Hollywood television, highlight...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
November 27, 2024 68 mins
🦃🎞️⏳ As we approach Thanksgiving, we're revisiting one of our favorite conversations with the legendary Tom Hanks. Paul, Stephen, and Tom discuss the speed of information, ChatGPT, cognitive dissonance in AI, and even question the use of Waze to beat traffic. How have our memories changed since the advent of cell phones? Are acting skills useful when it comes to writing a book? Plus, Tom still recalls his Bosom Buddies co-star ...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
🤖🔭😱 Join Paul and Stephen for a double feature that kicks off with a captivating letter from Bree, who’s asking a question that takes us back in time: What happened to the Neanderthals? Were they victims of cannibalism, or was it something else entirely?  Then, as a bonus, they continue their mind-expanding conversation with Harvard astrophysicist Dr. Avi Loeb! Together, they dig into how artificial intelligence is ...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
November 13, 2024 49 mins
🌌☄️☠️ In this third and final installment, Paul reads aloud the eerie saga of The Colour Out of Space, one of his favorite stories from the master of cosmic horror, H.P. Lovecraft.  So far in our reading, we felt the creeping dread as the Gardner farm transformed under the influence of a sinister meteorite. Strange colors, twisted vegetation, and a growing sense of madness gripped Nahum Gardner and his family. But the worst...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
November 6, 2024 27 mins
🌌☄️☠️ In this second of three hair-raising installments, Paul continues reading the eerie saga of The Colour Out of Space, one of his favorite stories from the master of cosmic horror, H.P. Lovecraft. As we return to the shadowed countryside west of Arkham, the strange events at the Blasted Heath intensify. Following the meteorite crash on Nahum Gardner's farm, unnatural transformations have begun to infect the land, twisting th...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
October 30, 2024 32 mins
🌌☄️☠️ In this first of three spine-tingling installments, Paul reads aloud the eerie saga of The Colour Out of Space, one of his favorite stories from the master of cosmic horror, H.P. Lovecraft.  Set in the remote, shadowed countryside west of Arkham, the story takes us to the desolate Blasted Heath, where strange things have begun to take root. After a mysterious meteorite crashes on Nahum Gardner's farm, unnatural transf...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
October 23, 2024 39 mins
👽🤖👀 Get ready for a mind-bending special episode of Chinwag, where Paul Giamatti and Steven Asma dive deep into the future and the search for alien life with Harvard astrophysicist Dr. Avi Loeb!  But that's not all—Dr. Loeb also takes us on a cosmic journey through his cutting-edge research on interstellar objects and alien space trash. Could we be on the verge of discovering ancient tech from another civilization? ...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
October 16, 2024 22 mins
🧙‍♀️🐈‍⬛🧪 What kind of mischief were the Windsor witches into? Were they shapeshifters? And what’s the deal with black cats? Professor Asma dives into the infamous stories of witchcraft and witch trials, exploring the dark, mysterious history behind them.  The Professor sheds light on the use of Voodoo dolls within witchcraft, while also breaking down real-world, practical theories about the Salem Witch Trials—...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Popular Podcasts

    If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

    Dateline NBC

    Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

    Betrayal Weekly

    Betrayal Weekly is back for a new season. Every Thursday, Betrayal Weekly shares first-hand accounts of broken trust, shocking deceptions, and the trail of destruction they leave behind. Hosted by Andrea Gunning, this weekly ongoing series digs into real-life stories of betrayal and the aftermath. From stories of double lives to dark discoveries, these are cautionary tales and accounts of resilience against all odds. From the producers of the critically acclaimed Betrayal series, Betrayal Weekly drops new episodes every Thursday. If you would like to share your story, you can reach out to the Betrayal Team by emailing them at betrayalpod@gmail.com and follow us on Instagram at @betrayalpod and @glasspodcasts. Please join our Substack for additional exclusive content, curated book recommendations, and community discussions. Sign up FREE by clicking this link Beyond Betrayal Substack. Join our community dedicated to truth, resilience, and healing. Your voice matters! Be a part of our Betrayal journey on Substack.

    The Bobby Bones Show

    Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.

    Crime Junkie

    Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by Audiochuck Media Company.

Advertise With Us
Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2026 iHeartMedia, Inc.

  • Help
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • AdChoicesAd Choices