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Fail Better with David Duchovny

Failure? Success? Judd Apatow Says Give It 10 Years to Decide

Fail Better with David Duchovny

Grace Cohen-Chen

Society & Culture

4.6534 Ratings

🗓️ 28 October 2025

⏱️ 52 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Take a walk through Judd Apatow’s office, like I did, and you’ll be reminded of all the successful projects he’s helped create over the years: Anchorman, Bridesmaids, Superbad, The 40-Year-Old Virgin. I joined him there to discuss his new visual memoir, Comedy Nerd: A Lifelong Obsession in Stories and Pictures. As I learn throughout our conversation, Judd’s propulsion to create isn’t to prove that he’s one of the funniest guys in the biz; it’s to figure out if he has anything to say in the first place, to work out what’s in his head. It’s something I relate to as a writer, and it’s a big part of the new book, as he documents everything he’s collected and concocted over the years and tries to make sense of this life that he’s made. As we reflect, we also talk about our most scathing reviews, why we can’t Google ourselves, and how Judd’s documentary on our mutual friend, Garry Shandling, helped cement his subject’s legacy. Fail Better is now on YouTube! Watch this episode here. Head over to Booking.com and start your listing today. 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

It's morning in New York.

0:02.8

Oh, God.

0:06.2

Hey, everybody.

0:07.3

I'm Mandy Patinkin.

0:08.7

And I'm Catherine Grady.

0:09.8

And we have a new podcast.

0:11.7

It's called Don't Listen to Us.

0:14.1

Many of you've asked for our advice.

0:16.1

Tell me, what is wrong with you people?

0:19.2

Don't listen to us.

0:20.3

Our Take It or Leave a Adv device show every Wednesday, out now.

0:24.7

A Lemonada Media Original.

0:29.8

Hey, just a quick message before we get started.

0:32.9

You can now listen to every episode of Fail Better AdFree with Lemonata Premium on Apple Podcasts.

0:39.1

You'll also get ad-free access to and exclusive bonus content from shows like Wiser

0:44.6

than me with Julia Louis Dreyfus, the Sarah Silverman podcast, and so many more.

0:49.9

It's just $5.99 a month and a great way to support the work we do.

0:54.5

Go ad-free and get bonus content when you hit subscribe on this show in Apple Podcasts.

1:00.5

Make life suck less with fewer ads with Lemonada Premium.

1:18.1

I'm David DeKovny, and this is Fail Better, a show where failure, not success, shapes who we are.

1:27.1

Judd Apatow is a director, writer, and producer whose style and humor came to shape an entire generation of comedy films and TV.

1:31.8

Judd's new book, Comedy Nerd, releases October 28th.

...

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