Joe Rogan Experience #1775 - Dave Smith

1. 0:00 – 1:12

   Back in Texas: touring with Rogan and the “most important man” joke

   1. NANarrator0:00

      (drumbeats) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out.

   2. The Joe Rogan Experience. (guitar strums)

   3. JRJoe Rogan0:06

      Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night. All day. (rock music plays) All right. David Smith, how the fuck are you?

   4. DSDave Smith0:14

      Very good, sir. Thank you for-

   5. JRJoe Rogan0:15

      Cheers.

   6. DSDave Smith0:15

      ... having me back.

   7. JRJoe Rogan0:16

      Cheers, sir. Mm. (glass clunks) Always good to see you. Fuck.

   8. DSDave Smith0:21

      You, too.

   9. JRJoe Rogan0:22

      Last night was fun.

   10. DSDave Smith0:23

       Yeah, it was great.

   11. JRJoe Rogan0:24

       Good times. And, uh, tonight should be fun, too.

   12. DSDave Smith0:26

       Hell yeah.

   13. JRJoe Rogan0:27

       Hell yeah.

   14. DSDave Smith0:27

       Doin' ... Doin' gigs out in Texas-

   15. JRJoe Rogan0:29

       (laughs)

   16. DSDave Smith0:29

       ... with Joe Rogan, right when things are all calm for you and relaxed, and-

   17. JRJoe Rogan0:32

       Everything's great. Normal.

   18. DSDave Smith0:35

       (laughs)

   19. JRJoe Rogan0:36

       (laughs)

   20. DSDave Smith0:36

       Well, did you see yourself becoming the most important man in the universe? (laughs)

   21. JRJoe Rogan0:39

       That's not real. (laughs)

   22. DSDave Smith0:41

       (laughs)

   23. JRJoe Rogan0:41

       It's ... It's just, uh, attention.

   24. DSDave Smith0:44

       No.

   25. JRJoe Rogan0:45

       Of course not. Who the fuck could ... would ever see that?

   26. DSDave Smith0:47

       Yeah. It was pretty unbelievable. You ... You've took the logical progression from being, you know, a stand-up comedian to an MMA analyst to bringing down the entire regime in the United States of America. (laughs)

   27. JRJoe Rogan0:59

       Pssh, I'm not bringing down any regimes. I'm not gonna-

   28. DSDave Smith1:01

       Well, I can ... I can wish.

   29. JRJoe Rogan1:02

       Yeah, well, you ... That's you, though. You're that libertarian cynicist who-

   30. DSDave Smith1:07

       I don't think of it as ... I think it ... I was-
2. 1:12 – 1:38

   “Burn it all down” vs. the Bill of Rights: mocking extreme activist logic

   1. JRJoe Rogan1:12

      Well, what the fuck replaces it? All those, uh, like all the, the crazy Antifa people that wanna burn it all down, and like, "We gotta destroy democracy," like, w- ... And replace it with what?

   2. DSDave Smith1:22

      Well, that's a g- ... That's a h- ... Uh, yeah, I think for them, like, the CHAZ or something. I don't know exactly, but-

   3. JRJoe Rogan1:26

      Yes, remember that?

   4. DSDave Smith1:27

      Yeah, I don't think that's gonna be much better. But I'd be okay with maybe, like, something crazy, like, uh, like, the Bill of Rights.

   5. JRJoe Rogan1:34

      Oh.

   6. DSDave Smith1:35

      I'd be c- ... That'd be cool-

   7. JRJoe Rogan1:35

      Yeah.

   8. DSDave Smith1:35

      ... just to have ... I'd ... I'd be okay taking a step back toward that.

3. 1:38 – 3:26

   Fatphobia discourse and therapy culture: when ideology becomes clinical advice

   1. JRJoe Rogan1:38

      But it's that, that attitude about bringing it all down. One of my favorite ones -- I know I sent you this before, Jamey -- it's this woman who said, "To stop p- ... f- ... fatphobia, we have to de- ... t- ... destroy Western civilization." (laughs)

   2. DSDave Smith1:52

      That seems a little extreme.

   3. JRJoe Rogan1:54

      (laughs)

   4. DSDave Smith1:54

      Do it.

   5. JRJoe Rogan1:55

      But it's that kind of ... But that's my point is that, like, that is the attitude, that it's so silly, you know, that they're saying something, like, where you ... Like, you haven't thought this through at all. Like, you don't have a real plan, but you just don't want people to make fun of you being fat, so you think that the best way to handle this is to destroy Western civilization. I'm trying to find it.

   6. DSDave Smith2:16

      It ... It's gonna be really disappointing when-

   7. JRJoe Rogan2:17

      Yeah, there it is.

   8. DSDave Smith2:18

      ... uh, when she destroys Western civilization and then finds out people still make fun of her for being fat.

   9. JRJoe Rogan2:22

      Look at this. "To end fatphobia, we need to dismantle Western civilization," says Philly therapist. (exhales deeply)

   10. DSDave Smith2:29

       Can you imagine someone who really needs a therapist and that's who you get as your therapist?

   11. JRJoe Rogan2:33

       (laughs)

   12. DSDave Smith2:33

       Like, I feel like ... I feel like she would definitely force that into therapy. Like, you're like, "I don't know. I never really communicated with my father," and she's like, "Do you think we need to destroy Western civilization?"

   13. JRJoe Rogan2:42

       But it's like if you just tell her, like, "Ma'am, if you just lost weight, you'd be feeling better. You'd be better. It'd be better for ev- ... It would ... You would have less disease."

   14. DSDave Smith2:53

       Yeah.

   15. JRJoe Rogan2:53

       "You'd have less problems. Your joints wouldn't hurt. You'd have more energy."

   16. DSDave Smith2:57

       Yes, it would be objectively better.

   17. JRJoe Rogan2:59

       For all ... e- ... everything about your life, all aspects of your life. You'd be happier. Your hormones would work better. Your whole endocrine system would function more fluidly. Your heart would work better. You'd feel better.

   18. DSDave Smith3:13

       We, uh ... Some ... Somewhere along the line in this country, we, we became allergic to harsh truths. Like, anything that just is like, "Look, this is the truth, but it's probably not gonna make you feel warm and mushy to hear this."

4. 3:26 – 5:51

   Adele, gender-neutral spaces, and the demand for universal conformity

   1. JRJoe Rogan3:26

      Yeah. I'mma ... I got another one. I gotta send Jamey this right now 'cause it's so fucking stupid. It is, uh ... Adele got in trouble last night. This is like ... (laughs) What are ... What is happening? This ... Ugh. Like, this is ... Uh, this literally makes no sense. So Adele did this ... I mean, I don't even ... what you ... what you would call it. They were calling it gender neutral, some gender-neutral thing, and she talked about how much she loved being a woman, and they, they were mad at her.

   2. DSDave Smith3:54

      (sighs) That's very offensive.

   3. JRJoe Rogan3:55

      They slammed her. She was slammed for telling a gender-neutral award show that she loves being a woman. Like ... (laughs) You can't love being a woman.

   4. DSDave Smith4:04

      It's horrible.

   5. JRJoe Rogan4:05

      You ... You have to be gender-neutral like us. Be like us. We're so tolerant.

   6. DSDave Smith4:12

      (laughs)

   7. JRJoe Rogan4:12

      I'm ... I'm appalled. She loves being a woman? That's-

   8. DSDave Smith4:14

      That's ... That's outrageous.

   9. JRJoe Rogan4:15

      ... so intolerant.

   10. DSDave Smith4:16

       Yeah, really.

   11. JRJoe Rogan4:16

       She should be tolerant and just be like them only.

   12. DSDave Smith4:19

       (sighs) Jesus.

   13. JRJoe Rogan4:19

       And only think like them. All the, the they/them people, she should only be like them.

   14. DSDave Smith4:24

       Yeah. That's a ... That's a ... It's a very, um, insane request. You know what I mean? Like-

   15. JRJoe Rogan4:30

       Yeah.

   16. DSDave Smith4:30

       It's ... I think it's a reasonable request to say, "Hey, listen, I don't fit into these norms and I would like to not be treated, you know, like, mistreated for that."

   17. JRJoe Rogan4:39

       Yes. Yes.

   18. DSDave Smith4:39

       That is a reasonable request.

   19. JRJoe Rogan4:41

       Sure.

   20. DSDave Smith4:41

       To say that, "I demand that everybody else also does not fit into the norms," which the vast majority of human beings, like the vast, vast, vast majority consider themselves to be one of these two genders.

   21. JRJoe Rogan4:54

       Yeah. Yeah.

   22. DSDave Smith4:55

       So, th- ... To demand that they stop doing that-

   23. JRJoe Rogan4:57

       (laughs)

   24. DSDave Smith4:58

       ... so that you're more comfortable is a b- ... That's a ... It's like if someone is in a wheelchair and they're like, "Hey, I ... I'd really appreciate it if you built a ramp," or, "I'd appreciate it if you don't, like ... you know? I don't know." Something. But if they go, "I'd like everybody else to sit in a wheelchair and wheel around also."

   25. JRJoe Rogan5:12

       Right. That's the only-

   26. DSDave Smith5:13

       The only-

   27. JRJoe Rogan5:13

       ... way you can get around.

   28. DSDave Smith5:14

       That seems a bit unrealistic.

   29. JRJoe Rogan5:17

       Well, it's ... This is apparently a gender-neutral award show, which I don't understand, and I don't understand why she said yes going to it.

   30. NANarrator5:24

       I'm als- ... I'm looking at the, uh, response to it. It says the audience gave support, and then all of the re- ... the slams are coming from Twitter.
5. 5:51 – 8:56

   Woke outrage as a corporate distraction and a broken “hierarchy of outrage”

   1. DSDave Smith5:51

      You know, it's like the reason, though, why all of this, like, woke insanity is so pushed by all of the big corporations and by the, the media and, like, all this stuff is 'cause doesn't it just serve as the perfect distraction? Like, while everything's crumbling and there's so many real things ... Like, the, the 20th century for the United States of America has been a disaster thus far.... like, is coming from being the most powerful country in the world, coming out of, say, like, the '90s-

   2. JRJoe Rogan6:17

      Mm-hmm.

   3. DSDave Smith6:17

      ... to, what is it? 2001, starts with 9/11, then, like, seven disastrous wars, the worst recession in 100 years or something like that. The- D- Donald Trump gets elected. There's COVID, there's this- the shutdowns, this whole thing, it's like a disaster. And they're like, "What we really need to talk about, what we need to focus on is that this woman said she loves being a woman the other day, and I find that very problematic." That w- if you were, like, one of the... You know, if you're, like, one of these corporate, you know, uh, uh, big corporations or some hedge fund manager or something, that's just... I'm just saying, it's awfully convenient.

   4. JRJoe Rogan6:49

      It's a very good distraction.

   5. DSDave Smith6:50

      Yeah.

   6. JRJoe Rogan6:50

      It does keep you from concentrating on it, and one of the things that I was talking about last night, right?

   7. DSDave Smith6:54

      A- and the thing is that, (sighs) like, to actually think about that, number one, it requires you actually think. It requires you actually, you know, n- watch something or read something and know what's going on. Then, it also might require that you reflect on yourself and what role you play in all of this.

   8. JRJoe Rogan7:10

      Right.

   9. DSDave Smith7:10

      You're like, "I'm quite happy to ignore that and just have my new cool phone." Whereas, just being outraged about someone saying a word you don't think they're supposed to say, that's easy.

   10. JRJoe Rogan7:19

       Yeah.

   11. DSDave Smith7:19

       It takes no... It takes no sacrifice, no introspection, nothing. So, it- people just focus on that. But we have an, uh, an unbelievable problem in this culture with our hierarchy of outrage.

   12. JRJoe Rogan7:30

       Mm.

   13. DSDave Smith7:31

       It's not that even some things maybe aren't wrong or you shouldn't be upset about them, but, like, where does this rank-

   14. JRJoe Rogan7:36

       Right.

   15. DSDave Smith7:37

       ... in terms of other outrages?

   16. JRJoe Rogan7:38

       Yeah.

   17. DSDave Smith7:38

       I mean, like, there- there could just be like a... It's like, oh, there was a... The Biden administration had a drone bomb, you know, killed like six innocent people, and that's like the 1,037th thing-

   18. JRJoe Rogan7:49

       Yeah.

   19. DSDave Smith7:49

       ... that people are outraged about today. And, uh, the number one thing is just always something that's like, this shouldn't, this should not even be in competition with that.

   20. JRJoe Rogan7:57

       Right.

   21. DSDave Smith7:57

       Like, what are we talking about here?

   22. JRJoe Rogan7:59

       Like, The Rock pretended to be a Chinese guy 13 years ago.

   23. DSDave Smith8:02

       Yeah.

   24. JRJoe Rogan8:02

       We need to go after him now.

   25. DSDave Smith8:03

       But man, that video of you commentating while he does it is hilarious.

   26. JRJoe Rogan8:07

       (laughs)

   27. DSDave Smith8:07

       God bless the internet.

   28. JRJoe Rogan8:09

       The internet is amazing.

   29. DSDave Smith8:09

       God bless the geniuses on the internet.

   30. JRJoe Rogan8:11

       It's amaze- Well, they, they... When you step out and you, you say something silly and he said something silly.
6. 8:56 – 19:03

   Why audiences trust Rogan (and distrust CNN): authenticity vs. performance

   1. JRJoe Rogan8:56

      Something happened, and I don't know if it's attention. There's something that happens to people. It's very difficult to stay the course and be who you are. And I say this as a person who gets about as much attention as anybody gets, like, alive. You- It's hard, 'cause so many people are looking at you. And also, I have, like, managers and shit, and they're like, "D- should you really do this?" And "Should you really do that?" And they talk to me on the phone, I go, "Hey, hey, hey, gotta go, I'm high." Click.

   2. DSDave Smith9:24

      (laughs)

   3. JRJoe Rogan9:25

      I'm like, "What are you t- I'm not changing."

   4. DSDave Smith9:26

      Right.

   5. JRJoe Rogan9:26

      Like, I'm not changing anything about what I do. I'm a good person, I'm a nice guy. But if you're asking me to like, become something different because people are paying attention, like, well, I'm out, 'cause that's not what I signed up for. I signed up to just be myself. But something happens to a lot of people when they get a lot of attention where they start to lean towards the things that get them the most attention, or lean towards the things they feel like get them the most support. Or, they start to react to the reactions of other people, and then they become reactionaries. They become different than who they really are. And one of the things is they lose their ability to have a charitable take on things. They lose their ability to be compassionate for other people, and they start looking at things very ideologically, very dogmatically, and they start falling into these traps. And you'll see it with right-wing people, you see it with left-wing people. And they- they- they get... Somehow or another, they feel like their emotions and outrage and yelling and- and- and being insulting, it enhances what they're saying.

   6. DSDave Smith10:31

      Yeah.

   7. JRJoe Rogan10:32

      It enhances their take on things. And it doesn't. It doesn't, it doesn't work. Like, you should be maturing as y- you're sh- you're, uh, it's okay to be outraged, it's okay to insult people, but it's like, it should have, like, weight to it. It should make sense. And when you're doing it and it doesn't make sense, come on. Like, what are you... You- d- do you not have a filter? D- Are you having too many other people influence you? Uh, do you not have any meditation time? Like, why are you changing? Like, what are- what are you becoming?

   8. DSDave Smith11:00

      Or, is it something more sinister than that? Which I- I think it is for some people where it's like, you know exactly what you're doing. You don't even really believe in this-

   9. JRJoe Rogan11:09

      Oh, yeah.

   10. DSDave Smith11:09

       ... you know, this outrage.

   11. JRJoe Rogan11:10

       Yeah.

   12. DSDave Smith11:10

       But this is a convenient way for you to kind of pile on and kind of take out your enemies, so to speak.

   13. JRJoe Rogan11:16

       There's a lot of people like that, yeah.

   14. DSDave Smith11:17

       You know?

   15. JRJoe Rogan11:17

       There's a lot of people like that. The- the insincerity, that's- that's dark. It's so sad. Like, 'cause like people are looking... But that's also why it doesn't- it's not very effective and it's not p- very popular. Like, it's kinda popular with some casuals, but it loses support. Because if people don't feel s- you're sincere, if they don't... You can be wrong, but you have to be honest. Like, you- who are you?

   16. DSDave Smith11:39

       Wh-

   17. JRJoe Rogan11:39

       Like, who, I don't- I wanna know who you are. I don't mind flawed people. Every fucking person I love dearly is flawed. All of 'em. I like flawed people. I don't mind flaws, but I wanna know what you're thinking. Like, why are you thinking what you're thinking? Are you thinking what you're thinking because you've thought it out? Is it your op- opinion today and tomorrow you might come along and go, "You know what? I thought about what I said, and now I think differently because this, that, and the other." And okay, good.

   18. DSDave Smith12:02

       Yeah.

   19. JRJoe Rogan12:02

       Now I like, I- I like you even more, 'cause now I know I can trust you to, uh, s- course correct. I can trust you to be honest about your missteps or why you were thinking a way that, and upon further consideration, you revised your opinion. But if I think you're bullshitting me, if I think you're doing something because you're just trying to get attention, fuck all the way off. I'm not interested now.

   20. DSDave Smith12:25

       So I think you, I think you just hit on, like, exactly...... really the essence of why you're so big and the essence of why the corporate press hates you so much, is that you, you have this connection with your audience where they know... It's not like your audience thinks you're right about everything. They know you're not lying to them. And that's a really important distinction. It's not necessarily... Like, you might be wrong about some stuff. And you often will admit. You're just like, "I got this wrong." Or whatever.

   21. JRJoe Rogan12:53

       For sure.

   22. DSDave Smith12:53

       You'll correct yourself in real time. But they know you're not lying to them. And people can smell that, like on a, on an instinctual level.

   23. JRJoe Rogan12:59

       Yeah.

   24. DSDave Smith12:59

       You watch CNN and you know they're lying to you. They're not even attempting to have an honest conversation. This isn't-

   25. JRJoe Rogan13:05

       Haven't you seen Russell Brand do Brian Stelter?

   26. DSDave Smith13:06

       Oh, so true.

   27. JRJoe Rogan13:08

       (laughs)

   28. DSDave Smith13:08

       (laughs) Oh, have I seen it? I've seen it.

   29. JRJoe Rogan13:11

       Please watch, please, please- (laughs)

   30. DSDave Smith13:12

       I've climaxed to it. I mean, it's the greatest thing ever.
7. 19:03 – 28:59

   Ivermectin framing, Gupta’s constraints, and the fight over COVID narratives

   1. JRJoe Rogan19:03

      He didn't totally say that. He, he, that's actually kind of a confusing thing. You could look at that out of context, and I think Sanjay Gupta is a good man. What happened was, he was talking to Don Lemon-

   2. DSDave Smith19:16

      (laughs)

   3. JRJoe Rogan19:16

      ... and Don Lemon said that it is true that these drugs are used in, like, as whatever, I'm paraphrasing, in a veterinary application.

   4. DSDave Smith19:26

      Right.

   5. JRJoe Rogan19:26

      And then he said, "Yes, it is," but, and then he wanted to keep talking, so he's like, "It's not a lie." But he was trying to ta- but Don Lemon would talk over him. And also, he's doing the thing remotely. And if you've never, if you've never experienced this before, what happens is you put a ear thing in. It's like if Dave and I were in another city and we were doing a show remotely, like on CNN, he would talk to me and there would be a slight delay and then I would hear him and I would talk to him. That slight delay ruins all flow.

   6. DSDave Smith19:55

      I, I've done those things several times. You're right about that. It is a very weird thing. Oftentimes, you don't see the person you're talking to.

   7. JRJoe Rogan20:02

      Right.

   8. DSDave Smith20:02

      Sometimes they have them up on a monitor, but a lot of times you don't.

   9. JRJoe Rogan20:03

      Usually it's just like right into a camera.

   10. DSDave Smith20:05

       You're, it's very awkward. However, he could have. Uh, you're right. He didn't really do it. It was Don Lemon who was kinda using him as a prop to, to do it.

   11. JRJoe Rogan20:13

       "Actually, it's really-"

   12. DSDave Smith20:14

       But-

   13. JRJoe Rogan20:14

       "... true that it is a veterinary medicine. It is a horse dewormer."

   14. DSDave Smith20:17

       But you know what he didn't do? What Gupta didn't do? And I don't know him. Is, you say he's a good guy. Like, okay. But what he didn't do, which he could've, is said, "No. We shouldn't have said that about him."

   15. JRJoe Rogan20:27

       Yeah.

   16. DSDave Smith20:27

       "That, that shouldn't have been said."

   17. JRJoe Rogan20:28

       He's protecting-

   18. DSDave Smith20:28

       And which would be very easy to do.

   19. JRJoe Rogan20:30

       I-

   20. DSDave Smith20:31

       E, that takes the minimum amount of integrity to just go, "No, you know what? It was really misleading to say that the guy was taking horse medicine. That is not true."

   21. JRJoe Rogan20:39

       He is a, he's an academic and he's a neurosurgeon. Like he's a practicing neurosurgeon. I mean, you are, we're talking about a guy who's working like 100 hours a week.

   22. DSDave Smith20:48

       Right.

   23. JRJoe Rogan20:48

       Like no bullshit. He's a legit doctor.

   24. DSDave Smith20:51

       Yeah.

   25. JRJoe Rogan20:51

       And a good person. Like I've talked to him off air. He's a good person. Not everybody has that kind of ability to confront things, especially when you're dealing with a, like a, an enormous structure like CNN that is, uh, overbearing. And you're talking to a guy like Don Lemon, who's a big personality, who's like the-

   26. DSDave Smith21:11

       Yeah.

   27. JRJoe Rogan21:11

       Now he's the head guy. He's the head guy there. Like Brian Stelter's c- like, you know. D- Don Lemon is probably like the most trusted guy there.

   28. DSDave Smith21:18

       Now that, now that Cuomo's gone.

   29. JRJoe Rogan21:19

       It's really Jake Tapper is the only guy that I think is like a legit journalist. Like yeah, when I listen to Jake Tapper I don't find... I don't ever see him say things that I think are just fucking ridiculous and disingenuous. I think he's as legit as they get over there. But it's like, how legit can you be over there?

   30. DSDave Smith21:34

       And also, I guess, maybe in defense, k- half in defense of Dr. Gupta, would be that there would be consequences to pay if he did that.
8. 28:59 – 31:58

   Inside the media bubble: Dave’s CNN experience and the ‘don’t talk about war’ rule

   1. JRJoe Rogan28:59

      Yeah.

   2. DSDave Smith28:59

      ... with a lot of different people. So part of it is that... And I've experienced this a little bit when I've, like, kind of been in, in little bits and pieces in the corporate press world. It's a very insulated bubble.

   3. JRJoe Rogan29:11

      Well, you should talk about that-

   4. DSDave Smith29:12

      I mean-

   5. JRJoe Rogan29:12

      ... the time when you used to work with S.E. Cupp.

   6. DSDave Smith29:15

      Yeah, yeah. So-

   7. JRJoe Rogan29:16

      And you did a thing with Brian Stelter. (laughs)

   8. DSDave Smith29:17

      Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I, I met all these guys. I did, I did panels with them. I was... Uh, so I was a, uh-

   9. JRJoe Rogan29:22

      Why did they stop calling you? (laughs)

   10. DSDave Smith29:24

       Well, I was... Uh, so basically what happened was I got, uh, hired by, um, S.E. Cupp to be a contributor on the show.

   11. JRJoe Rogan29:31

       I like her a lot, by the way.

   12. DSDave Smith29:32

       She is, I will say, very different politics than, than her. Um.

   13. JRJoe Rogan29:36

       Yes.

   14. DSDave Smith29:36

       But she was nothing but great to me and-

   15. JRJoe Rogan29:38

       Yeah.

   16. DSDave Smith29:38

       ... gave, gave me an opportunity on her show, and I'm very grateful for that.

   17. JRJoe Rogan29:41

       She conf- she holds herself up with dignity.

   18. DSDave Smith29:43

       She-

   19. JRJoe Rogan29:44

       Like she always does.

   20. DSDave Smith29:44

       She is a... I mean-

   21. JRJoe Rogan29:45

       She conducts herself very well.

   22. DSDave Smith29:46

       I don't know her super well. Like, we did the show together a lot. I was doing it, like, several times a week, and we, we would do the show together and work together. We never, like, hung out or anything like that, so I don't know. But she was n- always nothing but very nice to me, and I really liked working for her.

   23. JRJoe Rogan29:58

       Yeah.

   24. DSDave Smith29:59

       She was very nice. Um, I think she's wrong about a lot. But, um, but so they hired me, uh, a- at her... Uh, she had a show called Unfiltered, and I was one of the contributors on it. And I think they had no idea what they were getting with me.

   25. JRJoe Rogan30:13

       (laughs)

   26. DSDave Smith30:13

       I think they were like, they were like, "Oh, Dave's like a standup comic and he makes jokes about politics, so perfect. He'll come in here and be funny." And they... Dude, I mean, they, they had... When it first started, they had a segment at the end of the show where every contributor got to bring their own topic, you know, like their own... Like, "Here's the topic I want to talk about, and this is what's going on in the news." And I... They literally called me at one point 'cause like four days in a row, I had talked about the war in Yemen.... that was like, all I wanted to talk about every single time. I was like, "This is the worst thing in the world. It's the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world. Hundreds of thousands of people are dying. Babies are like, vomiting themselves to death, and it's all 'cause America is supporting the Saudi-led war over there. We could end this in a day with a phone call." And then it'd be like, tomorrow, "What do you wanna talk about?" It'd be like, "Well, the war in Yemen's still going on and babies are dying and we could end this with a phone call." And they're like... The fourth day, they were like, "You have to talk about something else. You have to pick a different story." And then the fifth day, I went in and I was like, "The war in Syria is all America's fault."

   27. JRJoe Rogan31:10

       (laughs)

   28. DSDave Smith31:10

       "And babies are dying, and we could end this in a day." And then like, uh, they stopped doing that segment where the contributors got to pick their story at the end.

   29. JRJoe Rogan31:18

       Oh, wow.

   30. DSDave Smith31:18

       I don't know if it was because of me, but I think it was because of me. But I had some fun moments on there, um, where I'd get to like, argue with, with all of 'em. And then like, as it went on and on, I think it just, uh, I think it just wasn't helping her and she didn't wa-... They just, they started using me less and less and, uh, they, they did renew my contract. I had a six-months contract and they, they renewed me for another six months. But then by the end, they just stopped letting me talk about war. Like, if war came up, I just wouldn't be on the panel anymore.
9. 31:58 – 46:24

   Stelter, conspiracies, and real abuses of power: Northwoods and indefinite detention

   1. DSDave Smith31:58

      Yeah. Uh, so I was on a, uh, a panel with, with Brian Stelter once.

   2. JRJoe Rogan32:04

      What year was this around?

   3. DSDave Smith32:05

      2017. Um, and the topic was, uh, what Brian Stelter's favorite topic is, was, uh, you know, misinformation-

   4. JRJoe Rogan32:13

      (laughs)

   5. DSDave Smith32:13

      ... on the internet. 'Cause he's the guy, his job is to basically be the guy who covers the press.

   6. JRJoe Rogan32:18

      Mm-hmm.

   7. DSDave Smith32:18

      So he's the beat reporter on the, you know, the media. How does it... And every week, he comes in with, uh, you know, his assessment on the corporate press and he goes, "A plus, doing great work. Except Fox News. Everyone else is doing great, but the real problem is there's this misinformation out there." And I, uh, there was a, a video at the time and it was, uh, I believe it was like, the number one watched video on YouTube of the week. And it was a stupid video. It was, it was about how, um, the Parkland shooting, that, that shooting in, uh, Florida at the, at the high school there, um, was, uh, an inside job. Mm, it didn't really happen. It was all crisis actors and all this stuff. It was stupid, just dumb conspiracy that's not true at all. The shooting happened. People died. Um, but he was going off and off about how dangerous this was and why people bel- w- you know, how do people believe this stuff? And I was basically saying to him like the thing I'm trying to, to say now. Like, it's like, well, have a little bit of self-reflection. Ask yourself, "Why is it that people don't believe you guys?" And, and I was arguing with him. I was like, "Look, there's so many real conspiracies that you guys won't cover that are really interesting. But you won't cover it at all here, so then you leave, you seed that ground to, to somebody else." And, and I was, this was off-air, but I was talking to him about like, why I used to listen to Alex Jones back in the day, like what I found so interesting about him. And I was like, "Well, back in the day, I, I found Alex Jones and he's talking about all these things like, you know, Operation Northwood and stuff like that." And I was like, "There's no way that's true. That couldn't be real." And then you go research it and you're like, "Oh, it is real."

   8. JRJoe Rogan33:54

      Explain that to people who don't know what you're talking about.

   9. DSDave Smith33:56

      So Operation Northwood was this plan. It was, uh, uh, during the, the Kennedy administration, so in the early '60s. Uh, JFK was president, I don't know, '62 maybe? Um, and basically they had this plan which was signed off by the Joint Chiefs to, uh, fa- have a false flag attack to shoot down, uh, an American plane and blame it on the Cubans as a pretext for war, to, to go to war with Cuba. And John F. Kennedy heroically, uh, said, "No." (laughs) Like, "What are you guys insane?"

   10. JRJoe Rogan34:27

       (laughs)

   11. DSDave Smith34:28

       Like, "No, I'm not doing this."

   12. JRJoe Rogan34:29

       You imagine coming into office when you're president and you don't really know how they run things.

   13. DSDave Smith34:33

       Yeah.

   14. JRJoe Rogan34:33

       And you get in there and the Joint Chiefs of Staff pushes that onto your desk.

   15. DSDave Smith34:36

       Yeah.

   16. JRJoe Rogan34:36

       They wanna arm Cuban friendlies and, and-

   17. DSDave Smith34:38

       Yeah.

   18. JRJoe Rogan34:38

       ... attack Guantanamo Bay, and you're like, "What?"

   19. DSDave Smith34:40

       Yeah. And-

   20. JRJoe Rogan34:41

       Wait a minute, wait a minute. There's no real, you're like a fake war? You're making a fake war?

   21. DSDave Smith34:45

       Yeah.

   22. JRJoe Rogan34:45

       Like you're faking an attack.

   23. DSDave Smith34:47

       And you're like, "So but how are we gonna convince people that they actually killed people?" They go, "'Cause we're actually gonna kill people."

   24. JRJoe Rogan34:52

       (laughs)

   25. DSDave Smith34:52

       "And then we're gonna blame it on the Cubans."

   26. JRJoe Rogan34:53

       "You're gonna kill Americans?" (laughs)

   27. DSDave Smith34:55

       Like what does he get... He's going, "Wait, wait, wait, wait a second."

   28. JRJoe Rogan34:55

       Wait, the fuck? (laughs)

   29. DSDave Smith34:57

       "So you're gonna co- commit an act of war on America." Now to any normal person, I'm sorry, you look at that, you go, "That's fucking interesting, man."

   30. JRJoe Rogan35:06

       Yeah.
10. 46:24 – 1:03:25

    Cancel culture mechanics: deplatforming, Milo’s disappearance, and Whoopi’s ‘misstep’

    1. DSDave Smith46:24

       It's ... there's something just really, like, uh ... o- one of the things I find really interesting, right, is like in the push to ... I guess the push is to shut you up, is more or less the ... from the surgeon general to Brian Stelter, to all of the people who are like, you know, whatever, the, all the, the artists and all this stuff who are like, you know, whatever, want you deplatformed or something like that. Uh, it's like, okay. So even theoretically, let's say they got you, which they're not going to, but even theoretically if they did, it's like, is that really the problem? What do y- what do you do with your audience? But, like, do they think if you just stopped doing this, if you just quit tomorrow, then everybody who listens to you would just go, "Okay, I guess we'll just listen to Brian Stelter now"? I guess we'll walk right back into that world.

    2. JRJoe Rogan47:14

       Well, the thing is, they've been able to silence some people.

    3. DSDave Smith47:17

       Yeah.

    4. JRJoe Rogan47:17

       Right? Like they've ... uh, there was a ... they were able to silence Milo.

    5. DSDave Smith47:19

       Yeah, for sure.

    6. JRJoe Rogan47:20

       Like, Milo doesn't exist anymore, right?

    7. DSDave Smith47:21

       He was removed from the public conversation.

    8. JRJoe Rogan47:23

       Which is wild because if you go back to, like, 2016, was it? Like, what was the year where Milo was-

    9. DSDave Smith47:30

       Yeah.

    10. JRJoe Rogan47:30

        ... everywhere?

    11. DSDave Smith47:30

        He wa- ... uh, 2000- ... I think '16 was really the year, and then maybe 2017. He was a phenomenon, like, everywhere.

    12. JRJoe Rogan47:36

        And he had a crazy in that he was a gay guy who was, like, really right-wing but also really fucking smart. Like, he was on Bill Maher, right? Remember he was on Bill Maher, and Bill Maher was comparing him to Christopher Hitchens?

    13. DSDave Smith47:52

        He went on ... he ... that was, uh, uh, uh, it was shortly after that that he got taken down.

    14. JRJoe Rogan47:56

        Mm-hmm.

    15. DSDave Smith47:57

        'Cause he went on Bill Maher, and he killed it-

    16. JRJoe Rogan47:59

        Yeah.

    17. DSDave Smith47:59

        ... on Bill Maher. And I think that was almost like the, the moment where it was like, "Oof, we better do something about this."

    18. JRJoe Rogan48:06

        Well, I think there was a lot of things happening, but it was the Leslie Jones thing. It was the Leslie Jones things 'cause she was in Ghostbusters and, you know, he had said some mean shit about her, and, you know, called her ugly or something like that, and maybe some racial stuff. And then there was a bunch of people who also tweeted at her. And then apparently the accusation for removing him from Twitter, the accusation was that there was a bunch of other accounts that-... either him or the same IP address was using. (clears throat) My perspective on that was, like, he was ... Was he work- what organization was he working for? Was it-

    19. DSDave Smith48:43

        He was originally with-

    20. JRJoe Rogan48:45

        The Daily Wire?

    21. DSDave Smith48:45

        No, he was originally with-

    22. JRJoe Rogan48:46

        No.

    23. DSDave Smith48:46

        ... Breitbart, I believe.

    24. JRJoe Rogan48:47

        Breitbart, that's right.

    25. DSDave Smith48:47

        And, uh, and then I think he left them at some point.

    26. JRJoe Rogan48:49

        That's right. It was Breitbart. Daily Wire is a ... Sorry, Ben. Ben Shapiro. So-

    27. DSDave Smith48:53

        In fact, I think, uh, Ben Shapiro-

    28. JRJoe Rogan48:54

        Yes.

    29. DSDave Smith48:54

        ... and him had a real beef, I believe.

    30. JRJoe Rogan48:57

        Well, Ben Shapiro was the sub- like, p- ... One of the people wanna say that Ben Shapiro's a, a fucking Nazi or he's alt-right. He was the subject of the most-
11. 1:03:25 – 1:24:42

    COVID narrative whiplash: lab-leak reversal, lockdown harms, and institutional blame-shifting

    1. JRJoe Rogan1:03:25

       Right? Like, like, for instance, the, the idea of the lab leak, and this is the thing that I brought up in that video-

    2. DSDave Smith1:03:31

       Mm-hmm.

    3. JRJoe Rogan1:03:31

       ... that I was talking about misinformation. If you brought up the lab leak eight months ago, eight months ago you'd be removed from social media. They'd be like, "You're a piece of shit." You'd be banned. You, you wouldn't be able to post on Facebook. Now, it's on the cover of Newsweek. Like, this... The, these things that used to be deemed incorrect are now discussed-

    4. DSDave Smith1:03:47

       Yeah.

    5. JRJoe Rogan1:03:47

       ... openly and often. That-

    6. DSDave Smith1:03:49

       Well, the science changed.

    7. JRJoe Rogan1:03:50

       Yeah. All the science changed.

    8. DSDave Smith1:03:51

       (laughs) No, but that's right. I, I thought... That was a great point, and I thought that was a, a great video that you made. I would have opened it with, uh, you know, "Dear blood-soaked monsters of the corporate press."

    9. JRJoe Rogan1:04:00

       Ah.

    10. DSDave Smith1:04:00

        But besi- besides from that, like...

    11. JRJoe Rogan1:04:01

        Well, I was talking to my friends.

    12. DSDave Smith1:04:02

        No, I know.

    13. JRJoe Rogan1:04:02

        I was talking to the pe- the regular people out there.

    14. DSDave Smith1:04:04

        No, you're, you're right. And, and that's a... like, a really crucially important point that you made. That... And, and, you know, we've had over the last... What is it? Almost two years now, right-

    15. JRJoe Rogan1:04:16

        Yeah.

    16. DSDave Smith1:04:16

        ... of COVID, since March of 2020. This... It's really hard, um, I think for any of us, to really express or understand what a profound change has happened to our society.

    17. JRJoe Rogan1:04:33

        Yeah.

    18. DSDave Smith1:04:33

        I mean, this is... You know, it's like, uh... like this g- uh, the, uh, uh, a friend of mine, someone I really admire very much is, uh, Jeff Deist, who's the, uh... He's the president of the, uh, the Mises Institute. It's the greatest institute in the world.

    19. JRJoe Rogan1:04:44

        How do you spell that?

    20. DSDave Smith1:04:44

        Anybody check that? M-I-S-E-S.

    21. JRJoe Rogan1:04:46

        What is that? Say that one more time.

    22. DSDave Smith1:04:46

        Uh, Ludwig von Mises, the greatest economist who ever lived, great classical liberal, uh, economist who revolutionized, uh, like, the way people think about economics. Um, and they're like, uh... Th- this great institution, uh, they, they really, like, kept his work and the work of Murray Rothbard who's, uh, uh, like, probably the greatest, uh... the greatest libertarian philosopher in history. They're basically what taught me everything I know was... is the Mises Institute, and I, I love all those guys. So Jeff Deist is the president of it, and he said... He was on my podcast, Part of the Problem, available wherever you get podcasts.

    23. JRJoe Rogan1:05:18

        Oh.

    24. DSDave Smith1:05:18

        Um, (laughs) and he, he said, which I really liked... He was like... You know, this really stuck with me. He goes, "When you're living through a revolution, you don't necessarily know, oh, the revolution started today-"

    25. JRJoe Rogan1:05:29

        Ah

    26. DSDave Smith1:05:29

        "... and now I'm in the revolution."

    27. JRJoe Rogan1:05:31

        Yeah.

    28. DSDave Smith1:05:31

        "And this is five days into the revolution." You know, it's not till, like, years later that you look back at it and go, "Oh, I guess that was-"

    29. JRJoe Rogan1:05:37

        Yeah.

    30. DSDave Smith1:05:37

        "... a revolution."

Episode duration: 2:54:08