Absolutely Mental is a new podcast hosted by Ricky Gervais and Sam Harris. It was launched on May 10, 2021, as a paid-for podcast series. Those who are interested in listening to it can buy the series for $14.99.

Absolutely Mental is described this way:

In this new podcast series, the Golden Globe- and Emmy-winning actor, director, and writer Ricky Gervais phones his favorite smart friend, the neuroscientist and philosopher Sam Harris, to ask some very important questions… and some not-so-important ones.

Gervais and Harris contemplate the wonders of science and the chaos of modern life while having many good laughs.

According to Deadline, some topics include dreams, free will, death, the robot apocalypse, bears, the perils of celebrity, and the future of comedy. Absolutely Mental will feature 11 episodes, all available at launch. Each episode will be 30-40 minutes long and listeners will be able to air them on their podcast players.

Deadline quotes Ricky Gervais, “These aren’t academic lectures. They are casual chats about how it feels to be human. Evolution, the mind body problem, spirituality, morality, mortality, the pursuit of happiness, and free speech. And by ‘free’, I mean $14.99.”

There are many podcasts who launched paid subscriptions this month on Apple Podcasts. It is interesting that Ricky Gervais and Sam Harris have decided to make their own subscription outside of Apple Podcasts. It might make it easier for fans of one or both of the hosts of Absolutely Mental to opt-into the $14.99 subscription. They won’t have to sort through Apple Podcasts to do so.