What makes a marriage? When should an UFC fighter
finally tap out for good? And what shape is the Earth… really? These
were just a few probing questions that made Joe Rogan's guests uncomfortable.
Former mixed martial arts athlete Eddie Bravo's talents extend to being a fight instructor,
a comedian, and a podcast host… but astronomy was one skill he didn't
manage to master. During his 2017 appearance on an episode of "The Joe Rogan Experience,"
alongside fellow guest Brendan Schaub, the conversation drifted towards science when
Bravo delivered a few arcane notions of his own. Rogan and Schaub's jaws dropped when he
declared that the moon landings were bogus, and so was the shape of the Earth, saying
"There's no photo of the flat Earth from space,
there's no photo of the round Earth from space. It's all fake."
What followed was a verbal tetherball match that ricocheted into ridiculous
territory for an hour. Feeling cornered by Rogan,
Bravo doubled down and spewed one conspiracy theory after another, adding,
"I think all governments, most of them,
the globalists, started working together to control their people. [...] You're
on a ball. You're nowhere. Don't try to go anywhere. Just stay there and work."
Still, Rogan continued trying to reason with him, telling Bravo,
"You're very influential, you're saying these things to millions of people,
but I don't think you're thinking correctly."
Like Joe Rogan, Nick Di Paolo honed his standup chops in Boston's nightclubs, crafting a punchline
execution that was rough around the edges and dismissive of political correctness.
His perspective fit the in-your-face format of Comedy Central's "Tough Crowd," where he guested
with fellow comedians and started snaring some national attention. As his star grew,
so did the reckless notoriety that saw SiriusXM fire him for poking
fun at school shootings. He later had to apologize for a YouTube thumbnail
image that featured him flipping the bird at a murdered Black activist.
With all that, fans expected Di Paolo's appearance on "JRE" in January 2019 to be a lively affair.
While the episode certainly lived up to that billing, the laughs were scarce. Much of the
conversation concerned accusations that Donald Trump had lied during his presidency. When Rogan
showed his guest hard evidence of the former president's frequent fibbing, Di Paolo became
enraged. Their subsequent exchanges devolved into a verbal war with no clear resolution.
"Jesus Christ, you're so defensive! It's like, do you work for the organization?"
“No, I don’t.”
Di Paolo claimed that the mainstream media simply hated Trump and had lied about his lies,
but the two made up before the episode ended.
Robert Downey Jr. doesn't shy away from his darker days of drug addiction and incarceration. So
Downey was likely prepped to share that experience during his "JRE" interview in 2020. However,
he was seemingly caught off guard when asked about whether "Tropic Thunder," a 2008 Hollywood
satire featuring the star as a deluded method actor in blackface, could still be made today.
"Do you think that you could do Tropic Thunder today? Would that be possible?"
"Oh, you could do it ..."
Downey initially thought the flick was a terrible idea, but later reframed that notion.
"I get to hold up to nature the insane self-involved hypocrisy of artists."
He added that the blackface depiction in "Tropic Thunder" was intended to
highlight how wrong the practice is within entertainment, not celebrate it. Regardless,
the conversation spurred more backlash against the movie, 12 years after its release.
In October 2021, CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta,
wasn't sure whether he'd be walking into a trap when he accepted a request to appear on "JRE".
When Joe Rogan contracted COVID-19 the previous month, CNN had reported that the podcast star
was following a care regimen that included Ivermectin, an antiparasitic remedy. But
what upset Rogan was when other CNN commentators emphasized the drug's use as a horse dewormer,
one that the government discouraged for human use. Rogan claimed he'd been prescribed the
divisive drug by his doctor, and considered suing CNN for spreading misinformation about him.
Gupta responded to the controversy.
"Glad you're better and that it only lasted a day."
"You're probably the only one at CNN that's glad. The rest of them
are all lying about me taking horse medication."
After showing his guest a package containing a prescription of Ivermectin for humans,
Rogan then asked Gupta whether he was concerned that his employer had said he
was taking the veterinary form of the treatment.
"They shouldn't have said that."
"Why did they do that?"
"I don't know."
Thankfully, Rogan didn't seem to be personally out for his blood.
Conservative activist Candace Owens, a chief mover and shaker of the political
organization Turning Point USA, has turned a few heads in recent years.
The author and talk show host faced the ire of the Black Lives Matter movement late in
2022 after appearing with rapper Kanye West in a "White Lives Matter" t-shirt.
Before that, Owens took part in a movement encouraging African American people to join the
Republican Party, and was accused of co-opting a pre-existing campaign intended to encourage
African Americans to seek independence from exploitative financial institutions.
Joe Rogan put her on the spot in 2018 after
discovering she was a climate change denier. She responded,
"I think that that was just a way to extract dollars from Americans."
After getting her to admit that she seldom looked at environmental literature,
Rogan suggested maybe it was worth trusting the overwhelming number of scientists who
believed in it. After pulling up an article from the well-respected
journal "Scientific American" to prove his point, Owens responded.
"This is just a random website.”
“Scientific American is not necessarily a random website.”
“I don't believe this, like, at all."
Elon Musk is among Joe Rogan's favorite repeat guests, and during each appearance,
the podcast host would listen in fascination over the entrepreneur's ventures, from Tesla's electric
cars to SpaceX. But Musk's first appearance on "JRE" in 2018 turned out to be the most
interesting of the lot, although it had more to do with what he did rather than what he said.
The two chatted about scientist Neil Degrasse Tyson before Rogan
lit a joint containing tobacco and marijuana, before offering it to Musk.
"You probably can't because of stockholders, right?"
After confirming that the substance was indeed legal in that particular location,
Musk gave in to the host's offer.
The next day wasn't quite as rosy when Tesla shares reportedly dropped by as much as 9%
following his appearance, while two company executives quickly resigned. Musk later claimed
on the "Full Send" podcast that the federal government drug-tested him for a year afterward.
Psychology professor Jordan Peterson first gained attention in 2016 when he protested
a Canadian government bill protecting gender identity, claiming it violated free speech,
according to "Vox". He's since written multiple self-help books, including "12
Rules For Life," and "Beyond Order,", which turned him into a high-demand talk show guest,
where he's presented his conservative views on controversial topics surrounding gender.
This made Peterson an ideal guest for Joe Rogan, who's hosted the abrasive personality several
times. One appearance in January 2022, Peterson shared a story about his son being dressed as
a fairy princess by his older daughter and her friends — something that didn't sit well with him.
After Rogan shared a similar experience to being dressed in a feminine outfit by his daughters,
he probed Peterson as to what had irked him about that instance with his son.
Mixed martial arts fighter Brendan Schaub holds the record for most "JRE" show appearances at over
85. The octagon competitor usually offered his two cents on what was happening in the
fight world, a topic Joe Rogan seemed comfortable continuing with. That is,
until a 2014 episode of the UFC podcast, "The Fighter and The Kid," when Rogan
decided to stage an intervention on the stunned fighter's career. At the time,
Schaub's UFC achievements were in a tailspin, having lost his last two fights,
and succumbed to three knockouts in competitions over the three previous years. Rogan told him,
"You're a very good fighter.[...] That's not what the issue is. The issue is can you become
a champion? If you can't become a champion, are you comfortable with getting knocked
out three or four more times over the next five or six years ... that's a possibility."
Schaub initially dismissed the assessment but was dumbfounded when coming up with an answer
to his dwindling performance. Rogan, meanwhile, reiterated that he was simply concerned for his
friend, since brain trauma from repeated concussions is nothing to toy with.
Podcast co-host Bryan Callen suggested that Schaub weigh his options, saying,
"What I care about is the fact that you
have a future in other things that you are really good at."
A year later, Schaub quit the fight trade to pursue a career in comedy and podcasting.
For years, right-wing podcaster Matt Walsh has made disparaging comments
against transgendered people, from claims of pedophilia to allegations of grooming. In 2022,
such statements compelled "The New Republic" to name him "Transphobe of the Year."
In November 2022, Rogan was presumably curious about his mindset and invited
him along to an episode of "JRE," where he challenged him on the idea of gay marriage.
"I think of marriage as a certain thing which is the context for procreation,
for building the nuclear family."
Rogan countered with exceptions, ranging from infertility to couples who choose not to have
children, which he believed would put gay marriage in the same category. Walsh replied,
"It's not about choice. It's about this institution, marriage as an institution,
and what is it, and what purpose does it serve. I
do not agree with tearing down or changing this definition,
especially because the people who changed the definition haven't come up with a new one."
Rogan indicated high divorce rates are damaging the institution anyway,
something that gay marriage wouldn't change. Walsh, seemingly a little rattled,
swung back against the idea that heterosexual couples may marry without procreating,
"I think you're still rejecting one of the purposes of marriage and in the scenario
that you outlined, you're deciding to live a really self-centered life."
Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook and its umbrella company,
Meta, rarely gives interviews. But agreeing to chat with Rogan made sense, especially since the
podcaster wasn't known for being particularly tech-savvy, yet offered a chill atmosphere.
In August 2022, his appearance on "JRE" saw the social media entrepreneur in front of a mic for
once. He was especially keen to talk about a Meta gadget, a set of smart eyeglasses called Stories,
with branding by Ray-Bans. The product had been released months before Zuckerberg's
appearance but hadn't exactly been a big seller. Meta's hype site claims the glasses,
armed with a tiny camera, have since doubled their video recording time to 60 seconds.
What concerned Rogan was that the glasses made it easier to record
subjects who might feel their privacy was being compromised. Zuckerberg countered that
a special light on the frame would alert folks nearby that a camera is operating.