Joe Rogan: Then and Now

The Coffee Shop
1

I don’t listen to Joe Rogan anymore, though I used to listen to him quite a bit.

I figured I’d drop this here, mainly because I’d be embarrassed to think that people will leave the LR in droves remembering me as a JRE fan (I’d defended him many times).

Maybe I should have known better. Meh…anyway, here’s my perspective on the history of his show and if you are at all interested in how one goes from being an avid listener to one who really wants to distance himself from the show, read on.

TLDR: I like podcasts, there weren’t a lot of options, and he had on good guests. He’s turned into a right wing pundit, which isn’t what the show used to be.

I got into podcasting in 2006 when training for long distance tri’s. I actually checked out his show, but didn’t like it. It was disorganized, the conversation was dull, the guests were obscure, and he was really stoned a lot. My early go to podcasts were Kevin Smith and comedian Greg Fitzsimmons. I then became a regular listener of Adam Carolla, who also turned into a right wing complainer, ultimately causing me to stop listening.

~2015 I turned to JRE. He had a lot of good guests, and the long format really killed a lot of time. If the subject was about comedy or fighting, he offered a lot of really good insight. If it was something else, he mainly stepped back and let his guest do most of the talking. Guests at the time who jumped out at me were James Hetfield, Lance Armstrong, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Elon Musk (before we knew), Bernie Sanders, Andrew Yang, Alex Honnald, Mike Tyson, and a whole host of adventurers, super athletes, and actual scientists. Sure, more times than I’d like, he’d have some pseudo science nut or a right winger like Alex Jones on, but I’d simply skip those episodes.

~2022 the show really started to turn. Despite actually being a good source for Covid information in the very beginnings of the pandemic, he got obsessed with this anti Covid vax kick. He was just convinced that the whole thing was a scam to make pharma companies rich, and managed to work his stupid ideas into every-single-f’ing-conversation. He went from the guy who knew he didn’t know anything, to the guy that really wanted you to know what he thought. I would still listen, but would start skipping 15 minute chunks of the show.

Late 2024 he went full Maga. I feel like over the last year he was starting to drift in that direction, but it took a real upswing as the election got close, having Musk, Trump, and JD Vance on his program right before the election, and then specifically endorsing them.

There’s any number of reasons how this could have happened. It could be as simple as becoming an old rich white man. I definitely feel like over time he’s been vilified by the left, and groomed by the right, which doesn’t excuse it, but he is gullible enough for it to work. He has certainly become enamored with Jordan Peterson and Elon Musk over the years. Or maybe it was just an inevitable trajectory for him. Maybe he was always the kind of guy that was going to like what they had to say.

Or maybe he likes being in the rich kids club and wants to hang out with them. I’d also heard a theory that moving to Texas affected the kinds of guests he would have on, and the kinds of people he was hanging out with. I’ve also noticed that his group of comedian friends, as a whole, went from poor struggling artists to a collection of rich famous people over the last decade, and that can certainly have a tribal effect on a person (like we all know what a douchebag Tony Hinchcliff is ebcoming, and Tom Segura has been dropping some weird elitist shit on his show).

And maybe I should have seen this coming sooner, but I stand by what I said in the past years. He is now what people always thought he was, but that really wasn’t what he was in the past.

4 Likes
2

I just love his Italians and pizza comments. And his jews and money stuff. That stuff is so stupid, it’s gonna live forever.

In some ways, it was hilarious, but not hilarious in a good way. Rogan showed us all that he is just an incredible simpleton with zero ability to appreciate any nuance in life.

1 Like
3

I agree somewhat and while I listened to him for awhile, I think he just drifted where the money went, doesn’t always reflect his full though or opinion, just fills his pocket.

Covid changed that.

Kamala really should’ve gone on.

4

He kind of reminds me of some neighbors I have. Just regular guys who listen to the Phillies on the radio while drinking beer and playing corn hole. Maybe they’ll get up tomorrow and play a round of golf. College grads, but kind of struggle with intellectual topics, but they try.

And I mean this compared to, say, the average denizen of the LR.

5

He was really, really great as a comedian for 15+ years – like the best I’ve ever seen.

Long-form + steroids hasn’t been as kind. I haven’t watched him in 2-4??? years – last ones were of some Navy SEAL guys (very cool & authentic) and Alex Honnald commentaries/contemporaries. He has had some great guests/episodes, and yeah – at the time he got paid top $$$$ at the top of the podcast frenzy. Good on him.

But it went downhill big time from there. Him + politics just sucks. Not because I disagree, but because I find it very, very boring. I probably don’t watch as much as I used to (pre Bag), but when I do it seems like a mix of talk radio schtick (meaning lets sell someone something) + a cast of characters that are simply boring.

Then again, I’m old, and approaching full get-off-my-lawn phase. FWIW I find John Stewart to be approaching that point (directionally).

6

Different strokes for different folks. I always found it annoying when I used to listen to him and he referred to himself as a comedian. He’s not even funny on his podcast.

7

don’t like to generalise with crackpot ideas (who am i kidding, I love to)

hard core steroid use could dispose a man (or MTG, I see you) to hyperaggression, paranoia, impulsive decisions, peacocking, all the worst bro traits men should have grown out of after their 20s

i think it’s created a generation of old men who think like chimps. and guess who are alpha.

2 Likes
8

So I had another thought today (and yes, I’m stealing a line that’s been sorta going around lately):

Joe Rogan is to rich right wingers as Joe Rogan is to comedy.

Rogan has never been a good comedian, or at least he has never been an exceptionally popular comedian. But he has been at the center of a clique of successful comedians for a long time.

Every clique has that person at the center of it who is there, not because they are necessarily skilled, or are good conversation, or funny. They are there because they are very affable, easy to get along with, and willing to organize the get togethers. Their skill is not rubbing people the wrong way. Their skill is knowing that everyone will want to watch the football game this weekend so he invited them over to the house, and he knows what kind of beer that want to drink, and what kind of cigars they want to smoke. And he knows to ask Bob about his kids, and to ask Fred about his latest 5K race, and to talk to Chris abut his favorite golf course.

This is partly why his show has been so successful, because he’s an easy conversation to have.

Now that he’s old and rich, he’s trying to be the same guy in the conservative rich guy group. he can’t help himself. Where he used to want to hang out with successful comedians, now he wants to hang out with famous rich people. And when, for Example, Elon Musk comes on, he says all of the things that’s going to make Elon Musk want to hang out with him.

What he doesn’t get, however, is that Elon doesn’t give a F@$% about Joe Rogan…at least not beyond his usefulness.

9

This is an interesting concept. I disagree with Mopdahl that he was a great comedian at any point. He was niche at best. His work on News Radio was great though.
Part of the reason he is an easy conversation to have is that he doesn’t often challenge what is being said. Just, “woooow!” Generally people love talking about themselves, and love when others think they are smart. He provides that frequently.
What he gets out of it, I don’t know, but I can go along with your thoughts.

10

He reminds me a bit of my friend John. John is the coolest guy in the world. Everyone likes him. When he got married, practically our whole college cross country team flew in for the wedding.

About 90% of his personality is just sounding interested in what you have to say, and then adding to it, but in a way that still makes it about you.

As you said, people like that.

The additional piece with Rogan is that I think he really likes fitting in with “the cool kids.”

11

Live he was really, really good, and (humble brag) 25+ years in LA regularly attending Ice House (local) and Laugh Factory (maybe 5x year) I saw everyone come through at least 2-3x.

Some I really never understood how they even got semi-famous (Dane Cook, truly truly terrible and the audience rarely laughed, Carlos Mencia – not funny even stealing other’s lines), but some like Ron White, on the right night (he would literally get shit faced on stage & when that switch flipped, he was ON), and a few that never made it were great.

Sorry for the thread drift. Rogan now is insufferable. I might go see him onstage though. And I like him as a MMA announcer.

12

I always thought he might be better live in a small comedy club.

Dane Cook had two things that worked for him:

1 - He was good looking, so the ladies liked him

2 - If you listen to his routine, he sounds like a motivational speaker. He had sort of a captivating voice that hooked you into his stories, and he repeated himself a lot. “Have you ever had a meal that you just didn’t like? I mean, have you ever had a meal and you just hated it? I mean, did you ever eat something that just really tasted so bad that it ruined your day? [insert long story here] [finish with terrible punch line].”

Matt Riffe has filled his shoes since then.

13

Kudos to you for being willing to change your thoughts on Rogan. You used to defend him to the death. I’ve always hated the way he gives an unchecked voice to dangerous crackpot thinking. He’s kind of the leader of the bro culture movement which has done wonders for intellectualism.

I will give him credit for some of his early standup. I remember a good bit he did on how hard it would be to re-invent a cell phone.

14

I stopped listening to Rogan after his Ted Nugent interview. Ted was bashing Obama and talking all about the military and his great support of them. Rogan never called him on all the shit Nugent did to stay out of the military and crap he said in the past.

15

My perception of his trajectory tracks with Barry’s. I was an occasional listener for a few years, pre-COVID, and sort of lost the time and desire to listen during the pandemic when I was practically living at the hospital. When I tuned back in there was a noticeable change just as Barry described. I lost interest, and patience.

Generally he shifted from a curious guy with interesting guests and convos, along with some wacky conspiracy thoughts to a guy who started to live in his power and with that came a rightward shift in politics, and guests. The bubble sort of created itself in that regard, but that’s not to absolve him of personal responsibility. Like most on the right, they conveniently forgot all the true things they knew about Trump and just decided to focus on how much worse the Democrats are.

I haven’t listened to an episode in probably two years, absent the occasional clip that crosses my social media stream.

2 Likes
16

I don’t think that’s a fair assessment of what I saw from Barry. I think he defended the defensible parts and accurately described where Rogan was at that point in time. The media did a real hatchet job on him more than once, and it’s not fair to apply Rogan of today to the version Barry (and I, to an extent) were “defending.” People change over time. He certainly has.

17

A couple of points.

  1. I defend everything to the death.

  2. I defended him because people who didn’t listen to his show were just plain wrong about went on on his show.

I’ve always hated the way he gives an unchecked voice to dangerous crackpot thinking.

That is a fair statement.

2 Likes
18

Thanks

19

Thanks for the thread Barry. I just read it through still never having heard the man, or knowing anything of him. I especially liked Kiki’s comments about steroids and effects. To my ear, what I hear described in this thread is a clear distinction in our different generations. Mid life transitioning to old man stature. Welcome to the porch. Sitting in the rocking chair allows for self reflection that was once done while riding or running long.
Don’t think I’ll tune in to Joe. Listening to Jon Lovett on my wife’s POD Save America is more than enough POD’ing for me.

1 Like
20

When have you ever heard Rogan push back on anybody about anything (aside from maybe UFC)?