Hi, I'm Tony from Louisville, Kentucky. The Sound of Young America is an independent production

supported by listeners like you and me. If you'd like to donate to support the show,

visit MaximumFun.org and click on Donate. Live on tape from my house in Los Angeles,

I'm Jesse Thorn and this is the Sound of Young America from MaximumFun.org.

MaximumFun. MaximumFun. MaximumFun.

It's the Sound of Young America. I'm Jesse Thorn, America's radio sweetheart. My guest on the program

is a stand-up comedian, Emmy nominated television writer, film director,

Louis C.K. Welcome to the Sound of Young America. Welcome back, I should say.

Thank you. I want one of those, you know. You want an Emmy too? Which one did you win for?

Chris Rockshow. You've written for some. You wrote for the Chris Rock show for David Letterman,

for the Conan O'Brien show, for the Dana Carvey show. Basically, you wrote for all of the best

eponymous shows, shows named after their stars of the 1990s. I want to ask you this question.

Your new special is chewed up. It's a showtime special. I just watched it the other night and

really enjoyed it. The first credit on the special is a dedication to George Carlin.

Yeah. What was George Carlin's significance to you? Well, when I was a kid, he was one of the first

comedians I was aware of. Bill Cosby was the first and then George, to me, he was the sound of

a stand-up comedian with his in my head. Later in life, he started changing. It was amazing

to watch that that he was evolving without dropping down or without digressing. What's the

word for it? Without degenerating or getting worse? So I always found that really interesting

or inspiring. Anyway, as I started trying to do this thing of doing a different set every year

and a new special every year, I was listening to a thing of an interview with him where he described

how he did that. It was a mental lot to me. I don't think I would be able to do what I'm doing

...