The Joe Rogan ExperienceJoe Rogan Experience #1516 - Post Malone
CHAPTERS
Cold open banter: dark surprises, no sleep, and “we’re rolling”
Joe and Post kick off with playful musical riffs, jokes about being high, and the chaotic energy of starting a long-form conversation with little sleep. They set the tone as loose, comedic, and free-associative—perfect for where the episode goes next.
Why Post Malone moved to Utah (and why LA wasn’t working)
Post explains how an unexpectedly massive Utah show felt like a sign, leading him to buy and fix up a house there. Both compare Utah’s calm, natural beauty to LA’s nonstop social obligations, and Post describes how Utah helps him focus on music.
Mushrooms, microdosing, and the ‘VIP bracelet’ to the creative room
They dive into psychedelics and the idea that certain substances can unlock adjacent mental ‘rooms’—a different perspective or creative bandwidth. Post shares a story about making a two-hour set inspired by Roblox sounds while on mushroom chocolates, and both reflect on how ideas can feel “received” rather than invented.
Flow state, art-making ‘magic,’ and why people create at all
Joe and Post broaden the conversation from drugs into creativity itself—how premises and melodies appear from nowhere, and how artists get out of their own way. They connect concerts, comedy, and other arts as forms of “alchemy” that reliably change people’s emotional states like a drug.
Fame before the internet: imposters, portraits as ‘filters,’ and shaky history
Post wonders how people recognized famous figures before photos, spiraling into the idea that historical identity was easy to fake. Joe builds on it: before modern documentation, drawings and stories shaped reality—meaning history likely contains plenty of exaggeration and confusion.
Pirates, revolvers, and the accelerating tech of violence (to nukes)
They jump from old stories to pirate history, early firearms, and how quickly weapon technology evolved. The tone shifts from comedic to reflective as they contrast muskets and lines-of-battle with nuclear weapons and modern existential risk.
UFOs, government disclosure, and Post’s own sightings
The conversation pivots hard into UFOs—why legit sightings attract false stories, and whether governments might control information to avoid mass panic. Post recounts a teenage sighting in upstate New York and a strange ‘dome/force field’ effect he and friends claim to have seen in Tarzana.
Ancient aliens, Anunnaki myths, and humans as engineered ‘gold miners’
They explore Sumerian-text interpretations popularized by Zecharia Sitchin—humans engineered to mine gold for off-world needs—and why gold’s cultural value is oddly persistent. Joe contrasts the story with modern geoengineering proposals, while admitting the scholarship is disputed and hard to verify.
Ghosts, haunted objects, and Post’s ‘Dybbuk box’ chain of bad luck
The episode shifts from aliens to ghosts: Joe is skeptical but open, while Post insists something is real even if the label is wrong. Post describes filming with Zak Bagans, the Dybbuk box, and a string of misfortune afterward, then they discuss “stone tape theory” and residual hauntings.
CRISPR, cloning, and the road to ‘superhumans’ and cyborg life
They jump to the near-future: gene editing, cloning speculation, and whether nations would secretly pursue engineered advantages. Joe tries (and fails hilariously) to read CRISPR definitions, then the discussion becomes a broader thought experiment about inevitable technological escalation and “new species” humans.
Nature’s horror show: gators, spiders, centipedes, bees, and bug-scale nightmares
The conversation becomes a wild tour of predators and evolutionary design—alligators as living dinosaurs, Australia’s oversized insects, and graphic predation videos. They also marvel at bees’ intelligence, hive geometry, and the ‘war’ between honeybees and murder hornets.
Cars as art: Rolls-Royce luxury, Teslas that dance, and autonomous driving fears
They pivot into car culture—Rolls-Royce feel and status, then Tesla’s futuristic features like dance/Christmas mode. Post resists full autonomy due to hacking and control concerns, while Joe argues safety pressures will eventually make human driving a luxury privilege.
RFID implants, ‘mutilation’ fine print, and digital money as a vulnerability
They react to real employee microchip programs and the unsettling corporate logic around tracking and theft. The conversation expands into a broader risk: if money is mostly digital, hacking or shutdowns could instantly destabilize society—turning convenience into systemic fragility.
Pandemic rules, ‘essential’ businesses, masks, and the politics of enforcement
Joe and Post debate what counts as essential, why certain venues were closed while others stayed open, and how inconsistent enforcement breeds resentment. They land on masks as a respect-based social practice—even if they dislike fines, snitching incentives, and punitive approaches.
Coyotes, mountain lions, and living alongside hidden predators
They shift to local wildlife realities: coyotes decimating pets and Joe’s chickens, bounty policies in Utah, and how killing coyotes can backfire by increasing reproduction. Post describes a large mountain lion near his home, and Joe cites studies showing big cats often live on household pets.
Sports and fighting: football brain damage, empty-arena UFC, and legendary fighters
The final stretch turns to sports—why Joe doesn’t follow leagues, but respects athletes—and the unique risks of football concussions versus combat sports. They compare crowd energy to no-audience purity in UFC, then geek out over icons like GSP, Anderson Silva, Jon Jones, and the absurd specimen that is Brock Lesnar.
