Joe Rogan Experience #1461 - Owen Smith

1. 0:01 – 2:15

   Studio COVID testing, antibody tests, and public backlash

   1. JRJoe Rogan0:01

      Owen Smith.

   2. OSOwen Smith0:02

      He- hey- hey. (laughs)

   3. JRJoe Rogan0:03

      How you feeling?

   4. OSOwen Smith0:04

      (laughs) I feel good, man. I'm, um, I'm excited. We-

   5. JRJoe Rogan0:08

      Cheers.

   6. OSOwen Smith0:08

      Cheers, man.

   7. JRJoe Rogan0:09

      Salud.

   8. OSOwen Smith0:09

      Come on, man. Salud. Yes.

   9. JRJoe Rogan0:11

      Yeah. We, uh, just tested, Owen. Um-

   10. OSOwen Smith0:13

       Yes. Negative.

   11. JRJoe Rogan0:14

       There's apparently has been some controversy about this, so just let me, um-

   12. OSOwen Smith0:17

       Right.

   13. JRJoe Rogan0:18

       ... let everybody know right away. There's no shortage of antibody tests. What we're using, there's no shortage of them. People are saying, "Why do people on the front lines, there's a lot of people..." It's just misunderstanding and confusion. These tests, there's no shortage of. Uh, I understand some people in some places have a hard time getting access to the test. That's not the case here. So, I've taken it upon myself to test everybody as they come into the studio.

   14. OSOwen Smith0:44

       Right.

   15. JRJoe Rogan0:44

       This is not taking away from anybody that's on the front lines. This is not taking tests away from any medical workers. Um, the, the, the tests that they would use for them, particularly the a- they're using swabs. I mean, look, man. Those fucking people that are working in those hospitals and the medical workers, those people are legit heroes.

   16. OSOwen Smith1:02

       Yes.

   17. JRJoe Rogan1:03

       You know? And if I found out that-

   18. OSOwen Smith1:05

       Yes.

   19. JRJoe Rogan1:05

       ... there was something we were doing that was somehow another taking away from their ability to be tested, I would never do it.

   20. OSOwen Smith1:10

       Right.

   21. JRJoe Rogan1:10

       You know? So, people got upset, apparently, because, uh... Well, a- also, people writing articles about things, 'cause they, there's, you know, it's like it's a hot topic.

   22. OSOwen Smith1:19

       Right.

   23. JRJoe Rogan1:19

       In their home, too. It is. (laughs)

   24. OSOwen Smith1:22

       And their home. Yeah.

   25. JRJoe Rogan1:22

       But I get it. I get it.

   26. OSOwen Smith1:23

       Right.

   27. JRJoe Rogan1:23

       I'm not hating, I'm not mad. I get it, you know, but when I posted that Donnell and I were 'Rona free, people like ... Someone, someone posted some story where they, they ... Here's what's hilarious.

   28. OSOwen Smith1:33

       (laughs) They-

   29. JRJoe Rogan1:34

       I go out of my way to not read comments.

   30. OSOwen Smith1:36

       (laughs)
2. 2:15 – 5:53

   What “mortality rate” means, why COVID outcomes vary, and a detour into dog safety

   1. JRJoe Rogan2:15

      There was a new study that, uh ... Jamie, see if you could pull up that study. It is out of, uh, uh, I think it's out of UCLA. Is that what it's out of? Um, it's, uh, it says, "Early antibody tests indicate far more, uh, cases and a much lower, uh, mortality rate."

   2. OSOwen Smith2:33

      Right.

   3. JRJoe Rogan2:34

      So, they think there's at least 400,000 people have been infected in, in California. So, the mortality rate is way, way lower than they previously thought it was, at least in California. You know, it obviously varies. This is a crazy disease.

   4. OSOwen Smith2:52

      It's crazy.

   5. JRJoe Rogan2:53

      It doesn't make any sense. It varies depending upon what, your physical condition, whether or not you've been smoking, whether or not ... There's apparently a, a great benefit to exercising regularly, even while you have it if you catch it, exercising.

   6. OSOwen Smith3:06

      Mm.

   7. JRJoe Rogan3:07

      But then there was this fucking crazy thing. What is that guy's name? The Fox thing?

   8. OSOwen Smith3:11

      Oh, yeah.

   9. JRJoe Rogan3:11

      Pu- put up ... We'll do the first ...

   10. JVJamie Vernon3:13

       Oh, I'm trying to find ... It's the LA Times, and it's got the subscription blocker on it, so I can't-

   11. JRJoe Rogan3:16

       Oh, these sons of bitches. Here, I'll send you another one.

   12. OSOwen Smith3:18

       Okay.

   13. JVJamie Vernon3:18

       I'm trying to find a different one.

   14. JRJoe Rogan3:19

       There's a, there's one on la.com.

   15. OSOwen Smith3:22

       Oh, I'm a, I belong to the LA Times. I can give you mine.

   16. JRJoe Rogan3:25

       Look at you.

   17. OSOwen Smith3:26

       I support journalism.

   18. JRJoe Rogan3:28

       I do too, but not LA Times.

   19. OSOwen Smith3:30

       (laughs) I like their, it reads like movies, their, their articles.

   20. JRJoe Rogan3:32

       I get it. I just, I don't have the time for that. Here it goes. Uh, "Early antibody tests f- uh, indicates far more COVID-19 cases, lower mortality rate. Um, there's a decrease in the number of deaths. The study indicates that there could be hundreds of thousands of people who could be infected without knowing it." That's what's so weird about it.

   21. OSOwen Smith3:50

       Let me ask you this question though. Can you explain mortality rate? Just like layman's terms.

   22. JRJoe Rogan3:55

       Yes. The amount of people that get it and how many of them die.

   23. OSOwen Smith3:57

       So, if it's a high mortality rate, it's like, "You're fucked."

   24. JRJoe Rogan4:00

       Yes. Right. Like Ebola.

   25. OSOwen Smith4:01

       Right.

   26. JRJoe Rogan4:01

       Vicious mortality rate.

   27. OSOwen Smith4:03

       Yes. Okay.

   28. JRJoe Rogan4:03

       Really. But rabies, the worst. 100%.

   29. OSOwen Smith4:06

       Yes. Okay.

   30. JRJoe Rogan4:06

       Rabies is like 99.99%.
3. 5:53 – 9:49

   Fox ‘vaccinated’ hallway clip, masks, and the reality of vaccine development

   1. JRJoe Rogan5:53

      See if you can find this conversation, Jamie, that they're-

   2. JVJamie Vernon5:57

      I did, I did, I did.

   3. OSOwen Smith5:57

      So-

   4. JVJamie Vernon5:57

      And it's, it says they're joking, but it also has a question that says that they're joking.

   5. JRJoe Rogan6:00

      No, but that's Mediate, it says they're joking, right?

   6. JVJamie Vernon6:03

      Yeah, yeah.

   7. JRJoe Rogan6:03

      Yeah, every other website is not saying they're joking.

   8. JVJamie Vernon6:04

      Okay.

   9. JRJoe Rogan6:04

      It doesn't sound like they're joking. I think they're trying to come up with some sort of a cover for it.

   10. OSOwen Smith6:08

       Mm.

   11. JRJoe Rogan6:08

       But let's, let's play what, what he said. It's John Roberts, who is a correspondent for Fox.

   12. OSOwen Smith6:14

       Right.

   13. JRJoe Rogan6:14

       And then who is the other guy? The other guy works for the New York Times?

   14. JVJamie Vernon6:17

       Uh-

   15. JRJoe Rogan6:17

       ... Doug Mills, he's a photographer. Doug. Okay. So now, let's ... It says, "Apparently joking." I ... It doesn't sound like they're joking. Play, play what it says, 'cause, uh, John ... Let me explain it here. John Roberts comes in and, uh ... It's gonna play a, an ad before this, Jamie, so kill the volume.

   16. GIGuest (unidentified brief interjection)6:31

       Oh.

   17. JRJoe Rogan6:32

       Uh, John Roberts comes in and when he comes in, uh, he's not wearing a mask and he tells the other gentleman, "You can take the mask off."

   18. OSOwen Smith6:40

       Mm.

   19. JRJoe Rogan6:40

       And he tells him about this LA study. Go ahead, play it here.

   20. What's up, Johnny?

   21. OSOwen Smith6:46

       Hi, man.

   22. JRJoe Rogan6:47

       Where'd you go, babe? You can take off your mask, Doug. The, uh, case fatality rate's like 0.1 to 0.3, according to the UFC- Is it really? That's, uh, that's, that's reassuring. USC ... Everybody here has been vaccinated anyway. USC and LA County Public Health came out with a study. They found that there were 7,000 cases in California, but they really believe that there are anywhere from 221,000 to 442,000 people who were infected. Really? Yeah. So that makes it 0.1 to 0.3? Yeah. There's a study to give out these days? Yeah, just give it to them. So it suggests the case fatality rate is like 10 or whatever it seems. Well, which puts you right in line with the flu. Yeah, exactly. That, that's what it is. So it was a hoax. I don't think it was a hoax. (laughs)

   23. So the, here's wh- here's what's weird about that. One, that guy says, "Well, we've all been vaccinated here anyway."

   24. OSOwen Smith7:46

       Right.

   25. JRJoe Rogan7:47

       Now, maybe he was joking. Maybe he ge- he's got a weird sense of humor.

   26. OSOwen Smith7:53

       A long joke. Terrible joke.

   27. JRJoe Rogan7:54

       It's a weird joke.

   28. OSOwen Smith7:55

       Yeah, weird. Yeah.

   29. JRJoe Rogan7:57

       M- now, they have done some trial vaccines. There are some vaccines that are in trial. There was a woman in Seattle. She was the first person to, uh, get tested.

   30. OSOwen Smith8:08

       Mm-hmm.
4. 9:49 – 14:51

   Risk perception, myths about immunity, and why parents can’t gamble

   1. OSOwen Smith9:49

      I mean, no distancing. They're also ... Okay, so I- I, you know, I have an office and I get Uber Eats. And when it's, things started popping, my Uber Eats driver was an older black man. He's walking like mad close to me, I'm like, "Yo, what's up?" He goes, "Black people can't get this."

   2. JRJoe Rogan10:04

      Oh, Jesus.

   3. OSOwen Smith10:05

      "I'll be all right." And I'm like, "Whoa, man, what are you talk-" So I get the thing. I'm not gonna lie, part of me was like, "Okay." But-

   4. JRJoe Rogan10:11

      (laughs)

   5. OSOwen Smith10:12

      ... (laughs) I'm like, "Why am I taking advice from this, this, this Uber driver guy?" Then a personal friend of mine, his dad, uh, who I also know, um, b- black ski trip. He started this black ski, uh, organization. And they went to Idaho and they came back and a lot of the, the ... They were older gentlemen, but a lot of them got infected with the virus. Two have since passed away from it. So their, and their son, um, um, uh, it's, it's in the f- it's in the LA Times. It's the first article. His son, um, did a day-by-day social media post to try to turn the, the narrative that black folks, you can catch this, this is what's happened to my dad. He was like 61, I wanna say. And so I, I, I ... So that's why I was very nervous in the face when we, when we took the test. It's like I want to, um, have the confidence that that man had walking in the room. But I'm also very (laughs) I'm more of a safe than sorry, uh, than the o- the hou- I can't wait to be at that space you can take your mask off. You know what I mean? I need-

   6. JRJoe Rogan11:17

      Right.

   7. OSOwen Smith11:18

      ... I, I ... You know, 'cause I have two young children. I'm just like, I'm-

   8. JRJoe Rogan11:20

      Yeah.

   9. OSOwen Smith11:20

      I'm just, I'm more on the caution side, but I'm not, um, telling anyone what they should believe or not believe. But just for me, I'm just like, I'm, I'm, I'm hearing about what it does to your like, just, just hearing about what it does to your lungs and how they expand, it makes it hard for air to get through and you need a ventilator and, and all that. Do you lung ... What if your lungs collapse? Which is what happened to one of these gentlemen and, and it's just, it's, it's a wrap. But, uh, but it is like, um ... I don't know. I don't, I, I don't know the specifics of, of how anything else plays out, but I am also hearing stories from the other side of people who are, who are like fairly, you know, within my six degrees who are succumbing to it. So I'm just like, I, I, I, I, you know, that's great, man, but I, I, um, I'm not, I'm not there yet. Like, you know what I mean? Like, emotionally.

   10. JRJoe Rogan12:08

       I think-

   11. OSOwen Smith12:08

       So I'm, I am more like, eh, like, eh.

   12. JRJoe Rogan12:10

       Well, first of all, anybody could catch it.

   13. OSOwen Smith12:12

       Right.

   14. JRJoe Rogan12:12

       But second of all, I think that if your immune system has any holes in it-... that shit gets in.

   15. OSOwen Smith12:17

       Right.

   16. JRJoe Rogan12:17

       And, and it can fuck you up. Look at Michael Yo. Michael Yo is a healthy guy.

   17. OSOwen Smith12:21

       Yeah.

   18. JRJoe Rogan12:21

       He's strong, he, he, he lifts weights all the time.

   19. OSOwen Smith12:24

       Right.

   20. JRJoe Rogan12:24

       He's relatively young. I think he's 45.

   21. OSOwen Smith12:26

       Right.

   22. JRJoe Rogan12:27

       You know, Michael Yo's in good shape. He's not overweight, he doesn't have high-

   23. OSOwen Smith12:29

       Did he, did he catch it?

   24. JRJoe Rogan12:30

       Yes.

   25. OSOwen Smith12:30

       Are you serious?

   26. JRJoe Rogan12:31

       Real bad.

   27. OSOwen Smith12:31

       Oh, I didn't know that.

   28. JRJoe Rogan12:32

       Hospitalized for a week, said he thought he was gonna die.

   29. OSOwen Smith12:35

       Fuck.

   30. JRJoe Rogan12:35

       He scared the fuck out of me.
5. 14:51 – 17:46

   Lockdowns, liberty concerns, and the economic freefall for small businesses

   1. JRJoe Rogan14:51

      It bothers me this, the restrictions on f- on personal liberties. I, I, I think it's gr- I think I'm very... Here's, like, here's what I'm happy about.

   2. OSOwen Smith15:01

      Right.

   3. JRJoe Rogan15:01

      I'm happy that so many people have done the social distancing thing and quarantined and kept away.

   4. OSOwen Smith15:08

      Yeah.

   5. JRJoe Rogan15:09

      Almost everybody I know, almost everybody I know is just staying home. My kids are home doing homeschool.

   6. OSOwen Smith15:13

      Yeah.

   7. JRJoe Rogan15:14

      All my friends' kids are home doing homeschool. They're staying home from work. Everyone's staying home and we, we don't go anywhere. You know, I come here, I go home. That's it. That's my life.

   8. OSOwen Smith15:23

      Yeah.

   9. JRJoe Rogan15:23

      Just stay put. Stay put, just let, let the fucking dust settle.

   10. OSOwen Smith15:27

       Yeah.

   11. JRJoe Rogan15:27

       And it's great in that way.

   12. OSOwen Smith15:28

       Yeah.

   13. JRJoe Rogan15:29

       But it's also scary for all these fucking people-

   14. OSOwen Smith15:30

       Scary.

   15. JRJoe Rogan15:30

       ... that have businesses. It's scarier for people that have compromised immune systems.

   16. OSOwen Smith15:35

       Oh, gosh, yeah.

   17. JRJoe Rogan15:36

       So like this is the weirdest time of our lives.

   18. OSOwen Smith15:38

       Yeah. I think, but, uh, we were talking earlier, I think that the planet needs this break.

   19. JRJoe Rogan15:42

       Yeah.

   20. OSOwen Smith15:43

       'Cause, uh, soon as we stayed in for like a week it started raining in LA (laughs) like...

   21. JRJoe Rogan15:48

       (laughs) The, the skies are so clear.

   22. OSOwen Smith15:49

       The skies, skies are clear, like mother nature-

   23. JRJoe Rogan15:51

       Do you see LA has the best air quality in all of the world?

   24. OSOwen Smith15:54

       E- ever. Right. (laughs)

   25. JRJoe Rogan15:55

       (laughs)

   26. OSOwen Smith15:56

       So it's just stay in the house for a freaking couple of weeks.

   27. JRJoe Rogan15:59

       Couple three weeks and it all fixes itself.

   28. OSOwen Smith16:01

       Yeah. Yeah.

   29. JRJoe Rogan16:01

       Yeah.

   30. OSOwen Smith16:02

       I mean...
6. 17:46 – 21:39

   Billionaires, Bill Gates’ ‘persona,’ and how power rebrands itself

   1. JRJoe Rogan17:46

      Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, time to step up.

   2. OSOwen Smith17:49

      (laughs) Like, like, "What y'all doing?" Yeah.

   3. JRJoe Rogan17:50

      How, how much money would Jeff Bezos have left if he gave everybody a $1000?

   4. OSOwen Smith17:57

      Listen. He would, he would be... If everybody?

   5. JRJoe Rogan18:01

      Everybody in this country.

   6. OSOwen Smith18:02

      In th- in this country? $1000?

   7. JRJoe Rogan18:03

      $320 million, he gave everybody a thousand. Do the math, Jamie. I'm a-

   8. OSOwen Smith18:07

      What is that? How much is that?

   9. JRJoe Rogan18:07

      ... I'm a moron.

   10. OSOwen Smith18:08

       Is that billions or tr- is that billions or tr-

   11. JRJoe Rogan18:10

       Well, it's 2000 million is a billion, so it'd be 300 billion.

   12. OSOwen Smith18:16

       300 billion dollars.

   13. JRJoe Rogan18:16

       So he'd be broke.

   14. OSOwen Smith18:16

       He'd be broke.

   15. JRJoe Rogan18:17

       He'd be broke instantly.... crazy. Imagine if he did that and just became a hippie. Sorry to give a- (laughs)

   16. OSOwen Smith18:22

       (laughs)

   17. JRJoe Rogan18:22

       ... he'd have been an asshole. It's like, (laughs) people don't remember Bill Gates, the old Bill Gates.

   18. OSOwen Smith18:27

       Right.

   19. JRJoe Rogan18:27

       People see Bill Gates now... I see Bill Gates now and I see a guy who's wearing an outfit.

   20. OSOwen Smith18:32

       Yeah.

   21. JRJoe Rogan18:32

       He wears a outfit.

   22. OSOwen Smith18:33

       Yeah.

   23. JRJoe Rogan18:33

       It's like he's got a, a s- it's like Spider-Man, like he puts on his Spider-Man, like, "This is my really nice rich guy thing."

   24. OSOwen Smith18:40

       Yeah.

   25. JRJoe Rogan18:40

       "I've got a sweater." Bitch, it's 100 degrees outside, why you got that sweater with a shirt underneath it?

   26. OSOwen Smith18:44

       Mm-hmm. It's c- secretly ventilated and yeah, he- (laughs)

   27. JRJoe Rogan18:46

       Like, does he ever have a T-shirt on? Does Bill Gates-

   28. OSOwen Smith18:48

       No, I have a chill-

   29. JRJoe Rogan18:49

       ... ever rock a T-shirt?

   30. OSOwen Smith18:50

       I heard he had a house where when you walk into a room, it recognizes, like, how you like the temperature.
7. 21:39 – 24:13

   Owen’s ‘Notebooks’ series: exposing the messy process of getting funny

   1. OSOwen Smith21:39

      It's ridiculous, man. But yeah, man. I- I gotta thank you, man. Uh, n- since I was here last, you- you lit a flame under me, you challenged me to put Notebooks out.

   2. JRJoe Rogan21:51

      Yes, it's out.

   3. OSOwen Smith21:52

      It's out.

   4. JRJoe Rogan21:53

      Yeah. We were talking about last time, folks, that comedians, we... A lot of us keep our old, old notebooks.

   5. OSOwen Smith21:59

      Right.

   6. JRJoe Rogan21:59

      And it's like three years ago, right? Close to it?

   7. OSOwen Smith22:02

      Yeah.

   8. JRJoe Rogan22:02

      So three years ago, Owen, s- uh, I... You- you got ahold of me and you said, "Do you have any old notebooks? I- I'm doing this show." And I'm like, "Oh, shit, I saved a bunch of 'em."

   9. OSOwen Smith22:11

      (laughs)

   10. JRJoe Rogan22:11

       And I found some from, like, 1992.

   11. OSOwen Smith22:14

       Yes.

   12. JRJoe Rogan22:15

       And they were so terrible.

   13. OSOwen Smith22:17

       (laughs)

   14. JRJoe Rogan22:17

       And we... (laughs)

   15. OSOwen Smith22:18

       (laughs)

   16. JRJoe Rogan22:19

       So we sat... Owen and I sat in The Comedy Store and it's fucking ruthlessly embarrassing.

   17. OSOwen Smith22:24

       Yes.

   18. JRJoe Rogan22:25

       It's so bad how these-

   19. OSOwen Smith22:26

       But it's so good though.

   20. JRJoe Rogan22:27

       ... these premises are so awful.

   21. OSOwen Smith22:29

       Yeah.

   22. JRJoe Rogan22:29

       And, uh, so you put it on YouTube now-

   23. OSOwen Smith22:32

       YouTube, yeah.

   24. JRJoe Rogan22:32

       ... which is the way to go.

   25. OSOwen Smith22:33

       Yeah.

   26. JRJoe Rogan22:34

       I'm so glad you did that. And so this is available... Is it Owen Smith TV?

   27. OSOwen Smith22:37

       Yeah, Owen Smith TV.

   28. JRJoe Rogan22:37

       Is that your- your YouTube page?

   29. OSOwen Smith22:39

       Yeah.

   30. JRJoe Rogan22:39

       Uh, Owen Smith Comedy... Is it Owen Smith TV or Owen Smith Comedy?
8. 24:13 – 31:58

   Early stand-up hustle: Chicago clubs, comedy classes, and getting stiffed

   1. OSOwen Smith24:13

      He's a good dude, but when I met him, he was running a comedy club called The Fallout. It was called The Funny Firm and then it became The Fallout and then it literally fell out, like later. But I moved to Chicago in '95 and what I loved about the room is you could perform downstairs-... and then you would run upstairs and perform.

   2. JRJoe Rogan24:32

      Oh.

   3. OSOwen Smith24:32

      And then you come back downstairs and do another one, and r- So, on a Saturday night, you could do six shows 'cause they would do three shows. This is right when they-

   4. JRJoe Rogan24:39

      Oh, wow.

   5. OSOwen Smith24:39

      Yep. Right when they started papering the room and all of that. So I went to audition. You know, he goes, "Just let me do a guest set." He hired me. He goes, uh, "Do the rest of the night." I was like, "Bet." At the end of the night, he pays everybody but me and he goes, uh, "I got spots for you." And I was like, "I'm supposed to get some money." And like two other comics, Dwayne Kennedy and Ty Phipps, they go, "That's bullshit." And they gave me some of their money.

   6. JRJoe Rogan25:01

      Wow.

   7. OSOwen Smith25:01

      And I never forgot them for that. I went home that night, I turn on the TV. Dwayne Kennedy, the guy that handed me the money, he's in an episode of Amen playing Halle Berry's boyfriend. (laughs) Like, and I was like, "Who the fuck is this guy that gave me the..." But that's like-

   8. JRJoe Rogan25:13

      Did he get-

   9. OSOwen Smith25:13

      ... my friend to this day.

   10. JRJoe Rogan25:13

       Did he get to kiss Halle Berry?

   11. OSOwen Smith25:14

       I don't remember.

   12. JRJoe Rogan25:16

       Ooh.

   13. OSOwen Smith25:16

       I don't remember. Yeah, man. He was the f-... He was early on.

   14. JRJoe Rogan25:19

       Get it together.

   15. OSOwen Smith25:19

       Yeah, man. Yeah, man.

   16. JRJoe Rogan25:20

       If you gotta kiss Halle Berry. How many times you brush your teeth have you gotta kiss Halle Berry?

   17. OSOwen Smith25:23

       (laughs)

   18. JRJoe Rogan25:23

       Like 80-

   19. OSOwen Smith25:24

       80,000.

   20. JRJoe Rogan25:26

       You get mints and breath strips.

   21. OSOwen Smith25:27

       You going in (laughs)

   22. JRJoe Rogan25:28

       You got Listerine and-

   23. OSOwen Smith25:30

       That's hilarious. Yeah. Yeah, man.

   24. JRJoe Rogan25:32

       And you're checking your pits.

   25. OSOwen Smith25:32

       Young Halle.

   26. JRJoe Rogan25:33

       You guys and av- having friends check your pits. "Come smell me, man."

   27. OSOwen Smith25:35

       "Am I good? Am I good?"

   28. JRJoe Rogan25:37

       (sniffs) "Oh."

   29. OSOwen Smith25:37

       "Halle, you wanna rehearse?"

   30. JRJoe Rogan25:38

       Dude.
9. 31:58 – 40:00

   College paths: finance degree, Japanese study, and how language reshapes thinking

   1. OSOwen Smith31:58

      No. Yeah, man, I paid my shit off. I was so happy and, uh, I don't, I don't really use it. I kinda use it in the background.

   2. JRJoe Rogan32:06

      What was your degree?

   3. OSOwen Smith32:07

      I was finance, or you say finance if you have money, like ...

   4. JRJoe Rogan32:10

      (laughs)

   5. OSOwen Smith32:12

      (laughs) This is finance degree. And, uh, and I studied Japanese for like a year.

   6. JRJoe Rogan32:16

      Really?

   7. OSOwen Smith32:16

      Yeah, man. I was gonna go over there and, um, um, a director named Kristine Swanson, she just directed the Clark Sisters, uh, movie that came out on Lifetime, did over like 11 million, millio- million views, uh, her and her husband, Mike Swanson, they were, they were dating at Notre Dame at the time. They were like, "You should take Ja-" Like they would like sit down and like look at me and check in with me and just go, "You should do this." And I would do it. (laughs) And so they were like, "You should take Japanese." And I started taking Japanese and I liked it. I really enjoyed it and I learned, um, I was getting like these culture classes 'cause I was gonna go over there for like a year.

   8. JRJoe Rogan32:49

      Wow.

   9. OSOwen Smith32:49

      And, um, and I was, and I, and I, I'm a asshole so I would like mimic the teacher but I was literally, but she enjoyed it 'cause I was actually saying it natively.

   10. JRJoe Rogan32:57

       Oh.

   11. OSOwen Smith32:57

       So I wasn't being like a, a dick 'cause I enjoyed like, I just noticed how she was saying it and no one else was saying it. So I go, "I'm gonna just say it like her." So she would be like, um, "Konbanwa." You know, I'd be like, "Konbanwa." Like I would like lean into it and she'd be like, "Oh, oh." You know, you know.

   12. JRJoe Rogan33:10

       (laughs)

   13. OSOwen Smith33:10

       "Soresune." (laughs) And, um, you know, "Konogorododeskai? Isugashidesune." Like you were just like learning how to like-

   14. JRJoe Rogan33:15

       Whoa. What did you just say?

   15. OSOwen Smith33:16

       I was just like, "Hey, what's going on these days? You been busy?" Like it's just like ... And so I-

   16. JRJoe Rogan33:19

       How well are you sp- good at this?

   17. OSOwen Smith33:21

       I got into it because it's also like it's, I was just fascinated by why Japanese literacy rate was like so much higher than ours is because their alphabet, they have three alphabets, and so there's, it's hiragana, katakana, and kanji. And kanji is what everybody gets tattoos of. So, I was just fascinated with like the art of it and shit and so ...

   18. JRJoe Rogan33:43

       What is the difference between the three alphabets?

   19. OSOwen Smith33:45

       Um, so, um, katakana is more syllabalic like it's like how you speak. So, so I could write your name in ka- in katakana, I think. Hiragana, katakana and ... Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm, I'm rusty so I, I could have messed up just now, you guys. And I'm also drinking a little scotch. But, uh ... What am I drinking?

   20. JRJoe Rogan34:03

       Whiskey.

   21. OSOwen Smith34:04

       Whiskey. I'm gonna drink whiskey. But, um, but, uh, but, and so one is, one is per syllable. So you can take like American words and write that in, in Japanese and, and a Japanese person can go, "Oh, that's how they pronounce names." Right? So, uh, so if your name is, um, I don't know, um, D'Artagnan, you could do that in Japanese using that.

   22. JRJoe Rogan34:25

       Who the fuck is named D'Artagnan? (laughs)

   23. OSOwen Smith34:26

       (laughs) They just go with a cat named D'Artagnan. They, they would, they would be like, "D'Artagnan." You know, and they would go-

   24. JRJoe Rogan34:30

       I thought that was like a knight. (laughs)

   25. OSOwen Smith34:31

       (laughs) No. And then, um, and if, uh, but, but kanji, one kanji could mean several different things.

   26. JRJoe Rogan34:38

       Oh.

   27. OSOwen Smith34:38

       So you have to know in, in the context in which you're using it.

   28. JRJoe Rogan34:43

       Oh.

   29. OSOwen Smith34:43

       And I'm left-handed so I naturally would look at stuff from right to left and that's how they, um, read.

   30. JRJoe Rogan34:49

       Oh.
10. 40:00 – 47:05

    Economics as comedy logic: ripple effects, human behavior, and post-pandemic habits

    1. OSOwen Smith40:00

       I, I... There was two things that opened my mind. Learning Japanese for, or studying it for like a year, a year and a half, and, and economics. Learning economics.

    2. JRJoe Rogan40:11

       How did that, how did that help you?

    3. OSOwen Smith40:13

       It was a... I, because it's like a science and it's like a cause and effect, and so it's the same way I approach my bits. You know what I mean? It's like economy, like if this happens, then it affects all this shit.

    4. JRJoe Rogan40:25

       Mm-hmm.

    5. OSOwen Smith40:26

       And it's all tied to the one thing you can't judge, which is human behavior, right? So you don't know what people are gonna do. And people try to kind of try to control it all the time, be- because it has direct effects on the stock market and how you can make money and shit.

    6. JRJoe Rogan40:38

       Mm-hmm.

    7. OSOwen Smith40:38

       So like, so like something like the coro... When, when the coronavirus dropped, I was like, I go, "This is gonna fuck up all these things."

    8. JRJoe Rogan40:48

       Mm-hmm.

    9. OSOwen Smith40:49

       And then seeing how people react to all these things being taken away fascinates me. You know what I mean? It's like, but that is, that is what economics is, because when you're thinking about stuff, you always go, "Well, what if a pandemic happened?" Well, our system, where are the holes in our current system? But when people are just, um, um, being intellectuals about it and just like talking about it, it sounds boring and you're like, (snores) but when the shit is happening in real time, you're like, "This is, this is what economists talk about all the time."

    10. JRJoe Rogan41:19

        Oh.

    11. OSOwen Smith41:19

        It's like, it's if this, then, then what? But it's just a deeper thing. And so it's the same kind of way when you take a bit where you just go, (sniffs) "What if I'm talking about, um..." Just anything, you just, you just go... Like, I was wa... I wa... You know, I'm at home so I was watching something where... Oh, my, my son loves this cartoon called, uh... What's the name of this, this cartoon he watches? Um... Blaze. It sounds like the... (laughs) But it's Blaze and the Monster Machine. And they had like this one... It's a, the, the episode is a, is a giant meatball rolling down the town, destroying the town. And they had this one, I was clearly like black rollerblading, like monster truck with an afro going, "Get down, get groovy. Get down, get meatball. Meatball." And then the meatball rolls over him. My son loves that, right?

    12. JRJoe Rogan42:13

        (laughs)

    13. OSOwen Smith42:13

        So what I've, (laughs) what I do with him is now I pretend that that guy was on the phone with somebody else. And I'm like, "Hey Steve, what you doing?" "I'm just rollerblading. Get down, get..." And then, and then so now my son does it. And I was like, "Get meatballed, Steve. No, Steve, get out of there." So then we pretend that we have to break the news to Steve's family that he got ran over by a giant meatball. (laughs)

    14. JRJoe Rogan42:34

        (laughs)

    15. OSOwen Smith42:34

        So then we pretend-

    16. JRJoe Rogan42:37

        How old, your son is how old?

    17. OSOwen Smith42:38

        My son is three.

    18. JRJoe Rogan42:39

        That's hilarious.

    19. OSOwen Smith42:39

        But then, but then we pretend that we work with Steve and he's about to go rollerblading for lunch. You know what I mean? So it's just, it's the economy of, uh, "Steve, where you going?" "I'm going rollerblading." "Uh, you know, that's kind of played. Nobody does it." "Ah, you know, it's nice outside." And then he gets...... promo about a meatball. So it's like-

    20. JRJoe Rogan42:55

        (laughs)

    21. OSOwen Smith42:55

        ... everybody who knew Steve, how did they feel about Steve? So it, that's kind of like what (laughs) -

    22. JRJoe Rogan42:59

        Ripple effects.

    23. OSOwen Smith43:00

        It's the ripple effects. And that-

    24. JRJoe Rogan43:01

        Yeah.

    25. OSOwen Smith43:01

        And that's kind of like how I would, I would think of bits in my head sometimes. And then-

    26. JRJoe Rogan43:06

        Are you paying attention to how economists are looking at the future?

    27. OSOwen Smith43:10

        Uh, sometimes. It's a-

    28. JRJoe Rogan43:11

        Like right now? Like with... I mean, I don't even, I, I haven't read any prognostications other than it's bad.

    29. OSOwen Smith43:18

        It's, it's bad.

    30. JRJoe Rogan43:18

        It could be like The Great Depression.
11. 47:05 – 50:58

    China, information control, and the fear of surveillance creep in the West

    1. JRJoe Rogan47:05

       So when everyone's asleep, I'm sitting around thinking like, "Man, what if this keeps going sideways? What if we get a solar flare? What if the grid goes down?" Yeah. "What if the earthquake hits? What if the fucking volcano under Yellowstone blows? What if this? What if an asteroid hits? What if the worst disease catches on? What if there's a war between us and China over this bullshit?" There was a crazy letter that Germany wrote to China yesterday. Crazy. The head of Germany wrote some letter, um, uh, directly to the head guy in China talking about the only reason why you're in power is because of surveillance and what have you done to the world? Like what, what, what-

    2. OSOwen Smith47:37

       They tried to fuck around. Yeah.

    3. JRJoe Rogan47:38

       ... you guys have done because of your disgusting pride and you've, you've hidden the facts from people. You've tried to distort the reality. And because of that, hundreds of thousands of people are going to die. Like, whoa.

    4. OSOwen Smith47:50

       Damn.

    5. JRJoe Rogan47:50

       It was deep.

    6. OSOwen Smith47:51

       Damn.

    7. JRJoe Rogan47:51

       I was reading this letter, like you never read a letter like that where one world leader is shitting on another world leader.

    8. OSOwen Smith47:56

       (laughs)

    9. JVJamie Vernon47:58

       It was the editor of a newspaper it says.

    10. JRJoe Rogan48:00

        Was it?

    11. JVJamie Vernon48:00

        Yeah.

    12. OSOwen Smith48:00

        Oh, it wasn't Angela-

    13. JRJoe Rogan48:01

        Now, wasn't there a head guy in... The, the, oh, the head guy in Germany is a woman, right?

    14. OSOwen Smith48:05

        Yeah. Angela Merkel, right?

    15. JRJoe Rogan48:06

        Who is it?

    16. JVJamie Vernon48:07

        Editor of a prominent German newspaper.

    17. JRJoe Rogan48:09

        Oh, okay.

    18. OSOwen Smith48:10

        Oh.

    19. JRJoe Rogan48:11

        Well, whoever that person is.

    20. JVJamie Vernon48:13

        Julian Reich... Reichelt.

    21. JRJoe Rogan48:15

        Say it again.

    22. JVJamie Vernon48:15

        Reichelt. Reichelt.

    23. OSOwen Smith48:19

        (laughs)

    24. JRJoe Rogan48:19

        Reichelt.

    25. JVJamie Vernon48:19

        I was gonna say. (laughs)

    26. OSOwen Smith48:20

        (laughs) Yeah. Okay.

    27. JRJoe Rogan48:22

        Yeah. Whatever the articles. It's right. It's correct.

    28. JVJamie Vernon48:26

        Yeah.

    29. JRJoe Rogan48:26

        You know, because, uh, they... China never... they don't admit any fault ever. Whenever anything goes wrong, they cover everything up. And there's so many people that criticize the government in China, they just wind up getting ghosted. They just disappear.

    30. OSOwen Smith48:39

        Oh my goodness.
12. 50:58 – 1:05:09

    Pandemic politics: Trump’s style, Biden’s viability, and VP identity debates

    1. JRJoe Rogan50:58

       I wonder if he would do it again, all over again, if he knew how hard it would be and how much he would get shit on.

    2. OSOwen Smith51:03

       I don't... You know, I don't know. I, I think... It was so funny. What he presented to me was like... He was like, like the hot new nightclub, you know what I mean?

    3. JRJoe Rogan51:15

       (laughs)

    4. OSOwen Smith51:15

       And like everybody was in there. You know what it's like, like a nightclub and you could pretend to be who you, who you wanna be and you could just... You know what I mean? And the watered-down expensive drinks and it's just all happening. Then the coronavirus comes and that's like when the lights come on (laughs) in the club and you get to see, you know, how fucked up shit really is.

    5. JRJoe Rogan51:34

       Mm-hmm.

    6. OSOwen Smith51:34

       And, and so... 'Cause when the cold country just kinda like said, "All right, we're gonna go with Joe Biden," regardless of how lucid you feel he is or how sharp you think he is... When the whole country was like, "We're just gonna go with Joe," it just made me think, like, Trump is like a fancy, a nice resort, like hotel... Like, who doesn't wanna stay in a nice hotel, right? He's like, "I'm rich. I'm this." And everyone's like, "I wanna do that." But after a while you get tired of spending $21 for internet and $40 for pancakes and you just wanna go home, and, and Joe is kinda feel... It felt like he represents home. You know what I mean? Like people are like-

    7. JRJoe Rogan52:09

       Really?

    8. OSOwen Smith52:09

       I feel like people-

    9. JRJoe Rogan52:10

       Joe Biden, to me, feels like a schoolhouse in a third world country that's gonna collapse and kill all the kids.

    10. OSOwen Smith52:16

        A schoolhouse (laughs) in a th- (laughs)

    11. JRJoe Rogan52:17

        Like a schoolhouse that is made-

    12. OSOwen Smith52:19

        But I think-

    13. JRJoe Rogan52:19

        ... by people who skirted all the rules of how to... of construction.

    14. OSOwen Smith52:24

        Really? (laughs)

    15. JRJoe Rogan52:24

        Yeah, he's a old dude with dementia.

    16. OSOwen Smith52:26

        But I think he's gonna be propped up by so many, uh, different people who are gonna vote him in. Like President Obama's gonna come out and endorse him and people are gonna miss and-

    17. JRJoe Rogan52:33

        If President Obama wants to come out and take over, okay.

    18. OSOwen Smith52:37

        (laughs)

    19. JRJoe Rogan52:37

        But if he doesn't, you got Joe Biden-

    20. OSOwen Smith52:39

        Right.

    21. JRJoe Rogan52:39

        ... who's the leader of the country who can't form sentences. Listen, man. There's 320 million people in this country. You're telling me that's the best the Democratic Party can do? That's crazy.

    22. OSOwen Smith52:49

        Well, that's what I'm saying. I'm... What I'm saying is I feel like, to everyone, he was... He represented home. That's what I'm saying. Because he, he's familiar. He was standing next to the guy that we all, uh, felt more comfortable with, especially in situations like this.

    23. JRJoe Rogan53:03

        Did you see Obama's endorsement video?

    24. OSOwen Smith53:05

        I didn't.

    25. JRJoe Rogan53:06

        It was straight up gaslighting.

    26. OSOwen Smith53:07

        Ah!

    27. JRJoe Rogan53:08

        It's just gaslighting.

    28. OSOwen Smith53:09

        What'd he say?

    29. JRJoe Rogan53:09

        He's pretending that it's-

    30. OSOwen Smith53:10

        Can you pull it up?

Episode duration: 2:51:31