Joe Rogan Experience #1522 - Rob Lowe

Joe Rogan 0:00 Oh. Oh, Rob Lowe. Here we go.

Rob Lowe 0:02 Here we are.

Joe Rogan 0:03 What's up, man?

Rob Lowe 0:04 It's good to be ... I was just saying, it's good to be in, like, a proper studio and, uh ...

Joe Rogan 0:08 Have you been completely locked down the entire time?

Rob Lowe 0:10 Completely.

Joe Rogan 0:11 It's outrageous. We're five months in now.

Rob Lowe 0:14 Uh, when does it-

Joe Rogan 0:14 Who would have ever thought this?

Rob Lowe 0:16 It r- and, and it, if you'd have said this is what 2020's gonna have, I mean, you wouldn't have left the New Year's party.

Joe Rogan 0:22 You would've never believed it.

Rob Lowe 0:23 No.

Joe Rogan 0:23 You would've gone, "How does this happen? Like, is there a war? Like, what, what happens? What takes place?"

Rob Lowe 0:29 And it's funny how easily, not easily, but like, that it's just, "Yeah, no, this is what we're dealing with." I mean, I guess everybody, y- one has to adapt, so that's the good news, I guess.

Joe Rogan 0:37 Have you been going to restaurants at all?

Rob Lowe 0:39 Um, I've been to probab- I've gone out to a restaurant maybe three times.

Joe Rogan 0:44 It's, have you gone to the ones where they wear the mask and then the shield over their face as well?

Rob Lowe 0:49 Yeah, it's like they're gonna do welding in the kitchen.

Joe Rogan 0:51 (laughs) It's so strange.

Rob Lowe 0:52 It's ...

Joe Rogan 0:53 But it's better than nothing, so you just sort of adapt.

Rob Lowe 0:55 I know. I mean, uh, I, who knows when it'll ... I mean, at least some people feel like they're going back to work. I mean ...

Joe Rogan 1:01 Yes.

Rob Lowe 1:01 I think we're gonna go back on my show, on, on 9-1-1 Lone Star, pre-production in, on the 17th.

Joe Rogan 1:08 Now, how will they do that?

Rob Lowe 1:10 Well, that's the thing, is that's a big show. I mean, it's n- it's not, you know, a game show.

Joe Rogan 1:15 Right.

Rob Lowe 1:15 It's like, you know, it's adventurers and rescues and pyrotechnics and stunt people. It's just huge in scope, so it, it really is the thing, if we can pull that off, that'll be, that'll be good. But I think the plan is ... Well, one thing that's interesting is just how you run a set is gonna change, they tell me. So you'll come in in the morning. Everybody will get tested. And then everybody's segregated, so i- you go to the set, and the director and the actors will rehearse. That's it, nobody else there. Then they leave, have to leave, and then the, the lighting crew will come in, and they light alone, just the lighting crew, and then they leave. And then the sort of, uh, you know, the, the w- all the production teams get their moment to do what they need to do, but they're doing it alone.

Joe Rogan 2:02 Well, they have a test now that the White House is using, and, uh, it takes 20 minutes. It's an actual test. You go there, so you, you could find instantaneously. See, what ... We're, we're doing one here, the one that you got, is an antibody test. That takes 10 minutes, and it shows active antibodies, which means you got the disease five, six days ago or whatever, and your body's fighting it off. It's currently in your system. And it also shows another indicator whether or not you've fought it off a long time ago.

Rob Lowe 2:31 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 2:31 And then there's the swab. The swab takes 24 to 48 hours, depending on the lab, and then there's real worry and concern, like are you contagious during that time? Like, if you just got it today, can you give it to someone today? They don't know. So until this thing happens with the White House, the 20-minute one that they have, until that's, like, nationwide, we're fucked, you know?

Rob Lowe 2:57 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 2:57 We're kinda, we're in a weird situation where everybody has to be really careful.

Rob Lowe 3:01 Yeah. And, you know, it's funny. I ... It's funny, uh, I have no issue wearing masks. I, I don't really get that, that, that thing that people ... I mean, I get the free- the, uh, the freedom.

Joe Rogan 3:12 It's definitely better than not going out.

Rob Lowe 3:14 Yeah. And listen, I mean, I, I feel s- way safer wearing it, way safer. And, you know, celebrities should be thrilled to wear masks.

Joe Rogan 3:22 Yeah, right. You can hide.

Rob Lowe 3:23 I mean, you know, listen, now Leonardo DiCaprio can go out completely, you know, with even better disguises.

Joe Rogan 3:29 (laughs) You'd be amazed at how much people d- recognize you, though, even with a mask on, especially as soon as you start talking. They'll, they'll recognize you.

Rob Lowe 3:36 Well, in particular for you, your voice.

Joe Rogan 3:37 Yeah.

Rob Lowe 3:37 Everybody knows your voice, so you can't get in an ele- you know.

Joe Rogan 3:40 But I'm a fan of the bandana. I like feeling like a bandit.

Rob Lowe 3:43 But doesn't the, all the bad shit come underneath the bandana?

Joe Rogan 3:47 I don't think-

Rob Lowe 3:48 You gonna be sealed at the bottom?

Joe Rogan 3:49 ... a bandana, I do not think, is for you. I think it's for other people.

Rob Lowe 3:52 No.

Joe Rogan 3:53 And then the droplets, if you're getting droplets, I don't th- think you're swooping them under. I think you are breathing it through. What am I, a doctor?

Rob Lowe 3:59 I know, but you're sounding good. You're like ... Y- and you know, you're, you're ...

Joe Rogan 4:02 Thank you, thank you.

Rob Lowe 4:02 ... the Fauci of, uh, of The Ring.

Joe Rogan 4:04 Thank you. Um ...

Rob Lowe 4:05 The Fauci of the Octagon.

Joe Rogan 4:06 I don't have one of those N95 masks, though. Have you, do you?

Rob Lowe 4:08 I have hundreds of them.

Joe Rogan 4:09 Do you? Oh, they're-

Rob Lowe 4:10 Hundreds.

Joe Rogan 4:10 ... are they the best?

Rob Lowe 4:11 D- you know-

Joe Rogan 4:13 Supposedly?

Rob Lowe 4:13 ... the, here's what ... I'll tell you what they are. They're the hardest to breathe in.

Joe Rogan 4:15 Oh.

Rob Lowe 4:16 Like, they are the ones that, when you put on your ...

Joe Rogan 4:18 Ugh.

Rob Lowe 4:18 I mean, you definitely know- notice that you're sucking wind.

Joe Rogan 4:21 Mm.

Rob Lowe 4:22 But, um, yeah, my, my wife was all over the ... Like, if there's anything to be bought on Amazon at any time for any excuse-

Joe Rogan 4:30 (laughs)

Rob Lowe 4:30 ... she is the f- the fucking maven, so she, the minute this happened, she just bought every N95 mask to stockpile.

Joe Rogan 4:36 One click is very addictive.

Rob Lowe 4:37 It is, because-

Joe Rogan 4:38 It's like, maybe I do need 50 boxes of toothpaste. It's right there.

Rob Lowe 4:41 It's right there. Why wouldn't I get it?

Joe Rogan 4:43 So I can just buy ... I'll find a place to put it.

Rob Lowe 4:44 I'll take that. Yeah, 100%.

Joe Rogan 4:45 So when your show comes back, um, people w- will still be allowed to go home, though, and go places.

Rob Lowe 4:52 Yeah, I haven't heard any talk of, um, of, you know, sort of quarantining or 14-day ... I, I, I haven't heard any of th- of that stuff, although I, I, uh, I have friends who have gone to Europe to do big movies and they've had to do that.

Joe Rogan 5:05 Yeah, I've heard that, like, they keep you in a hotel. You can't leave the hotel.

Rob Lowe 5:09 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 5:09 Everybody who works in the, the thing has to only hang out with everybody that's on the project.

Rob Lowe 5:14 Here's what I don't understand. So the, uh, the, uh, NBA is doing the bubble thing, right?

Joe Rogan 5:18 Right.

Rob Lowe 5:18 Where they all live, like, in, like, uh, like a c- like a commune, right?

Joe Rogan 5:22 Right. (laughs)

Rob Lowe 5:22 A glorified, you know, Disney-esque commune.

Joe Rogan 5:25 Right.

Rob Lowe 5:25 But the NFL isn't gonna do it, apparently.

Joe Rogan 5:27 Mm. Yeah, it's too hard to get the hoes in there.

Rob Lowe 5:30 I was thinking, you know, chicken wing.

Joe Rogan 5:31 True.

Rob Lowe 5:31 It's hard to g- you, when you want those ch- chicken wings-

Joe Rogan 5:34 Yes.

Rob Lowe 5:34 ... and you've gotta go out to get them-

Joe Rogan 5:36 Yes.

Rob Lowe 5:36 ... what are you gonna do?

Joe Rogan 5:37 Yeah, you gotta, whatever you want, if you need something-

Rob Lowe 5:40 What ch- which, which one you wanna do?

Joe Rogan 5:42 ... which is very difficult, are you keeping contact with other folks?

Rob Lowe 5:42 Are you, are you a fan of the b- of the baseball with the crowd noise?

Joe Rogan 5:46 Um ...

Rob Lowe 5:46 Piped in crowd noise?

Joe Rogan 5:47 N- no. I'm not a fan of fake noise. I, I hate that some cars do that. You know, some cars with turbocharge engines, they, they, uh, they put fake engine noise through the speakers.

Rob Lowe 5:58 Oh, Jesus.

Joe Rogan 5:59 Exactly.

Rob Lowe 6:00 I never knew that.

Joe Rogan 6:00 Yeah.

Rob Lowe 6:00 I'm so-

Joe Rogan 6:01 Well ...

Rob Lowe 6:01 ... all my illusions are shattered.

Joe Rogan 6:03 I think BMW does it.... yeah, I'm sorry to say.

Rob Lowe 6:07 No.

Joe Rogan 6:07 Yeah.

Rob Lowe 6:08 W- w- w- w- what?

Joe Rogan 6:09 (laughs)

Rob Lowe 6:09 Are the speakers on the outside of the car or are they on the inside?

Joe Rogan 6:12 Oh, the speakers, it's through the stereo speakers.

Rob Lowe 6:16 Even if the speaker's turned off?

Joe Rogan 6:18 Yeah. It's an option that you have to turn off. You have to go into the settings and turn off. See if you can find that. Um-

Rob Lowe 6:24 Oh, no.

Joe Rogan 6:25 Yeah. It's like-

Rob Lowe 6:25 I have a BMW.

Joe Rogan 6:26 I know.

Rob Lowe 6:26 And it's outside.

Joe Rogan 6:27 That's why I said it. (laughs) It's like-

Rob Lowe 6:28 And-

Joe Rogan 6:28 ... it's enhanced sound. Maybe it's not for your model. I'm pretty sure they do it for the M4, though.

Rob Lowe 6:34 (gasps)

Joe Rogan 6:34 Yeah. It's one of the primary complaints of legitimate automo, uh, journalists. The, the r- the real automobile enthusiasts hate it.

Rob Lowe 6:42 Well, of course they fucking hate it.

Joe Rogan 6:44 (laughs)

Rob Lowe 6:44 This is th- this is like you telling me that Santa Claus doesn't exist.

Joe Rogan 6:47 It's not necessary either. Like, I have a Tesla and it doesn't make any sound, and it's still awesome, so-

Rob Lowe 6:52 Yeah. Oh, that thing is ... That is... The only problem with the Tesla is I feel like I'm every television development executive.

Joe Rogan 6:59 Right.

Rob Lowe 7:00 When I, when I ... You know what I mean? It's, it's the, it's like the, what the Armani suit was in the '80s.

Joe Rogan 7:05 Yeah.

Rob Lowe 7:05 It means, "I'm in show business."

Joe Rogan 7:07 Yeah. It's a, it's definitely a signal. You're letting everybody know you're, you're also really concerned about the environment. You're a really good person.

Rob Lowe 7:14 But y- but on the other side of it is, you also have one of the most badass pieces of equipment. Would it kill them, though, to do a luxurious interior? Would it kill them?

Joe Rogan 7:24 Well, there's a company-

Rob Lowe 7:24 Is it about weight? What is that about?

Joe Rogan 7:26 That's a good question. I think it's just ... First of all, it's an American-made company. Like, everything's made here. And I think that scaling everything up in ... has been a real problem. It's been a real problem meeting the demand.

Rob Lowe 7:39 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 7:39 And I think they just kinda came out with, like, a reasonable interior and put it together. But there's a company called ... What is that company called again? They make a c- uh, they make a car called the APEX. They, they essentially ... They're right next to the Tesla factory, and they'll ... In California. And they'll take your Tesla, they bring it over there, and they soup it up. They put a wider track. They wi-

Rob Lowe 8:02 Jesus.

Joe Rogan 8:02 ... wi- widen the fenders. They put, um, better suspension. That's it right there, S-APEX. So they take it, and, uh, they completely redo the interior.

Rob Lowe 8:12 Geez, look at that.

Joe Rogan 8:13 Yeah, dope carbon fiber.

Rob Lowe 8:15 What? Oh, okay.

Joe Rogan 8:15 And then they do the-

Rob Lowe 8:16 There's an interior? That's a ... That's right.

Joe Rogan 8:18 That's a car interior.

Rob Lowe 8:19 Yes, yes, yes. I love that you love cars. It's one of my favorite subjects.

Joe Rogan 8:23 I, I-

Rob Lowe 8:23 I mean, I, I love them and I know nothing about them. It's like I also ... Kinda like watches, but I don't know any ... Like, I just know what I like. Oh, like, like the movements-

Joe Rogan 8:31 I don't know that shit.

Rob Lowe 8:31 ... and all that stuff. Those dorks. Yeah. No. Fuck that. I don't know.

Joe Rogan 8:33 Is it the H65 movement? Like-

Rob Lowe 8:35 Yes. Mm-hmm. Is the bezel, uh, infused with ... Whatever the fuck. I barely-

Joe Rogan 8:39 So-

Rob Lowe 8:39 ... thought I'd know the word bezel.

Joe Rogan 8:40 What's the name of the company again? Unplugged Performance. Unplugged Performance. So they'll, they'll do anything in the interior you want, you know? They'll do like-

Rob Lowe 8:47 So good.

Joe Rogan 8:47 ... diamond-stitched leather. They'll do carbon fiber. They'll replace all the plastic with carbon fiber. Yeah, so-

Rob Lowe 8:53 Uh, you're a car guy. L- I was impressed with the car collection coming in here.

Joe Rogan 8:56 I love cars, yeah.

Rob Lowe 8:56 Were you ever tempted to get one of those, uh, tricked out Escala- ... The factory's right around the corner from here, where they ... The Escalade's are like a living room. Like, I went in there and saw the one they were making for, uh, Tom Brady, and it was ... It's like the interior of a, of a private plane, but in an Escalade.

Joe Rogan 9:13 Oh, okay. So they do ... They gut it and then just redo it like some very swank interior?

Rob Lowe 9:19 Yeah, it's like a living room. It's literally a living room.

Joe Rogan 9:21 What I've been looking at lately is EarthRoamers. Do you know what an EarthRoamer is?

Rob Lowe 9:24 An EarthRoamer?

Joe Rogan 9:25 Yes. I have been, uh ... I've been an apocalypse guy for quite a while. I've worried-

Rob Lowe 9:32 Oh, so you're, you're in your, all your glory.

Joe Rogan 9:34 I have a, uh-

Rob Lowe 9:34 This is your I told you so moment.

Joe Rogan 9:36 Y- ... Well, not necessarily. I'm not like a prepper or anything like that, but I'm like, "If the shit hits the fan-"

Rob Lowe 9:40 Wait, whoa, whoa. What's the difference between a prepper-

Joe Rogan 9:42 I don't have enough food.

Rob Lowe 9:44 Okay, got it.

Joe Rogan 9:44 But I do ... I have, I have a free- ... I have freezers filled with elk meat and stuff like that.

Rob Lowe 9:48 Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 9:48 So I kind of have enough food, but if the power goes out, I'm kinda fucked. That's an EarthRoamer. Those motherfuckers you can live in, and they can drive like 1,000 miles plus, and-

Rob Lowe 9:58 Wow. Look at that.

Joe Rogan 9:59 Yeah, and they do the interior at ... Well, there's different scales, but some of them go up to like $1.5 million, and the interior's insanity.

Rob Lowe 10:08 An EarthRoamer?

Joe Rogan 10:09 Yes.

Rob Lowe 10:10 I have t- ... I'm taking n-

Joe Rogan 10:11 EarthRoamer.

Rob Lowe 10:11 Okay, I'm taking notes.

Joe Rogan 10:12 Yeah, the thing about these is-

Rob Lowe 10:13 I liter- ... I am literally taking notes.

Joe Rogan 10:15 ... you can go anywhere with these. They also have, uh, an air suspension that will automatically level your vehicle. So like, say if you're on some fucked up, like, kind of terrain that's not level, it'll level it out so you can sleep well. The interior is like the interior of a really nice tour bus, television, satellite radio, audio, internet.

Rob Lowe 10:38 Who makes ... I mean-

Joe Rogan 10:39 It's a company.

Rob Lowe 10:40 It's literally just EarthRoamer.

Joe Rogan 10:41 They're called EarthRoamer, yeah.

Rob Lowe 10:41 They make the whole thing?

Joe Rogan 10:42 They start ... The base is a very large Ford pickup truck. They take like a huge diesel pickup truck, and then they put this insane cabin in the back of it, and there's a bunch of different levels that they do it. You know, you have like a reasonable level for like one person-

Rob Lowe 10:59 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 10:59 ... if you like camping, and then you could literally bring your whole family and you're living like you're in a, a private jet.

Rob Lowe 11:05 Wow.

Joe Rogan 11:05 And it can drive over everything. That's the other thing. It's like a legitimate off-road vehicle. You can go over a fucking mountain in that thing.

Rob Lowe 11:12 Well, you know, in Santa Barbara where I live, we had these terrible fires and floods, and-

Joe Rogan 11:17 Mudslides, too.

Rob Lowe 11:17 Yeah, the mudslides killed 23 people.

Joe Rogan 11:19 I knew someone who died.

Rob Lowe 11:20 And, y- yeah, and ... As did I. Um-

Joe Rogan 11:23 Crazy.

Rob Lowe 11:24 Crazy. And-

Joe Rogan 11:24 She was in her house.

Rob Lowe 11:25 Yeah, these people ... So you imagine, you go to sleep at night. You know that there's gonna be rain, whatever, and you go to sleep at night, and the next thing you know, your house is obliterated.

Joe Rogan 11:33 Yeah, instantly.

Rob Lowe 11:34 The sheriffs came to, to us to tell us what, you know, about different evacua- evacuation zones, and I said ... And I didn't know who all these guys really was, so I just level with me, "What's, what's like the worst thing that's gonna happen? Like the absolute doomsday scenario you guys are worried about?" And they're like, "Well, w- we're worried about the entire mountain going all the way to the freeway." I went, "Great. Thanks for sharing. We're gonna be fine." And that's exactly what happened. And what it taught me was you truly cannot comprehend ...... like, the power of nature. Like when people used to say, "California could fall off into the ocean," you'd go, "That's not g-" D- I'm telling you, it could.

Joe Rogan 12:17 Certainly could.

Rob Lowe 12:17 You could wake- we could wake up one day and be, e- "You know Lincoln Boulevard in Santa Monica? Yeah? That's the ocean now."

Joe Rogan 12:23 100%.

Rob Lowe 12:23 You'd be- you'd be like, "Oh, bullshit."

Joe Rogan 12:25 That's nothing.

Rob Lowe 12:26 I'm telling you, based on what I lived through, you- e- the mind, if it- i- like, it's an intersection I drive by every day, e- b- every day. If you said, "Okay, tomorrow night at midnight, there's gonna be a 45-foot wall right here of debris, of homes, of boulders the size of a semi truck cab," you'd be like, "Bullshit. That's fucking impos- Where? From where? Where are the boulders coming from? Where's all ki-" That's what happened. You can't imagine it.

Joe Rogan 12:57 Now, were you in your house when that happened?

Rob Lowe 13:00 I was in Vegas with my wife. My son Matthew was home.

Joe Rogan 13:03 Whoa.

Rob Lowe 13:04 He thought he heard the- th- the- the most radical thunder he'd ever heard in his life.

Joe Rogan 13:10 How old was your son?

Rob Lowe 13:11 He's tw- he was 22 at the time. And he's like a pr- he's like a prepping, like he's an outdoorsman. So, if there was any one of the family to be home, it would have been Mat- Matthew. That's what I would have wanted there. And, um, also, he thought it was daylight. He woke up and thought it was already... He'd overslept, because what... The fires from all of the get- propane explosions had lit the sky up, so it looked like daylight.

Joe Rogan 13:37 Whoa.

Rob Lowe 13:38 Um, and- and then, he called me and I got on the, um, the scanner, um, the pol- police scanner, and the stuff that you could hear was just... It was just un- unbelievable. I mean, it was- it was pandemonium.

Joe Rogan 13:53 Yeah, that's a... It's such a beautiful area, Santa Barbara and Montecito. It's so gorgeous because of those mountains, but that's also what makes it vulnerable if there's a fire, right?

Rob Lowe 14:01 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 14:01 'Cause all the stuff that kinda holds the mountain together and keeps the erosion from happening all gets burnt up, and then-

Rob Lowe 14:08 That's what they said was-

Joe Rogan 14:09 ... a strong rain.

Rob Lowe 14:09 That was the problem, like this was a- a once... We had a once-in-at-least-100-year fire. The area behind our house hadn't burned in over 100 years. And a once-in-probably, maybe they think 1,000-year rain event-

Joe Rogan 14:27 Wow.

Rob Lowe 14:27 ... all within six weeks of each other. So, o- one of the things that was fascinating to me was the amount of ash, 'cause I- I went on a hike afterwards and there was si- at least six inches of ash. You know like when you see the astronauts' footprints on the moon?

Joe Rogan 14:40 Yeah.

Rob Lowe 14:40 That's what it looked like, all up... All as far as you could see in the mountains around Santa Barbara. And then, when we got that rain with the ash, it was like... It created like a viscous, um, lubricant that just pried these boulders out.

Joe Rogan 14:56 Oh, wow.

Rob Lowe 14:56 So, that's one of the reasons why these massive, massive, massive boulders, that you would think would be soldered into the Earth's core, were just like (slurping) boop, and just washed out.

Joe Rogan 15:08 It's so hard to imagine, because like if you drive up the 101 and you see those beautiful hills, you just see beautiful hills. But what that is is evidence that the Earth is moving.

Rob Lowe 15:17 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 15:18 That's what those hills are.

Rob Lowe 15:19 I know.

Joe Rogan 15:19 Like, you're safer in Kansas, but then again, you're not, because then there's tornadoes.

Rob Lowe 15:23 E- e- there's no free lunch, man.

Joe Rogan 15:24 Yeah. Oh, look at this.

Rob Lowe 15:26 Uh, yeah. I know that house.

Joe Rogan 15:29 Yeah, it's- it's crazy when you see that like six feet of mud literally poured into people's homes. So, just like the people that were on the- the bottom floor of the house were just destroyed immediately.

Rob Lowe 15:41 Yeah. I mean, you c- you just... And you-

Joe Rogan 15:43 How many people died in this?

Rob Lowe 15:44 23.

Joe Rogan 15:46 What a crazy way to go, too.

Rob Lowe 15:48 Yeah. I mean, in this... In th- the stories, you know, everybody's story is more tragic than... Look at that.

Joe Rogan 15:56 Well, one thing that this pandemic taught a lot of people is that what you think of as being static and unchanging, that, uh, the world that we live in is basically pretty stable, it's not. A s- a small event, and it's not small, but a virus that kills less than 1% of the population can completely obliterate the world as you know it. And that's minor in comparison to a solar flare or an asteroid impact or a super volcano. Like, if Yellowstone goes, that's the real concern.

Rob Lowe 16:29 And that's another thing. I used to think, "Ah, that's... Yeah, that's my, uh, that- that's the stuff I watch at night by the fireplace. It's my ancient alien shit. That's not really happening."

Joe Rogan 16:36 (laughs)

Rob Lowe 16:37 And now, based on what I've- I've experienced, I... Anything could happen.

Joe Rogan 16:41 Well, Yellowstone definitely could go. They say it goes every 6 to 800,000 years, and the last time it went was more than 600,000 years ago.

Rob Lowe 16:49 Can you imagine?

Joe Rogan 16:50 It would obliterate everybody on the continent. There'd be no one left. The- the people in like maybe Africa, some in New Zealand, some people would survive, but they would experience nuclear winter. So, crops would die off. The temperature would radically reduce. The entire sky would be filled with ash. It's a super volcano. You know, those caldera super volcanoes, they've- they've exploded throughout history and killed massive, massive numbers of human beings. Like, they think that there was one in Indonesia somewhere around 60 to 70,000 years ago that killed off most of the population of the world and left as few as 7,000 human beings.

Rob Lowe 17:28 Really?

Joe Rogan 17:29 Yeah. That's just 70,000 years ago.

Rob Lowe 17:32 Well, you've had like, like Graham Hitchcock and people on.

Joe Rogan 17:34 Graham Hancock, yeah.

Rob Lowe 17:34 Hancock, right?

Joe Rogan 17:35 Yeah, and- and Randall Carlson.

Rob Lowe 17:37 A- and that... Is that part-

Joe Rogan 17:37 Yeah.

Rob Lowe 17:37 ... of that narrative, too?

Joe Rogan 17:39 Well, cert- well, you know, they- they've concentrated on asteroid impacts and particularly the asteroid impacts that are proven now that they believe ended the Ice Age, and they also believe restarted civilization-

Rob Lowe 17:51 Right.

Joe Rogan 17:51 ... because they think that there was some incredibly complex civilizations that we're not re- totally aware of, other than some of the structures they left behind.... like Gobekli Tepe and some of the ancient Egyptian structures. But there's a clear indication that something happened both from an archaeological perspective and also from, um, a geologist's perspective. When they do these core samples, they find that somewhere around between, you know, somewhere in the tw- 12,000 years ago range, there was a massive impact because ... And in all over the world. Because they find this tritan- tritanite, um, which is this nuclear glass everywhere. They also find iridium, which is really common in space but not, not very common on Earth.

Rob Lowe 18:33 And it's a level they see in the-

Joe Rogan 18:35 Yeah.

Rob Lowe 18:35 ... in this core samples.

Joe Rogan 18:36 Yeah, it's like ... It's a very s- it's a very, um, consistent level. And they find that nuclear glass. That's the same glass like when the Trinity project, when they, they first blew up the first nuclear bomb, that's the fir- one of the things that they found-

Rob Lowe 18:48 Hmm.

Joe Rogan 18:48 ... was this nuclear glass. And it's just this incredible force causes the sand to turn into glass. And they find this all over the world at around 12,000 years. So it's ... And there's also, there's, you know, there, there's a, a lot of awareness today of all the near-Earth objects and when Earth in its, uh, in its orbit comes in contact with these consistent near-Earth objects, and that something probably hit Earth in m- multiple places m- like m- more than one object somewhere in that range and ended the Ice Age. They think it happened twice. The, the speculation is it happened somewhere around 12,000 and maybe again somewhere around 10,000 years ago.

Rob Lowe 19:32 That's a-

Joe Rogan 19:33 It's crazy.

Rob Lowe 19:34 It is crazy. I love all that stuff. I, I live for that shit.

Joe Rogan 19:36 I love it too. I'd live for it, but I don't because I don't want it to happen again.

Rob Lowe 19:39 No.

Joe Rogan 19:39 So it's like I get excited, but then I, I don't ever l- The worst is if I listen to Graham Hancock and Randall Carlson and then I smoke pot and go to sleep.

Rob Lowe 19:47 Oh.

Joe Rogan 19:48 Because th- (laughs)

Rob Lowe 19:48 Then the head. Then, uh, you should record those dreams.

Joe Rogan 19:52 Oh. Yeah, if you could.

Rob Lowe 19:53 You should write them as-

Joe Rogan 19:54 Yeah.

Rob Lowe 19:54 ... as teleplays.

Joe Rogan 19:56 Yeah, that's terrifying. It's just, we're so vulnerable. I mean, we're vulnerable period, right? I mean, I'm 52. How old are you now?

Rob Lowe 20:04 56.

Joe Rogan 20:05 You'll look great.

Rob Lowe 20:06 Thank you. You too, Rob Lowe.

Joe Rogan 20:07 You look great.

Rob Lowe 20:07 You too.

Joe Rogan 20:08 Uh, but we're almost dead, let's be honest.

Rob Lowe 20:10 Let's ... I mean, how much time we got left if everything goes great? No, no, we're gonna live forever. We're gonna, we're gonna have that pill-

Joe Rogan 20:15 (laughs)

Rob Lowe 20:15 ... that they're gonna, it's gonna be announced next week. That-

Joe Rogan 20:17 That might be the worst thing that could happen, like you might wanna go qu- p- you know, quietly in your sleep rather than li- live for 500 years and see the, the horrors that humanity turns into.

Rob Lowe 20:28 I don't want- I ... That too. And I don't wanna, like, if my body breaks down, I'm not ... I'm so physical, I love, I love doing my stuff. I, I, I don't think I'd be one of those people like, "You know what? His mind is so sharp though."

Joe Rogan 20:39 (laughs)

Rob Lowe 20:40 It's like, well, fuck. That's great. Meanwhile, like, I can't fucking walk.

Joe Rogan 20:43 Yeah.

Rob Lowe 20:43 You can't, you know? It's like, I wanna be able to do my, my thang.

Joe Rogan 20:46 Yes. Yes. Well, do you-

Rob Lowe 20:48 I mean, I want ... Listen, I want a sharp mind. Let's, let's-

Joe Rogan 20:49 For sure.

Rob Lowe 20:50 ... stipulate that, but yeah.

Joe Rogan 20:51 What do you, what do you do to maintain yourself? What do you do to keep the machine working?

Rob Lowe 20:55 Well, the number one thing was, you know, I, I s- I stopped drinking years and years and years ago. You know, I'm been-

Joe Rogan 21:00 How many years?

Rob Lowe 21:00 30.

Joe Rogan 21:01 Oh, so you got way ahead of the game.

Rob Lowe 21:03 So I'm way, I'm way ahead a- I'm way ahead. So I don't do any of that. Um ...

Joe Rogan 21:06 Wow, that's, that's a, that's a lot of discipline.

Rob Lowe 21:10 It's ... But it's not though, because the minute-

Joe Rogan 21:12 No?

Rob Lowe 21:12 ... you realize your discipline has nothing to do with it, that's the only way you can do it.

Joe Rogan 21:15 Oh, okay.

Rob Lowe 21:16 Because the whole point is like, I can't, I, I can't ... If, if I had, if I had one ... Let's say you broke out the ... Like, uh, because I was like, beer. Beer was good. Well, there it is. What do you got there?

Joe Rogan 21:25 Whiskey.

Rob Lowe 21:25 Whiskey was never my thing. I'd be okay. If it were tequila, that'd be a different thing.

Joe Rogan 21:30 (laughs)

Rob Lowe 21:30 If you, if you ... And also, it was the '80s, so if you had a Kamikaze.

Joe Rogan 21:34 Mm-hmm.

Rob Lowe 21:34 Remember those drinks?

Joe Rogan 21:35 Oh, yeah. I do remember those.

Rob Lowe 21:36 You want this?

Joe Rogan 21:36 Yeah.

Rob Lowe 21:37 Um, like, it would, it would go ... Then I'd be like, "You know what would be really good to get would be some Coke."

Joe Rogan 21:45 Mm-hmm.

Rob Lowe 21:45 "That would be great."

Joe Rogan 21:46 To balance it out.

Rob Lowe 21:47 Yeah, just to balance it out, and you know that, that, that-

Joe Rogan 21:49 It's no big deal.

Rob Lowe 21:49 You get ... It's no big deal. And it's good for you.

Joe Rogan 21:51 If you get the Rockstar Coke, that stuff's not even bad for you.

Rob Lowe 21:53 But that's what I'm saying. It's not even bad for you.

Joe Rogan 21:55 (laughs)

Rob Lowe 21:55 Mick Jagger does it, okay?

Joe Rogan 21:57 Look at Keith Richards, he's fine. He doesn't even have cancer.

Rob Lowe 21:58 Look at Keith Richards, look at Jack Nicholson, look at ... I mean-

Joe Rogan 22:01 Those guys are doing great.

Rob Lowe 22:02 Look at they're tw- two of the biggest stars in the world.

Joe Rogan 22:04 And Jack Nicholson is fat too.

Rob Lowe 22:05 How big c- how bad could it be?

Joe Rogan 22:06 How bad could it be?

Rob Lowe 22:08 It's good for your memory.

Joe Rogan 22:09 Probably. And it's really good if you wanna talk a lot.

Rob Lowe 22:12 I- i- and, and successful people do it.

Joe Rogan 22:14 A lot of successful people do it. (laughs)

Rob Lowe 22:17 And, and it's not addicting.

Joe Rogan 22:18 Oh, no.

Rob Lowe 22:19 No.

Joe Rogan 22:19 They just enjoy it.

Rob Lowe 22:21 Yes. So that was-

Joe Rogan 22:23 (laughs)

Rob Lowe 22:23 ... that was what we thought. You know, that's what, you know, that's just the Gordon Gekko era. And then-

Joe Rogan 22:28 Right.

Rob Lowe 22:29 And then the hounds of hell will be released.

Joe Rogan 22:32 Mm-hmm.

Rob Lowe 22:32 Once I got that good little concoction going, that good little mixy-mixerson.

Joe Rogan 22:37 Well, it had to be hard to be a young really famous, really good-looking guy during the age of no internet. And, you know, the world was a wild place. I mean, you were really famous in the '80s.

Rob Lowe 22:53 I wouldn't, I wouldn't trade it for anything. I mean, I, it, you know, all of the, look, all of the mistakes that I made, all the things that I learned got me to where I am today, and, and I'm ... could not be happier, and I needed, I needed some fucking comeuppance, and I needed some of that humbling and stuff. On the other side of it is like, what's the point of being fucking famous today?

Joe Rogan 23:12 (laughs) It's true.

Rob Lowe 23:13 Really, I don't know if there's a point.

Joe Rogan 23:15 It's not dangerous. (laughs) I know, right?

Rob Lowe 23:17 I, I, I don't know. I mean, forget the lack of privacy, the lack of like crazy fun, which you can't have.

Joe Rogan 23:24 Right.

Rob Lowe 23:25 Um, everybody's lying in wait.

Joe Rogan 23:28 I saw an article written about Leonardo DiCaprio, and it was just about how he dates young girls and how gross it is that he's dating girls 25. Like, 25's a woman, you fuck.

Rob Lowe 23:39 I ... Right.

Joe Rogan 23:39 Like, what, what is wrong? He's a good-looking man, he's f- wealthy and happy and successful. Oh my God, he dates someone who's young and vibrant. There must be something wrong with him. Meanwhile, if a woman does it, nobody gives a shit, they celebrate her. You go, Kate Beckinsale. You go take those 21-year-olds down.

Rob Lowe 23:58 That's right.

Joe Rogan 23:59 Rope them, wrangle them, ride them.

Rob Lowe 24:00 Rope, rope them and go.

Joe Rogan 24:01 And then send them off. Kick them in the ass and pack their lunch and send them o- send them off.

Rob Lowe 24:05 It should be, it should be equal opportunity everywhere.

Joe Rogan 24:08 It's not though.

Rob Lowe 24:09 Right?

Joe Rogan 24:09 They, they ... When, when it's a woman, they look at it like she's just, she's doing her thing, she's having a good time. But a man, it's like, he's abusing his power.

Rob Lowe 24:18 It's-

Joe Rogan 24:18 That Leonardo has power over those young ladies.

Rob Lowe 24:21 I figure like if you're, if you're, you know, Leo or Bieber or any of those like young, like, you know, like th- this is like what you-

Joe Rogan 24:28 Yeah.

Rob Lowe 24:29 ... part of coming of age.

Joe Rogan 24:30 Yes.

Rob Lowe 24:31 ... is figuring, is figuring out what you want in life. And, you know, when you do that, you're gonna do weird shit, good shit, bad shit.

Joe Rogan 24:36 Well, that's... You know, when ev- everybody would... If anybody would try to judge someone like that, like B- Bieber in particular, right? Because he was really, really young when he got famous. I mean, it's insane.

Rob Lowe 24:47 Yeah. And you know that whole thing that, that theory that, uh, whatever, however old you are when you get famous, that, that f- like, freezes you in carbonite, emotionally-

Joe Rogan 24:56 Hmm.

Rob Lowe 24:57 ... and, and, and intellectually.

Joe Rogan 24:58 Well, that makes sense with child stars, right?

Rob Lowe 25:01 Anybody. I mean, yes.

Joe Rogan 25:02 Sure.

Rob Lowe 25:02 But anyway, it's also that thing of, like, have you ever noticed that, um, before, like, you get famous, the people who were famous to you then, fast forward a hundred years or whatever, and, like, maybe they haven't done as much, and you have. But when you meet them, you think they're the most famous, crazy successful person. It's the same-

Joe Rogan 25:24 Oh, yeah.

Rob Lowe 25:25 It's the same type of thing. Like, if I were to meet, you know, Dr. Smith from Lost in Space-

Joe Rogan 25:30 (laughs)

Rob Lowe 25:30 ... I'd be like, "No fucking way. Doctor's-"

Joe Rogan 25:33 Yes.

Rob Lowe 25:33 Do you know what I mean? So it's, it's-

Joe Rogan 25:35 Yes.

Rob Lowe 25:35 ... funny how time-

Joe Rogan 25:36 I met Lee Majors. I was in, like, Glory.

Rob Lowe 25:38 That's what I'm saying.

Joe Rogan 25:39 I was like, "It's the Six Million Dollar Man. I can't believe it. He's real."

Rob Lowe 25:42 Right?

Joe Rogan 25:43 Yeah.

Rob Lowe 25:44 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 25:44 Yeah. Yeah. Cheech and Chong, when I met those guys, I was like, "I can't believe they're real."

Rob Lowe 25:48 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 25:48 "I can't believe I'm meeting them." Yeah.

Rob Lowe 25:50 Yeah. You get, you get frozen in your, your own, your own perspective.

Joe Rogan 25:53 Well, when you get older and you become famous, when, I mean, very few people can have this conversation, right? But when you, you get famous and you meet famous people, to me, it's still weird. Like, when I met you today, I was like, "Oh, hello, Rob Lowe."

Rob Lowe 26:05 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 26:05 "I've seen you in movies." But I'm more normal with it than when I was young. When I was young and I would meet... Like, I remember the first time I was on the set of News Radio and I met Phil Hartman.

Rob Lowe 26:14 Oh.

Joe Rogan 26:15 I was so weirded out. I was like, "He's right there. This is great." 'Cause I hadn't met a lot of famous people back then, only, like, a small handful. And so to be, like, working with him and sit- ... and he's sitting there. I'm like, "I've seen you on TV. I've seen you in the movies."

Rob Lowe 26:26 By the way, how, how great was Phil?

Joe Rogan 26:28 He was amazing.

Rob Lowe 26:29 He was ... I had my scariest ... One of my scariest professional moments involved Phil Hartman. I was, uh, I was hosting the show on Saturday Night Live, and Phil in- ... Phil had a character called Mace that he did, reoccurring character. And Mace was a hard-bitten convict, uh, and he lived in a ... yeah, because he was serving life. And, uh, so whenever they had, like, you know, pretty boy hosts, they would throw, of course, me into a cell with Mace. "Hey, turn around there, chicken legs." (laughs)

Joe Rogan 26:58 (laughs)

Rob Lowe 26:58 You know, so that was, that was, like, the predicate of the ... Uh, and, and I r- ... I just remember, apropos of nothing, it was the week that the lambada dance was a big deal.

Joe Rogan 27:07 Oh, Jesus.

Rob Lowe 27:08 That tells you how long ago it was.

Joe Rogan 27:09 (laughs)

Rob Lowe 27:10 And so-

Joe Rogan 27:10 I forgot about that.

Rob Lowe 27:10 Yeah. So, so Mace and I were doing the lambada in a prison cell. And, uh, the whole sketch built towards, um, a, a, uh, a, a punchline. And for whatever reason, I blew the setup line. Like, bl- like, blew, blew it. Like, there's no, there's now no end.

Joe Rogan 27:33 There you go. There we go.

Rob Lowe 27:33 Oh, look. There we go.

Joe Rogan 27:34 (laughs)

Rob Lowe 27:35 Look at him. "Hey, look at you, chicken legs."

Joe Rogan 27:38 (laughs)

Rob Lowe 27:39 And, um, and so there was no ... So I had to ad lib something really, really, really, really quickly. It felt like time stretched out, and his eyes got huge. And I, I ad lips- libbed something and it worked, and it got a really big laugh. And I think that, um, that's when, what sort of sealed my relationship with Lorne Michaels, 'cause I was able to ... Uh, he came back backstage and was like, "Hmm, you're really Houdini, aren't you?"

Joe Rogan 28:03 (laughs)

Rob Lowe 28:04 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 28:04 That's gotta be terrifying to do that show, to do it live.

Rob Lowe 28:08 It's the best.

Joe Rogan 28:09 Oh.

Rob Lowe 28:09 If I coulda, if I could've been on Not Ready for PrimeTime Player, I would've. I mean, that would've been a d- the dream. I think that's the dream.

Joe Rogan 28:14 How much preparation do you, do you have to do for that show? Like, how many times do you rehearse one of those sketches?

Rob Lowe 28:20 Well, being a h- ... What people f- don't really realize about being a host is it's y- the host's show. Like, you can take as much control over it as you want, and most people don't. Um, I, I f- just being stupid and naive, did, and always did, and sat in on the writers all, all night, write all night with all the different writers, going from room to room. It was like fucking heaven. What I-

Joe Rogan 28:39 Oh, wow.

Rob Lowe 28:40 But I was a SNL nerd, so it was like-

Joe Rogan 28:43 Oh.

Rob Lowe 28:43 ... um ...

Joe Rogan 28:43 That's cool.

Rob Lowe 28:44 And then, and then you do the, the dress rehearsal, of course, right before air. And it's a full show. It's exactly the same show, uh, full audience. It's the whole thing, and then they cut things or not. One, one of my favorite things that got cut and, f- um, Will Ferrell and I played (laughs) , um, oncologists who would deliver the bad news that people had stage four cancer, but only with our mouths full of food. So we're like ...

Joe Rogan 29:12 (laughs)

Rob Lowe 29:12 That was, that was the ... It was ... Yeah. He'd be like, he'd be like, "Oh, yeah. I'm sorry. I'm eating chili. Ooh, ooh. This is hot. It's burning the roof of my mouth. Sorry. So sorry. Um, you have stage four cancer. Oh, ow, so hot and spicy." That was the, that was the total predicate of, of the sketch.

Joe Rogan 29:27 That is a weird sketch.

Rob Lowe 29:28 It was, like, so weird and so dark.

Joe Rogan 29:30 Who pitched that one?

Rob Lowe 29:30 I ... And it made it to, to, to air, I mean, to dress.

Joe Rogan 29:33 Wow.

Rob Lowe 29:34 Really crazy.

Joe Rogan 29:35 It must've been a rough week.

Rob Lowe 29:36 It was a rough week.

Joe Rogan 29:38 (laughs)

Rob Lowe 29:38 "I don't think cancer's funny."

Joe Rogan 29:41 (laughs)

Rob Lowe 29:41 "You know, I guess you've got a point there."

Joe Rogan 29:43 Phil hated, uh, the competitive aspect of the show 'cause he said that people were just mean to each other. That's one of the things that he enjoyed about sitcoms is that everybody was kind of working together. He said one of the things about when you do SNL, everyone's battling to get their sketch on.

Rob Lowe 30:00 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 30:00 So they would sort of sabotage each other and they would kind ... There was a lot of, like, backstabby shit going on, and he didn't like it.

Rob Lowe 30:07 He did.

Joe Rogan 30:07 And he was really hesitant, like, to be friendly with people on the set, like when he first got on the sitcom. It took a while for him to loosen up and realizes, oh, this is a different thing, 'cause that, that environment was w- every man for himself.

Rob Lowe 30:23 Yeah. It's, it's funny. Ensembles are, are funny that way. Like, there is a, an element of teamwork. Oh, it's like any team. There's an element of teamwork that's intrinsic and you want and is great, and hopefully it's there. But then there's that, that element of, of, you know, competitiveness, even with your sort of band of brothers, but, you know, that, that gets toxic in a hurry-

Joe Rogan 30:43 Hmm.

Rob Lowe 30:43 ... with the right ... with, with the wrong culture.... and, and maybe the wrong people in a bit. But SNL, i- i- it's like, it is what it is. There's only so many slots for sketches, and there are only so many people writing. And, uh, the best is when people try to tank them in the read-through, like-

Joe Rogan 31:00 (blowing raspberry)

Rob Lowe 31:00 ... you read all of them on Wednesday, a big, huge stack of them, and people will, like, laugh really, really hard at their own stuff or, like, roll their eyes. It... uh, it's, it's fun to watch. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 31:10 Ugh. Yeah. That's basically what he's talking about. That, that always made me really uncomfortable, the fake producer laugh.

Rob Lowe 31:17 Oh.

Joe Rogan 31:17 Like, when you'd be doing, like, the third run through and they're like, "Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha." Like, ugh.

Rob Lowe 31:23 You're dead.

Joe Rogan 31:24 Uh. But people don't even know what we're talking about. It's like, when you do a table read or you do a run-through-

Rob Lowe 31:27 We've done the most unrelatable podcast-

Joe Rogan 31:30 (laughs)

Rob Lowe 31:30 ... ever just now.

Joe Rogan 31:31 What's it like to be famous and young and good-looking? "Oh, everybody knows."

Rob Lowe 31:33 And, um, and doomsday prepping and, uh-

Joe Rogan 31:36 (laughs) Earth Roamers that cost a million bucks.

Rob Lowe 31:37 Earth Roamers. Re- yes. It's just great, you know?

Joe Rogan 31:39 Yeah.

Rob Lowe 31:39 There's n- there's nobody quite like a man of the people Joe Rogan and Rob Lowe podcast.

Joe Rogan 31:43 (laughs)

Rob Lowe 31:43 Let's face it.

Joe Rogan 31:44 When you do a run-through, folks-

Rob Lowe 31:46 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 31:46 ... you act... Uh, if you do a sitcom, you act out the show. And they want the actors to feel like what they're doing is funny, because there's nothing weirder than doing something with no audience and not hearing any laughter at all. So the, the producers would laugh, but they would do this fake laugh, and it would throw you off so hard 'cause it's s- like, all you could... It's jarring. You're like, "Oh."

Rob Lowe 32:07 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 32:07 It's just so phony.

Rob Lowe 32:09 It's... I, um, I did a sitcom when I was little, like, when I was 15. It was, it was, um, it was so long ago that there were only 62 shows on television, period.

Joe Rogan 32:21 Holy shit.

Rob Lowe 32:23 62. That was as... Not channel-

Joe Rogan 32:24 So this is, like, 20 Fox.

Rob Lowe 32:25 Not, not 62 channels.

Joe Rogan 32:27 62 shows.

Rob Lowe 32:27 62 shows. By the way, h- how do you think I remember that there were 6... 'Cause we were number 62.

Joe Rogan 32:34 (laughs)

Rob Lowe 32:34 We were, we were literally the lowest-rated show on television.

Joe Rogan 32:40 What was it called?

Rob Lowe 32:41 Uh, A New Kind of Family. Might've had something to do with that exciting title. That makes you just sit-

Joe Rogan 32:47 (laughs)

Rob Lowe 32:47 I just sit up and take notice, don't you? A New Ki-... "W- what kind of family is it?" "It's a new kind." "Oh, well, I'm gonna watch then."

Joe Rogan 32:53 What, what did they mean by it, "a new kind"?

Rob Lowe 32:55 It was a r- a revolutionary concept at the time, that it was two divorced women pooling their resources.

Joe Rogan 33:02 There you go. Look at you.

Rob Lowe 33:03 And, uh, I-

Joe Rogan 33:05 (coughs)

Rob Lowe 33:05 I'm sprouting a wonderful Karen Carpenter look.

Joe Rogan 33:08 Look at that hair, bro.

Rob Lowe 33:09 It's Karen Carpenter.

Joe Rogan 33:10 Look at the wings.

Rob Lowe 33:11 I know.

Joe Rogan 33:14 (laughs)

Rob Lowe 33:14 Um-

Joe Rogan 33:15 Was this your first acting project on television?

Rob Lowe 33:17 Yeah, I was 15.

Joe Rogan 33:18 Wow.

Rob Lowe 33:19 And, um-

Joe Rogan 33:20 So you were... You never had a normal life.

Rob Lowe 33:22 Not really. So, so, um, so the... So the n-

Joe Rogan 33:27 (laughs)

Rob Lowe 33:27 ... "A New K- New Kind of Family" is bad. It was bad. And, um, it's... it was opposite 60 Minutes, which was the number one show. And by the way, it was so h- horribly rated, we would get 19 million people watching.

Joe Rogan 33:41 That's crazy.

Rob Lowe 33:42 It was... And it was a disaster.

Joe Rogan 33:44 Isn't that crazy?

Rob Lowe 33:45 Isn't that insane?

Joe Rogan 33:46 Wow! That's amaze-... That's a-

Rob Lowe 33:48 19 million.

Joe Rogan 33:50 That would be the number one show on television today.

Rob Lowe 33:53 Oh, b- b- b- there's nothing that even comes close to that.

Joe Rogan 33:55 That's so crazy.

Rob Lowe 33:57 Isn't that amazing?

Joe Rogan 33:57 That was a huge disaster, 19 million people. Wow.

Rob Lowe 34:01 I'm the... I'm the, I'm the king of the new normal, like I'm on shows that get bad ratings that then become the new normal. Like, like they, they usua-... "I can't believe it." It just... And like, I'm just right there at those thresholds year in and year out.

Joe Rogan 34:13 Meanwhile, you could say that to someone and not say what ranking it was and say, "When I was 15, I was on a show that had 19 million people watching it." They'd be like, "Holy shit. What was it?"

Rob Lowe 34:23 I know.

Joe Rogan 34:23 "That's the biggest show ever."

Rob Lowe 34:25 Yeah. No.

Joe Rogan 34:25 What is, like, a number one show today? Like, what i- what is the top show? Is like... Modern Family, is that number one? Like, what's the number one sitcom today?

Rob Lowe 34:34 D- uh, would've been... Well, d- Big Bang has been off for what, a year-

Joe Rogan 34:38 Yeah.

Rob Lowe 34:38 ... or two years? It would definitely be Big Bang.

Joe Rogan 34:40 Something like that.

Rob Lowe 34:41 And they'd get, like, I think, uh, eight million.

Joe Rogan 34:44 (laughs)

Rob Lowe 34:45 I think was what it was. Isn't that sh-

Guest 34:47 Yeah, look, I mean-

Rob Lowe 34:48 It's shocking how-

Guest 34:48 Well, somewhere on Netflix, they're popping up now, so-

Joe Rogan 34:50 Right. That's the problem. Netflix won't tell you shit. They don't tell you nothing. They say, "Well, you're doing great."

Rob Lowe 34:56 Yeah. Or they don't tell you.

Joe Rogan 34:58 They don't tell you. Yeah, and then they cancel you.

Rob Lowe 34:59 Yeah. Th- they-

Joe Rogan 35:00 But if they like you, they say, "We r- we're really happy." Like, what does that mean? "We're really, really happy. We're really happy."

Rob Lowe 35:05 And m- like, how happy?

Joe Rogan 35:07 Yeah. No one knows.

Rob Lowe 35:08 They're just really happy.

Joe Rogan 35:08 There's a lot of guesswork involved. That's insane though. That's so many people, and it was the last rated show. Crazy.

Rob Lowe 35:15 The last rated show. And then they, um, they figured... They shut us down to f- rejigger it 'cause they figured they could make it better somehow and stop the audience slide, and we came back and that... The other family had been replaced.

Joe Rogan 35:26 (coughs) What?

Rob Lowe 35:28 Yeah. They replaced it without saying anything and, and made it an African American family, figuring that that would be more interesting for the storytelling or what have you and, uh-

Joe Rogan 35:36 Same name?

Rob Lowe 35:37 No. They at least played different people.

Joe Rogan 35:39 NCIS and it gets 15 million. Wow, and that's number one. That's the number one show.

Guest 35:45 Yeah.

Rob Lowe 35:45 Number one by a long shot.

Guest 35:47 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 35:47 Wow.

Guest 35:48 And, uh, numbers two just fall off by a lot too.

Joe Rogan 35:50 Wow.

Guest 35:51 So-

Joe Rogan 35:51 That's crazy.

Rob Lowe 35:52 So wh- when, when we came back and had the new cast member, the, uh, the, the daughter was, uh, Janet Jackson, which was fun.

Joe Rogan 35:59 Okay. So y- you were still on it?

Rob Lowe 36:01 I was still on it, yeah.

Joe Rogan 36:02 And so-

Rob Lowe 36:02 And Janet was all of, like, 12 or 13 and acting.

Joe Rogan 36:05 And so she was your sister? Like-

Rob Lowe 36:06 She played the other... She was in the other family that was sharing the house.

Joe Rogan 36:09 The other family.

Rob Lowe 36:09 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 36:10 Okay. So there was two families, and one was African American and one was your family.

Rob Lowe 36:14 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 36:14 That's what it was.

Rob Lowe 36:14 That's... That was the change that the network made over a week.

Joe Rogan 36:18 Oh. And they didn't tell anybody, like-

Rob Lowe 36:19 No. They just... You just turned it on one week and...

Joe Rogan 36:21 (laughs)

Rob Lowe 36:21 No. Why, why would they do that?

Joe Rogan 36:22 I just... Oh, I love network executives. There are people that are making creative decisions that have never been creative in their fucking life and it's amazing. And they're out there pushing buttons and pulling strings and... (laughs)

Rob Lowe 36:33 No, uh, uh, Aaron Sorkin tells a great story about the pilot of The West Wing, which is sort of... It's... it's a re-... I mean, he wrote a great script, so it's a... one of the great pilots. And it... you know... and there's a through line of, uh, refugees from Cuba braving-... all odds on rickety boats to come to America for America's promise. And that's sort of a thread that's playing through it. And so in the White House, we're talking about it, and President Bartlet talks about it in a way to inspire people. And it's really, really beautiful. And, uh, the network was like, "Listen. Um, we love it. We think the script is great. But we think at the end that, uh, the characters, uh, need to get into a boat and go to Cuba and pull them out of the water."

Joe Rogan 37:15 (laughs)

Rob Lowe 37:20 Don't you just know that's true with your network user? Don't you just know that like-

Joe Rogan 37:24 Oh. Oh my God.

Rob Lowe 37:26 Because really, all you guys are doing is talking about it. I mean, don't you think it's more dramatic if it's actually on the wa- And you know, you want to see those people pulled out. You know, we think the script's pretty good the way it is.

Joe Rogan 37:38 And what did Sorkin say to this?

Rob Lowe 37:40 He didn't do it, thank God.

Joe Rogan 37:41 Did he take deep breaths?

Rob Lowe 37:42 He never took a network note, not once.

Joe Rogan 37:44 Wow, that's why it was good. (laughs)

Rob Lowe 37:45 N- There was never a representative for the network ever on the set, ever. Not once, ever.

Joe Rogan 37:50 Wow. That's very fortunate. Newsradio, the show that I was on with Phil, wasn't successful. And it one-

Rob Lowe 37:56 It was a great show though.

Joe Rogan 37:57 We were, uh, number 88th in the ra- in the ratings. And, uh, my friend Lou Morton who was one of the writers, and every week he would come in with a new T-shirt on where he would write the number on the shirt, 'cause we moved around like nine times. We were always in diff- And this was pre-internet so you had to look at TV Guide to find out when Newsradio was on.

Rob Lowe 38:13 Jesus.

Joe Rogan 38:14 You know, it's like one night we're Tuesday, then we're Sunday. And so, uh, he shows up with an, a T-shirt on that said 88. And I'm like, "Fucking 88?" He's like, "88." I'm like, "88? We're the 88th show. Jesus."

Rob Lowe 38:26 I was 62.

Joe Rogan 38:27 Yeah, but 88 was like a million people watching back then. It was not (laughs) it was not-

Rob Lowe 38:34 It's not, it's not-

Joe Rogan 38:34 It was not good.

Rob Lowe 38:35 It's not-

Joe Rogan 38:36 It's not 19 million.

Rob Lowe 38:37 And see, but look, it all, it led you to where you are today. That's the thing is a- all that stuff leads, leads somebody if they're, if they're paying attention to where you want to be.

Joe Rogan 38:44 If you keep moving, yeah. So-

Rob Lowe 38:46 You can't be stuck and you can't be scared.

Joe Rogan 38:48 Yes. Well, it's-

Rob Lowe 38:49 You cannot be sc- stuck and scared.

Joe Rogan 38:50 That's the thing about show business, right? It's like this weird world of I wonder how this is gonna be received. I wonder how this is gonna work.

Rob Lowe 38:57 Then you're fucked.

Joe Rogan 38:58 Yeah.

Rob Lowe 38:58 You're done though. Once you get into that head, you're done.

Joe Rogan 39:01 Yeah. Do your best and if it doesn't work, shrug your shoulders.

Rob Lowe 39:04 Move on.

Joe Rogan 39:04 Keep moving, yeah.

Rob Lowe 39:06 If they let you.

Joe Rogan 39:06 Yeah, if they let you. That's the weird one, right? When you like watch a movie and you're like, "Oh, where the fuck did that guy go?" Like who-

Rob Lowe 39:15 I-

Joe Rogan 39:15 Who's the guy from The Mummy? What the fuck's his name?

Rob Lowe 39:17 Brendan Fraser.

Joe Rogan 39:18 Yes, that guy. Fucking guy was huge.

Rob Lowe 39:20 Oh by the way, Brendan Fraser crashed my Saturday Night Live closing. You know at the end where they go, "Good night everybody, this has been great. Thanks for watching," and everybody's there? He showed up and was screaming the name of his movie that was opening that weekend.

Joe Rogan 39:34 (gasps)

Rob Lowe 39:35 Bedazzled!

Joe Rogan 39:36 No!

Rob Lowe 39:37 Be- Bedazzled!

Joe Rogan 39:39 No.

Rob Lowe 39:39 I was like, "What the fuck? What's happening? Who are you? Wh- why are you he- Brendan Fraser? What are you doing here?" Bedazzled!

Joe Rogan 39:47 Whoa.

Rob Lowe 39:47 Don't know, uh, to this day don't know what it was about.

Joe Rogan 39:49 Maybe that's what sunk him.

Rob Lowe 39:51 Bedazzled!

Joe Rogan 39:52 Maybe that's what did it to him.

Rob Lowe 39:53 It coulda been.

Joe Rogan 39:53 That mentality. Like that's not a healthy mindset.

Rob Lowe 39:57 I think what happened probably is he, they were gonna work him into a sketch that got cut.

Joe Rogan 40:04 Oh.

Rob Lowe 40:04 To promote Bedazzled, it was probably some studio shit.

Joe Rogan 40:07 Oh.

Rob Lowe 40:07 Some back room-

Joe Rogan 40:08 Oh.

Rob Lowe 40:08 ... smoke-filled room shit. And then he was like, "Well, I'm go- gonna go out there and-"

Joe Rogan 40:11 And he's probably a little drunk.

Rob Lowe 40:12 "... I'm gonna yell Bedazzled anyway."

Joe Rogan 40:14 Damn.

Rob Lowe 40:15 Bedazzled!

Joe Rogan 40:15 But that guy was a giant movie star. He was huge.

Rob Lowe 40:19 Massive.

Joe Rogan 40:20 Huge.

Rob Lowe 40:20 Ma- And The Mummy was massive.

Joe Rogan 40:23 Massive. Mass- I just watched it. (coughs) I told you, um, my, me and my family watched Tommy Boy.

Rob Lowe 40:28 No.

Joe Rogan 40:28 Yes, see we did.

Rob Lowe 40:30 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 40:30 We went on, uh, we were doing family movie night because of the quarantine. We watched like almost every night we watched a new movie. I watched all the Adam Sandler movies, watched a shitload of Eddie Murphy movies. We watched The Mummy, wa- watched a couple of The Mummies, and we watched Tommy Boy.

Rob Lowe 40:42 How did ha- how did Tommy Boy sta- stand up?

Joe Rogan 40:44 Fucking holds up.

Rob Lowe 40:46 Does it?

Joe Rogan 40:46 Holds up. Funny movie, man. Funny movie.

Rob Lowe 40:49 Oh, that's awesome.

Joe Rogan 40:50 Goddamn Chris Farley was good.

Rob Lowe 40:52 Oh, bro.

Joe Rogan 40:53 (sighs)

Rob Lowe 40:53 He was an, and a great actor. My, my, uh, among all my regrets about Chris's passing was where he would have gone as a, as a, as a, as an actor, 'cause he was cu- And, and Spade, Spade's the same. Their acting in that movie, forget the funny, which is great, but like their like legitimate acting moments in that movie.

Joe Rogan 41:15 Yes. Yeah.

Rob Lowe 41:16 And, and I think that's why it, it has the, the st- the staying power. But Chris was really gonna develop into a, into a real serious actor. A good, a good one I think.

Joe Rogan 41:25 He was such a fucking powerhouse. When he would go ape shit, look at you guys.

Rob Lowe 41:30 Look at those two idiots.

Joe Rogan 41:31 (laughs)

Rob Lowe 41:32 Just two... I like what in the, the part in the movie (laughs) where, where Spade looks at me and goes, "Hey, Lee Harvey," 'cause I do, my hair does look like Lee Harvey Oswald's.

Joe Rogan 41:39 (laughs)

Rob Lowe 41:40 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 41:40 He was awesome, man.

Rob Lowe 41:42 That's the cow tipping scene which, um, I was, uh, I pitched to the writers. They'd never heard of it, and it made it into the movie. It's a-

Joe Rogan 41:51 Who was your mom/girlfriend again?

Rob Lowe 41:53 Bo Derek.

Joe Rogan 41:53 That's right.

Rob Lowe 41:55 Well, that was a great thing 'cause we, we, um, you know, she had Bo Derek and her husband John, famous John Derek, was very protective of her. And she hadn't worked in a long time. And, um, he made her cut all her hair off the day before she showed up on the set of Tommy Boy, so-

Joe Rogan 42:12 What?

Rob Lowe 42:13 We, we thought we were getting Bo Derek from, from 10 with the hair, and she showed up with hair that's basically my he- my length now 'cause, 'cause John made her do it.

Joe Rogan 42:24 Why did he make her do it?

Rob Lowe 42:25 I don't know. I mean, you can do the math. I think he was like, "Mm-mm, I don't want you, keep you up in Santa Ynez riding horses with me."

Joe Rogan 42:30 Ew.

Rob Lowe 42:31 "Don't need you being a movie star again."

Joe Rogan 42:32 Oh, wow.

Rob Lowe 42:33 But she was so lovely. She's the best. She's a really smart, um, really smart, um, just great woman. And, um, I mean, I got to kiss Bo Derek. I mean, what, you know?

Joe Rogan 42:45 I know. And for people who don't know like-

Rob Lowe 42:47 What she was in 10?

Joe Rogan 42:48 ... our day, oh my God, what the... She was the original white girl with cornrows when it was okay.

Rob Lowe 42:52 She-

Joe Rogan 42:52 You couldn't get canceled for that back then.

Rob Lowe 42:54 Yeah. She would have been, she, that whole, she would have been canceled in a heartbeat. She was the original, um-... Gigi Hadid.

Joe Rogan 43:02 Hmm.

Rob Lowe 43:02 How about that as a reference?

Joe Rogan 43:04 Um...

Rob Lowe 43:04 Is that ... Am I cool and young now?

Guest 43:05 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 43:05 I'm, I missed it. I don't ... I've heard that name before, but-

Rob Lowe 43:08 All right, Joe.

Joe Rogan 43:08 All I know is her dad got sued 'cause he built a house that's too big.

Rob Lowe 43:11 With no permits.

Joe Rogan 43:12 Yeah. (laughs)

Rob Lowe 43:13 No, no. I know. Nope, absolutely no permits.

Joe Rogan 43:16 (laughs) It's way too big and the neighbors are worried it's gonna fall on them.

Rob Lowe 43:18 Yeah, exactly.

Joe Rogan 43:19 Yeah.

Rob Lowe 43:19 It looks like a UFO.

Joe Rogan 43:20 It's still there.

Rob Lowe 43:21 Oh, yeah. Of course.

Joe Rogan 43:21 They haven't even figured out what to do with it yet.

Rob Lowe 43:23 No. Nope.

Joe Rogan 43:23 I think there's lawsuits still on ... Yeah, that's rare.

Rob Lowe 43:25 Oh, would you look at Bo?

Joe Rogan 43:26 Back in the day. Woo. How about the one on the left? Go to that one.

Rob Lowe 43:30 Yeah. I can't. Can't? Nips? Bam.

Joe Rogan 43:32 Mm.

Rob Lowe 43:32 Kapow.

Joe Rogan 43:33 Google.

Rob Lowe 43:34 Kapow. I'm going back. I'm gonna go-

Joe Rogan 43:35 (clears throat)

Rob Lowe 43:35 ... back and do a deeper dive on this. (snaps fingers)

Joe Rogan 43:37 (exhales) She was hot as fuck. And with perfect bone structure, right?

Rob Lowe 43:40 Yeah. She was, she was amazing. And Tommy would ... You know, the thing about Farley was, um, he, uh, he and Spade used to fight over me like I was the girl.

Joe Rogan 43:51 (laughs)

Rob Lowe 43:51 Probably 'cause I ... Let's face it, I kinda looked like a girl in certain lighting. Um, and, uh, they'd be like, "I heard you were in the jacuzzi with Rob last night."

Joe Rogan 43:59 (laughs) Yeah.

Rob Lowe 44:00 "Yeah? Well, well, you didn't call me." Well, and they ... where they, they would like fight. It was, it was very funny and, and sweet. One night, I took, uh, I took the gang out to Barbarian's Steakhouse in Toronto. Great steak, I don't know if they're still there. Chris ordered two bone-in, two bone-in steak, uh, porterhouse steaks. Ate both of them. But on top of each bite, he put a cube of butter.

Joe Rogan 44:25 (laughs)

Rob Lowe 44:27 And when I looked at him like, "What the fuck are you doing?"

Joe Rogan 44:32 (laughs)

Rob Lowe 44:32 He was like, "It needs a hat."

Joe Rogan 44:35 (laughs)

Rob Lowe 44:37 So, if you wanna put a hat on your steak.

Joe Rogan 44:39 Some people just genuinely don't give a fuck.

Rob Lowe 44:42 No fucks given.

Joe Rogan 44:43 Yeah, obviously. Yeah, he's a wild man. I met him once on the set of, uh, News Radio, he was partying with Andy Dick.

Rob Lowe 44:49 Oh, boy.

Joe Rogan 44:49 He showed up gray like wet cardboard. He looked gray. And I'm like, "Hey, man." He's like, "Hey, hey." It was just, he was gone.

Rob Lowe 44:58 Oh.

Joe Rogan 44:59 It was, it was sad. It was weird. He had gray skin. And I remember thinking, "Jesus Christ, Chris Farley has gray skin. Like, what's going on?" Like, he was sweaty and just, just all fucked up.

Rob Lowe 45:10 Yeah. He, he, he had major, major demons, uh, and a lot of us really worked, you know ... W- we're worked out for. You know. But, you know, it's ... Some people can't, they can't make that leap, man. They just can't make the leap.

Joe Rogan 45:22 The thing about him, though, is, the ... Fucking I always wonder about guys like that, that are so powerful. Like, is it the demons that made him so good? He was so good.

Rob Lowe 45:31 So good.

Joe Rogan 45:32 When he would go ape shit, I mean, he had ... The, the fucking horsepower he had, it was so stunning.

Rob Lowe 45:38 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 45:38 Like, when you have these scenes when he would just go fucking crazy, it was so fun. And you would wonder-

Rob Lowe 45:44 I-

Joe Rogan 45:44 ... like what is, is that same thing what makes him ... I mean, 'cause it was so real. Is that what made him just go crazy with coke and go crazy with everything else?

Rob Lowe 45:54 Well, I mean, I think, I think like normal people, like I don't see a lot of normal people drawn ... Well, why would any normal person wanna be in entertainment?

Joe Rogan 46:04 Right.

Rob Lowe 46:05 Right. Why, why would they?

Joe Rogan 46:06 Right.

Rob Lowe 46:06 So, I think just by default, damaged people, or people with a more, more, more articulately, people with a hole to fill are drawn to entertainment to fill the hole. And, um, you know, and s- and some, and some of the people have o- have other damage too. Rage, anger, whatever it is. But without a question, the more normal someone is, I know, like, unfortunately, the less entertaining. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 46:35 Yeah. Right?

Rob Lowe 46:35 Do you ever find that, though?

Joe Rogan 46:36 Yes.

Rob Lowe 46:36 Like, you're at a ... You're, you have ... You're at dinner or whatever, and they're like, "I'm this, that," and they're like really, really nice, and really, really decent. And, and I go, "I wish you were crazy and damaged like me 'cause then you'd be really ..." (laughs)

Joe Rogan 46:46 (laughs) Then we could have a fun conversation.

Rob Lowe 46:48 Really funny, yeah.

Joe Rogan 46:48 Well, that's absolutely the case with comedians. Like, my, my favorite people are all completely fucked up.

Rob Lowe 46:55 Have you ever met ... Can you think of a normal, decent, well-rounded, un-fucked up person who's hilarious?

Joe Rogan 47:04 No. I'll tell you real quick. Eh.

Rob Lowe 47:07 Right?

Joe Rogan 47:08 No. (laughs) No. No, the ... Humor is ... A big part of humor is saying things that are radically inappropriate.

Rob Lowe 47:15 Right.

Joe Rogan 47:15 But maybe accurate.

Rob Lowe 47:17 Do you think, do you think that our ... The culture where everybody is so sensitive today is, is ... It's gotta be hard to be f- I think it's harder to be funny. You can

Joe Rogan 47:25 Yeah.

Rob Lowe 47:25 Like you can make blazing s- There's so many movies you couldn't make now.

Joe Rogan 47:29 Right.

Rob Lowe 47:30 Or jokes you couldn't tell.

Joe Rogan 47:30 Sure. I, I mean, most of Monty Python's movies. Mo- ... I mean, so many. We, we were watching, uh, some old Eddie Murphy movies, and just, just movies from the 2000s you can't, you couldn't make today. You know?

Rob Lowe 47:44 Eddie Murphy was a j- is still, I mean, but ... What a stud.

Joe Rogan 47:48 Oh my God, he's amazing. Fucking ... We were talking about Norbit. I'm like, "Norbit is a massively underrated movie." That is a hilarious movie. And if I looked on Rotten Tomatoes, I, I think it got like fucking 13% or something like that. I'm like, "I don't get it. You m- how did you miss this?" Like, I was crying laughing. Like, like wheezing at certain scenes.

Rob Lowe 48:10 He is such a-

Joe Rogan 48:10 Nutty Professor. Nutty Professor's ... Nutty P- Nutty Professor Two is fucking terrible.

Rob Lowe 48:14 And also, uh, The Klumps.

Joe Rogan 48:16 The Klumps, that's two. That's the second one. That's terrible.

Rob Lowe 48:17 Okay, okay. I'm sorry. Right. Yeah, yeah. Nutty Professor's insane.

Joe Rogan 48:20 Nutty Professor's insane. The Nutty Professor Two's terrible.

Rob Lowe 48:22 He plays ... All those, he plays all those characters.

Joe Rogan 48:24 Yeah. Well, he's amazing. It's just, the script doesn't work in Nutty Professor Two. And then they got rid of, uh, Jada Pinkett Smith and replaced her with someone else too. It's like, what, where, what, what happened to Jada Smith?

Rob Lowe 48:34 Right. Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 48:35 That was a big part of the first movie. But-

Rob Lowe 48:37 He's so good.

Joe Rogan 48:37 But Nutty Professor One is excellent. But he's just boring.

Rob Lowe 48:40 And his stand up ... Have you, have you revisited, uh, the standup specials of Eddie's in the, in the leather suits?

Joe Rogan 48:46 I mean, I've seen them all multiple times. I haven't revisited them in the last few years, but-

Rob Lowe 48:50 They're worth having a look at again. They're so, so good.

Joe Rogan 48:52 Some of the greatest of all time. It's crazy he hasn't done standup in 30 years. As long as you've not been drinking, he hasn't been doing standup.

Rob Lowe 48:58 Jesus.

Joe Rogan 48:58 Maybe there's two connected.

Rob Lowe 48:59 And they're ... Well, they were related.

Joe Rogan 49:00 (laughs)

Rob Lowe 49:00 It's just, I used to run with Eddie.

Joe Rogan 49:02 (laughs)

Rob Lowe 49:02 ... back in the day a little bit. It was pretty fun.

Joe Rogan 49:04 He's amazing. I mean, so really, uh, every comic that I know wants him to do standup again. Every comic. Like there was a thing w- we talked about it on the podcast before, but there was a thing that he did where he was accepting some award and he was on stage and he did this piece about Bill Cosby, 'cause him, him and Bill Cosby like always had feuds. Like, it was on one of his older, uh, specials. I think it was on RAW where him and Richard Pryor had a conversation, 'cause Bill Cosby called him and chastised him about Delirious, about using bad words. And so, he did this whole thing where Bill Cosby, you know, called him and told, and then he called Richard Pryor. Richard Pryor's like, "Do the people laugh? Do you get paid?"

Rob Lowe 49:44 That's amazing.

Joe Rogan 49:44 "Well, tell Bill to have a Coke and a smile and shut the fuck up!"

Rob Lowe 49:47 Fuck up!

Joe Rogan 49:48 Yes! Exactly. Yeah. Yeah.

Rob Lowe 49:49 Exactly. To have a Coke and a smile and shut the fuck up.

Joe Rogan 49:50 Yeah. So he had no tears-

Rob Lowe 49:52 I remember that.

Joe Rogan 49:52 For him, that was painful because, look, every comic was a Bill Cosby fan-

Rob Lowe 49:58 Sure.

Joe Rogan 49:59 ... until they found out what the fuck he was really all about, but ... So for him to get a phone call from Bill Cosby instead of saying, "You're amazing. I fucking love what you're doing. I'm, uh, well, I'm, uh, I'm in your corner. Congratulations. Go get 'em." Instead, he gets, "You should stop saying bad words." And it's ... So anyway, years later, he hasn't done standup in forever and he, he accepts this award and talks about what i- ... because they took back Bill Cosby's honorary doctorate and, and all these different ... They took awards away from him.

Rob Lowe 50:27 Right. Right.

Joe Rogan 50:27 And he does this whole routine about Bill getting his awards taken away, and it's fucking brilliant. It's br- ... And he hasn't done standup in 30 years. And you look at him and you're like, "Jesus Christ, if that guy did standup right now, he'd have the biggest Netflix special on earth." And it would probably be an hour of fucking gold. Just straight gold.

Rob Lowe 50:45 Mm. He just doesn't, I mean ...

Joe Rogan 50:47 He's talked about doing it. He's talked about doing it.

Rob Lowe 50:48 Oh, yeah.

Joe Rogan 50:48 I bet pre-COVID, he was talking about doing it. I mean, obviously COVID fucked it up for everything.

Rob Lowe 50:53 Right.

Joe Rogan 50:53 It's really hard to do a show now.

Rob Lowe 50:54 Right.

Joe Rogan 50:55 And, um, you know, I don't, I don't, I don't know where it's gonna go. I hope he does it though. But he's a, he's a, he's a special talent, a very unique talent.

Rob Lowe 51:04 Yeah. And, and a, and a wonderful enigma.

Joe Rogan 51:08 Yeah.

Rob Lowe 51:09 You know? He's so nice. He's so ... But he, he, he's one of those people, like, that, that people have all of these th- ... Like, people project things on Eddie. Do you know what I mean?

Joe Rogan 51:18 Mm-hmm.

Rob Lowe 51:18 Like what he's like-

Joe Rogan 51:19 Right.

Rob Lowe 51:19 ... what he is, what he isn't-

Joe Rogan 51:20 Right.

Rob Lowe 51:20 ... because he's, he's just one of those guys and he's kind of an eni- an enigma. He's, he's kind of unknowable, but he's such a good dude.

Joe Rogan 51:27 Well, he's so talented.

Rob Lowe 51:28 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 51:28 I mean, we all grew up with him. You know? Go- ... 48 Hours and-

Rob Lowe 51:32 Dude, 48 Hours-

Joe Rogan 51:33 (exhales)

Rob Lowe 51:34 ... is the shit.

Joe Rogan 51:36 The shit. Him and Nick Nolte?

Rob Lowe 51:38 Dude, Nick Nolte is so ... (growls)

Joe Rogan 51:39 (growls)

Rob Lowe 51:41 I mean ... (laughs) That movie, I mean, that's the ultimate-

Joe Rogan 51:48 Amazing.

Rob Lowe 51:48 I mean, look.

Joe Rogan 51:48 Buddy cop movie. Yeah.

Rob Lowe 51:49 There's the Danny Glover one with, with Mel, but t- to me-

Joe Rogan 51:52 (coughs)

Rob Lowe 51:52 ... it's all about 48 Hours.

Joe Rogan 51:54 I wonder if you can make a buddy cop movie anymore now that everybody hates cops. There they are. Look at 'em.

Rob Lowe 51:59 Ugh.

Joe Rogan 51:59 Could you make a buddy cop movie today? Would, would people-

Rob Lowe 52:03 They don't want you to.

Joe Rogan 52:04 They wouldn't want you to?

Rob Lowe 52:05 No, they don't want you to, for sure.

Joe Rogan 52:06 Like, cop movies. That was, that's one of the biggest genre, right?

Guest 52:10 Th- there was a screening of Kindergarten Cop, uh, that was supposed to be in Portland or somewhere this weekend that was canceled because people said that it was showing cops in a good light or something like that.

Joe Rogan 52:22 I hope they get robbed.

Rob Lowe 52:24 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 52:24 I hope everybody says they get robbed.

Rob Lowe 52:25 Can you imagine?

Joe Rogan 52:26 Fucks.

Rob Lowe 52:27 Um, you gotta watch ... You ever see Nolte in s-

Joe Rogan 52:29 And I really hope they get robbed, by the way. These are just jokes.

Rob Lowe 52:32 You ever see Nolte in Q and A? The movie Q and A?

Joe Rogan 52:36 Yes. Yes.

Rob Lowe 52:37 Sidney Lumet movie?

Joe Rogan 52:37 Now that I remember that, yeah. Yeah.

Rob Lowe 52:39 Where he plays a racist cop?

Joe Rogan 52:40 Yes. Oh, he's amazing, man.

Rob Lowe 52:42 Good. It's-

Joe Rogan 52:42 You know, there's a fucking movie-

Guest 52:43 Same.

Joe Rogan 52:43 ... that's not that good. It's called Warrior. It's like this martial arts movie, um, that was a few years ago. And Nick Nolte plays this guy who is a trainer of one of the fighters and he's in ... He's a, he's the father of one of the fighters as well. And he's this alcoholic and he's all fucked up and he has this, this scene where he breaks down and he's crying and weeping and you just go, "God, damn."

Rob Lowe 53:05 Damn.

Joe Rogan 53:05 If you forget, this is it right here.

Rob Lowe 53:08 Oh.

Joe Rogan 53:08 He's so good. He's so good.

Rob Lowe 53:12 That outfit? That's the outfit he wears to go to the market in Malibu.

Joe Rogan 53:15 Oh yeah, man. I've, I ran into him at Fry ... Look at him right there. I mean, this scene, man.

Rob Lowe 53:20 That's also how he orders at McDonald's.

Joe Rogan 53:21 (laughs) Screaming, red-faced. (laughs)

Rob Lowe 53:24 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 53:25 I ran into him at Fry's Electronics. He was, he said, "Oh, hey Joe." He was buying some motherboard or some shit for his kid.

Rob Lowe 53:32 He's ama- ... He's just amazing.

Joe Rogan 53:34 Yeah. He's amazing.

Rob Lowe 53:35 So I ... Here's a ... I, I gotta tell you how much I'm loving your podcast. I, I love it. It's great.

Joe Rogan 53:40 Thank you.

Rob Lowe 53:40 I'm a big, I'm a big fan.

Joe Rogan 53:41 Thank you.

Rob Lowe 53:42 And, um, one of the things I love about ... 'Cause I'm doing my own now and I'm learning from the best, and the best would be you, is it's just literally anything and everything that makes y- you, like you're curious about. And I love that. So I know, 'cause I've b- been paying attention. I know you're curious about space.

Joe Rogan 53:59 Mm.

Rob Lowe 54:00 And I ... Let's talk for a minute, 'cause this week-

Joe Rogan 54:02 Okay.

Rob Lowe 54:02 ... Elon Musk-

Joe Rogan 54:04 Yeah.

Rob Lowe 54:04 ... he did the big th- ... And it was fun to watch. But isn't it funny how excited we all are that we just replicated something we did 50 years ago?

Joe Rogan 54:13 Well, even better though. They replicated something in a much more improved way where it can actually come back and land and it's reusable. That's the difference.

Rob Lowe 54:21 How ... D- don't you think though, we have to have ... There has to be a secret space program. There has to be.

Joe Rogan 54:27 Do you think so?

Rob Lowe 54:29 Well, here, here, here, here ... Okay. Let's just go through the logic of it.

Joe Rogan 54:32 Okay. I like- (laughs)

Rob Lowe 54:33 This is, this is what happens when, uh, at nighttime when I have a cigar-

Joe Rogan 54:36 Are you sure you don't do drugs?

Rob Lowe 54:37 I n- I know.

Joe Rogan 54:37 Do you want a cigar? Do you smoke cigars?

Rob Lowe 54:38 I do smoke cigars.

Joe Rogan 54:39 You want one?

Rob Lowe 54:39 I was gonna bring one and I forgot, but hell yeah.

Joe Rogan 54:41 Oh, here we go. Beautiful. At least we can get some kind of drugs on set today.

Rob Lowe 54:44 I know. Let's go. Let's fucking go. By the way, don't-

Joe Rogan 54:46 Jamie's gonna turn the fan on.

Rob Lowe 54:47 I enjoy watching people take drugs. I do.

Joe Rogan 54:51 Do you?

Rob Lowe 54:52 Yeah, because-

Joe Rogan 54:53 What do you enjoy about it?

Rob Lowe 54:54 I have a, I have a f- very expensive wine cellar. I don't drink.

Joe Rogan 54:57 You don't drink at all? You just have the wine for other folks?

Rob Lowe 55:00 For, for guests.

Joe Rogan 55:01 Wow.

Rob Lowe 55:02 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 55:02 Are you ... But could you have like a glass of wine?

Rob Lowe 55:04 Nope.

Joe Rogan 55:04 Or are you just-

Rob Lowe 55:05 Nope.

Joe Rogan 55:05 ... a deep end kind of guy? Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope.

Rob Lowe 55:06 Every single person I know who-... either you have the -ism of alcoholism or you don't.

Joe Rogan 55:13 Right.

Rob Lowe 55:13 And if you, if you are, have come to terms with the fact that you have it, the day where you go, "You know what? I'm going to live in Europe for a while. And gosh, I mean, a, a glass of red wine at my birthday is not gonna kill-"

Joe Rogan 55:25 Yeah.

Rob Lowe 55:26 "... and I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna do-"

Joe Rogan 55:27 That's what I'm saying.

Rob Lowe 55:27 "I'm not gonna do heroin anymore."

Joe Rogan 55:29 Right.

Rob Lowe 55:29 "That's what brought me to my knees, but a glass of red wine..."

Joe Rogan 55:31 Yeah.

Rob Lowe 55:31 Literally, you can put a fucking stopwatch on it. And it might not be in a week, and it might not be in a month, and it might not even be in a year, but I assure you, you'll read about them in the paper, like, biting a cop in their stomach-

Joe Rogan 55:47 (laughs)

Rob Lowe 55:47 ... and jumping off of a roof or ... 100%. I've been in this game 30 years. I've never seen it go any way other than that. Never.

Joe Rogan 55:55 I like to believe there's someone out there that can do it, just like I like to believe-

Rob Lowe 55:58 Nope.

Joe Rogan 55:58 ... some people can walk tightropes between two buildings.

Rob Lowe 56:00 Yeah, nor are people who aren't alcoholics.

Joe Rogan 56:02 (laughs)

Rob Lowe 56:03 They can't do it. Fuck yeah. What do we got here, bro? This is good. Okay, why can I not open this?

Joe Rogan 56:11 Hmm. I don't know.

Rob Lowe 56:13 There we go. Got it.

Joe Rogan 56:14 Oh.

Rob Lowe 56:15 Hell, I would've brought, I would've, I would've brought my own. Had I known.

Joe Rogan 56:18 Well, I just have this box here from my friend, Mike Binder.

Rob Lowe 56:21 I love Mike.

Joe Rogan 56:22 He's uh... Oh, you know Mike?

Rob Lowe 56:22 Yep.

Joe Rogan 56:24 He's, uh, doing this Comedy Store documentary and he, he bought me a box of cigars. What company is this? Do you know this company? They're great.

Rob Lowe 56:34 Mmm. Mm-mm. Mmm. Hmm. There's nothing better than a cigar when you're fasting, get you good and fucked up.

Joe Rogan 56:42 Are you fasting right now?

Rob Lowe 56:43 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 56:44 What do you do, the intermittent thing?

Rob Lowe 56:45 I do intermittent and then, and then I do, um, every other day, a 24-hour.

Joe Rogan 56:50 Really?

Rob Lowe 56:50 Which I got from Kimmel. Like, wha- like, remember that moment when all of a sudden Kimmel, like didn't look like Kimmel anymore?

Joe Rogan 56:55 Yeah. Lost like 80 pounds or something crazy.

Rob Lowe 56:56 Yeah, and I was like ... And I did, and like, you know, in the commercial breaks, the band's playing and people were screaming at you, "Hey, why do you look so good?" And he's like, "I don't eat every other day." I was like, "That's gotta be bo-" And went right back and I never got to like, finish the conversation with him. But, um, I've since learned about it and, and, uh, I did, I've done it and it's been great.

Joe Rogan 57:16 What's the benefits?

Rob Lowe 57:18 Um, honestly, I think at the end of the day, the benefit is just, it's a, just an easy way to keep the calo- calories down. But I find, um, I'm more focused and I actually have more energy.

Joe Rogan 57:31 That's crazy. If you think about taking a whole day off of eating-

Rob Lowe 57:35 But, here's the thing.

Joe Rogan 57:36 ... every other day.

Rob Lowe 57:36 Here's the thing, is it's, it sounds worse than it is, 'cause you eat dinner. So, the day goes from dinner to dinner.

Joe Rogan 57:42 Right.

Rob Lowe 57:42 So there's not a f- an active day that I'm not eating.

Joe Rogan 57:47 Oh, okay.

Rob Lowe 57:47 Does that make ... So, right, but it's still 24 hours.

Joe Rogan 57:49 It's like a meal a day.

Rob Lowe 57:49 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 57:49 Yeah. It's a meal. That's what Jack Dorsey does. Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Twitter.

Rob Lowe 57:53 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 57:53 He, uh, he eats one meal a day. And he said he realizes that a lot of ... That, that lighter sucks, unfortunately.

Rob Lowe 58:01 Mm, mm.

Joe Rogan 58:02 Do we have another lighter?

Rob Lowe 58:02 No, I'm, I'm good, right?

Joe Rogan 58:03 Maybe, but I don't know if it's around.

Rob Lowe 58:05 Mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm. No, I'm good. We're good to go.

Joe Rogan 58:09 Okay, good.

Rob Lowe 58:09 This is good. I like this.

Joe Rogan 58:10 They're good, right?

Rob Lowe 58:10 Oh, yeah, really good.

Joe Rogan 58:11 Yeah, he, um ... I do intermittent. I do either 14 or 16 hours. But, um ...

Rob Lowe 58:17 And then you're, you're like, uh, you know, low carb, low sugar?

Joe Rogan 58:21 Mostly meat. Mostly what I eat is meat. Like almost entirely meat.

Rob Lowe 58:26 What about ... Veggies?

Joe Rogan 58:27 I eat some fruit.

Rob Lowe 58:28 Veggies?

Joe Rogan 58:29 This whole month, I'm not eating, I'm barely eating any vegetables.

Rob Lowe 58:33 What?

Joe Rogan 58:33 I'm ... This is animal-based August. (laughs)

Rob Lowe 58:35 Animal-based August.

Joe Rogan 58:36 Yeah. You know, plant-based, I'm plant-based. Well, there's animal-based August. Mostly what I'm eating is meat.

Rob Lowe 58:42 Does the, does the ve- does the ve- does the vegan army come for you?

Joe Rogan 58:44 Oh, they've come. They've come for me. I give them hugs. Look, those animals are gonna die. I'll send them videos of wolves eating elk alive, you know, if you wanna see that. It's better if I kill them, trust me.

Rob Lowe 58:55 And then you-

Joe Rogan 58:56 They don't live forever.

Rob Lowe 58:56 And you, do you fish at all?

Joe Rogan 58:58 Yeah, I love fishing.

Rob Lowe 58:59 Yeah, my son, Matthew Lowe, is a f- world-class fisherman and, and-

Joe Rogan 59:03 Is he fly, fly fishing? He's into-

Rob Lowe 59:05 No, it's all deep sea. It's all deep sea s-

Joe Rogan 59:07 Oh, okay.

Rob Lowe 59:07 ... stuff, yeah. And, um, we go, we have a boat and we go out and we, I mean, the, it's like the sashimi, fish tacos.

Joe Rogan 59:13 Mmm.

Rob Lowe 59:13 He has a commercial fisherman's license.

Joe Rogan 59:15 Really?

Rob Lowe 59:15 He's got a law degree and a commercial fisherman's license.

Joe Rogan 59:16 That's fucking balanced.

Rob Lowe 59:18 It's a well-rounded young man.

Joe Rogan 59:19 That ... You did a good job. Congratulations.

Rob Lowe 59:20 Yeah. It's, it's good shit.

Joe Rogan 59:21 Fuck, yeah.

Rob Lowe 59:21 And then my, my other son is, uh, is, uh, a writer on 911 Lone Star.

Joe Rogan 59:26 No kidding.

Rob Lowe 59:27 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 59:27 Wow.

Rob Lowe 59:28 I know.

Joe Rogan 59:28 Dude, you pulled it off.

Rob Lowe 59:29 I did.

Joe Rogan 59:30 (laughs)

Rob Lowe 59:30 So it's, being a dad ... You've got kids.

Joe Rogan 59:31 Yes.

Rob Lowe 59:32 Being a dad is a, it's a full-time job, but I love it. I, I'm one of those people that, like, for whatever reason, I, I knew it was what I was born to do immediately and I devoted every fucking minute to it and loved it. And it, it paid off and my, my boys are ... You know, I have great ... Michelle's a great wife and great partner for me. But, um, I, I love seeing, like, that kind of time investment pay off.

Joe Rogan 59:59 Yeah. No, it's beautiful because then they become these sustainable, fascinating human beings.

Rob Lowe 1:00:06 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 1:00:07 You know? It's a, it's a-

Rob Lowe 1:00:08 How old are your kids?

Joe Rogan 1:00:09 I have a 23-year-old, I have a 10-year-old, and a 12-year-old. That's why-

Rob Lowe 1:00:13 And that's kind of good. You love d- going through this s- 'Cause my, mine are 24 and 26, so the notion of ha- going back and having, like, that, another crack at it kinda sounds kinda cool.

Joe Rogan 1:00:25 It is kinda cool. Um, you know, it's wei- What's weird about babies and just humans, they're so different right out of the box.

Rob Lowe 1:00:32 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:00:32 Like, there's so much study on what makes a personality, what makes a human being, whether it's nature or nurture. And people who are parents can tell you, there's certain aspects of a kid's personality that they're just born with. You see them with it as a baby, like right out of the box.

Rob Lowe 1:00:50 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 1:00:50 And like, o- you know, one year in, they're different, two year ... Like, they're so different. It's, it's so f- Like, sometimes my daughters will say something to me. It's just, I, and I just get so stunned, just talking to them, like, this ... I remember when you were this tiny little thing. And now, w- you and I are sitting here and we're having a conversation about space-

Rob Lowe 1:01:10 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:01:10 ... or about mortality, or about what I think God is, or about, you know, wh- why do people act mean, you know? Like, I was having this conversation with my daughter ...... with my, uh, 12-year-old about mean people. And I'm like, "B- believe me, it d- it seems like they're just mean, but they're only mean because they're hurting. That's why people are mean. They feel terrible, so they want you to feel terrible."

Rob Lowe 1:01:35 Right.

Joe Rogan 1:01:35 And we were just having this weird conversation about emotions and about where it comes from and, you know, and how some people, their, you know, their family's broken up and because of that, they wish that things were normal so they make up lies. Or they ... When other people are doing well, they get angry at other people, like-

Rob Lowe 1:01:54 Right.

Joe Rogan 1:01:54 And we were just- just talking through this and in the middle of it, I'm talking to her and I'm thinking, "I remember when you were so small."

Rob Lowe 1:02:00 I know. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 1:02:00 "You were this tiny little thing and now here you are, this 12-year-old who's like real-" And we- we're having this, like, intense, like conversation about emotions and the development of human beings and how to be more compassionate and how there's this instinct to go, "Fuck her," you know? And I'm like, "I know you have that feeling, but you gotta fight that feeling." Like, nobody has that feeling more than me. That fuck you feeling? I got a lot of that. But you gotta keep it locked up. It's not good for you. That- It's- doesn't do you any good, either. When you're like, "Fuck you," that you're s- really saying, "Fuck yourself." It's, uh, not helping you 'cause you're developing anger instead of developing forgiveness. Like, you develop this anger towards a person where it's better, it's hard, but it's better to try to understand why they're that way and why they're lashing out at you.

Rob Lowe 1:02:42 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:02:42 And when you do that, what I was explaining to her is like, it'll be ineffective. Like, their- their mean stuff to you will be ineffective. It doesn't work anymore because you know who you are. So if you know who you are, you- you'll- it'll bother you that they're trying to do it, but it won't ... You won't change your feelings about yourself. Someone can-

Rob Lowe 1:03:00 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:03:00 If you don't have a good sense of personal sovereignty, someone can change your feelings about yourself. You know, I remember when I was young, someone could insult me and I would think that they were right. I'd be like, "Oh, God. I am a loser." You know what I mean? Like, "Fuck, I'm a loser. Shit."

Rob Lowe 1:03:16 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 1:03:16 And I'd go home and I'd feel terrible and I'd feel like a loser. But if someone does it to you when you have sovereignty, you're like, "Ah, that's- feels gross. This person's trying to make me feel bad." But it doesn't change who I am.

Rob Lowe 1:03:27 Right.

Joe Rogan 1:03:27 I know who I am. I ... You- you- you gain an understanding through struggle. And we were having this conversation. I remember thinking, "God, it's so weird." Like, that people just sorta pop out of vaginas. You know, you have sex-

Rob Lowe 1:03:40 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 1:03:40 ... a person gets developed, they pop out of vagina, next thing you know, they're 12 and they're sitting across the dinner table, just you and her, just chit chatting. It's, God, so it's amazing. It's amazing.

Rob Lowe 1:03:50 It's true. I always, I, I always tell my kids, like, that, you know, that great phrase about bitterness, you know, and anger. And bitterness is, it's like drinking poison and-

Joe Rogan 1:03:58 Mm-hmm.

Rob Lowe 1:03:58 ... expecting the other pe- other person to drop dead.

Joe Rogan 1:04:00 Yes. Yes, yes. I love that statement. Yeah.

Rob Lowe 1:04:03 It's a great one, isn't it?

Joe Rogan 1:04:04 Yeah, yeah.

Rob Lowe 1:04:05 And, uh, you know, world view, right? Uh, optimism, um, positivity, um, rejection of victimhood, uh, all that stuff is so important-

Joe Rogan 1:04:18 Yeah.

Rob Lowe 1:04:19 ... I think, in development.

Joe Rogan 1:04:19 They're tools, too. They're tools for success because there's so many people that contain ... They- they hold onto that stuff. What's that other expression? That anger is a, uh, a poison that kills the vessel that holds it?

Rob Lowe 1:04:31 Mm. Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 1:04:32 You know?

Rob Lowe 1:04:33 Yup, that's great.

Joe Rogan 1:04:33 Yeah. Th- th- but they do. But you can- you could use them as tools to understand people, you know, like that feeling that you get. It's a tool. And the- the understanding of like, how to manage that, is a tool. Like, you can, you can use it and you could understand people better, and then you'll recognize it in yourself better. And it'll, it'll prevent you from making some catastrophic mistakes. You know, one of the things about like, angry, bitter, spiteful people is like, they rarely get anything done and really accomplish anything good. They really- they always have this bitter, horrible feeling that they're, they're carrying around with them. It's just ...

Rob Lowe 1:05:11 Yeah, I mean, I s- you- I've- I'm a big believer in- in- in therapy and- and- and personal digging and growth and stuff like that. I mean, it's- it's- it's part and parcel with my r- recovery. It's ... Recovery is not for everybody, nor should it be, but I, but I think therapy could and should be. I think, I think it sh- like, it should be like going to get your oil checked.

Joe Rogan 1:05:34 Do you do like, AA meetings and the whole deal?

Rob Lowe 1:05:36 Um, I ... You know, it's an anonymous program, Joe.

Joe Rogan 1:05:39 Oh, you can't even say it? (laughs)

Rob Lowe 1:05:42 Um, the, uh, the AA Gestapo will come and get me.

Joe Rogan 1:05:44 Will they really if you say that you go to AA? Oh.

Rob Lowe 1:05:46 Well, here's- here's- here's why. It's in what they call the traditions, right?

Joe Rogan 1:05:49 Mm-hmm.

Rob Lowe 1:05:49 They're literally like- it's like, the constitution-

Joe Rogan 1:05:51 Mm.

Rob Lowe 1:05:52 ... of AA. It's in the constitution because the theory is if I were to say, um, "AA works. I go to AA." And then God forbid I slip, then the person who might have been on the fence about going to AA will go, "Well I know that's bullshit. That guy was in AA and he slipped." That's the theory about it.

Joe Rogan 1:06:13 Hm. That's a weird theory because-

Rob Lowe 1:06:15 But I don't, I don't-

Joe Rogan 1:06:16 ... exercise works, right? You get in shape and then you can just decide to eat Twinkies and you get out of shape. It doesn't mean the exercise doesn't work.

Rob Lowe 1:06:23 Uh, listen, I- I ... There are people that s- you know, true traditionalists don't even like people talking at- with the amount that I talk about recovery, publicly for that reason.

Joe Rogan 1:06:38 Mm-hmm.

Rob Lowe 1:06:38 But my thing is, in this world, addiction is such a fucking killer and there are so many families suffering from it, that ... And- and- and every teenager is gonna have to have figured out their relationship with drugs and alcohol. Every- there isn't one who isn't going to have to. And a lot of people are gonna fuck that up, and some aren't. But th- the more that conversation is out there and that- that people can- can talk about it openly is better. So I- I kind of am more public about it, just because, uh, it- it's ch- you know, changed my life, saved my life.

Joe Rogan 1:07:12 I- I don't have alcoholism in my family nor personally, but I admire people who talk about recovery. I think it's important because I think, especially someone like you, 'cause you're a very famous public figure. And when you talk about addiction and your own struggles, people say, "Well, fucking Rob Lowe?"... has a problem with booze. Like, okay. It's, this is like a thing.

Rob Lowe 1:07:34 Right.

Joe Rogan 1:07:34 It's part of being a person.

Rob Lowe 1:07:35 Yeah, for sure.

Joe Rogan 1:07:36 And I think, I think it's very valuable. I think you talking about it is very valuable. And I, I think it's honorable.

Rob Lowe 1:07:41 Well, thanks. I mean, I, and I, I get a lot of, um, I get a lot out of it because inevitably, you know, I meet people who are earlier on their journey and it reminds me of how bad it can be-

Joe Rogan 1:07:53 Hmm.

Rob Lowe 1:07:53 ... if you don't keep an eye on it. You know what I mean?

Joe Rogan 1:07:54 Oh, yeah.

Rob Lowe 1:07:54 It's like, 'cause I'm just one of those people, it's like, you know, if it says take two aspirin, then I immediately think, "Well, then five's gotta be fucking great."

Joe Rogan 1:08:06 (laughs)

Rob Lowe 1:08:06 Then you should... I mean, that's ru-

Joe Rogan 1:08:08 Right, yeah.

Rob Lowe 1:08:08 That is the way my brain works.

Joe Rogan 1:08:09 Do you think that that's from becoming famous when you're very young? Like, uh, what did, what is the earliest-

Rob Lowe 1:08:15 No.

Joe Rogan 1:08:15 ... big thing that you did? What is the earliest big project that you did?

Rob Lowe 1:08:18 (inhales deeply) I mean, the, i- it was probably that, that, uh, Karen Carpenter lookalike look thing I had going on.

Joe Rogan 1:08:24 (laughs) But like a big-

Rob Lowe 1:08:25 And that made... Well, that was sort of, but I mean, you said that was not- Oh, well, the, the big knockout-

Joe Rogan 1:08:28 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Rob Lowe 1:08:29 I mean, that, that put me on the teen magazines though.

Joe Rogan 1:08:30 Ah.

Rob Lowe 1:08:30 And that, that s-, that, that, I went from like a theater geek who couldn't, like none of the cool girls gave a shit about, 'cause I was like-

Joe Rogan 1:08:40 Really?

Rob Lowe 1:08:40 Yeah, 'cause I was a theater geek.

Joe Rogan 1:08:42 But you're such a good looking fella.

Rob Lowe 1:08:43 No, I was pretty.

Joe Rogan 1:08:44 Oh.

Rob Lowe 1:08:44 I didn't look like the fucking football playing...

Joe Rogan 1:08:47 Okay.

Rob Lowe 1:08:47 They, they all wanted the football players and the beach volleyball players.

Joe Rogan 1:08:50 Oh.

Rob Lowe 1:08:51 And in, in that culture, like youth entertainment wasn't a thing. There was no MTV. There was no US magazine. There was no Nickelodeon. There was none of it. So like, it was kind of this, like thing that-

Joe Rogan 1:09:05 Stars to watch in '87. Look at you. (laughs)

Rob Lowe 1:09:08 '87's late though. I mean-

Joe Rogan 1:09:10 (laughs)

Rob Lowe 1:09:10 ... you, you, you can roll that thing back to '79 and get some good shit.

Joe Rogan 1:09:14 (laughs)

Rob Lowe 1:09:15 Um- Duran Duran. ... Duran Duran. Look at Michael J. Fox.

Joe Rogan 1:09:19 Wow.

Rob Lowe 1:09:20 Look at him. The Monkees were still around. What?

Joe Rogan 1:09:22 Duran Duran. You know, it's funny how in Europe, like things that are almost like campy here are still cool.

Rob Lowe 1:09:28 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 1:09:29 Like Mirko Cro Cop is one of the baddest motherfuckers of all time, was this kickboxer who used to come out to Duran Duran. That was his walkout song, come out to Wild Boys.

Rob Lowe 1:09:37 Wild Boys!

Joe Rogan 1:09:38 Wild Boys.

Rob Lowe 1:09:38 Wild Boys.

Joe Rogan 1:09:39 Yeah.

Rob Lowe 1:09:40 I mean, he's a fucking straight-up killer. He's a terrifying human being, and he would come out to Duran Duran.

Joe Rogan 1:09:46 (laughs)

Rob Lowe 1:09:46 That's unbelievable.

Joe Rogan 1:09:48 (laughs) It's awesome.

Rob Lowe 1:09:48 That's-

Joe Rogan 1:09:49 I loved it. I was like, "That is the scariest human being on Earth that's a fucking Duran Duran fan."

Rob Lowe 1:09:53 W- W- Who's the guy, the, the, and, and this is gonna be like, "Who is the baseball player?" And you'll be like, "Babe Ruth?" "Yeah, that's him." But who's the, the fucking gnarly motherfucker from Hawaii? BJ Penn.

Joe Rogan 1:10:03 Oh, yeah, BJ.

Rob Lowe 1:10:05 Yeah,