Conan O’Brien and Dax Shepard on manliness, fighting, and friendship

Conan O’Brien and Dax Shepard were able to settle a misunderstanding and find some common ground with each other on the latest Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend podcast.

On the surface, Conan O’Brien and Dax Shepard don’t appear to have that much in common. But thanks to the magic of everyone having a podcast in 2018, the late night host and actor discovered they shared a common perspective and very well should be friends.

Those surface differences between O’Brien and Shepard also extend to the types of podcasts they host. Shepard’s Armchair Expert examines the setbacks and challenges that actors, musicians, and others endured and still deal with on their personal and professional journeys. It can address some heavy topics but Shepard makes a point to inject his own sense of humor when needed.

Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend is the opposite in the sense that it is a heavy dose of O’Brien’s signature comedy that is sprinkled with sincerity and genuine insight. O’Brien has covered Will Ferrell’s approach to comedy, talked parenting with Kristen Bell, and tried to uncover the secret to happiness with Bill Burr.

Both podcasts are entertaining and very well done largely because the hosts’ ability to capture their own voice regardless of the topic or guest. So it made sense that Shepard and O’Brien would cross podcasts paths at some point. O’Brien was recently featured on a terrific episode of Armchair Expert in which he opened up about his mental health.

Shepard returned the favor by coming on to Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend. They continued a debate that started on Armchair Expert over Shepard cancelling dinner plans with O’Brien on the day-of. Thankfully that didn’t keep them from enjoying each other’s company and hitting on some interesting topics.

The two reveal that they had contrasting views of how manliness should be defined. The younger Shepard actually had the more antiquated perspective but that is likely just as much a product of environment than anything. Shepard showed some growth in that area but O’Brien probably wishes he had a little bit of that when he was getting roughed up in Boston’s North End.

From there they talk much more about the things they have in common than not. Both are surprisingly shy yet feel a need to perform for others and are affected by others’ thoughts of them. Both have an intense love of history that should probably be it’s own podcast.

All in all it was another strong episode of Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend. It taught us all that we shouldn’t be quick to judge a podcast host by their cover. Now we just need Conan to stop by Bill Burr’s Monday Morning Podcast to continue more ambitious crossovers in the podcast universe.