The guest
Louis Theroux: British documentary filmmaker and broadcaster known for immersive interviews with cults, criminals and outsiders; author and founder of his own production company.
What this episode covers
Steven Bartlett interviews documentary maker Louis Theroux about how the same traits that make him brilliant at his work make him struggle in his personal life. Theroux traces his anxious, studious childhood, his literary family, and a work ethic he used to manage worry. He reflects candidly on intimacy difficulties, his reliance on his wife Nancy to involve him in life, and feedback that he neglected relationships for professional success. The conversation covers his accidental path into TV under Michael Moore, his approach to disarming difficult subjects through curiosity rather than confrontation, and his eventual decision to start his own company.
Recommended on this episode
ProductRecommended
Casio F-91W
Casio
“It's completely reliable”
“This is a Casio, whatever that one is. It's a F nine one W. These costs like 10 pounds, 15 pounds you can get them at, at Argos.”— Louis Theroux
The guest's own work
BookBy the guest
Gotta Get Through This: My Life in Strange Times in Television
Louis Theroux
“In your autobiography on page 150, Are you serious? Yes. Gotta get through this, my life in strange times in television.”— Steven Bartlett
MediaBy the guest
Louis Theroux Interviews
Louis Theroux
“I've got a series out at the moment on iPlayer called Louis through interviews and we had one that went out a few days ago where I interviewed Bear Grills”— Louis Theroux
Also referenced (named, not recommended)
MediaReferenced
Tropic Thunder
Justin Theroux
“my cousin, Justin Thru, oddly enough, he says, Thoreau, who's an actor, he's a director, uh, a writer. He wrote Tropic Thunder, iron Man Two”— Louis Theroux
MediaReferenced
Iron Man 2
Justin Theroux
“He wrote Tropic Thunder, iron Man Two, he's been, he's also like high profile Hollywood actor.”— Louis Theroux
MediaReferenced
The Simpsons
Matt Groening
“TV was, uh, in a kind of a mini golden age. The Simpsons was on, Seinfeld was on, friends, was just about to come on”— Louis Theroux
MediaReferenced
Seinfeld
“The Simpsons was on, Seinfeld was on, friends, was just about to come on the, there were all these amazing. TV shows.”— Louis Theroux
MediaReferenced
Friends
“Seinfeld was on, friends, was just about to come on the, there were all these amazing. TV shows. Larry Sanders was another one.”— Louis Theroux
MediaReferenced
The Larry Sanders Show
“there were all these amazing. TV shows. Larry Sanders was another one. Did you want to connect with people”— Louis Theroux
MediaReferenced
One Headlight
Jacob Dylan
“Jacob Dylan, that track one headlight. Do you remember that one? No. Okay. For people who know, they know, you know, it's a great track.”— Louis Theroux
Big reveals from this episode
- Louis says the joke he tells is that what makes him good at his job is also what makes him bad at life.
- He admits his work functions as a license to be intimate with subjects without consequences, then fly home to a less intimate life.
- He concedes he neglected his personal life for professional success and the price was paid by those nearest to him.
- He recounts treating relationships as a life-support system for his work self instead of the other way around.
- His former wife said there was nothing real about him, and Jimmy Savile said insincerity was his specialty.
- His wife Nancy pushed him to leave the BBC and start his own production company after years of making shows he didn't own.
- He describes being anhedonic, often unable to feel pleasure or even register good news like winning BAFTAs.
Worth remembering
- His mother was British, his father American; they met teaching in Africa via VSO and the Peace Corps and he was born in Singapore.
- His father became a wealthy literary novelist and travel writer; his mother became a BBC World Service radio producer.
- Michael Moore hired Louis at age 23 for the satirical show TV Nation, his first TV segments.
- As a TV Nation correspondent he joined the Writers Guild of America and was flown business class, fueling imposter syndrome.
- His cousin Justin Theroux, who wrote Tropic Thunder and Iron Man 2, struggled academically with ADHD.
- Two nights before, Louis was named a GQ Man of the Year at a banquet catered by Heston Blumenthal.
- Louis wears a cheap Casio F-91W watch and owns a spare, framing himself as 'the anti-Tate' against ostentatious wealth.
- He set a rule never to travel more than two weeks for work once he had children, usually keeping trips to 7-12 days.
- On hallucinogens he supports legalizing cannabis and sees mushrooms as potentially positive for those with solid mental health.
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