Fail Better with David Duchovny

This episode originally aired July 8, 2025. My interview with Emily was one of our most popular of 2025, so we’re playing it again to cap off the year. Emily Deschanel spent over a decade portraying the brilliant and meticulous forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance Brennan on the hit crime procedural Bones. Yet, what many viewers never knew about was her personal battle behind that confident performance: diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia at a young age, Emily often struggled to master the intricate anatomical jargon week after week. Pushing through panic attacks on set and challenging moments with showrunner Hart Hanson, Emily persevered, going on to carry one of television's longest-running dramas. We look back at her career and unpack the very real demands of balancing constant filming with mental health, as well as raising a family, and we get into my experience directing her on Bones. I even toss my notecards aside to try to solve the true mystery of an authentic conversation. Fail Better is now on YouTube! Watch this episode here. You can watch and listen to Emily Deschanel and Carla Gallo rewatch and revisit episodes of Bones and interview past cast and crew members on Boneheads. Follow me on Instagram at @davidduchovny. Find more video podcasts on our YouTube channel. Stay up to date with Lemonada on X, Facebook and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia. Joining Lemonada Premium is a great way to support our shows and get bonus content. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. For a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and every other Lemonada show, go to lemonadamedia.com/sponsors.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

While we’re on holiday break, I wanted to share one of my favorite conversations from 2024 — my appearance on Pete Holmes’s podcast, You Made It Weird. Pete and I dive into the big stuff: creativity, aging, family, ego, spirituality, and why trying (and failing) is often the most interesting part of being human. It’s funny, thoughtful, and wonderfully weird in all the best ways. If you want to hear more episode of You Made It Weird with Pete Holmes, head to https://lemonada.lnk.to/YouMadeItWeirdPHfdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode originally aired on November 12, 2024. Gillian Anderson and I share a connection unlike any other. The Dana Scully to my Fox Mulder, we are the only ones who understand what the other was going through during those X-Files years. But so much was left unsaid — until now. We got a chance to open up about the ways we might have failed one another during that wild ride, and we both examine the ways we’ve grown since. Gillian also caught me up on all her ventures and adventures — her work, her writing in the sexual fantasy compilation Want, and her cheeky new “unconventional wellness” line of soft drinks. It’s good to rediscover an old friend. Follow me on Instagram at @davidduchovny. Stay up to date with Lemonada on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia. Joining Lemonada Premium is a great way to support our show and get bonus content. Subscribe today at bit.ly/lemonadapremium. And if you want to continue the conversation with other listeners, join the My Lemonada community at https://lemonadamedia.com/mylemonada/ For a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and every other Lemonada show, go to lemonadamedia.com/sponsors.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

John Seabrook is a journalist and author best known for his work at The New Yorker magazine. This means he didn’t go into the family business: large-scale industrial agriculture. During their heyday, Seabrook Farms was a household name in frozen vegetables. But an internal power struggle that lasted for generations ultimately tore the family and the business apart. In his latest book, The Spinach King, John is unpacking his family’s legacy — including hidden stories of exploitation and cruelty. It was great to re-connect with John, someone I hadn’t seen since we were both undergraduates at Princeton in the '80s, particularly to hear him dissect the complex patterns of privilege and patriarchy that echo through not only the halls of Ivy League institutions, but our entire country. Fail Better is now on YouTube! Watch this episode here. Check out John’s latest book The Spinach King, wherever books are sold. Follow me on Instagram at @davidduchovny. Find more video podcasts on our YouTube channel. Stay up to date with Lemonada on X, Facebook and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia. Joining Lemonada Premium is a great way to support our shows and get bonus content. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. For a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and every other Lemonada show, go to lemonadamedia.com/sponsors.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sitting across from Dr. Peter Weller — another actor/author/academic like myself — I knew I was in for an engaging conversation. But as Peter explained the shape his life has taken, I saw beyond his vast accomplishments to his deep sense of self-knowledge. Long before he was Robocop, Peter was a masterful jazz trumpet player, idolizing innovators like Miles Davis. Yet, for all Peter’s talent, the horn wasn’t the ticket to self-expression he craved. He pivoted to acting, finding a new sense of wonder and challenge working opposite legends like Diane Keaton. At the heart of it all is the idea he explored in his academic work: the inextricable link between art and artist. And hey, he even gives me a few tips for finishing a dissertation. Fail Better is now on YouTube! Watch this episode here. Follow me on Instagram at @davidduchovny. Find more video podcasts on our YouTube channel. Stay up to date with Lemonada on X, Facebook and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia. Joining Lemonada Premium is a great way to support our shows and get bonus content. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. For a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and every other Lemonada show, go to lemonadamedia.com/sponsors.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.