EVERY SPOKEN WORD
150 min read · 30,006 words- 0:02 – 0:56
Austin vs. LA vibes: dining out, masks, and the ‘anxiety gap’
- NANarrator
(drumming) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out.
- TPTom Papa
The Joe Rogan Experience.
- JRJoe Rogan
Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night. All day. (rock music) Tom Papa, welcome to Real America. I'm glad you've gotten out of your liberal hidey-hole.
- TPTom Papa
(laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
You, you come here where you can eat at a real restaurant.
- TPTom Papa
It feels the same.
- JRJoe Rogan
Does it?
- TPTom Papa
It's ... Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
What do you mean it feels the same?
- TPTom Papa
Uh, it feels the same. I went to a restaurant and, uh, uh, you know. Is that what real life is now?
- JRJoe Rogan
It feels the same-
- TPTom Papa
Restaurant or not a restaurant?
- JRJoe Rogan
Feels the same where?
- TPTom Papa
(laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
As in, as it does in LA?
- TPTom Papa
Just walking around.
- JRJoe Rogan
LA feels the same as this place?
- TPTom Papa
Uh, kinda.
- JRJoe Rogan
That's not what you were just saying before we got on the air? What are you, a fucking propaganda?
- TPTom Papa
(laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
This guy comes here-
- TPTom Papa
No, I'll tell you what the difference is.
- JRJoe Rogan
... he's so different off air.
- TPTom Papa
I'll tell you what the difference is.
- JRJoe Rogan
He was saying y'all and all kinds of shit.
- TPTom Papa
(laughs)
- NANarrator
Don't you hide your guns.
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- 0:56 – 2:40
Trump’s COVID treatment and the “VIP medicine” conversation
- TPTom Papa
Eh. No, you know what I've found? I c- I'm here to eat with you by way of Denver.
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- TPTom Papa
And then, uh, and then to here, and they're all doing the same things, pretty much. You have a little more indoor, but everyone's masked up, everyone's doing thing, but there's less anxiety in these places.
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- TPTom Papa
There's, in LA-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- TPTom Papa
... there's, they keep the pressure turned up to scare you to get you to behave, so you do walk around feeling more trapped and more nervous.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah, but it's, it's not based on reality. It's not, it's not wise, it's not healthy.
- TPTom Papa
Well, the reality-
- JRJoe Rogan
Trump's 74 and he's fat and he kicked it in four days.
- TPTom Papa
(laughs) Yeah, but-
- JRJoe Rogan
I don't give a fuck what anybody says.
- TPTom Papa
What did they give that guy? They gave him everything.
- JRJoe Rogan
Why-
- TPTom Papa
He's the President of the United States.
- JRJoe Rogan
But, but it works. They have a thing, if you give him everything-
- TPTom Papa
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
... it works.
- TPTom Papa
Sure, but-
- JRJoe Rogan
It works for fat, old guys.
- TPTom Papa
(laughs) Yeah, but he's getting stuff that's very different from what you would get just walking into urgent care in Encino.
- JRJoe Rogan
Don't go to urgent care in Encino.
- TPTom Papa
(laughs) Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
Go to Cedars-Sinai. They'll hook you up with whatever he's got.
- TPTom Papa
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
Do you think they, like, what, uh, is he getting things that you can't get?
- TPTom Papa
Yes.
- JRJoe Rogan
In all seriousness?
- TPTom Papa
Uh, yeah. Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
Are you sure? How do you know that?
- 2:40 – 6:32
Election-year information chaos: fear narratives, global trends, and Sweden comparisons
- TPTom Papa
I literally, last night, because I literally was, like-
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- TPTom Papa
... there is definitely so much confusion because the, that side is ramping up the fear, 100%.
- JRJoe Rogan
Uh-huh. 100%.
- TPTom Papa
Making it scarier than it is so they can get him in, to be president. And the other side is definitely saying (laughs) , from, from Trump on down, "Don't worry about this thing," so it makes it look like we did a good job and the economy comes back and all that stuff. So I'm like sc- this cognitive dissonance, like, what is real, what ... I watched Tucker Carlson, he made sense for a minute.
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- TPTom Papa
And then I watched (laughs) I, I watched Anderson, he made sense for a minute, and I was like, let me lift off into the satellite and let me just look at the world.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- TPTom Papa
Let me see what's happening in the world.
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- TPTom Papa
Just, that's not involved in this election. Spain, France, Moscow, the Netherlands, all opened up a little too much and now are all putting restrictions back. Everything's spiked, coming back.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah, but if you wanna look at other countries, look at Sweden 'cause they opened up completely and they have less cases and now they're back to normal. They have no masks. You go to a bar, no one's ... Obviously it's a smaller country.
- TPTom Papa
Smaller country.
- JRJoe Rogan
Less-
- TPTom Papa
I mean, look-
- JRJoe Rogan
Less people.
- TPTom Papa
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
They, they live in different sort of circumstances. They have mostly smaller villages.
- TPTom Papa
Right.
- JRJoe Rogan
Other than Stockholm, but-
- TPTom Papa
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
... they're, they're fine.
- TPTom Papa
I know, but if you look at Spain and you look at France-
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- TPTom Papa
... and you look at Moscow, I mean, these places, n- there's no political agenda in these places. There's no political agenda. It's just they opened up and they said, "Let's go all open," and the cases skyrocketed and now they have to, like, bring it back a little bit. It's this ... The virus is a real thing eating all these extra humans. And, you know, it's-
- JRJoe Rogan
Eating all these extra humans? What the fuck? What are you saying?
- TPTom Papa
We-
- JRJoe Rogan
The virus is a real thing eating all these extra humans?
- TPTom Papa
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
What is that?
- 6:32 – 7:50
How long does a pandemic last—and what do lockdowns cost?
- JRJoe Rogan
How many businesses are we gonna lose between now and June, though? It, I think-
- TPTom Papa
I don't know.
- JRJoe Rogan
... that the real, the real issue is people putting restrictions on what people can and can't do. That's the real problem, is you, you're basically giving up your constitutional rights. And there's, there's no real protection for you this way, right? There's no real protection for your business. There's no real protection for your livelihood.
- TPTom Papa
Well-
- JRJoe Rogan
And even because, even with all this-
- TPTom Papa
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
... you're still dealing with other kinds of horrible deaths and other kinds of horrible things that go along with-
- TPTom Papa
Sure.
- JRJoe Rogan
... the economic despair.
- TPTom Papa
Sure.
- JRJoe Rogan
Like how many people are gonna die because of drug overdoses? How many people are gonna die-
- TPTom Papa
Or depression or suicide.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yes.
- TPTom Papa
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
So these have to be factored in too.
- TPTom Papa
They totally do. And I really get the feeling like, but there's a, there's the k- the middle ground.
- JRJoe Rogan
Right, but the middle-
- TPTom Papa
Between the CNN narrative and this Fox narrative, there is the r- there's the truth. And I s- I saw it in Portland, I saw it in Connecticut, I saw it in Salt Lake City.
- JRJoe Rogan
What are you seeing?
- TPTom Papa
I've performed in all these places. And they are all wearing masks, but their businesses are open.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yes.
- TPTom Papa
And they're testing-
- JRJoe Rogan
Well, that's what we should have had in LA a long time ago.
- TPTom Papa
Yes, they're testing, they've got the masks on, they're distancing. Like I ate in restaurants, but, you know, it's-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- TPTom Papa
... limited capacity. I performed in comedy clubs, half capacity. Uh-
- JRJoe Rogan
But here's the thing, man.
- TPTom Papa
Not just because of my comedic draw.
- JRJoe Rogan
I don't think-
- TPTom Papa
(laughs)
- 7:50 – 22:33
Masks, distancing, and airborne spread: what precautions actually matter?
- JRJoe Rogan
I don't think that that's scientific because there's aerosol. The, the, the virus is carried through the air now.
- TPTom Papa
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
This has pretty much been confirmed.
- TPTom Papa
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
They used to think it carried through droplets.
- TPTom Papa
Mm-hmm.
- JRJoe Rogan
Which is the reason for the whole six foot social distancing space.
- TPTom Papa
Uh-huh.
- JRJoe Rogan
They don't think that's the case anymore. They think it's airborne.
- TPTom Papa
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
So if that's the case, all that social distancing stuff is horse shit, because it's in the air.
- TPTom Papa
But not if you're social distanced and have a mask on.
- JRJoe Rogan
Th- I'm telling you, the social distancing thing doesn't mean anything anymore.
- TPTom Papa
Gotcha.
- JRJoe Rogan
What, what they're saying is-
- TPTom Papa
So you can be close with a mask?
- JRJoe Rogan
You can be-
- TPTom Papa
But you're still in a mask?
- JRJoe Rogan
A lot of these masks have holes in them.
- TPTom Papa
Well, yeah, but-
- JRJoe Rogan
A lot of these masks, like you see these paper masks that people have with the wire? There's an opening in the top, there's openings in the side.
- TPTom Papa
(laughs) There's a lot of sketchy masks.
- JRJoe Rogan
Now listen, I'm not saying it's not a good idea to wear a mask and maybe it reduces some of the droplets that go out.
- TPTom Papa
100%.
- JRJoe Rogan
Maybe. I'm not a scientist and neither are you.
- TPTom Papa
I am not.
- JRJoe Rogan
But what I am saying is, I don't know how much ... I think what you're getting is, you're getting a lot of people that are healthy and they're going out and they don't have it, and they're not giving it to anybody 'cause they don't have it, and you're getting away with it. And everybody's wearing masks and it's good to be cautious. But I don't necessarily know if you were in a room filled with people who had COVID and you ... Un- unless you had an N95 mask-
- TPTom Papa
Mm-hmm.
- JRJoe Rogan
... un- unless you have a real mask. I don't know if those fucking cloth masks are gonna help you.
- TPTom Papa
Eh, I think they work. I mean, 'cause look. You, you look at these places.
- 22:33 – 29:18
Travel snapshots and state-by-state policy culture (Newsom, Florida, and comedy shutdowns)
- TPTom Papa
No, but I was, I was like... But by the way, I leave... Uh, the reason I started, like, even looking at, like, the perception of it all and trying to look at it in a global way is 'cause it is confusing. It's, it's... This whole thing is very confusing. And that we're in the middle of a election makes it so confusing because everyone's using whatever little information they have to their advantage. But there's also the confusion of... I'm in LA. I go to LAX. Joe, I could have gotten there five minutes before my flight.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- TPTom Papa
I'm the only guy going through security. I'm... Walk right up to the gate and get on the plane. Like, no wait at... No traffic going down.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- TPTom Papa
No wait at all. That's unheard of. And I land in Denver. It's like it's 2018. Packed. You know that big-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah, that's real America, Tom.
- TPTom Papa
You, you know-
- JRJoe Rogan
That's what I was telling you.
- TPTom Papa
(laughs) I know.
- JRJoe Rogan
You're living in this bullshit, liberal, communist, Marxist-
- TPTom Papa
(laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
... phony state. It's a nation-state.
- TPTom Papa
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
And it's controlled by a dictator named Gavin Newsom.
- TPTom Papa
(laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
And he wants you to be poor.
- TPTom Papa
Why would he want me to be poor?
- JRJoe Rogan
Because he wants more hair. He wants, he wants to use your money to grow his hair thicker.
- TPTom Papa
You ever see his sexy shot? Have you ever-
- JRJoe Rogan
He has a sexy shot?
- TPTom Papa
Y- You ever saw the sexy shot? Who is the woman that gave the... That he used to date who's now on the Trump, uh... She, she gave-
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh, that was his wife.
- TPTom Papa
Yeah. That was his wife?
- JRJoe Rogan
Donald Trump's junior's girlfriend is his ex-wife.
- TPTom Papa
His... Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- TPTom Papa
Which I had no idea. Did you ever see the sexy shots that they made together?
- JRJoe Rogan
Before he ruined San Francisco-
- TPTom Papa
(laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
... they were together.
- 29:18 – 37:58
The Comedy Store documentary: legacy, difficulty, and why it shapes comics
- TPTom Papa
And, uh, I mean, doing the shows was so great. Oh, The Comedy Store, uh, documentary.
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- TPTom Papa
I got to see it for my radio show. I got to see all the way through. They s- sent it to me in advance. It's really good.
- JRJoe Rogan
It's heavy.
- TPTom Papa
It's really great. It's... There's a real depth to it. Your part is amazing. And, uh, uh, it's just amazing. Like, what you did for that club was... Yeah, everybody kind of knows, like, how you had such an impact on it. But actually seeing it... You know, we're with you all the time and you see the... But seeing, like, the... In a documentary style, starting with the Mencia of it and getting to now.
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- TPTom Papa
Man, that made me want to kiss you right on the lips. (laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs) Is that a threat? He's threatening me now. Jesus, Jamie.
- TPTom Papa
Really, Joe.
- JRJoe Rogan
He's come here.
- TPTom Papa
It really is such a great thing-
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh.
- TPTom Papa
Because to have such a historic place that was so bright and great and then really decimated and fell on its ass...... and you're really the force that brought it back to this. Was like, oh, it was, it was just great. It was so great. And watching your story was really, really cool.
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh, thanks, man.
- TPTom Papa
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
It was, it was heavy. It was weird to make. I cried a bunch of times thinking about Mitzi.
- TPTom Papa
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
You know?
- TPTom Papa
Yeah, man.
- JRJoe Rogan
Thinking about the old days, about what it was like to come there.
- TPTom Papa
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
You know, just to, to be a paid regular there. It's, uh, you know, it's such a polarizing place. So many people have a, a negative impression of it-
- TPTom Papa
Mm-hmm.
- JRJoe Rogan
... because it's such a difficult club and there's so many killers there, and a lot of people just didn't feel like they got the respect that they deserved there. But it, it's, it's not the case. You just, it's, you needed a higher level.
- TPTom Papa
It's hard. It's-
- JRJoe Rogan
You, you, you're going up, you're on a lineup with 15 murderers-
- TPTom Papa
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
... and everyone's killing in front of you.
- TPTom Papa
(laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
And there's a lot of people that would go there and they would have, like, sort of mediocre sets, and they would be upset 'cause they had a career. Like, they'd be on television shows.
- 37:58 – 48:44
Comedy community changes: podcasts, less gatekeeping, and the end of ‘famine mentality’
- JRJoe Rogan
And I- I think- I- I attribute that to the internet and I attribute that to podcasts, because I felt like it was a time of bounty.
- TPTom Papa
Mm-hmm.
- JRJoe Rogan
There wa- it wasn't a time of famine. And in the past, it was everyone had this famine mentality.
- TPTom Papa
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
Because, like, if you got a sitcom and I was trying out for the same part, I felt like you took something from you, like-
- TPTom Papa
Right.
- JRJoe Rogan
... "Fuck, there's only one part in a sitcom and Tom got it." Or if you were trying out for a game show or you're trying out for a talk show-
- TPTom Papa
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
... and there's, you know, five of us are out for it and one of us gets it, so there's this weird creepy competitiveness.
- TPTom Papa
Right.
- JRJoe Rogan
And if you were on a morning radio show and then there was a guy who's across town that was on the radio the same time, you weren't his buddy.
- TPTom Papa
Right.
- JRJoe Rogan
Like, we're friends-
- TPTom Papa
Right.
- JRJoe Rogan
... and we also have podcasts.
- TPTom Papa
Right.
- JRJoe Rogan
And I tell people, "Listen to Tom Papa's podcast."
- TPTom Papa
Right.
- JRJoe Rogan
"Listen to Tom Papa's radio show."
- TPTom Papa
Right.
- JRJoe Rogan
"Listen to Fortune Femston and Tom Papa on the- on Sirius."
- TPTom Papa
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
"They're- they're both great."
- TPTom Papa
There's a camaraderie.
- JRJoe Rogan
There's a different thing now.
- TPTom Papa
It's very true.
- JRJoe Rogan
Like, we support each other.
- TPTom Papa
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
Like, I don't think of you and Fortune as being competitors. I think of you as being my friends.
- TPTom Papa
Oh, you should.
- 48:44 – 59:19
Sitcom era war stories: pilots, development deals, NewsRadio, and creative control
- JRJoe Rogan
Or even Newsradio, like-
- TPTom Papa
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
... that was a, that was a great show to kinda check your ego, because I was only one of eight people. And the other people, especially Phil Hartman and Dave Foley, were much more famous than me.
- TPTom Papa
Sure.
- JRJoe Rogan
And much more talented.
- TPTom Papa
Right.
- JRJoe Rogan
And it was like, it was in a... It was like I had an opportunity to do, like, an apprenticeship. Like, I had an opportunity to learn what it's like to act. I had, I'd never taken... I took a few acting classes-
- TPTom Papa
Right.
- JRJoe Rogan
... private lessons, when I had gotten a development deal, but I'd never acted.
- TPTom Papa
Right. (laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
And then, all of a sudden, a couple of months later, I'm on TV. Like, literally.
- TPTom Papa
Geez.
- JRJoe Rogan
Very little preparation, and I'm sitting there next to Phil Hartman-
- TPTom Papa
(laughs) It's so crazy.
- JRJoe Rogan
... on a TV show, that if you watch those old Newsradios, it looks like it.
- TPTom Papa
(laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
Like-
- TPTom Papa
(laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
... because my character had to be kind of, like, kinda innocent and stupid-
- TPTom Papa
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
... and, uh, and, and I was, like, really into conspiracies, which they made-
- TPTom Papa
(laughs) That's so funny.
- JRJoe Rogan
... because of me-
- TPTom Papa
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
... 'cause I really was really into conspiracies. They kinda turned my character that way. But while I was there, I was kinda like, "Huh, is this really happening?" Like, even while I was doing it, I was like-
- TPTom Papa
Well, that's what's wild about it is, a lot of moments in this career-
- JRJoe Rogan
Look at me. I'm so cute.
- TPTom Papa
Oh, adorable.
- JRJoe Rogan
Fresh-faced 27-year-old.
- TPTom Papa
Looking back, 27?
- 59:19 – 1:09:18
‘The Social Dilemma’ and algorithmic polarization: outrage, bubbles, and search manipulation
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh, but you know what I did wanna talk to you about?
- TPTom Papa
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
I watched The Social Dilemma.
- TPTom Papa
Oh, geez.
- JRJoe Rogan
Dude.
- TPTom Papa
You know-
- JRJoe Rogan
That's a must-see, kids.
- TPTom Papa
I heard it's depressing.
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh, so is real life.
- TPTom Papa
Because it's so real.
- JRJoe Rogan
Real life's depressing, Tom.
- TPTom Papa
(laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
What's the use? Everything's gonna be fine. Wear a mask. I live in communist Russia.
- TPTom Papa
(laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
Wear a mask. Trust me. Gavin Newsom's penis tastes delicious. We're all gonna be fine.
- TPTom Papa
(laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- TPTom Papa
We are gonna be fine. You think we exist on this plane and this plane only?
- JRJoe Rogan
Ooh, that's heavy. No. No, because I've done a lot of drugs. I think there's probably something else.
- TPTom Papa
You've seen.
- JRJoe Rogan
I think there's something-
- TPTom Papa
You know.
- JRJoe Rogan
... I think there's something else out there, but just inaccessible right now.
- TPTom Papa
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
But this Social Dilemma makes me very concerned about the future. Because all of these technologists and all of these people that have invented all this stuff that now are very unhappy-
- TPTom Papa
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
... it's really fascinating-
- TPTom Papa
And they're not-
- JRJoe Rogan
... to see them discussing their own creations and then see outsiders who are also technologists who didn't, didn't invent these things, but are seeing the patterns in these things and understand it from, you know, a- a- a really educated perspective. They're- they're saying this could lead to civil war. Like, people are getting more and more divided. And it shows in the film how social media has made people far more polarized, far more divided than ever before. The- the red and the blue and then this and-
- TPTom Papa
Sure.
Episode duration: 3:00:58
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