John Hodgman
When you're talking with the writer and performer John Hodgman, it doesn't seem like any page, or chapter or volume, could contain his restlessly inventive mind. It’s impossible to find a subject that Hodgman isn't curious about, eloquent about, or really funny about – sometimes all within the same sentence. And a conversation with him is like being part of a piece of improv comedy in which you had better be on your toes if you want to keep up. While you might know John Hodgman best from his appearances on The Daily Show or elsewhere on television and film, the former literary agent has his roots in books: he’s the author of three bestselling works of absolutely, hilariously not-true anti-facts, including The Areas of My Expertise, More Information than You Require, and That Is All. He joins Bill Tipper on this episode to talk about his quite different new book, Vacationland: True Stories from Painful Beaches. He spoke about what it’s like setting aside the ”expert” character he's made so famous, to speak more directly — though with characteristic wit — about growing up, growing older and (could it be?) growing wiser.