EVERY SPOKEN WORD
150 min read · 30,001 words- 0:00 – 1:48
THC lifestyle vs. Sober October: daily weed, sobriety breaks, and borrowed time
- JRJoe Rogan
... headphones.
- KSKevin Smith
Do I need 'em?
- JRJoe Rogan
I like 'em.
- KSKevin Smith
I'm in. Just to gauge my own voice?
- JRJoe Rogan
Uh, you don't need 'em. We can-
- KSKevin Smith
Only- only if we're-
- JRJoe Rogan
... we can not have 'em.
- KSKevin Smith
... doing call-ins, right?
- JRJoe Rogan
No, no, no, we don't need 'em. Uh, I like how you're mocking me with that marijuana.
- KSKevin Smith
Come on, man.
- JRJoe Rogan
Just openly.
- KSKevin Smith
I- it's your Sober October.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yes, I know, man.
- KSKevin Smith
It's my Un-sober Lifetime.
- JRJoe Rogan
How- how, when was the last time you were sober? How many days have you ever done it?
- KSKevin Smith
What a great question. Um, let me see, when was the last time? It was somewhere I was on the road and I couldn't get my hands on weed. Probably when I was in London or something like that. That's usually an overseas thing.
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- KSKevin Smith
Um, and I went in, like, two days and, you know, it was-
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- KSKevin Smith
(laughs) It was-
- JRJoe Rogan
That's like, like, "I did my time, man."
- KSKevin Smith
I did, it felt like, "Oh, I g- I get it and I remember what this was like-"
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- KSKevin Smith
... but, like, why bother?
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- KSKevin Smith
Like, you know, post-heart attack, I feel like I'm living on borrowed time anyway, so I'm like, "Well, I'm gonna spend that time as well as I possibly can," and, and generally in a THC, uh, drenched condition. This is not a brag and I'm not like, "Kids, you should try this at home," but, like, I only am not ingesting when I sleep.
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- KSKevin Smith
So, like, I wake-
- JRJoe Rogan
Really?
- KSKevin Smith
... I bake. Yeah.
- 1:48 – 3:34
Kevin interviews Joe: what it’s like to be the biggest podcaster and say ‘no’ to everything
- KSKevin Smith
I get to interview you-
- JRJoe Rogan
Okay.
- KSKevin Smith
... for a minute or two.
- JRJoe Rogan
Sure, sure, sure.
- KSKevin Smith
Uh, you know, I- I've been in here in jumps and spurts-
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- KSKevin Smith
... and (laughs) in those jumps and spurts, you have become like the most powerful fucking broadcaster on the planet. Like, crazy popular everywhere, Dan.
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- KSKevin Smith
You can crack a smile. You know I'm right and shit.
- JRJoe Rogan
Well, it's-
- KSKevin Smith
Don't- don't go hard on me.
- JRJoe Rogan
It's weir- it's, it's weir- no, it's weird.
- KSKevin Smith
Why?
- JRJoe Rogan
'Cause it's, well-
- KSKevin Smith
Can't you enjoy it? Come on, motherfucker. I wanted to, like, my whole life-
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- KSKevin Smith
... I wanted to be at the top of something.
- JRJoe Rogan
Really?
- KSKevin Smith
You are at it. I had, I was at the top of podcasts for, like, a minute back when we started and shit.
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- KSKevin Smith
Back in the old Fleshlight days. But, like, you are now beyond. You've transcended the fucking medium. You gotta tell me it f- don't wince.
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- KSKevin Smith
You gotta tell me it f- it feels good, otherwise what am I striving for in my career? And to be honest, I don't really strive if you've seen the shit I do. But, like, there is an idea of, like, you know, "Oh, man, at the top it must be amazing." And, like, no bullshit, you're absolutely at the top. You had fucking Snowden on your podcast, dude.
- JRJoe Rogan
Um, everything feels exactly the same, but different.
- KSKevin Smith
Explain.
- JRJoe Rogan
Um, it's still fun.
- KSKevin Smith
Hmm...
- JRJoe Rogan
I still enjoy talking to people like you, and I had my friend Kyle Kulinski on earlier. I've had some really interesting people on. I love... I've always enjoyed talking to interesting people, so that's the same. Everything's the same in that regard. It's different in that it's, uh, it's very obvious when I go places that it's having more of an impact. Y- 'cause y- you're the same person, right? But, eh, the world changes. Like, the impact, you put out the signal, and then the world sort of changes and shifts.
- KSKevin Smith
Right, right.
- JRJoe Rogan
More lovers, more haters, more this, more that. Just it's, um-
- 3:34 – 6:46
Why Joe refused acting in ‘Jay and Silent Bob Reboot’: time, preference, and boundaries
- KSKevin Smith
Let me tell, can I tell a quick story?
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- KSKevin Smith
Because I don't wanna, I never wanna cut you off because y- you, I could listen to you, you're, you're just a shame and you're a guru. I love coming here, and I have loved coming here, but now there's this different onus to it 'cause it's like, "I better use my time wisely. Fucking Bernie Sanders is next." You know what I'm saying?
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- KSKevin Smith
Like, it's, it's, it's, it's nice, but this is how authentic Rogan is. So we're making Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, and I reach out to, like, everybody I know about being in the movie. And, you know, even the people that are like, "Oh, man, I don't wanna go to New Orleans. That's far." I'm like, "You do remember I almost died of a fucking heart attack?" They're like, "All right, I'm coming." I guilted, like, everybody into coming. So Jordan, who's our producer, Jason Mew's wife, she runs our company, um, she's like, "I, I reached out to Joe's manager and, and he said he's not interested." I was like, "Pfft, he, you know what? Let me handle this. Like, I'll, I'll reach out to Joe." I got, I, I got Joe on direct. I don't need a manager, man, some ten percenter fucking getting between me and my boy and shit. So I fucking (laughs) emailed or texted Joe and I was like, "Hey man, we're making Reboot. Do you wanna come play?" And just flat out on Front Street, as true as he could be, he goes, "I hate that acting shit." (laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- KSKevin Smith
That's what you wrote.
- JRJoe Rogan
I don't like it.
- KSKevin Smith
And you were like, "I, I'm flattered, but I don't wanna do that." He's like, "I'll talk to you about it when it's done." I was like, "All right." That's how authentic you are. That's just so-
- JRJoe Rogan
I don't-
- KSKevin Smith
You know you're in a place right now where you're like, "Can't fucking ruin my credibility with shit like acting and whoo-"
- JRJoe Rogan
It's not how, it's not a ruin the credibility thing.
- KSKevin Smith
What is it?
- JRJoe Rogan
I don't like doing it.
- KSKevin Smith
I know.
- JRJoe Rogan
It takes too much time. I don't have a whole day.
- KSKevin Smith
And that's not critical. I, that, that is not-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- KSKevin Smith
... and that was not me going-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- KSKevin Smith
.... "Look at what it," th- I, I, I thought it was, uh, fantastic. I thought it was adorable, honestly. I was like-
- JRJoe Rogan
I'm, I'm trying to do less things.
- KSKevin Smith
... fucking so on brand.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- KSKevin Smith
Why? Tell me why.
- JRJoe Rogan
'Cause I do too much. I'm do, uh, you know, between all the podcasts that I do, doing commentary for the UFC, doing standup comedy, there's a lot of things.
- KSKevin Smith
Those three things you've been doing for the last fucking decade, bro.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah, there's a lot of things.
- KSKevin Smith
It's not like they're, I mean, they've all increased perhaps?
- JRJoe Rogan
Yes.
- 6:46 – 10:52
Podcasting as an industry: seasons, corporate packaging, and why Joe won’t ‘slap a logo on it’
- KSKevin Smith
You and I started podcasting r- roughly around the same time, and it never occurred to me when I started, and I wonder if it occurred to you, to do seasons.
- JRJoe Rogan
No.
- KSKevin Smith
Right?
- JRJoe Rogan
No.
- KSKevin Smith
Like, once you just turned on the machine-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- KSKevin Smith
... the machine-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- KSKevin Smith
... just kept going, and there's this, there's an- a gaping maw.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yes.
- KSKevin Smith
Like, how do you tell an audience that's used to access all the time, like, "Um, we're gonna do it in a clip, and then take a bunch of time off and stuff like that."
- JRJoe Rogan
Right. No, like a television show has seasons? Yeah. No.
- KSKevin Smith
And they, they seem to do that. Like, I remember when Serial had, like, "Hey, we're this many and we're done." And I'm like, "Oh. I'd never thought of that." (laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- KSKevin Smith
That's a novel approach.
- JRJoe Rogan
But that's a corporate approach, right? I mean, they have a-
- KSKevin Smith
Explain.
- JRJoe Rogan
Well, it's like the same type of people that would put together a television show. I mean, the, the, that's their approach. That's the approach that someone who was doing something along those lines and then transitioned into podcasting, that's how they would approach it, the way they would approach a Netflix show, or an HBO show, or whatever it is.
- KSKevin Smith
Have you encountered a bunch of that? Again, you've been in the space for quite a c- some time. Now podcasts, of course, it's crazy crowded, everybody does it, but the business, my industry, or the industry that I sometimes work in, um, use podcasting like a proof of concept now. So, you go into some place with a pitch for a TV show, and they're like, "Hmm, I- maybe. Why don't you try it out as a podcast?" And hit it back.
- JRJoe Rogan
Really?
- KSKevin Smith
That's what's happening a lot. And-
- JRJoe Rogan
That's interesting.
- KSKevin Smith
... I met somebody who was a friend of mine, who, like, uh, worked at Miramax with me back in the day. Uh, she's gone on. Like, she's producing, like a p- she put together a podcast package, where she took it to a TV network, and the TV network wasn't interested, and she was like, "This is a good concept, man. I'm gonna sell it." And I think they sold it to, like, iHeart or something like that.
- JRJoe Rogan
Hm.
- KSKevin Smith
Six-figure thing. It was like 100 grand. I'm like, "They're paying 100 grand for podcasts now?" And they're like, "No, no. That's just what that person got paid to bring in that show." It's a big, big crazy industry. And so I've been looking for, like, the last year and going like, "Well, clearly he must be approached on the regular to do this for somebody." And clearly every time you're like, "Why would I bother?" Like, "I could do exactly what I want." My-
- JRJoe Rogan
I've definitely been approached a few times, yeah.
- KSKevin Smith
Had, had to be. Like, I've, as I've watched the star rise and rise, I'm like, "Oh my God." Like, "Nobody's snatched him up yet?" And then I realized, of course you've been, there have been overtures. But of course, like you kind- if you've... For those who've never been in this place, it's like, "Why would you slap a logo on it?" It's your own. You built your own fucking thing from scratch.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah. Well, I'm pretty outside of the Hollywood thing now. You know, I don't really-
- KSKevin Smith
But there's, but there's a market-
- JRJoe Rogan
I don't have meetings. I don't-
- 10:52 – 14:18
Kevin’s weed product detour: sativa vs. indica vs. hybrid, CBD boosts, and ‘45% THC’ shock
- KSKevin Smith
I got another catch for you.
- JRJoe Rogan
Okay.
- KSKevin Smith
It's good. And it's gonna sound promotional, but it kinda is, but at the same time it isn't. But I wanna tell this dude's stories. But like, uh, there's a company called Caviar Gold, makes weed. I know, it's Sober October.
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- KSKevin Smith
Uh, they make our weed. So, because the movie-
- JRJoe Rogan
Well, I only have a couple more days.
- KSKevin Smith
Uh, oh, you're gonna... I'm gonna leave you with this.
- JRJoe Rogan
What is today?
- KSKevin Smith
And you're gonna be in heaven. This is a sativa.
- JRJoe Rogan
May 29th. 30, 31. Ooh.
- KSKevin Smith
You're gonna be able to have this.
- JRJoe Rogan
Okay.
- KSKevin Smith
Snoochie Boochies is the sativa.
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh, that's hilarious.
- KSKevin Smith
Pumped up with-
- JRJoe Rogan
Is that a box of weed?
- KSKevin Smith
CBD... Yeah, prerolls, son. Look at that.
- JRJoe Rogan
That's outrageous. That's outrageous.
- KSKevin Smith
Well, I took the first road, though, to be fair.
- JRJoe Rogan
Let me see that.
- KSKevin Smith
Like, I, I smoked it myself.
- JRJoe Rogan
Jesus Christ.
- KSKevin Smith
That's the sativa. That's the wake-up weed. You smoke that, you're ready to, like, clean house, record, podcast. It's also pumped up with CBD. My man Mike at Caviar controls. He's like Swamp Thing. He controls the plant.
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm.
- KSKevin Smith
Uh, he works with distillates.
- JRJoe Rogan
Something.
- KSKevin Smith
So, he could take your weed, make it super weed. So that's, that's the sativa. It's, it smells like... Tell me what it smells like.
- JRJoe Rogan
Smells like a heart attack.
- KSKevin Smith
No, man. It smells like maple. I said, uh... He goes, "What do you want it to smell and taste like?" I said, "Breakfast?"
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh, it does smell like maple. You gotta get it...
- 14:18 – 17:01
Heart attack recovery: veganism, intermittent fasting, bloodwork, and sustaining weight loss
- JRJoe Rogan
You did that post-heart attack, right?
- KSKevin Smith
Post-heart attack.
- JRJoe Rogan
After, do you, do you-
- KSKevin Smith
Right at... The day after the heart attack, 'cause my kid made me. My kid was like... She'd been vegan for a couple years and she was, like, scared because she'd never been through anything. Real first world kid. Wonderful kid, but like-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- KSKevin Smith
... you know, tragedies in life and shit like that. We, you know, we did well as parents.
- JRJoe Rogan
Are you getting regular blood work done?
- KSKevin Smith
I just went and saw my doctor, um, am- what is it? Two months ago.
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- KSKevin Smith
Um, Dr. Leidenheim, and, uh, did the stress test where-
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- KSKevin Smith
... you know, you're on the treadmill and you go up-
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- KSKevin Smith
... and stuff, and then they take all the blood and... And he was like, "Whatever you're doing, keep doing it. It's amazing." He said, "I can see your heart," 'cause they take pictures of your heart. He's like, "I know where the heart attack was, so I know exactly where to look." He's going, "If I didn't know where to look, you would never tell." He's like, "Right now, there's no lasting damage. Keep going." So, I hike Runyon every day.
- JRJoe Rogan
Nice.
- KSKevin Smith
I vegan out like a year and a half ago 'cause of the kid, um, and- and haven't really strayed back, so I'm all plant-based. And I- I'm intermittent faster. I don't eat breakfast anymore. I th- I'm not gonna be like, "Breakfast is propaganda," but it kinda is. You don't really need to eat that early in the day, particularly... You know what? That's untrue. Thin people maybe do. (clears throat) A guy my size certainly didn't need to be eating breakfast. Could have skipped a few meals.
- JRJoe Rogan
I do the same.
- KSKevin Smith
Do... It's no-
- JRJoe Rogan
I take 16 hours off.
- KSKevin Smith
That's the... You- you wait-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- KSKevin Smith
... to break the fast.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- KSKevin Smith
Do you pick a time or is it as deep in the day-
- JRJoe Rogan
No.
- KSKevin Smith
... as you can go?
- JRJoe Rogan
Just 8:00 and 16:00. You know? I j- I just do it based on-
- KSKevin Smith
So then, what's the soonest you eat then, generally speaking?
- JRJoe Rogan
It depends, but I've gone... (sighs) I've gone as late as like 1:00, 2:00 in the afternoon.
- KSKevin Smith
Yeah, yeah.
- 17:01 – 20:52
Marketing ‘Reboot’ the punk way: roadshow touring, Q&As, and building an audience-first business model
- KSKevin Smith
Now, I'm maintaining. Like, I'm on the road for the next like 60... Well, we have 63 dates with the Jay and Silent Bob Reboot. We've just been in Jersey, Chicago, Detroit, Grand Rapids, St. Paul, St. Louis, Columbus. That was the first leg, and now we go to Texas and stuff. We're doing that for like 62 weeks.
- JRJoe Rogan
Is this a publicity tour?
- KSKevin Smith
We're just touring the movie. Rather than like, "All right, we'll put the movie in- out in a thousand theaters," we don't have that kind of marketing money. So instead, me and Jay are just touring with the movie, so-
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh, okay.
- KSKevin Smith
... we go s- essentially, it's like a comedy tour or like a small punk band tour. We go to a theater, we set up shop, we sold tickets in advance. A lot of the tours sold out. Rebootroadshow.com for tickets. Um, and, uh, we intro the movie, watch the movie with them, and then hang out afterwards, Q&A and shit like that.
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- KSKevin Smith
And for me, it's like... You know, it's- it's a pretty grueling schedule because every day in a different city, but every day I get to like sit and watch the movie with the exact audience it was made for. It's not like walking into a multiplex that's playing your movie and even if it's crowded, you're like, "Man, I hope all these cats get every joke and stuff." This is the crowd the movie was made for-
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- KSKevin Smith
... so every reference, every joke like lands. Man, you feel like a genius. I sit in the back of the room and watch the back of their heads like a dirty little cuck at every screening, man, just ready to fucking jerk off I'm so happy with myself. I'm like, "I'm so clever."
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- KSKevin Smith
Listening to them laugh. It's... You know, it's like standup-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- KSKevin Smith
... but like-... with the movie, essentially.
- JRJoe Rogan
Right, right, right.
- KSKevin Smith
And, you know, it's not, uh, it's, we've just taken the movie and kind of event-ized it, by being like, "Hey man, come watch it with us." 'Cause you do that, and-
- JRJoe Rogan
That's very cool.
- KSKevin Smith
And in a world where people would come see me and Jay anyway, talk about the old movies, like and pay $50 to $100 bucks, we're like, they'd pay the same thing to see us bring a new fucking movie. So it's been incredibly successful, man. Like, uh, big sold out shows. We've had to like double up on shows. But watching it with the audience is like, it- it's, it's, uh, it's fantastic.
- JRJoe Rogan
Do you guys do a Q&A or-
- KSKevin Smith
Yeah, afterwards.
- JRJoe Rogan
Nice.
- KSKevin Smith
And I tr- we, we share the stage, which is difficult, 'cause I tend to, you know, as you see, like I'm blah, blah, blah. So I've tried to hold back to let him kind of take front and center during the Q&A, 'cause he's the star of the movie, and he's amazing in the fucking flick. Like I tell people at the beginning of every night, I'm like, "I, we only get to make this journey, and we've been doing it for 25 years since Clerks, because like I met a boy who said dirty things to me, and I said, 'Come with me, we're going to Hollywood.'" And like I met a true American original, Jason Mewes, who I said, "You, uh, we, I think you're funny. I wonder if people would find you funny outside of New Jersey?"
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- KSKevin Smith
"And like somebody should put you in a movie one day." And then one day I was that person, and he was our passport, and has been our passport to the world. The guy least likely, the guy that was never gonna get out of Highlands, you know, on his own accord, but like, simply by being like, "Wait, say these things here on camera, now we've got a movie." Like he opened up the entire world to us. So it's his finest hour in this movie. Like he's funny as fuck, man. He carries the whole show, but he also gets to be emotional, 'cause it's about him finding out he's got a long lost daughter and shit, so it's a father-daughter movie, and s-... And so there are moments in the movie where people cry, and not because they're like, "Kevin fucked up another movie." Like th- they're like, "Oh my God, like he's, he's getting me there as an actor." It's been like fucking thrilling to watch. So every night, like it was thrilling to watch when we made it, every night I get to like s- sit back and watch the audience take it in. And I'm used to making comedy, and you want people laughing, otherwise you're l- if it's silence, it's death. But there are moments in the movie where like it's quiet, and that's a good thing. And like, you know, I still clench my asshole, 'cause in any silence, you're always like you just need one heckler to be like, "Fuck this blows," or whatever, and the audience breaks or whatever.
- JRJoe Rogan
(clears throat)
- KSKevin Smith
So far, man, it's been like really fucking beautiful.
- JRJoe Rogan
You just put the seed out there though, the fuck this blows scene.
- KSKevin Smith
I know.
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- KSKevin Smith
I know. I know. Fuck, I just, as it fell out of my mouth, I was like-
- 20:52 – 24:42
Columbus detour: theaters, hometown nostalgia, and the ‘swinger capital’ story
- JRJoe Rogan
Shit.
- KSKevin Smith
... you just damned yourself. We're going to Houston tomorrow night. Like I left the tour 'cause Joe was gracious enough to be like, "Hey man, you g- come in on the 29th." And we had a day off and stuff, so I left. I was in Columbus last night. There's this place called Studio 35. They were like, "Tell Joe Rogan we want him." I was like, "To be fair-"
- JRJoe Rogan
He's from Columbus.
- KSKevin Smith
... everybody wants... Do you know Studio 35?
- JRJoe Rogan
I'm from Indianola.
- KSKevin Smith
Fucking l- on Indianola, yes.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah. (laughs)
- KSKevin Smith
Holy shit, man. Fuck, I was just there.
- JRJoe Rogan
I was there a week ago.
- KSKevin Smith
What's crazy... You, were you there a week ago? Wait, so you know that theater? It's a fantastic fucking theater. I w- I w- I always know Columbus as that theater, as that street, and then we actually went into the city, and I was like, "They built a whole city around that little corner and shit." They're like, "That's been here forever." Um, did you know, and you must know, Columbus is the swinger capital of the United States of America?
- JRJoe Rogan
What?
- NANarrator
Columbus is a lot of things. (laughs)
- KSKevin Smith
Is that what it says on the license plate?
- NANarrator
I know, maybe, maybe, yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- NANarrator
But it probably should.
- KSKevin Smith
Columbus is a lot of things.
- JRJoe Rogan
It probably should.
- KSKevin Smith
Uh, we were staying there, we went to do a, uh, a show at Studio 35 like years ago for the first time, like almost 10 years ago we've known these cats, great people. And they put us up in a house, and, um, like, you know, the house was like neatly appointed, but nobody lived there. Like even as an Airbnb, it was just like, it was very clean and shit. And so when we got back to the place, they were like, "You like the house?" And we were like, "Yeah, it's nice, man." It's in the middle of the woods away from everything, down a beaten path and shit.
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- KSKevin Smith
And we were like, "Yeah, it's nice," and they were like, "It's the swinger house." And I'm like, "What do you mean?"
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- KSKevin Smith
They're like, "That's the house where the swingers go to fuck." Sh- they were like, "Didn't you notice all the boxes of tissues?" And then I realized every fucking room-
- JRJoe Rogan
No.
- KSKevin Smith
... had a box of tissues in the corner. So it's the swing- and I was like, "Why would that happen here in Columbus, Ohio?" And they were like, "Columbus, Ohio, is the swinger capital of the United States of America."
- JRJoe Rogan
You should go back with a blacklight.
- KSKevin Smith
And check it all out?
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah, and shut the lights out.
- KSKevin Smith
Look at this Jackson Pollock motherfucker.
- JRJoe Rogan
Find out what's happening, where the splatters are.
- 24:42 – 27:13
Aging, vices, and CBD: looking younger at 50+ and the inflammation conversation
- JRJoe Rogan
We're old. How old are you?
- KSKevin Smith
What it comes down to. 49.
- JRJoe Rogan
52.
- KSKevin Smith
Really?
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah, old as fuck.
- KSKevin Smith
So, like, not for nothing, but, like, if that's 52 and this is 49, what were we worried about?
- JRJoe Rogan
We were worried about what 52 was when we were in high school.
- KSKevin Smith
Which was what?
- JRJoe Rogan
Dead people.
- KSKevin Smith
(laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs) People who didn't take vitamins, people who didn't exercise regularly-
- KSKevin Smith
And also-
- JRJoe Rogan
... people who weren't on top of it.
- KSKevin Smith
See, maybe I'm just biased because the older I get I wanna believe this, but, like, didn't the, didn't 50 look older when you were a kid?
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh, 100% did. Yeah.
- KSKevin Smith
Like, when my dad was 50, I was like, "Oh, fuck. All right, there's 50."
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah. Yeah, dudes look different now. It's health, you know? It's, it's, um, diet. Diet's a big factor. Getting enough nutrients. Not smoking cigarettes, that's a huge factor.
- KSKevin Smith
Weed. I've spoken weed and said, "That's true, I put cigarettes down."
- JRJoe Rogan
I think weed, weed probably does a lot for you. You know? It relaxes you, for sure.
- KSKevin Smith
You know my story, man. Fucking weed saved my life.
- JRJoe Rogan
It for sure reduces inflammation, y- you know? And CBD, I am a giant proponent of CBD. I take CBD every day.
- KSKevin Smith
I, I hate... I don't want this to sound like a commercial, but that sativa is pumped up with 30% CBD.
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- KSKevin Smith
So you jacks up the CBD, so when you smoke it, you're not only s- you're healing something as you smoke it-
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- KSKevin Smith
... but it's a nice, crisp high. That sounds like a commercial, but it's good.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah, I just, I take it in drop form. I drink the stuff, Killkliff, uh, which is a drink that has CBD in it.
- KSKevin Smith
Mm-hmm.
- JRJoe Rogan
I just think it's, uh, it's a, a miracle anti-inflammatory elixir from nature. I just, I feel, I'm a huge believer in it. It alleviates anxiety. It's just, it's good for so many people with arthritis and so many issues. My friend, Dave Foley, his, his hands were all fucked up, man. He had real bad arthritis, and now they're, they move freely and easily.
- KSKevin Smith
NewsRadio Dave Foley.
- 27:13 – 36:26
Inside Sober October: origin story, escalating challenges, and the fire-alarm sweat video
- JRJoe Rogan
Well, we started it off... What happened was, it started off four years ago with a weight loss challenge between my friend Tom Segura and my friend Bert Kreischer, and I kinda hosted the weight loss challenge. They, they had, uh, to see-
- KSKevin Smith
Which one, which one's the machine? The-
- JRJoe Rogan
... who could lose the most. That's Bert.
- KSKevin Smith
Oh, fuck that story.
- JRJoe Rogan
Who could lose the most, uh, over the course of a month, and the winner, uh, I sent him to a basketball game, and Ari sent him to... What did Ari send him to? Some other-
- NANarrator
I think it was like the football national championship.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah, they went to some... You know. They had a good time, right? So, that was one year. Then the next year, we all decided to join in. And the, during the whole weight loss challenge, Bert kept drinking. We're very concerned about Bert's health, and so we're like, "Man, Bert's gonna fucking die if we don't get this motherfucker to stop drinking. Do you think you could stop drinking?" And I said, "All right. Well, how 'bout we all do it? We'll all go sober for the whole..." Well, I didn't even know that Sober October is, like, a thing. People have been doing it for years.
- KSKevin Smith
Is that right?
- JRJoe Rogan
Long before us.
- KSKevin Smith
You were like, "I, we just invented a rhyme," and they're like, "No, you didn't."
- JRJoe Rogan
It was just pure coincidence that we started... The first weight loss thing was October as well, right?
- NANarrator
Uh-
- JRJoe Rogan
Was it?
- NANarrator
I think it started close to the end of the Thanksgiving time period or something like that.
- JRJoe Rogan
What?
- NANarrator
'Cause the weigh-in was in, like, January, I believe.
- JRJoe Rogan
Was it?
- NANarrator
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh, okay. Well, for whatever reason, we decided to do it on, during October.
- NANarrator
Mm-hmm.
- JRJoe Rogan
By dumb luck, there was a thing already called Sober October. We, we literally didn't even know when we started doing it. So, we did it and we had... We incorporated a challenge. We had to do 15 hot yoga classes, and everybody didn't believe that everyone was sober. Like, Ari said he was gonna drug test me. (laughs)
- NANarrator
I think it happened, too, because Ari was gone and we had to do that, like, another podcast to talk about the Welsh of the Bet, and that was probably, like, in September, and then it was like, "Oh, well, October is next month. Sober Octobert."
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh, maybe that makes sense.
- KSKevin Smith
And then I was all kind of thing, I was like, "God dammit."
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah, 'cause Ari was gone for, like, four months in Asia. So, so we had sobriety for a month plus 15 90-minute hot yoga classes over the month, so you had to do a, basically a yoga class every other day.
- KSKevin Smith
Right.
- JRJoe Rogan
Which was great. So, we did that, and then last year we said, "Okay, we'll do it again, but this year we're gonna do a fitness challenge." That got really crazy. So, that year it was a competition, and that year we were working out five, six, seven hours a day. I set off the fire alarm in my gym from my sweat, literally, from steam coming off my body, set off the fire alarm.
- KSKevin Smith
Is that possible?
- JRJoe Rogan
It's possible.
- KSKevin Smith
Wait.
- 36:26 – 42:57
Strength training for longevity: pull-ups, bone density, and a realistic plan post–heart attack
- JRJoe Rogan
The good thing about strength training is-
- KSKevin Smith
Yes, tell me.
- JRJoe Rogan
... strength training, um, is, uh, is particularly important as you get older. It maintains bone density, maintains your muscle mass, and, uh, there's a lot of correlations between people who exercise and maintain muscle and heart health. And, uh, just- just overall vitality of your body. A stronger body-
- KSKevin Smith
Right.
- JRJoe Rogan
... is more durable, you know, and-... you know, it's not hard to, for you to hire somebody. Just hire a trainer.
- KSKevin Smith
That's true.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- KSKevin Smith
I think when I'm done with the tour, like, we're done in February.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah, just hire somebody.
- KSKevin Smith
It's time, yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
And, and, you know, you can hire somebody-
- KSKevin Smith
Losing the weight has been the, like that I never imagined-
- JRJoe Rogan
It's amazing.
- KSKevin Smith
... I'd ever do. So, I never imagined I'd have muscles. Like, I ain't ever done a pull-up my entire fucking life. I remember in high school, hanging on the bar, and they were like, "Move on, Smitty," 'cause like-
- JRJoe Rogan
S-
- KSKevin Smith
... I couldn't fucking get there. Be nice to do a pull-up before I leave this world.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah, for sure.
- KSKevin Smith
Especially, like, what if I'm hanging off a cliff and I'm in danger of shit, I'm like, "Aah."
- JRJoe Rogan
It's 100% possible for you to do a pull-up. Yes.
- KSKevin Smith
Uh, in this life.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yes.
- KSKevin Smith
But not, not today, but, like-
- JRJoe Rogan
No, but in this life.
- KSKevin Smith
... eventually.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah, use-
- KSKevin Smith
And you're right, it's like-
- JRJoe Rogan
... a s- nice, slow build. That's what you want.
- KSKevin Smith
And I've also got, like, access to, like, "Hey, I'll hire you."
- JRJoe Rogan
Yes.
- KSKevin Smith
It's not even like-
- 42:57 – 56:07
Kevin’s boxer grandfather theory meets Joe’s CTE reality check
- KSKevin Smith
(laughs) And shit like that. Um, my boxer grandfather, I wanna see if what, if you agree with this theory.
- JRJoe Rogan
Okay.
- KSKevin Smith
So you're the... You've been the man in the ring, so to speak. Um, you've been at the epicenter-
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- KSKevin Smith
... of attention of the 1,000, 5,000, bunch of people as a man on stage, um, even the man in the ring sometimes when you're doing a UFC event and stuff like that. Um, you know what it's like, the, the surge, the, the energy, uh, that comes from, like, "Uh, I'm here, and everybody's got... I got their attention. I command the fucking room." It's part of why we do what we do. My grandfather, having been a boxer, must have felt that, right? Like, fucking probably way more than I feel when I walk up on stage or we're on the Reboot Roadshow Tour. I'm like, "Oh, I feel clever sitting in the back, watching the movie with the audience and hearing 'em laugh." This is a guy who was like, "I'm the man in the ring. And, like, it's all up to me and my fists, and I could be a god or a goat tonight." And, like... And then it becomes primal, and there's pounding and shit like that. You would imagine there's a... if you got in the ring, and he pursued it enough to have a record, there must have been some sort of call, some sort of satisfaction to it all.
- JRJoe Rogan
Maybe. Um, it, it, it... Sometimes people do it for money, right? May- maybe it w-
- KSKevin Smith
This guy? No.
- JRJoe Rogan
... would have been a way to make a living. No?
- KSKevin Smith
This guy-
- JRJoe Rogan
He didn't?
- KSKevin Smith
I don't... No, he, he... Ma- I mean...
- JRJoe Rogan
You don't think he did it?
- KSKevin Smith
I think he was hoping for purses, but I don't think it was just, like, this or Mailman or the-
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- KSKevin Smith
Although, that's where the story's kinda going. Not Mailman, but this was a guy who boxed professionally. And the story was that my grandmother, like, when they had their first kid, my aunt Virginia, my grandmother was like, "You can't be a boxer anymore." And so he was like, "All right," and then he stopped being a boxer. And then my grandfather became a custodian in the Newark courthouse. And every day, he would, like, get dressed up in a suit and take the bus to the Newark courthouse. They lived in a, uh, a different section of Newark. And then he'd put on his custodian outfit and, like, clean the toilets, sweep the floors, and stuff like that. Noble, salt-of-the-earth shit. So my whole life, I never questioned this. You know, your wife says, "You, you quit," and you quit and stuff like that, until I became older, and I became something of the man in the ring myself. I know what it's like to stand, you know, at attention for everybody, where everybody... you are the focus of thousands, where you get a level of affection from a, from an... a v- one vociferous mass that you... is unparalleled from any amount of affection you could get from any other single human being in this world. It is... I've never done heroin, but I imagine it's better than heroin. It's one of the greatest drugs. It, it fuels us, and, you know, we obviously like it. We keep fucking doing it. We make money off it, yes, but there's many ways to make money. And we like it, and we do it because there's power to it, and it feels fantastic, and you feel like, "Man, they like me. They really like me." And then I started thinking, "Why would he have put that all to the side?" Like, how do you step outside all that just because your wife is like, "I don't want you to do that anymore"? And then it made me reconsider my grandparents. And I figured out... And I wanna see if you back me on this play. You don't know these cats, so you got no skin in the game-
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- KSKevin Smith
... so you can't offend anybody. Doesn't that sound like she did dirty shit that nobody else did?
- JRJoe Rogan
In the bed, you mean?
- KSKevin Smith
Yes, son. Where else but the bed?
- JRJoe Rogan
I didn't have that thought at all.
- KSKevin Smith
No?
- JRJoe Rogan
My, my thought is that he recognized that it's very dangerous, and he probably knew people who died. And, uh, he probably wanted to find a way out of it anyway, which most fighters do. Most fighters, uh, at some point in time, they realize, "I'm gonna have to jump off this ride one day. I can't stay on this ride until I'm a dead man, till I'm 90 years old or 100 years old. It's not feasible. It's does- it doesn't exist. There's no 98-year-old boxers out there."
- KSKevin Smith
You think he faced his own mortality?
- JRJoe Rogan
Every boxer does. Every fighter does. You, you, you hit someone-
- KSKevin Smith
He didn't have a great record. He was, like, 50-50.
- JRJoe Rogan
... and you see them get hurt. Well, then he's probably been hurt. You see people get hurt. You see people get pummeled. You see people get knocked out. Maybe you've been knocked out yourself. And you realize that this is something that is unsustainable. And if he's not making any money at it, it's extremely dangerous. And you start, you know, you start thinking what could happen to you. When you know what can happen to you, it happens to people. You see it happen. If it hasn't happened to you, you watch it happen to other people. If you're around combat sports enough, you're gonna see people get fucked up. And when you see people get fucked up, you realize, like, "Hey, this is voluntary. There's other ways to make a living. I don't have to do this anymore. I can get off this ride." Or you're the type of person that doesn't give a fuck, and you wanna be a champion. And your, your thought is you are here for glory. You are here for a legacy. You're here to leave your mark. You wanna go down in history as a great. And if you don't feel that way, I tell people to get out. D- I think fighting is one of the most singular pursuits a person can get into-
- KSKevin Smith
Yeah, it's like you're giving-
- JRJoe Rogan
... where I don't think-
- KSKevin Smith
... you're not only giving, like, the, uh, the, "I'm dedicating myself to something."
- JRJoe Rogan
Yes.
- 56:07 – 1:08:15
Joe’s own fighting-to-comedy transition: tournament story, purpose, and ‘the way broadly’ philosophy
- JRJoe Rogan
It's, to me, uh, uh, it hits home because I-
- KSKevin Smith
Why?
- JRJoe Rogan
... I needed to know when I needed to retire too. When I stopped fighting, I knew, I was like, "I am not doing this the way I used to do this." I, you know, I used to be completely obsessed, but I saw a bunch of people get knocked out. Um, I knocked a bunch of people out. I knew that that easily could have been me.
- KSKevin Smith
What does it feel like to knock somebody out?
- JRJoe Rogan
It's weird. It's a bittersweet feeling. Like, you don't feel good. You know, it feels-
- KSKevin Smith
If you were in a true combat position, it would feel good, no?
- JRJoe Rogan
Well, fighting for your life, you mean?
- KSKevin Smith
Yes.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah. W- competition, I mean, it was all f- people my age, you know? Like, I was n- 19, 20 years old, and I'm, I'm standing over this unconscious version of me, you know, that I just kicked in the head. And the-
- KSKevin Smith
And that's how the person went out?
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah, the amount of force you can generate with a kick is just so terrifying. It's so terrifying. You know, to think that that's gonna bounce off your head and then the lights go out, and then you could, like, incur legitimate permanent brain damage from something like that, absolutely.
- KSKevin Smith
Is it in the initial kick or in the hit, the drop to the canvas?
- JRJoe Rogan
Both, both. Just the kick. If someone kicks you in the head, someone who really knows how to kick, they bounce a fucking shin off your temple, you might not ever be the same again. That's real.
- KSKevin Smith
And you've been knocked out?
- JRJoe Rogan
I've never been knocked out. I've been stopped, which means, uh, I got TKO'd. I got dropped with a punch, and then the guy followed up with a bunch of punches, and the referee stopped the fight. That was the last fight I ever had. But, uh, it was never unconscious.
- KSKevin Smith
So wait, there's more... Hold on. There's a lot of details. Slow it down.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah, I got h- ... I was in a kickboxing fight.
- KSKevin Smith
Okay.
- JRJoe Rogan
Actually, it was three fights in a day. Um, I won the first two. Uh, I won the first one by knockout. I beat the fuck out of the second guy. And I was pretty sick, actually, going into the fight. (clears throat) Going into the, uh, the tournament, I would get sick sometimes because I would be nervous and shit. My, I wasn't... My nutrition was terrible. And then the third fight, I got hit with a left hook, and I got... I won the first round, and then the second round, I got hit with a left hook and my legs just went boink. They just stopped working. And I remember going, "What the fuck? Shit." Like, I'd never been dropped like that before, where my legs just... He was a perfect left hook. He just caught me, konk, right on the chin.
- KSKevin Smith
So what... If he catches you on the chin, what is the... What's happening that-
- JRJoe Rogan
It's, it hi- it's like-
- KSKevin Smith
It connects into the brain?
- JRJoe Rogan
... something happens that twists your brain, right? And y- your brain, like, it, it also does something. There's, like, nerves behind your jaw, and when you get hit hard, it just, it's like an electrical charge goes through your body and everything just shuts off. It's weird. Like, I'm, I was totally conscious, but my legs just stopped working and I fell down.
- KSKevin Smith
And then while that happening, while that's happening, more punches are coming?
- JRJoe Rogan
No, because it was kickboxing. It wasn't MMA. In MMA, the guy would jump on you and they'd stop it right there. Or you would maybe grab ahold of them and maybe you would survive, maybe you wouldn't. You know, there's arguments that it's safer in MMA because they stop it quicker. There's also arguments that when it goes to the ground, you could actually survive better and you could hold on, and maybe that would allow you to take more damage, and maybe that's not as safe. Um, I'm in the former camp. I think it's safer.
- KSKevin Smith
Okay.
- JRJoe Rogan
'Cause I think when s- fights get stopped quicker, it's safer. But, um, so when I got up-
- KSKevin Smith
So w- when you got jolted and electricity went through, did you go down?
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah, I went down. My legs, my, my, my legs just stopped working like this, like I'm standing up. He hit me and my legs go boink. (fist thuds) Yeah.
- KSKevin Smith
So you went down ass-
Episode duration: 1:59:45
Install uListen for AI-powered chat & search across the full episode — Get Full Transcript
Transcript of episode 9yji9vIxkwY
