Current Events > Hot take: I think Joe Rogan has an excellent podcast and he is not the alt-right

(+) Yeah! (+)

I think it's fair to say he's a bit of knuckle dragging caveman, dripping in toxic masculinity and someone who likes to make really stupid broscience theories while high. I think it's fair to say there are a lot of asshole idiot moron dickheads who get way too much airtime on the show.

But at the same time, is there anyone else who is allowing the experts in any given field come in and talk freely about anything at all for hours on end? And fair play to the guy, he's not using the platform to impose his personality or comedy routine like so many shitty interviewers do. He lets them talk, explain their position, and pushes back somewhat on things he doesn't agree with or understand, and mostly this just seems like it's to inspire more conversation.

This is the show that gets Brian Cox to talk physics, Richard Dawkins to talk Evolution, Brett Weinstein to talk biology, Anthony Bourdain to talk cooking, Bill Burr to talk comedy.

I really don't get off on the idea that we should reject Rogan's show because he puts some pretty questionable people up on there who inevitably make asses of themselves. I mean I think it's fucking weak to be honest to talk about deplatforming when the guy also does a lot to platform the actual experts in many given scientific fields.

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He may not be alt right himself, but he legitimizes and gives those types a platform to spread their brain disease. That's my problem with him.

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Southernfatman posted...

He may not be alt right himself, but he legitimizes and gives those types a platform to spread their brain disease. That's my problem with him.

It's called free speech, look it up

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I just dont like him I think he dumb

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Everyone is obligated to address him as "Alt-Right" Joe Rogan.

ex2wing posted...

It's called free speech, look it up

Did I say ban him? Reading comprehension, look it up.

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Trolling hard today pinky

Trolling hard

I would never listen to the show because the episodes are frickin long. And I'm also not a fan of him hosting people like Gavin McInnes etc.
But it would be unwise IMO to not recognize that his platform is huge and influential, no matter what political leanings you accuse him of. I suspect he's an entertainer who cares less about explicit politics and more about making a show that a lot of people will listen to

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He hosted people I don't like! Therefor he's alt-right and should be canceled.

Southernfatman posted...

He may not be alt right himself, but he legitimizes and gives those types a platform to spread their brain disease. That's my problem with him.

I understand the argument about platforms and stuff but the whole thing just bothers me and I can't exactly rationalise why it should be how we approach problems.

Yes, just because a person is free to think and speak doesn't mean they should be privileged to be on the biggest podcast show in the world, but at the same time - if we talk about that, why not mention all of the real experts who get to talk about their fairly niche subject matter in a way that no other show is presenting? That's also what the show does after all. It's just notable people talking.

Ultimately I just feel the arguments - whatever they are - should hold up and speak for themselves, and it's not a good response to say we just shouldn't hear them in the first place. Bad ideas can be discussed, argued and then dismissed, and that to me is how it should work. And maybe it is important for bad ideas to be discussed on popular shows, so we can feel them out properly instead of just shutting them down before they even begin.

Example: Candace Owens went on the show and decided to rant for 20 minutes about how climate change is all a myth. It didn't legitimise those arguments at all because she just made a colossal ass of herself.

That's the laissez faire thought market working correctly imo

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Chadwick69 posted...

He hosted people I don't like! Therefor he's alt-right and should be canceled.

You know none of those people said he should be outright cancelled, right? They just dont want to support him personally.

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pinky0926 posted...

Example: Candace Owens went on the show and decided to rant for 20 minutes about how climate change is all a myth. It didn't legitimise those arguments at all because she just made a colossal ass of herself.

That's the laissez faire thought market working correctly imo

I think this looks a bit naive coming from you, honestly. Getting the exposure from JRE is huge for someone like Owens, who is not looking to appeal to someone like you in the first place

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It's like the only beacon for civil discourse at the moment so I don't understand how bringing it down is helpful. Also he plays devil's advocate quite a bit and that goes over many people's heads.

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pinky0926 posted...

someone who likes to make really stupid broscience theories while high

That's literally gimmick and all of his cultist slurps it up. Shit like that is so done, I dunno how anyone can listen to it.

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scar the 1 posted...

I think this looks a bit naive coming from you, honestly. Getting the exposure from JRE is huge for someone like Owens, who is not looking to appeal to someone like you in the first place

If we're saying that people might have bought her arguments and made her more famous then sure - but that just tells me the problem doesn't exist on the joe rogan show at all. I mean her arguments were terrible, they made no sense, they weren't sourced by any kind of fact or experiment or study. If people buy into that is it the shows fault?

What I'm getting at is, I think getting a 2 minute spot on the Bill O Reilly show is very different, because no sane person can make any sane argument in 2 minutes no matter how good or bad it is. Those shows don't exist to discuss ideas.

I like the JRE format a little more because you should be able to express what you mean clearly in 2 hours of talking, whether it's correct or not. I think that's a good thing.

For myself for example, I didn't really know who Candace Owens was until I saw her on the podcast, and now I know she's an absolute rampaging moron with a dangerous level of power. That to me is the show doing what it should.

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He's not alt-right, he's a fence sitter. I have watched his podcast since inception, and still watch every episode to this day. Dude is super malleable and changes his demeanor and opinions to match whatever guest he has. He is definitely left leaning ultimately, but his fence sitting can make him come across as something different. He's honestly dumb, and a parrot.

I say this as a fan of the show lol.

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Definitely, and he's not above giving a show to popular people for views.

pres_madagascar posted...

He's not alt-right, he's a fence sitter. I have watched his podcast since inception, and still watch every episode to this day. Dude is super malleable and changes his demeanor and opinions to match whatever guest he has. He is definitely left leaning ultimately, but his fence sitting can make him come across as something different. He's honestly dumb, and a parrot.

I say this as a fan of the show lol.

That's kind of my takeaway as well. He's like the sales guy who pretends he's into anything at all the customer is saying just to get them more interested.

That's a bad quality in say, a politician but a good quality in an interviewer, I think.

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pres_madagascar posted...

He's honestly dumb, and a parrot.

I say this as a fan of the show lol.

It's funny because every time I mention something similar to this his cultists tries to convince me Joe is some humble modest guy LMAO.

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Beemo_Season11 posted...

Definitely, and he's not above giving a show to popular people for views.

No lol, dude is loaded. He chooses guests based on them being someone he wants to actually talk to. He has specifically not had certain people on, even famous people, because of them being clout chasers in his opinion.

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I agree with TC.

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pinky0926 posted...

That's kind of my takeaway as well. He's like the sales guy who pretends he's into anything at all the customer is saying just to get them more interested.

That's a bad quality in say, a politician but a good quality in an interviewer, I think.

Yup. He's a fantastic interviewer, but his opinions should never be taken seriously lol, and I'm a fan. Listen to what his guests say if they're credible, not what he says.


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Also, understand that I'm not trying to argue for shutting down JRE. I'm just saying that the dude does deserve criticism for the choices he makes. Hosting people like Owens or McInnes isn't something that I think necessarily should fly without comment.

I just think it's naive of you to think that Owens didn't stand to gain massively from going on the show just because you personally thought she made a fool of herself. Not sure that's what you're saying exactly but it sounds a bit like it.

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Veggeta X posted...

It's funny because every time I mention something similar to this his cultists tries to convince me Joe is some humble modest guy LMAO.

Which is funny, because if you look at the YouTube comments, what I said is a more common view among fans than not.

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pres_madagascar posted...

Which is funny, because if you look at the YouTube comments, what I said is a more common view among fans than not.

Well what people usually say to me is "He admits he's dumb all the time!" as means to say he doesn't take himself too seriously. I mean I guess so.

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scar the 1 posted...

Also, understand that I'm not trying to argue for shutting down JRE. I'm just saying that the dude does deserve criticism for the choices he makes. Hosting people like Owens or McInnes isn't something that I think necessarily should fly without comment.

I just think it's naive of you to think that Owens didn't stand to gain massively from going on the show just because you personally thought she made a fool of herself. Not sure that's what you're saying exactly but it sounds a bit like it.

No it's definitely true that being on his show is a major boon to the guests. His show is literally now the main way newer stand up comedians even get careers.

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scar the 1 posted...

Also, understand that I'm not trying to argue for shutting down JRE. I'm just saying that the dude does deserve criticism for the choices he makes. Hosting people like Owens or McInnes isn't something that I think necessarily should fly without comment.

I just think it's naive of you to think that Owens didn't stand to gain massively from going on the show just because you personally thought she made a fool of herself. Not sure that's what you're saying exactly but it sounds a bit like it.

That's a fair point. But equally, it gave someone like me insight into just how much of an idiot she is, and made it crystal clear why she's someone to watch out and be wary of.

So I agree it has the power to do harm, and we can agree that criticising his choice of guests is fair, but I like the ultimatum of allowing the arguments to stand on their own.

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Veggeta X posted...

Well what people usually say to me is "He admits he's dumb all the time!" as means to say he doesn't take himself too seriously. I mean I guess so.

He does, and he's not wrong, he is dumb. His fence sitting and seeming to take on the opinions of whatever guest he's interviewing can honestly be pretty dangerous considering the reach of his show and the certain types of people that watch it. A lot of people take his show as gospel, for everything.

Did you watch the Kanye episode from Saturday? He was basically feeding ye's ego the entire time and telling him he's right about everything lol. He also only spoke 11 minutes of the entire 3 hour episode

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pres_madagascar posted...

Which is funny, because if you look at the YouTube comments, what I said is a more common view among fans than not.

Trust me it is. Especially during COVID and his garbage takes on that

Starting to see more of his fanbase calling out his stupidity


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pinky0926 posted...

And fair play to the guy, he's not using the platform to impose his personality or comedy routine like so many shitty interviewers do.

I hear this from people who like him and I agree that he doesn't just jam his opinions into everything, but he did do a fair amount of that when I watched. In the oberst episode, the first one I every watched, oberst was trying to talk about bulking for competition and Rogan kept trying to get him to make fun of fat women

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pinky0926 posted...

That's a fair point. But equally, it gave someone like me insight into just how much of an idiot she is, and made it crystal clear why she's someone to watch out and be wary of.

So I agree it has the power to do harm, and we can agree that criticising his choice of guests is fair, but I like the ultimatum of allowing the arguments to stand on their own.

Yeah I'm still a bit undecided but that's mostly because I cba to form an opinion. I agree that he's not alt-right, but I can also see where that becomes a meaningless distinction if he offers his platform to them so they can grow. A sort of Nuremberg defense, where except for following orders, he's just following clicks. So there probably is an argument to be made here, but I'm not the one to make it

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M_Live posted...

Thats how I feel as well. I dont hate Joe Rogan himself, but I dislike how he uses his platform to let bad people spread their bullshit.

And this is also a weird take to me after watching him lol like this strong man just wanted to talk about his craft but Joe really wanted him to agree that fat women aren't happy

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TheoryzC posted...

Trust me it is. Especially during COVID and his garbage takes on that

Starting to see more of his fanbase calling out his stupidity

Yup, every single video. His views on covid stuff are completely asinine. The only things he says about it of any quality are vitamin c and exercise being helpful against it. That's it. A lot of what he says about it comes from a selfish place of him wanting to live life like normal again and do comedy again. Like half the comments now call out his bullshit lol. Tbqh, I fully believe he's gonna end up losing a huge chunk of his audience when it goes Spotify only.

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What Joe should do when he has hard left or hard right guests on, is challenge their views, not letting the episode be pulpit for them. It's a situation where playing devil's advocate is actually good.

He didn't ask Kanye a single hard question the entire episode. Fucking Matthew McConaughey got harder questions.

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pinky0926 posted...

I think it's fair to say he's a bit of knuckle dragging caveman, dripping in toxic masculinity and someone who likes to make really stupid broscience theories while high. I think it's fair to say there are a lot of asshole idiot moron dickheads who get way too much airtime on the show.

But at the same time, is there anyone else who is allowing the experts in any given field come in and talk freely about anything at all for hours on end? And fair play to the guy, he's not using the platform to impose his personality or comedy routine like so many shitty interviewers do. He lets them talk, explain their position, and pushes back somewhat on things he doesn't agree with or understand, and mostly this just seems like it's to inspire more conversation.

This is the show that gets Brian Cox to talk physics, Richard Dawkins to talk Evolution, Brett Weinstein to talk biology, Anthony Bourdain to talk cooking, Bill Burr to talk comedy.

I really don't get off on the idea that we should reject Rogan's show because he puts some pretty questionable people up on there who inevitably make asses of themselves. I mean I think it's fucking weak to be honest to talk about deplatforming when the guy also does a lot to platform the actual experts in many given scientific fields.

I agree.

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He should probably not let Edward Snowden ramble as much though:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgw08ak6I1w

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Southernfatman posted...

He may not be alt right himself, but he legitimizes and gives those types a platform to spread their brain disease. That's my problem with him.

why do you hate freedom of expression

Balrog0 posted...

I hear this from people who like him and I agree that he doesn't just jam his opinions into everything, but he did do a fair amount of that when I watched. In the oberst episode, the first one I every watched, oberst was trying to talk about bulking for competition and Rogan kept trying to get him to make fun of fat women

Yeah true. At least, I think he gives his guests space to talk. Sometimes too much space?

scar the 1 posted...

Yeah I'm still a bit undecided but that's mostly because I cba to form an opinion. I agree that he's not alt-right, but I can also see where that becomes a meaningless distinction if he offers his platform to them so they can grow. A sort of Nuremberg defense, where except for following orders, he's just following clicks. So there probably is an argument to be made here, but I'm not the one to make it

There is something to that and I don't really have a good argument for it either.

I suppose if I thought he was just a propaganda machine for the radical right, I'd agree entirely. But I find it hard to weight that up when the show is also responsible for allowing so many important thinkers and experts to distil down their niche fields and communicate it in a format that makes sense and is simple to understand.

The fact that Joe Rogan is so stupid kind of works in his favour tbh, because he can play the idiot question guy when someone smart is there. "So like, are you saying that space is like, really big?"


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I am not a fan of Joe Rogan but I agree, he said is not alt-right.

No one should be cancelled. Course I don't think cancel culture is a thing. I think it's right wing talk for silencing criticism.

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It's a bit like the talking head phenomenon on CNN. They give too much airtime to illegitimate argumentation to seem fair, but what this does is elevate the argumentation to equal footing. "Hey, if climate denial isn't just a matter of opinion, why do I see an equal number of people arguing for each side when I turn on the TV"

The marketplace of ideas has the fundamentally naive assumption that people form their views and opinions with optimal rationally, and that's absolutely not true.

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pinky0926 posted...

I suppose if I thought he was just a propaganda machine for the radical right, I'd agree entirely. But I find it hard to weight that up when the show is also responsible for allowing so many important thinkers and experts to distil down their niche fields and communicate it in a format that makes sense and is simple to understand.

This line of reasoning seems to boil down to, "it's worth platforming horrible propagandists to give important thinkers and experts a platform too" and I'm not sure I agree

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creativerealms posted...

I am not a fan of Joe Rogan but I agree, he said is not alt-right.

No one should be cancelled. Course I don't think cancel culture is a thing. I think it's right wing talk for silencing criticism.

I am quite left leaning. Cancel culture is far more of a thing left folks do than right, and it's very real. There's a definite segment of the left that believes that if you don't think lile they do, you're the enemy.

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" but he give Alt Right a platfooorms!!!!!"

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Rogan's show is at it's best when he has legitimately smart people like Brian Greene on

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Gwynevere posted...

Rogan's show is at it's best when he has legitimately smart people like Brian Greene on

I always prefer the episodes with authors, scientists, or other smart people over the ones with famous people.

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Joe has a lot of his own terrible opinions that he likes to share as well. He just isn't a very smart or all that socially responsible person.

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pres_madagascar posted...

I always prefer the episodes with authors, scientists, or other smart people over the ones with famous people.

Same. I dont listen to the other ones.

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pres_madagascar posted...

Cancel culture is far more of a thing left folks do than right, and it's very real

Sure. The left are famous for the Israeli anti-boycott act. Or for making sure Norm Finkelstein couldn't get tenure.
But boy did Kavanaugh and JK Rowling get cancelled!

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TommyG663513 posted...

Joe has a lot of his own terrible opinions that he likes to share as well. He just isn't a very smart or all that socially responsible person.

this guy said concisely what I've had trouble articulating for months lol


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