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After years working the stand-up circuit, Louis C.K. is well established as a comic powerhouse; his FX series Louie is in its fifth season, and C.K. also has a new comedy special that's available as a digital download on his website. But the laughs didn't always come easily. C.K. was a teenager when he first ventured on stage at a local comedy club's open mic night.

"I sputtered, my whole throat constricted and I heard this roaring in my ears and my eyes were watering," C.K. tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross. "All these adults ... were looking at me like I'm an idiot and I just choked through, like, two minutes of jokes. It was a terrible, terrible feeling. I just walked off stage to kind of confused little applause. I felt like a pile of garbage. And then I kept doing it."

C.K.'s FX series follows the daily life of a middle aged comic who, like C.K., is a divorced father of two young girls. Both the comic and his character struggle to do right by their children. In C.K.'s case, this sometimes means talking frankly with his daughters about the mistakes he made growing up. "My kids know that I did drugs, they know that I've struggled with that kind of thing," C.K. says. "I think it's important to share your mistakes with your kids, because you get knowledge from your mistakes and wisdom from it. If you can't pass that on, what good are you?"

Interview Highlights

On getting started in standup

People who start doing standup are very crazy. They really want it so badly, it's a very deep desire. When you start, you stink. There's no other way to do it. It takes some kind of mental illness to push against that, you know, to go onstage and just bomb horribly and then still do it because you love it. You just have some really deep desire to make it work. Actually, it's usually the comedians that start awkwardly and badly who end up being interesting. From my experience, when I've seen people show up and from the first day onstage they're just easy, like, really amiable comics who just know how to talk to people, they don't usually end up being that special. They get some quick success but they don't turn into something like really unusual and great.

On finding his way as a comic

The first time I went onstage I did kind of off-beat and weird jokes just because I thought: You might as well try being more like what makes you laugh, you know? I did really well. My third time onstage I got really big laughs and other comedians came up to me and said, "Hey, you're funny. You've got something." I was so excited that I had a little foot in the door that this is something I could maybe do. I thought it's me being kind of weird, the way I am in real life. I like to say things that don't make a whole lot of sense or surprise people a little bit. But then I got seduced by getting big laughs and once you get laughs, you're like, "Oh, I'll do anything for that feeling. That feels really good."

On how being a parent shifted his focus

"The greatest thing about having a child is putting yourself second in your own life. It's a massive gift to be able to say you're not the most important person to yourself."

- Louis C.K.

The road really sucks when it's all you have, it's really sad. It's very lonely out there. So I was happy to be in a family and be married and everything ... When I first got married and had kids, I had some friends I played poker with on Mondays and I thought: The poker game on Mondays, that's the water line. If I don't make that game, I'm losing something. I'm losing something if I don't make it to that game. It means I'm letting go of my youth, I'm letting go of my manhood, all these things — my independence.

But then after a while I realized: Why would I want to go play poker with a bunch of guys in a smokey room when I could be at home with my family? I realized that a lot of the things that my kid was taking away from me, she was freeing me of. There was this huge pride in having a kid and also that I didn't matter anymore. The greatest thing about having a child is putting yourself second in your own life. It's a massive gift to be able to say you're not the most important person to yourself.

On the importance of being useful

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Art imitating life: Louis C.K. plays the divorced father to Lilly (Hadley Delany) in the FX series Louie. The comic is also a divorced father to two girls. KC Bailey/FX hide caption

itoggle caption KC Bailey/FX

Art imitating life: Louis C.K. plays the divorced father to Lilly (Hadley Delany) in the FX series Louie. The comic is also a divorced father to two girls.

KC Bailey/FX

I saw a movie once where Spencer Tracy catches this woman about to kill herself — it's a pretty dark movie for the time — but I forget the name of the movie, but Spencer Tracy is on a boat and sees a rich, young girl about to throw herself off the boat because her fianc left her for another woman and he's trying to talk her out of suicide and he says to her, "Do you have a job? Do you have anything that you do in your life?" which was a funny thing to ask because she's, like, a 1920s socialite and she said, "No," and he said, "I think you should get a job, because it's very hard to be sad and useful at the same time."

Ever since I saw that I keep that in my head. If you can be useful, which means to somebody else, not to yourself, if you can be useful, it just makes you feel better. So I live in service for my kids, that's the first priority and then things like my career, they feed into that, they're part of that, because I'm providing for them but also it's just not that important. If something's not important, it's more fun.

On doing drugs as a kid

I was in 8th, 9th grade when I started to smoke pot and get high and drop acid and snort speed and all kinds of stuff. Yeah, it was really intense. It was a lot of drugs. I mean, literally, I dropped LSD every weekend, it was crazy. My mother, poor mom, my single working mother of four, didn't know where I was half the time, I would just disappear and I was barely cognizant of any kind of life. I never went to classes and yeah, I stole triple beam balance scales from my science teacher, who I really liked, and sold them to a drug dealer. ...

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The thing that I think it's important to know if you have kids, especially teenagers, is that the people they meet that are going to offer them drugs are not bad people, they're really cool people. The fiction that you tell kids that people that offer you drugs are evil is not a good fiction to tell them — because they're going to be cool people who like them. That's what drugs are so easy to fall into as a kid. Right away, "Well, my parenst are liars because this person is cool. This person understands me better than they do." That's part of why people do drugs, it's because they're making a connection with people that they really feel strongly about.

On talking to his daughters about his past mistakes

All I can say is, "Hey, I'm here. I'm your dad and we have a lot of history, your whole life, and I love you and I'm here." That's all you can really be for your kids, is present. I think in the end that's the best thing you can do for your kids when they come to you with real problems is try to understand how they feel and try to give them a place to say how they feel so that they can sort it out. And give them what you can about your past, you know? I think to tell them that the world is this place where you're supposed to act perfectly and represent that you did is a huge disservice to your kids.

When the earthquake hit, my son, Lucas, and I were in the car and he was trying to find "The Piano Guys" on my iPhone to blast through the car speakers. He didn't realize anything was amiss until the car jolted violently up on two wheels then slammed back down. I stepped on the brake and yelled, "Earthquake!"

Lucas knew from his school, his parents and of course YouTube to "drop, cover, and hold." And so he immediately did what he calls the airplane brace position: forehead on knees and hands on top of your head.

"Of course I was scared," he told me. But this did not stop him from taking in the events around him: "There were people running out of the houses and there was the guy on the motorbike overtaking us who fell off and skidded down the road and then stood up. Just like Superman."

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Lucas, who's 10, likes to be prepared. When we moved to Nepal in 2013, I explained to him that this was a country that was at risk of earthquakes and that he needed to know what to do if one hit. Lucas helped me pack the family "go-bags" — backpacks that hold essential clothes and documents and medicines. I attached a fanny pack to his bedstead with a whistle, a flashlight and a bottle of water. He knows his mother is obsessed with having enough clean water to drink.

Saturday's 7.9 quake hit Kathmandu just before noon as we were driving to lunch. For both of us, the adrenaline kicked in as I gunned it back home. Even though the house was still standing, Lucas knew it was too risky to go back in. But he did grab the go-bags right near the entrance. It was sunny, and we sat on a blanket. Lucas curled up in my lap as aftershocks hit until utterly exhausted, he fell asleep.

Since then there have been more than 50 aftershocks — some just tremors and others terrifying undulations that never seemed to finish. Every shudder, every sound, every group of crows cawing, makes us stop what we are doing, tensely awaiting that first shake.

Lucas, too, has fears that come in waves. When they hit, he sits in a corner and grows quiet. "It would be so much more convenient if the earthquake would send us an email in advance with all the details of its arrival," Lucas mused during one shock as we were crouching on the lawn.

Our friend Keshav says Nepal is now suffering from an "earthquake hangover." Lucas, like so many of us, feels the earth shaking or pitching when it's not. He can also be very analytical. Just this morning we heard a crash and didn't know what was happening. Lucas said "I don't think this was an earthquake. The ground wasn't moving."

Schools are, of course, closed. Lucas decided he'd rather go out reporting with me than stay at home. "I am going wherever you go Mum," he declared. Since his dad is based in Bangladesh and his older siblings go to school in North America, we are a tiny family unit.

He's an old hand at following me on reporting trips. In our four years in Africa, Lucas went with me on filming trips in the northern wild Samburu territories and met and played with slum kids in Nairobi. After last year's Everest avalanche, I had no childcare so brought him along to hospitals where I interviewed wounded sherpas.

But the quake has been a totally different reporting venture for both of us. This is not only about others, this is also about us, our neighbors, our friends, his classmates. This was about not having his dad around. "It's a cool way to see what is happening," he has assured me. "And besides it is good to be together when the aftershocks hit."

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Houses collapsed after Saturday's quake. The newly homeless are living in tents. Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters/Landov hide caption

itoggle caption Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters/Landov

Houses collapsed after Saturday's quake. The newly homeless are living in tents.

Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters/Landov

In normal circumstances, none of my children are allowed on motorcycles. This rule was influenced by a bad motorcycle accident I had when I lived in Peshawar, Pakistan, as an idiotic 26-year-old. But earthquakes change rules. We had to break even more rules by going three on a bike, with Keshav driving and Lucas sandwiched in between us. In a faint semblance of following safety regulations, we wore our bike helmets.

Lucas's assignments are to point out badly cracked houses, drooping internet towers or large groups of people huddled outdoors under tarps. He will philosophize on the size and type of aftershocks and correct me frequently on most everything quake-related. And he absolutely enjoys living in a tent in our backyard.

Like so many of us, Lucas now is very sensitive to any noise that might suggest an earthquake, jumping up even at the sound of a revving bike engine. He is sensitive because he has seen firsthand the devastating impact that an earthquake can have. He's seen a bulldozer dig through the remains of the collapsed Dharahara Tower in Central Kathmandu, a thick-walled brick construction that crashed down on more than 200 people, many of them schoolchildren on a weekend outing to see the views of their city from high up.

In the evening, he chats with our neighbors. who spend the night under a tarp with 50 others in an open lot on our street. He obsessively checks our house for cracks after every aftershock because so many others he knows have lost their own house — in particular, his friend Keshav, whose entire village was flattened.

Recently Keshav and Lucas sat together looking at photos of the crumbled houses and the plastic covered tomato greenhouses that Keshav and his family now call home. "He had invited the priest over that morning and they were all praying in front of the house," Lucas told me. "And then the earthquake hit."

And then Lucas asked: "Where will they live now if no one in the village has a house?"

Nepal

Earthquake

The feeling that tech giants such as Facebook and Google know exactly where we are and what we're doing can be uncomfortable. Targeted advertisements or suggestions based on our location can feel like an invasion of privacy.

But the collection of our digital data has an upside in certain circumstances, and the aftermath of the massive earthquake in Nepal provides a good example.

As the nation struggles to deal with the devastation of a magnitude-7.8 earthquake that has left an more than 4,000 people dead, information about survivors, those still in danger and what resources are needed is in high demand. Tech and telecom companies are stepping up to offer much-needed services. From Apple to Viber, each has something a little bit different to offer.

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Here's an overview of the ways in which tech companies are leveraging their power, and some of the challenges they are facing.

Apple: Apple has activated an iTunes store feature that allows visitors to donate to the American Red Cross using the credit card information Apple has on file. Apple has enabled one-click donation following other natural disasters such as the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, the 2011 tsunami in Japan and the 2013 typhoon in the Philippines.

we poop on Facebook a lot here but this is super useful pic.twitter.com/5VSbPgo4uV

— nathanjurgenson (@nathanjurgenson) April 26, 2015

Of course, there are other ways to help those in need. You can find a list of some of the charities doing relief work in Nepal here.

Facebook: In October, after noticing how users organically turn to Facebook in times of crisis, the company launched "Safety Check." The site uses the city listed in your profile and data on where you've accessed the Internet from to determine whether you may be affected by a natural disaster. If so, Facebook sends a push notification asking if you're safe. When you confirm your safety, your friends receive a notification as well.

In the case of the Nepal earthquake Facebook activated Safety Check for Nepal and surrounding areas on Saturday. Mark Zuckerberg announced the service on his Facebook page. "It's moments like this that being able to connect really matters," the Facebook founder said in his post.

The feature has garnered praise, but it faces challenges associated with the availability (or lack thereof) of Internet access. The World Bank says that just 13 percent of Nepal's population accesses the Internet regularly, and the Los Angeles Times has reported that current connectivity in Kathmandu is tenuous.

MT-@GoogleCR: Person Finder launced to help track missing persons for #Nepal earthquake http://t.co/MovGHXXoAb pic.twitter.com/8NNz4BKXIp

— Google (@google) April 25, 2015

Google: Google also has a service designed to help you know whether friends and family are OK — it's called "Person Finder." According to Google's Asia Pacific blog, Person Finder "gives people a way to post and search for family or friends affected by the disaster." In a sense it crowdsources information about people in affected areas and in doing so collects an amazing amount of data. Through Person Finder you can create a listing for a person you're looking to get in touch with, or provide information about someone you've heard is safe. Search is available via the Web, or via SMS in Nepal, India or the United States.

Reduced cost of calls to #Nepal to 1/min (from 19/min) to help loved ones connect http://t.co/RjfHY8bCri @GoogleCR pic.twitter.com/fWEb70Pp8P

— Google (@google) April 27, 2015

And Google has reduced prices for Google Voice calls into Nepal from 19 cents per minute to 1 cent per minute, and Google.org, the company's charitable arm, pledged $1 million toward disaster relief and response.

Again, both of these services depend on infrastructure that is struggling to cope with demand. NPR's Kirk Siegler, who is in Kathmandu, noted that the local phone network "has been sporadic at best."

Microsoft: On Monday afternoon Microsoft announced free Skype calls to landlines and mobiles in Nepal. Microsoft has also pledged a minimum of $1 million to recovery efforts.

In light of the tragic events in Nepal, all Skype calls to landlines & mobiles in & out of Nepal are free. More: [http://t.co/pz8PwVcCq6

— Skype (@Skype) April 27, 2015

Sprint/T-Mobile: Both telecom firms have waived fees for calls and text messages sent by users in Nepal. The offer lasts through May 16, and is retroactive to April 25. On the question of whether users will have the capability to call or text Sprint notes that "it has been shown that text messages may go through when calling capabilities aren't available."

Viber: Chief Operating Officer Michael Shmilov told The Wall Street Journal that the voice and messaging app has approximately 3 million users in the Himalayan region. The company announced it would make calls for users in Nepal free to any destination.

In response to the earthquake in Nepal we have switched off Viber Out billing so Nepal users can call any destination for free

— Viber (@Viber) April 26, 2015

Tajha Chappellet-Lanier is the social media intern at NPR.

Nepal

Earthquake

Thanks to the fast-growing sharing economy, anyone can make money renting out their home or car — or becoming a personal chef.

Just ask Time magazine columnist Joel Stein. He decided to give the sharing economy a try, then wrote about his experience, The explosion of new social apps and services powering this new consumer landscape gave him the opportunity to run a few of his own DIY businesses. He rented out his Mini Cooper, drove people around in it a-la-Lyft and cooked for strangers.

'Sharing' As A Misnomer

A recent survey from PricewaterhouseCoopers shows the sharing economy is growing faster than ever, led by Airbnb and Uber. And those participating feel it's more personal and convenient.

Of the 44 percent of U.S. adults who are familiar with the sharing economy, 86 percent say it makes life more affordable, 83 percent say it makes life more convenient and efficient and 78 percent say it builds a stronger community.

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A lot of companies prefer the term, "on demand" economy, Stein tells NPR's Robert Siegel. What's really happening, Stein says, is "people wanting things as soon as they can get them by pressing a button on their phone."

Part of what's transforming our consumption habits is that we have a different relationship to property because "things" are more accessible and less valuable, Stein says. So we're spending more money on experiences. According to the PricewaterhouseCoopers report, 43 percent of consumers say that "owning today feels like a burden."

Stein lost money when it came to running his own restaurant, but was profitable driving others and charging $35 a day to rent out his car.

The Human Element

Stein used RelayRides — an Avis or Hertz of car-sharing — to rent out his Mini Cooper. He found that rentees picked up his car from his house and often went the extra step to fill up the gas tank.

Still, there are downsides of becoming your own small business. One Sicilian customer asked what the R, D and N meant on his stick shift — a clue that he would later get a call from her telling him she'd had an accident. But RelayRides's insurance handled it "amazingly," Stein says, and covered the damage.

A large part of what makes this collaborative consumption work is getting strangers to trust strangers. Sites like eBay were testing grounds when it came to building a level of trust in online peer-to-peer transactions. Several people who used to work for eBay now work in the sharing economy, Stein says, which adopted the model of getting the user and the provider to rate each other. It reduces the number of bad actors and promotes trust amongst strangers, otherwise built by the reputation of a brand name of a big business.

"If you want a more personal experience, or in most cases, a cheaper experience, you take a little more risk with an Airbnb, but you get a less generic experience than you do at a big name hotel," Stein says.

And these companies are on the market value scale of large corporations, like Delta Airlines and Hilton Worldwide. PricewaterhouseCoopers projects that by 2025, global revenues from sharing economy companies will soar to an estimated $335 billion, from about $15 billion today.

A Sharing Economy Horror Story

It may be a more personal experience, but it's still a business transaction. So, what happens when something goes wrong in the peer-to-peer setting? In a darker story of Airbnb experiences, the host passed away while the guest was staying in her apartment.

Jordan Ruttenberg, a student at Wesleyan University, relocated to Brooklyn for a summer job with his friend Connor. They booked a place through Airbnb. His host, who they met once via Skype, was in California at the time. Mid-stay, Connor noticed messages on their host's Facebook wall in the tone of: "You have to pull out of this" or "We need you."

After reaching out to a friend of the host, he learned she had overdosed and been pulled off life support. His arrangement turned eerie, as he continued to stay in this woman's apartment, with all her personal belongings and photographs.

Ultimately, the host's brother contacted Ruttenberg, asking when his checkout date was, assuming the procedural manner of a business arrangement.

"I recognize the tragedy in it," Ruttenberg says, "but our relationship with her was a logistical one. And so, her death for us was largely of a logistical nature."

Ruttenberg says he would still use Airbnb for short-term stays.

sharing economy

airbnb