The Joe Rogan Experience

Joe Rogan Experience #1215 - Ben O'Brien

Ben O’Brien is a writer, editor, host of The Hunting Collective podcast, a member of the Backcountry Hunters and Anglers Board of Directors and MeatEater’s Editorial Director.

Joe RoganhostBen O'BrienguestGuest (fourth participant)guest

Dec 17, 20182h 55mWatch on YouTube ↗

WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT

Joe Rogan and Ben O’Brien Dive Deep Into Hunting, Ethics, Culture

Joe Rogan and hunting writer/podcaster Ben O’Brien range from light stories about past hunts, booze, and pop culture into a long, detailed discussion of hunting ethics and wildlife conservation. They unpack how modern media portrays violence and hunting, why hunting photos (“grip and grins”) trigger public outrage, and how the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation actually works. O’Brien argues for “pro‑nuance” thinking: holding pro‑gun, pro‑public‑lands, and pro‑animal values at the same time, instead of choosing rigid political sides. They also explore tensions between vegans and hunters, African trophy hunting, predator control, and how family, discipline, and long-form conversation shape character and relationships.

IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING

5 ideas

Hunting is both a personal challenge and a conservation tool.

Rogan and O’Brien emphasize that modern hunting—especially under the North American Model—is about difficult physical, mental, and ethical decisions, while simultaneously funding and driving wildlife and habitat conservation.

Context is crucial for understanding hunting images and “trophy” narratives.

A single smiling photo over a dead animal (“grip and grin”) hides days of effort, meat-use, and ecological reasoning, but it’s easily weaponized online; O’Brien argues hunters may need to rethink how they share such images if they want non-hunters’ trust.

Predator and invasive-species control can be ethically necessary but emotionally uncomfortable.

Examples like baboons, bears, kangaroos, rabbits, stoats, and African lions show that culling or hunting can protect ecosystems and other species, even when the target animals look charismatic or “cute” to outsiders.

Public-lands and environmental issues don’t map cleanly onto U.S. partisan lines.

O’Brien outlines how many pro-gun politicians are poor on habitat and public-lands protection, while others are strong on environment but anti-gun, forcing hunters into nuanced positions that don’t fit simple left/right labels.

Food choices always involve animal death, even for vegans.

They discuss how industrial agriculture kills animals indirectly through habitat loss, combines, and fertilizer production, arguing that hands-on hunting can be a more honest way of engaging with “life eats life” than outsourcing killing to the food system.

WORDS WORTH SAVING

5 quotes

Hunting is the sustainable use of a natural resource.

— Ben O’Brien

Life eats life. We’re consumption engines. That’s just the way it works.

— Joe Rogan

If someone said, ‘Give up grip-and-grins for the betterment of hunting,’ I’d say, ‘Fuck yeah, man.’

— Ben O’Brien

It’s so different from the inside than it is from the outside.

— Joe Rogan (on hunting, paraphrasing Michael Pollan)

I feel like I have a duty to my hunting community to actively earn the respect of every non‑hunter I run into.

— Ben O’Brien

Origins of Ben O’Brien’s work with MeatEater and his friendship with RoganStories from past hunts: moose in British Columbia, storage-unit living, and travel anecdotesMedia, entertainment, and escalating depictions of violence in shows and gamesHunting ethics: fair chase, baiting bears, using dogs, wounded animals, and “grip and grin” photosThe North American Model of Wildlife Conservation and public-lands politics (Bears Ears, monuments)Predators and invasive species: bears, mountain lions, baboons, rabbits, kangaroos, stoatsHunters vs. vegans and non-hunters: morality, diet, and unintended animal deaths from agricultureMarriage, family upbringing, discipline, and how long-form conversation changes perspectives

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