The Sport of Life: Chats w/ Comedians, Filmmakers, Sports Figures, Musicians, & Intellectuals

Daniel Wu, Ben Wang, and Gene Luen Yang chat with Trey Elling on the red carpet, ahead of the premiere of Disney's AMERICAN BORN CHINESE at South By Southwest 2023. Luen Yang wrote the original graphic novel that the series is based on, Wang stars as "Jin Wang", and Wu plays "The Monkey King". Gene Luen Yang (1:04) Ben Wang (3:46) Daniel Wu (8:41)

Austin-based standup comedian Brian Simpson chats with Trey Elling. Brian regularly performs at Joe Rogan's Comedy Mothership, including hosting "Bottom of the Barrel" on Tuesday nights. And he's taping his new special there August 25th thru 27th. Topics include: Austin's thriving standup scene (1:37) Serving in the Marines (5:40) Taping his special at the Mothership at the end of August (8:02) The first time he went up on stage (9:44) Being starstruck by Tony Woods (11:48) Why so many good comics come out of DC (14:12) Brian's biggest fear (15:26) What he loves about the Comedy Mothership (18:57) Making it (19:30) ATX food (20:36) ATX politicians (25:37)

Personal trainer and fitness expert Ben Carpenter chats with Trey Elling about EVERYTHING FAT LOSS: THE DEFINITIVE NO BULLSH*T GUIDE. Topics include: What separates this work from other fat loss books (0:30) Obesity tripling in the last 50 years (2:37) The ‘cafeteria diet’ (6:30) How the game is rigged against food consumers (8:27) Food quality vs quantity (12:35) The perils of ultra-processed foods (14:36) Why quick-fix diets are bad for weight loss (16:23) Exercise and weight loss (20:28) Paying too much attention to the scale (25:06) Quantifying food habits (27:03) Is sugar fattening (28:49) Why fruit juice is bad for you (30:51) Sugary drinks and dietary compensation (32:49) Sleep quality and weight loss (34:22) Eating fast (or slow) and appetite regulation (36:01) The best lifestyle choices for a healthy weight (37:17)

Neuroscientists Steven Chase & Aaron Batista chat with Trey Elling about research they conducted on monkeys to learn why we struggle to learn under pressure. Topics include: The genesis of this research (1:34) How the monkeys were tested (2:23) The monkeys’ ‘jackpot’ (3:35) What the research found (4:41) The activity in the monkeys’ brains (5:51) The role of the motor cortex (7:41) Examining rhesus macaques over bonobo chimps (9:46) What led Steven and Aaron to studying the brain (11:37) Defining ‘the mind’ (15:14) Examples where Steven and Aaron failed AND succeeded under pressure (18:54)

Former Green Beret and Fieldcraft Survival CEO Mike Glover chats with Trey Elling about PREPARED: A MANUAL FOR SURVIVING WORST-CASE SCENARIOS. Topics include: The book's goal (0:33) Growing up with preparedness (1:11) How preparation saved his life while serving in Iraq (1:52) Defining ‘mindset’ (4:10) The resilience crisis(5:26) The importance of failure (7:50) Fight or flight or...playing possum? (9:34) Combating self-doubt in stressful situations (12:36) How to start contingency planning (14:07) Arrogance as a foil to planning (15:49) The dichotomy of situational awareness (18:34) Hands & demeanor as potential threat signals (20:13) Tom Flanagan and making good decisions (23:13) Making the choice to use deadly force (27:04) Everyday carry EDC & physical preparation (30:02) Mobility & physical preparation (31:31) The death of common sense (33:41) The versatility of Mylar blankets (35:50) Why people get their homestead wrong with preparation (37:12) Are MREs valuable as a backup food plan (40:06) The importance of community (41:58)

Legendary comedian Tony Woods chats with Trey Elling, ahead of his headlining shows at Joe Rogan's Comedy Mothership July 7th-9th. Topics include: Falling asleep in the theater watching Star Wars in 1977 (0:27) Comedy clubs should be uncomfortable (4:39) Posting old ravel photos (6:22) Different ways of touring through Europe (7:33) The evolution of Tony’s jokes (13:11) Fighting a kid with a ‘turkey leg’ arm (14:55) Being ‘off the grid’ (19:40) Seeing a merman in Africa (25:09) Getting maimed by pygmy goats (29:01) National Lampoon’s Comedy Playoffs with Leslie Nielsen  (34:50) Stealing candy from- and doing comedy with Dave Chappelle (37:17) Washington DC as a hotbed for comedians (40:30) Martin Lawrence (43:34)

Grammy-winning musician, actor, & community activist Tip "T.I." Harris chats with Trey Elling about his 18 months of trying to make it as a standup comedian. Austinites can catch Tip at Cap City Comedy Club on June 29th & 30th. Topics include: What made him want to try standup comedy (0:36) Something that has surprised him about performing standup (3:21) The topics that make up his bits (5:37) Getting booed at the Barclays Center two months in (7:17) Good advice from established comedians (8:03) The HaHa Mafia (9:28) Other rappers with standup potential (10:07) Something that has surprised him about performing standup (12:14) The importance of doing open mics (13:26) A failure in his career and the lesson learned (14:36) Helping a suicidal Scott Stapp (17:30) Tip’s favorite Creed song (18:24) If Kill the King will still be T.I.’s final album (18:36)

Standup comedian Rich Vos chats with Trey Elling, ahead of his headlining shows at Joe Rogan's Comedy Mothership. Topics include: Moving houses (0:40) Remain comedically relevant over decades (4:11) Bert Kreischer's Fully Loaded Comedy Festival (8:40) Woodstock '99 (10:28) Fathering daughters (16:52) A love for standup comedy (21:43) Joe Rogan's Comedy Mothership (24:27) Shooting a new special (29:35) What Rich would tell his younger self (31:37)

Actor Ethan Suplee chats with Trey Elling about his new film, GOD IS A BULLET, which premieres in theaters on June 23rd. Topics include: Too many European weddings this summer (1:34) How he ended up in God Is A Bullet (2:41) Playing a violent, psychopathic character (4:43) Getting extremely tatted up for the role (7:14) Sharing scenes with Jonathan Tucker (8:42) Whether he read the book that spawned this film (9:44) The ideal European vacation (11:56)

Award-winning, University of Nebraska-Lincoln sociologist Kelsy Burke, Ph.D., chats with Trey Elling about THE PORNOGRAPHY WARS: THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE OF AMERICA'S OBSCENE OBSESSION. Topics include: How she ended up writing this book (0:50) A definition of ‘pornography’ (2:02) The subjectivity of ‘offensive’ (3:33) The genesis of the US porn wars around Civil War times (4:17) George Francis Train as one of the first porn defenders (6:24) J. Edgar Hoover’s “Obscene File” (8:22) Both sides of the porn wars feeling empowerment in 1957 (10:00) Common ground on porn for hardcore feminists & Christian women in ‘60s & ‘70s  (12:37) Nixon’s war on porn backfiring (14:03) What sparked a golden era for porn in the 1970s (17:14) Rev. Jerry Falwell’s impact on the porn wars (18:39) The VHS saving porn (21:33) The relationship between the internet and porn (22:45) An explanation of sex trafficking (24:50) How often sex trafficking is a part of porn (26:27) Similarities between diametrically opposed sex trade expos (28:43) The complications of a California bill to require male porn actors to wear condoms for intercourse (31:28) A horrifying example regarding the complications of consent (33:31) Where women go to work when they try to leave the sex industry (36:28) Feminist porn (38:04) How watching porn is potentially harmful (41:08) Is porn addictive? (42:49) Youth sex education & porn (46:06) Is ‘porn’ sex 'real’ sex (50:47)