Joe Rogan Experience #1380 - Pete Dominick

1. 0:00 – 15:00

   ... three, two. Uh,…

   1. JRJoe Rogan0:00

      ... three, two. Uh, uh. (claps) Hello, Pete Domick. How are you, buddy?

   2. PDPete Dominick0:05

      Hey, Joe Rogan.

   3. JRJoe Rogan0:06

      Good to see you, man.

   4. PDPete Dominick0:06

      Good to see you. Psyched to be here. Psyched to be in California, and psyched to be sitting across from you.

   5. JRJoe Rogan0:10

      Psyched to have you. You're, you're a free man now.

   6. PDPete Dominick0:12

      I'm a, I'm-

   7. JRJoe Rogan0:13

      You've escaped yourself-

   8. PDPete Dominick0:14

      (laughs)

   9. JRJoe Rogan0:14

      ... from the, the shackles of, uh, satellite radio.

   10. PDPete Dominick0:17

       The sha- the shackles of corporate media.

   11. JRJoe Rogan0:19

       Yeah, man. That's, uh, see, that's the thing about dedicating so much time to a company like that, they can just (snaps fingers) get rid of you, and then you don't have a connection to all those fans. You have to reestablish a connection.

   12. PDPete Dominick0:30

       It's been an amazing experience in the last, what, four weeks since it happened to try to... First of all, I watched my funeral play out publicly, 'cause I had a huge community of listeners for 12 years that I created-

   13. JRJoe Rogan0:40

       Right.

   14. PDPete Dominick0:40

       ... that I was trying to respond to all of them, and I, you know, you can't say. I still can't share, like, certain details, right? And-

   15. JRJoe Rogan0:46

       How much time did they give you before the show was ended?

   16. PDPete Dominick0:50

       The sh- the show basically, they told me after the show that, uh, that it was the last show, and then they let me have, like, a, uh... They said I could do a last show, but instead, I was just like, "Let me just record a message. I don't wanna, I don't wanna go-"

   17. JRJoe Rogan1:02

       So you didn't know until the day of?

   18. PDPete Dominick1:05

       I had a pretty good idea. I had a pretty good idea.

   19. JRJoe Rogan1:08

       Do they have ratings? Like do they-

   20. PDPete Dominick1:10

       I don't think so. If they did, I think I'd probably be in pretty good shape. I mean, like, it's a long story, but the show I was doing was pretty special. Like it was really helping people, and we were enlightening. It's kind of like what you do here. I mean, that's why I love what you do here. You people learn. They, uh, they get enlightened, they get entertained, they, uh... Uh, you make people a better, better people through this show. The, the contribution in, that you make, that's what I was doing. We worked three hours every day talking about issues, talking about, uh, struggles that people are having, and it was rewarding and challenging and satisfying, and I had total editorial control, so you know, I can't, I really can't complain. Twelve years is pretty-

   21. JRJoe Rogan1:48

       Do they know, though, how many people are listening to any given show?

   22. PDPete Dominick1:51

       Not that I ever know. Not that I ever know.

   23. JRJoe Rogan1:52

       Not that you ever know.

   24. PDPete Dominick1:53

       Not that it was ever shown to me, and-

   25. JRJoe Rogan1:54

       See, that is a weird thing. That's a thing that you have with Netflix as well. You know, like if you do a special with Netflix, and, and-

   26. PDPete Dominick2:03

       Yeah.

   27. JRJoe Rogan2:03

       ... they go, uh, "We really like it. It's great." And they-

   28. PDPete Dominick2:05

       But they don't share it with you.

   29. JRJoe Rogan2:06

       Yeah, and you go, "Well, how are the ratings?" They go, "We're really happy." "Well, what does that mean?" "We're really, really happy."

   30. PDPete Dominick2:11

       (laughs) Yeah, that's like, that's like when you first started doing comedy and, and you came off stage and your friends were like, "You looked confident."
2. 15:00 – 30:00

   Right, right. …

   1. PDPete Dominick15:00

      of situation with a family. You know, that's different, when you're single and you're young.

   2. JRJoe Rogan15:03

      Right, right.

   3. PDPete Dominick15:04

      But I was working that hard and making no excuses, and back then, doing no drugs, not drinking, everything... It was just about my career and being a good person. I thought if I was a good person, that mattered. And to come to find out being a good person was the best form of currency. Everybody competing and trying to kill other people in our business or in any other business, to me, I have no interest in that and no attraction to those people. All I wanted to do is help people, not think... just for purposes of altruism, not to be virtuous, just because... same reason you are. Being kind is, is the way to be. Not putting a knife in someone's back. And when the show ended, it was amazing 'cause people started tweeting things that I had done that I never w- was... thought would become public. They were private things. They weren't for... And it was just, like, days and days of people... You know, I did... I used to do a segment every week called Stand Up with a Veteran for veterans, and, like, this veterans' community came out strong. They're like, "What? They let you go. You did so much for us." And I was like-

   4. JRJoe Rogan16:05

      Well, I think it's a dying company. I don't think you should dwell on all this. I mean, it's just a dying company, and now you have an opportunity. I mean, it's great that you did all these good things. It's great.

   5. PDPete Dominick16:13

      I hope... I, I don't mean to sound negative. I don't mean to sound like I'm dwelling on it. I'm, I mean to say it was an amazing experience that was afforded to me. I leveraged it, I took advantage of it. I'm really excited. Every day I wake up now, just ideas, ideas, ideas, hammering, phone calls-

   6. JRJoe Rogan16:28

      While the show... While you were doing the show, were you under any sort of exclusive thing where you couldn't do anything on the internet?

   7. PDPete Dominick16:32

      Right. Right.

   8. JRJoe Rogan16:33

      You were?

   9. PDPete Dominick16:34

      Yeah.

   10. JRJoe Rogan16:34

       Okay.

   11. PDPete Dominick16:34

       I mean, yeah, pretty much. You c- we couldn't do a podcast.

   12. JRJoe Rogan16:37

       You couldn't?

   13. PDPete Dominick16:37

       It was direct... No. That was direct competition.

   14. JRJoe Rogan16:39

       Yeah, 'cause, uh, do you remember when Anthony from Opie & Anthony, Anthony Cumia had Live From the Compound?

   15. PDPete Dominick16:44

       Of course.

   16. JRJoe Rogan16:45

       He was doing this thing-

   17. PDPete Dominick16:45

       Was that overlapping with Sirius?

   18. JRJoe Rogan16:47

       Oh, yeah.

   19. PDPete Dominick16:48

       Oh.

   20. JRJoe Rogan16:48

       That's why I started my podcast.

   21. PDPete Dominick16:51

       Because-

   22. JRJoe Rogan16:51

       A- 100%.

   23. PDPete Dominick16:52

       Because he-

   24. JRJoe Rogan16:53

       'Cause he was... 'cause he had a studio in his basement where he's doing karaoke holding a machine gun. (laughs)

   25. PDPete Dominick16:57

       (laughs)

   26. JRJoe Rogan16:57

       And he was drunk, and I was like, "What?"

   27. PDPete Dominick16:59

       Was it loaded?

   28. JRJoe Rogan16:59

       You can do that. Oh, I'm... I don't know. It's Anthony, I'm sure it was loaded.

   29. PDPete Dominick17:02

       Yeah.

   30. JRJoe Rogan17:03

       He's fucking crazy.
3. 30:00 – 45:00

   Well, one of the…

   1. PDPete Dominick30:00

      is such bullshit. I talk to people from all over the country, travel all over the place. I understand the issues really intimately. And I don't care what you think about anything. There's something you have to offer me. There's something you have to make my life to enrich me. I don't care what you believe on abortion or guns or certain things, because if you can teach me how to fix this engine, I'm into it. I'm gonna learn how to do it. If you can teach me how to exercise better, but you don't like our trade policies, I don't give a shit what you think about our trade policies. Let's just not even talk about it. Let's talk about the things. And it's...... y- y- y- trying to get to the bo- the- the root of somebody's soul is what we should all be trying to do. The- the- every day, we should try to, "What- what happened to you that made you think this way? What is the experience? What is your journey?" To me, that's the fascinating shit about human beings.

   2. JRJoe Rogan30:47

      Well, one of the things about something like cable talk shows or, you know, news shows, or any of these political arenas is that there's a- a lack of real interaction with the general public in terms of like real- real conversations with people. You- you have a host who's wearing makeup, who's got spotlights on him, and there's a microphone in front of him, and he's talking to these other people, and there's cameras pointed at them. And no one really feels like this is- this is not a norm-

   3. PDPete Dominick31:17

      It's a play.

   4. JRJoe Rogan31:18

      ... but it's not a normal way of people talking.

   5. PDPete Dominick31:21

      No, nobody talks like that.

   6. JRJoe Rogan31:22

      And rarely you see someone sit down and they like... Every now and then they have those shows where like it's a one-on-one, like Trump will sit across from fucking... what's his name? What's that dude's name?

   7. PDPete Dominick31:34

      Which network?

   8. JRJoe Rogan31:34

      It's a Fox guy.

   9. PDPete Dominick31:35

      Hannity?

   10. JRJoe Rogan31:36

       No, the other-

   11. PDPete Dominick31:37

       Dobbs?

   12. JRJoe Rogan31:37

       Dobbs, that guy.

   13. PDPete Dominick31:38

       Yeah.

   14. JRJoe Rogan31:38

       Who's hilarious. It's- it's funny watching the two of them together. It's-

   15. PDPete Dominick31:41

       Oh, I mean, Dobbs is lost his mind.

   16. JRJoe Rogan31:43

       He's just kicking that ass and going like this. (kissing sounds)

   17. PDPete Dominick31:45

       He is all... He is digging way in.

   18. JRJoe Rogan31:47

       He's all in. (kissing sounds)

   19. PDPete Dominick31:48

       But it works. He's making... I used to know... I used to be on with the guy, the- the most pleasant guy in the world. But what he's doing, he is... It's so much... It's a North Korean situation. Lou Dobbs, it's like state media every night. It doesn't matter. You know, he-shall-not-be-questioned kind of guy. Worship the president. It's like, "What are you doing? That's not even..." But- but that's the- the... it's... I once got into this long drawn out argument with Chris Cuomo, who I like a lot, but I was talking to him about, you know, listen man, the difference between TV and radio, it's simple. It's... On radio, you can have a long form, you can have a 20 minute to two-hour conversation and it's real and you get a lot done. On TV you can have a five-minute conversation. I go, there's so many guests that you have on your show that I have on my show, they're- they're way more... They have the ability to be thoughtful and nuanced-

   20. JRJoe Rogan32:32

       Yeah.

   21. PDPete Dominick32:32

       ... and- and make points. They can't do that on cable. And now, you know, he's doing a radio show, so good for him.

   22. JRJoe Rogan32:37

       Well, that's what I was getting at is that this separation between the people and then the just unnatural environment that they're in, no one can relate to it. What they can relate to is two people just talking to each other.

   23. PDPete Dominick32:49

       They can't relate to it, Joe, but they also think because they're conditioned to that if it's on a network, this person must be an authority-

   24. JRJoe Rogan32:57

       Right.

   25. PDPete Dominick32:57

       ... and must be intelligent. But I'm here to tell everybody, I was talking about credit default swaps in the financial industry. I have an associate's degree and came up in the New York City comedy clubs. Like, I really didn't have any business talking about that. But the thing is, I could sound really smart for three and a half minutes on anything. Get me to minute five, I can't go that deep on certain issues, and I shouldn't be an authority on it. But just because I'm on cable news with a- a jacket and a shirt and I'm this guy, people are like, "Oh, okay, well I'll believe this guy now." It- it's not real.

   26. JRJoe Rogan33:31

       No.

   27. PDPete Dominick33:31

       It's not real.

   28. JRJoe Rogan33:31

       Well, that's a dying medium too. Uh, I don't think 20, 30 years from now that's gonna exist in the same form.

   29. PDPete Dominick33:36

       Shorter than that.

   30. JRJoe Rogan33:37

       Yeah. And then the whole... also the interjection of commercials every seven minutes, the things that they're doing on debates, it's the same thing they're doing on these other cable talk shows where they're trying to encapsulate these things into these very-
4. 45:00 – 1:00:00

   Yes. …

   1. PDPete Dominick45:00

      you can do as a journalist.

   2. JRJoe Rogan45:00

      Yes.

   3. PDPete Dominick45:00

      They never work again.

   4. JRJoe Rogan45:01

      Right.

   5. PDPete Dominick45:01

      Or they don't work for a very long time.

   6. JRJoe Rogan45:03

      Right.

   7. PDPete Dominick45:03

      You know Johan Hari? He's been on your show, he's been on my show.

   8. JRJoe Rogan45:06

      Uh-huh.

   9. PDPete Dominick45:06

      He was accused of, uh, of some, like pl- I think it was plagiarism.

   10. JRJoe Rogan45:10

       Yeah.

   11. PDPete Dominick45:10

       And it, and it took him a really long time to, to win his integrity back. That's-

   12. JRJoe Rogan45:14

       Yeah. I didn't find that out actually until after he'd been on the show-

   13. PDPete Dominick45:16

       Yeah.

   14. JRJoe Rogan45:16

       ... the second time.

   15. PDPete Dominick45:17

       Yeah.

   16. JRJoe Rogan45:17

       But like, what, what was-

   17. PDPete Dominick45:18

       Great guy.

   18. JRJoe Rogan45:19

       He's a great guy.

   19. PDPete Dominick45:19

       Yeah.

   20. JRJoe Rogan45:19

       But what was he accused of?

   21. PDPete Dominick45:21

       I don't remember. It was... I feel like it might've been plagiarism though.

   22. JRJoe Rogan45:24

       Mm.

   23. PDPete Dominick45:25

       And, and that kind of thing, the point is, that kind of thing ruins you. And so, I wouldn't come here and do that, even though I don't, I wouldn't call myself-

   24. JRJoe Rogan45:34

       I understand.

   25. PDPete Dominick45:34

       ... a journalist.

   26. JRJoe Rogan45:34

       I understand.

   27. PDPete Dominick45:34

       But I would want... Because of what you're saying. 'Cause you're smart. Y- I'm very skeptical too of people and their source and what their interests are. And a lot of people really want me to run for congress for a lot of different reasons, but mainly 'cause they think I can tap my network of wealthy people and, you know, they can make money.

   28. JRJoe Rogan45:49

       Well, love Trump or hate Trump, that is precisely what he was talking about when he said, "Drain the swamp." Now, this is the swamp. This sort of, this sort of convoluted world of influence and-

   29. PDPete Dominick46:01

       Well, yes and no. The swamp-

   30. JRJoe Rogan46:02

       Yeah. But it's also money and all the other things that he didn't drain, and he actually brought in people that were-
5. 1:00:00 – 1:03:50

   (singing) No, I don't.…

   1. PDPete Dominick1:00:00

      of, uh, Congress for buying, uh, cocaine from a fed. Do you remember that?

   2. JRJoe Rogan1:00:03

      (singing) No, I don't.

   3. PDPete Dominick1:00:04

      It was, like, three years ago.

   4. JRJoe Rogan1:00:05

      I don't pay that much attention to politics. I think politics is like baseball.

   5. PDPete Dominick1:00:10

      Yeah.

   6. JRJoe Rogan1:00:10

      Like, uh, some people just watch the World Series and some people watch college and they'll look at fucking first round draft picks.

   7. PDPete Dominick1:00:15

      Right.

   8. JRJoe Rogan1:00:16

      And, oh ...

   9. PDPete Dominick1:00:17

      I'm addicted to it.

   10. JRJoe Rogan1:00:18

       Yeah.

   11. PDPete Dominick1:00:18

       I was. That's another nice thing to not having to be live every day and not having to know every single step of everything of going on, because you realize that you're a very small minority of people.

   12. JRJoe Rogan1:00:28

       When you, uh, found out that thing, when you were told that thing by that guy about-

   13. PDPete Dominick1:00:31

       Let me just make sure this doesn't go to waste, Jamie.

   14. JRJoe Rogan1:00:33

       Look, it won't. There's plenty of it. When you were told that thing about the guy who was ... that ... you know, the congressman job, you know, that you would ... you were, you were gonna have to, uh-

   15. PDPete Dominick1:00:42

       Bribe?

   16. JRJoe Rogan1:00:42

       ... play ball. Um, did ... was that ... well, did you feel, like-

   17. PDPete Dominick1:00:47

       Let down?

   18. JRJoe Rogan1:00:48

       Yeah, like almost like, "Okay, I've been promoting a rigged game." 'Cause it's-

   19. PDPete Dominick1:00:54

       No, I know how well ... I know intimately how rigged the game is. It's just that you don't always know where and who the players are. No, I mean, I've done enough-

   20. JRJoe Rogan1:01:03

       Right, but isn't it ... You're an honest person. You're not, you're not a bullshit artist.

   21. PDPete Dominick1:01:08

       I hope everybody thinks that.

   22. JRJoe Rogan1:01:10

       So if you ... I do. But, so if you are-... a, a part of a bullshit system.

   23. PDPete Dominick1:01:15

       Yeah.

   24. JRJoe Rogan1:01:15

       Right? It's almost like you can't, to be who you are, you almost, like, can't be a congressperson-

   25. PDPete Dominick1:01:20

       You just nailed it.

   26. JRJoe Rogan1:01:21

       ... if the system exists-

   27. PDPete Dominick1:01:22

       What you just said almost made me want to cry.

   28. JRJoe Rogan1:01:24

       Don't cry.

   29. PDPete Dominick1:01:24

       Be- because, well, I get very emotional when, uh, when someone pings a truth.

   30. JRJoe Rogan1:01:29

       Mm-hmm.

Episode duration: 3:03:30