Friends star Lisa Kudrow gets philosophical with Bill Maher and says she no longer believes consciousness lives in your head at all. Kudrow, who studied biology, says consciousness “exists in a field.” Maher was visibly confused about what the heck she was talking about until she referred to his smoking habit. KUDROW: “I’ve been listening to physicists are thinking about the difficult question of consciousness and deciding that what makes the most sense is its consciousness is not in here [the brain]. It exists in a field, the field that is everywhere. But it’s not in here.” MAHER: “I don’t understand that. What do you mean everywhere?” KUDROW: “You like writing while smoking, right? Or being altered in some way?” MAHER: “Yes, exactly.” KUDROW: “Neuroscientists are saying the brain is a great filter, especially this front part… Once you make the filter a little more permeable, you’re getting access to some things. And creativity is one of those things that maybe doesn’t start here [the head], but it comes in when you’re in a flow.” MAHER: “And that’s what the machines can’t do.” What’s your take on this? Is consciousness just a product of the brain, or is Kudrow onto something here?

Name a book you absolutely hate.

It was two in the morning, the hour when even the bravest samurai retires to his bedroll, yet here, a fortress of light beckoned me from the darkness. Every castle I have ever known has fallen. Fire, siege, taxes. Eight hundred years of my family learning one lesson: nothing stays open forever. This house has never closed. Not for storms. Not for holidays. Not for the hour when even the moon looks tired. I asked the waitress when they lock the doors. "We don't have locks, hon." No locks. I own walls, moats, and a sword older than this country, and I have never once said anything that powerful. Inside, a cook was scraping the grill at 2 a.m. with the calm of a man guarding something. I asked if he was the night watch. "I'm Darnell." A trucker two stools down raised his coffee. "Place stayed open during the hurricane," he said. "FEMA's got a whole index about it." An index. The government of this nation measures disasters by whether THIS HOUSE is still standing. In Japan, we measured a clan's strength by its castle. Same thing. Theirs serves waffles. I ordered. I ate. I confess what happened next. I did not want to leave. The night outside was large. The booth was warm. I am a grown warrior, and I sat in a yellow fortress at 3 a.m. feeling protected by hash browns. A castle does not promise to stand forever. It simply leaves the lights on. I drive past at night now. Just to check. The lights are always on. Sentries of the griddle — I see you. Hold the line.

If you could sit and have a cup of coffee with any single person from Roman history ... Who would it be?

Name a book that you think is 10/10. But only one.

You’ve been given a chance to have a drink with one of the finest spy novelists in modern history. Which of the authors below do you choose? A) Graham Greene B) John le Carré C) Ian Fleming D) Alan Furst

Sorry, no. The medieval cathedrals were incredible multi-generational employment projects that paid and trained massive numbers of people from every medieval class, yielding magnificant buildings imbued with cosmic significance,that were used by that same public every day of the year under conditions of unusual-for-the-epoch equality. They weren't private palaces or gaudy elite tombs; they were (if you will) Keynesian projects that delivered public goods even if you don't believe (though you should) in the metaphysical benefits of mass-going. Of course there were all kinds of corrupt ways that church authorities wasted tithes, but Chartres and Notre-Dame de Paris were obviously worth it.

I deeply appreciate many books, but when reading some of them I can’t help but notice you have to be careful who you recommend them to. Here are 4 books I recommend without hesitation to anyone: St. Augustine’s Confessions G.K. Chesterton’s The Everlasting Man J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove If you’re looking for a book, maybe you read?

NICOLAS CAGE JUST BROKE TELEVISION Spider-Noir dropped all 8 episodes at once, and you can watch the entire show two ways - authentic black and white or full color. No series has ever shipped both versions before. Critics and fans are losing it. - It holds 91% critics and 94% audience on Rotten Tomatoes - That 94% is Cage's highest Spider-Man score ever, above Spider-Verse - It hit number one on Prime Video in over a dozen countries day one - Every scene was lit and shot twice so both versions look intentional A movie star finally did TV - then did it in two formats at once.

the cigarette lighting scene from Anna Karenina (2012)

Hi, I do not, as a rule, engage with anonymous accounts. Especially ones who slander my friends and family. Please take time to repent of your extreme lack of charity and maybe see a therapist.

Stand up. Save the West.

Jannik Sinner: MASTER OF ALL 🏆 @janniksin becomes the second man in history to win all nine ATP Masters 1000 events 👏

Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev play an INCREDIBLE point in Rome. Covering every inch of the court. Fantastic volley from Jannik to finish it. Brilliant tennis. 🤌🤌🤌

Jannik Sinner playing FLAWLESS tennis from the baseline against Arthur Fils in Madrid. He is an absolute brickwall… and then he just unleashes on the forehand. Unplayable. 🦊😮‍💨