Joe Rogan Experience #1814 - Radio Rahim

1. 0:00 – 4:44

   Why you should never read the comments (and how they distort reality)

   1. RRRadio Rahim0:00

      (drum roll) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out.

   2. NANarrator0:04

      The Joe Rogan Experience.

   3. RRRadio Rahim0:06

      Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night. All day. (instrumental music) Oh, yeah, and last time, I guess I talk really loud, apparently.

   4. JRJoe Rogan0:16

      No, you don't. Oh, you read comments.

   5. RRRadio Rahim0:18

      Y- yeah.

   6. JRJoe Rogan0:18

      Don't read comments. Don't read comments.

   7. RRRadio Rahim0:20

      U- they-

   8. JRJoe Rogan0:21

      Don't read comments.

   9. RRRadio Rahim0:22

      (laughs) He told me that last time, Joe. (laughs)

   10. JRJoe Rogan0:23

       Never read comments. Never read c- I told it Don L. (laughs) When Don and L- when Don L. and I did a podcast with Ariza, uh, it was so much fun. After it was over, I gave him a big hug. I said, "That was fun. Don't read the comments."

   11. RRRadio Rahim0:34

       (laughs)

   12. JRJoe Rogan0:35

       And he went on, like, for weeks, for weeks, he was, like, on this, like, defensive campaign.

   13. RRRadio Rahim0:43

       But Don L. maybe, maybe should read a few of the comments. (laughs)

   14. JRJoe Rogan0:47

       (laughs)

   15. RRRadio Rahim0:47

       (laughs)

   16. JRJoe Rogan0:48

       I, I don't think so. I don't think so. I, I like him perfectly flawed.

   17. RRRadio Rahim0:52

       Y-

   18. JRJoe Rogan0:52

       I like him-

   19. RRRadio Rahim0:53

       Yeah, that's a good way-

   20. JRJoe Rogan0:54

       ... as he is.

   21. RRRadio Rahim0:54

       ... to describe it.

   22. JRJoe Rogan0:55

       Yeah. I don't want-

   23. RRRadio Rahim0:56

       That's a good way to describe him.

   24. JRJoe Rogan0:56

       I don't want him to change at all. I mean, I would like him to grow and get better as a human being, but that whole, like, interrupting thing that he does, like-

   25. RRRadio Rahim1:04

       Yeah.

   26. JRJoe Rogan1:04

       ... psh, that's great, man. That's him.

   27. RRRadio Rahim1:06

       I'm a very sensitive guy, though. I need to know what I've said, how that affects people.

   28. JRJoe Rogan1:13

       You're in the wrong business.

   29. RRRadio Rahim1:14

       (sighs)

   30. JRJoe Rogan1:14

       If you're a sensitive guy-
2. 4:44 – 5:35

   Chappelle attack aftermath: memes vs the reality of a near-tragedy

   1. JRJoe Rogan4:44

      You weren't with Dave at the Hollywood Bowl, correct?

   2. RRRadio Rahim4:46

      Yeah, but, this is what I'm saying-

   3. JRJoe Rogan4:47

      Right.

   4. RRRadio Rahim4:47

      ... we'd probably be remiss if we didn't address that-

   5. JRJoe Rogan4:50

      Yeah.

   6. RRRadio Rahim4:51

      ... off the top.

   7. JRJoe Rogan4:51

      Right.

   8. RRRadio Rahim4:52

      'Cause I'm, what, 36 hours removed from that, like, one sleep away from what, in the moment, I recognized as an assassination attempt on my best friend.

   9. JRJoe Rogan5:03

      Right.

   10. RRRadio Rahim5:04

       Like, we get, we have the f- incredible good fortune to be able to be laughing about it now.

   11. JRJoe Rogan5:10

       Right.

   12. RRRadio Rahim5:11

       And, uh, there's the memes and everybody is making fun of how this guy got broken up into a pretzel. And Dave's good reflexes and all that only is entertaining-

   13. JRJoe Rogan5:24

       'Cause he's alive.

   14. RRRadio Rahim5:24

       ... because we don't have to have-

   15. JRJoe Rogan5:26

       Right.

   16. RRRadio Rahim5:26

       ... an inconsolable moment of grief. Which was o- one thought in this guy's mind away from that being the reality today.

3. 5:35 – 7:12

   Venue security failures and the impossibility of perfect protection

   1. JRJoe Rogan5:35

      Right. Yeah, I mean, well, I think the guy was, like, legitimately mentally ill. But also, the security at the Hollywood Bowl sucks every dick that's ever walked the face of the Earth. Not that dicks walk.

   2. RRRadio Rahim5:47

      (laughs)

   3. JRJoe Rogan5:47

      But the fact that you let that guy ... Apparently, people were saying to security, "Hey, this guy passed the barrier." Like, they, he got through the barrier and they ignored him. They were just watching the show.

   4. RRRadio Rahim5:59

      Mm-hmm.

   5. JRJoe Rogan5:59

      And then he literally made a run for it. Their security's fucking terrible. The, the fact that that guy got to where he got is terrible. But that's the case with a lotta venues, man. A lotta venues we do-... we look around. We were in Jacksonville. There was a fucking guy that was sleeping, sleeping. (snorts) Security during the show.

   6. RRRadio Rahim6:17

      Right.

   7. JRJoe Rogan6:17

      Like, they're not paying attention. They're not paying attention to shit. It just happens.

   8. RRRadio Rahim6:20

      Security at a venue is most likely minimum wage workers. Not that the amount of money that you're being paid necessarily indicates how seriously you take your job, but it's gonna be hard to get 50 people working one venue at minimum wage that take their job incredibly seriously or have gone through-

   9. JRJoe Rogan6:39

      Yeah.

   10. RRRadio Rahim6:39

       ... some extensive training-

   11. JRJoe Rogan6:41

       I don't think they get paid minimum wage.

   12. RRRadio Rahim6:42

       ... to be qualified for that job.

   13. JRJoe Rogan6:43

       I think they definitely get paid more than minimum wage. But the point is, like, they should hire cops. They should have off-duty police. They should have people that are near the stage, especially when it's Dave after all that shit that went down with Netflix. And just, I don't know what kind of assessments they do about people and, like, threats and stuff like that. But that guy actually had made a tweet saying, "Dave Chappelle, you're next," after Will Smith got, got slapped. Or excuse me, after Chris Rock, uh, got slapped by Will Smith.

4. 7:12 – 13:42

   When online poison becomes real violence: dehumanization at scale

   1. RRRadio Rahim7:12

      I don't know that there's any level of security that insulate you from real life. And-

   2. JRJoe Rogan7:17

      That's true.

   3. RRRadio Rahim7:18

      ... a guy like that, who we can't say his name. We... I don't even wanna reference this motherfucker because it's the kind of attention that they want. Like, part of the idea of a person like that is that now they become something.

   4. JRJoe Rogan7:33

      They become special.

   5. RRRadio Rahim7:34

      Yeah.

   6. JRJoe Rogan7:34

      Yeah.

   7. RRRadio Rahim7:35

      For a moment, we-

   8. JRJoe Rogan7:35

      'Cause they attacked a special person.

   9. RRRadio Rahim7:36

      Yeah. We wanna look at what they... their videos. We wanna look at their tweets. We wanna figure out who this guy is and speak their name. And for him, that is everything. That's worth everything that happened.

   10. JRJoe Rogan7:48

       Yeah.

   11. RRRadio Rahim7:48

       But for us, y-... the idea that anybody in this world can get at you, that any thought that somebody has in their head can change literally the course of history and take the people from us that we love. They don't have to be famous.

   12. JRJoe Rogan8:04

       Right.

   13. RRRadio Rahim8:05

       They don't have to be of great impact to the entire world. But I've lost loved ones. I know you've lost loved ones. A... Seeing in that moment that I might actually have lost my best friend on the world stage in front of everybody, on cameras, all of us there, thinking that we could protect him, all of us there thinking, "Well, it couldn't possibly be a guy jumping a barrier, jumping on stage with a clean run at Dave with a weapon, with a knife that's shaped like a fucking gun." How... That's inconceivable.

   14. JRJoe Rogan8:36

       Yeah.

   15. RRRadio Rahim8:36

       That couldn't possibly happen, right? If it can happen there, it can happen anywhere.

   16. JRJoe Rogan8:41

       Well, not only that, there's a lot of video of it. What happened to those fucking cellphones being in a bag?

   17. RRRadio Rahim8:46

       I mean-

   18. JRJoe Rogan8:46

       A lot of people had knives. A lot of other people had knives too. They cut those fucking bags open. They need metal detectors at Dave shows now. I'm sure they're gonna-

   19. RRRadio Rahim8:54

       We have-

   20. JRJoe Rogan8:55

       ... ramp up things now.

   21. RRRadio Rahim8:55

       ... metal detectors.

   22. JRJoe Rogan8:56

       What? That guy went through a metal detector with a knife?

   23. RRRadio Rahim8:58

       If he came through the normal order of security, then he had to walk through a metal detector.

   24. JRJoe Rogan9:02

       How did he even get a ticket? He was a homeless guy.

   25. RRRadio Rahim9:05

       I mean, you know, these questions, uh-

   26. JRJoe Rogan9:08

       Yeah.

   27. RRRadio Rahim9:09

       ... th- these are the kind of things that'll, uh, twist your knots and keep you tossing and turning all night. The broader, uh, emotion I'm, I'm struggling with is the reality that we have to, like, have a bit more gratitude for the people that we have on this planet, in our lives, in our sphere of entertainment and influence while they're here.

   28. JRJoe Rogan9:32

       Yeah.

   29. RRRadio Rahim9:33

       Like, I don't wanna be posting about how much, oh, we all love Dave and what we missed, you know, uh, what we could have said and... I don't, I don't need a, a Nipsey Ru- Russel moment. You know-

   30. JRJoe Rogan9:43

       Right, right.
5. 13:42 – 17:46

   Quitting cigarettes with ‘phased withdrawal’ and addiction comparisons

   1. JRJoe Rogan13:42

      (clears throat) Um, we were talking before this podcast about your, your former cigarette habit. Like, you-

   2. RRRadio Rahim13:48

      Uh-huh.

   3. JRJoe Rogan13:48

      ... you were two packs a day?

   4. RRRadio Rahim13:50

      Two packs a day, Joe.

   5. JRJoe Rogan13:51

      Yeah.

   6. RRRadio Rahim13:52

      And I couldn't put it down until I realized that... So, you know, as smokers, uh, it's a routine thing also.

   7. JRJoe Rogan13:59

      Yeah.

   8. RRRadio Rahim14:00

      So, my thing was I would have two cigarettes left in the pack at the end of every night. So, in the morning, before you have that first like, you know, pee even sometimes, you gotta have that first cigarette, like that's the start of the day.

   9. JRJoe Rogan14:14

      How did you quit?

   10. RRRadio Rahim14:16

       I phased withdrawal.

   11. JRJoe Rogan14:17

       Phased withdrawal?

   12. RRRadio Rahim14:18

       That's what I call it, right.

   13. JRJoe Rogan14:19

       Oh.

   14. RRRadio Rahim14:20

       So, uh, what I would do is, for instance, those moments where you need the cigarette, like right after you eat, right before you go to the bathroom first thing in the morning, uh, I would take one of those elements away. Like, okay, I'm still smoking, I'm still gonna enjoy as many cigarettes as I want, but I'm gonna have breakfast first. I'm just not gonna have that first cigarette in the morning before I eat, and then the rest of the day is, is carte blanche, whatever I wanna do.

   15. JRJoe Rogan14:47

       Ah. And this is your idea?

   16. RRRadio Rahim14:48

       Yeah.

   17. JRJoe Rogan14:49

       Interesting.

   18. RRRadio Rahim14:49

       There's... You know, every... I've tried, uh, tried the cold turkey, I tried like, "Oh, I'm just not gonna smoke anymore," and it doesn't work. But what did work was finding spots, just spots, when you're not allowing yourself to smoke and giving yourself free range the rest of the time, and the more spots you remove, the less smoking you actually do.

   19. JRJoe Rogan15:07

       Mm-hmm.

   20. RRRadio Rahim15:07

       And you hold to that, and hold to that, and after a while, you've, you phase yourself out enough where then you can kick maybe six or seven cigarettes a day instead of 20.

   21. JRJoe Rogan15:18

       Mm.

   22. RRRadio Rahim15:18

       You know what I mean?

   23. JRJoe Rogan15:19

       And so when you got down to six or seven cigarettes a day, then you went cold turkey?

   24. RRRadio Rahim15:24

       Yeah. Then it's just like-

   25. JRJoe Rogan15:25

       Hmm.

   26. RRRadio Rahim15:25

       Then, then you got some discipline.

   27. JRJoe Rogan15:26

       That's smart. That's a smart way to do it because, uh, I think they say that that's the, the smartest way to do alcohol unless you do it in a medical setting, because, uh, alcohol is one of the rare, uh, drugs that, when you kick it, it can actually kill you. You become so dependent upon alcohol that your, your body... If you're an alcoholic, like a severe alcoholic, your body needs alcohol to function. Same as benzodiazepines. Benzodiazepines, uh, Xanax and the like.

   28. RRRadio Rahim15:50

       Yeah.

   29. JRJoe Rogan15:51

       If you have a severe addiction to those and then you kick it, you'll die. It's one of the rare drugs.

   30. RRRadio Rahim15:57

       Uh, I've drank a lot in my day. I've dabbled in other drugs. The only thing I still have cravings... I still drink, but not as heavily as I, I once did. I haven't had a cigarette in 14 years. I still get cravings.
6. 17:46 – 20:09

   Chappelle’s COVID-era ‘bubble’ shows and the cost of broken protocol

   1. JRJoe Rogan17:46

      We... When... During those days, man, when we were doing those shows at Stubb's, and, um, it was-

   2. RRRadio Rahim17:51

      (clears throat)

   3. JRJoe Rogan17:51

      ... it was, it was weird because it was like the world was still kinda shut down.

   4. RRRadio Rahim17:56

      Yeah.

   5. JRJoe Rogan17:56

      You know, everything was kinda shut down, but then we would have that COVID bubble and we'd all be hanging out backstage with no masks and-

   6. RRRadio Rahim18:03

      (laughs)

   7. JRJoe Rogan18:04

      ... celebrities would come backstage and party with us and we were all drinking and having fun. It's like, it felt really special. It felt... Uh, because it, it wasn't just that it was fun, it was fun when no one was having fun.

   8. RRRadio Rahim18:16

      But it wasn't because we were being reckless or incredibly cavalier.

   9. JRJoe Rogan18:19

      No.

   10. RRRadio Rahim18:19

       There's a, an, a regimen of-

   11. JRJoe Rogan18:22

       Yeah.

   12. RRRadio Rahim18:22

       ... testing-

   13. JRJoe Rogan18:23

       Yeah.

   14. RRRadio Rahim18:23

       ... and we did all the stuff so that we could have that freedom inside our space.

   15. JRJoe Rogan18:30

       Yeah, not just testing but we, we tested the entire fucking audience.

   16. RRRadio Rahim18:33

       That's right, yes.

   17. JRJoe Rogan18:34

       We tested everybody in the audience, we tested everybody backstage, and then there was a couple of knuckleheads that violated protocol and fucked it up for everybody. It's interesting when that happened, when a couple people decided they're gonna hang out with other people and like do podcasts and shit, and then they got sick.

   18. RRRadio Rahim18:48

       Right.

   19. JRJoe Rogan18:48

       It's like, "Hey."... "Hey, what are you doing?"

   20. RRRadio Rahim18:50

       (laughs)

   21. JRJoe Rogan18:50

       "We had a fucking rule here, everybody gets tested." You can't just show up on some random podcast without testing people.

   22. RRRadio Rahim18:56

       And that's the thing. You have to respect how much effort and-

   23. JRJoe Rogan19:00

       Yeah.

   24. RRRadio Rahim19:00

       ... attention, energy, money went into making sure that we could all feel safe and feel comfortable.

   25. JRJoe Rogan19:05

       Yeah.

   26. RRRadio Rahim19:05

       You go outside of that for your own personal, like, you know, uh, advancement, or your, your-

   27. JRJoe Rogan19:10

       Yeah.

   28. RRRadio Rahim19:10

       ... daily desire, well, you're being a real asshole. But-

   29. JRJoe Rogan19:13

       Yeah.

   30. RRRadio Rahim19:13

       ... that's not the fault of the infrastructure. Like, these guys put together something that was really difficult to do at the time.
7. 20:09 – 23:43

   Launching ‘Till This Day’: turning boxing coverage into a show about inner battles

   1. RRRadio Rahim20:09

      (laughs) Uh, I- I can't, I can't thank D- Dave Chappelle enough for making a space during that time for all of us to do our thing. The sh- the podcast that is premiering today, that I've been working on for two years, its inception, like the beginning of it, was in Yellow Springs, Ohio during that summer camp. I mean, it was March 20 when I got this deal with Luminary to do a show that followed me around the world as I covered boxing.

   2. JRJoe Rogan20:44

      Mm.

   3. RRRadio Rahim20:45

      Right? It w- it, it, it was the perfect idea for me. I was excited, we signed the paperwork and everything. Second week of March, and needless to say, by the fourth week in March, there was no boxing world to follow me around in. There was no fights that were gonna be able to be had, everything, everybody's calendar was getting eliminated. And I had this deal for a show that I clearly couldn't do. And Dave created this space in Yellow Springs, these shows that attracted like the brightest, biggest stars from the comedy world and all these different industries. And I decided, like, well, it wasn't so much a decision as kind of an epiphany, like what am I missing from the life I've been having my entire adult life? Since I was a teenager, I've been in wild card boxing gym, I was shooting sparring sessions, I was covering fights, I've been talking to boxers. That's what my life driving force has been about. And in a matter of a month, that's just taken com- from me completely.

   4. JRJoe Rogan21:48

      Mm-hmm.

   5. RRRadio Rahim21:48

      So, what is it that I, I miss most? What is it? I had to s- like start to do some introspection about what that part of my life meant, and I realized it was about the fight in the fighter that I'm talking to with, even though the context is boxing, I think the thing that separates, uh, my interviews maybe from other ones is that in addition to speaking about the opponent in the ring, I often take a look at what that person is hurtling internally. Like, what got them to this place to even be able to climb through the ropes and challenge for or defend a championship? And the interesting ways that people get there, uh, is entirely part of what makes me fascinated about combat sports and athletes d- from all walks of combat sports. But boxing is my, my passion, right? So, I ended up surrounded by friends and associates that were incredibly accomplished at d- all different walks of life. A lot of them were comedians 'cause Dave's putting on a comedy show, but he attracts people from all over the world, all different kinds of, uh-

   6. JRJoe Rogan22:55

      Yeah.

   7. RRRadio Rahim22:56

      ... you know, disciplines. And I said, "You know, that fight that's in these boxers, these, these life hurdles, well that exists in everybody. And the people whom, whose names we know, whose accomplishments we can list, well, they've won their fight, or at least they're constantly besting whatever their hurdle is, and I wanna talk about it. I wanna learn about the fighting people outside the ring."

   8. JRJoe Rogan23:22

      Mm.

   9. RRRadio Rahim23:22

      So because of what Dave did, because he was able to create this magnet of excellence in Yellow Springs, Ohio, I was able to sit down with these people, uh, and they were so gracious to talk to me about that very same subject, the fight inside them. And I created this show, you'll love the title, Till This Day.

   10. JRJoe Rogan23:40

       Yeah, we talked about it. (laughs)

   11. RRRadio Rahim23:43

       (laughs)

8. 23:43 – 28:21

   ‘Till this day’ meme fallout: death threats, misread identity, and online projection

   1. JRJoe Rogan23:43

      (laughs) For people who don't know why Till This Day is interesting, there's a very famous interview that you did with Deontay Wilder where you were trying to get Deontay to elaborate on things and he, uh, for whatever reason, because he was, uh, upset and he was, you know, getting ready for a fight and fired up, he had, uh, decided that he was gonna like explain to you...

   2. RRRadio Rahim24:09

      Yeah.

   3. JRJoe Rogan24:09

      ... what it's like to struggle as a, a Black man in America, that till this day you're like, "Yeah, I know, I'm just trying to get you to talk."

   4. RRRadio Rahim24:15

      (laughs)

   5. JRJoe Rogan24:15

      And, (laughs) and so he's like yelling at you-

   6. RRRadio Rahim24:19

      (laughs)

   7. JRJoe Rogan24:19

      ... that we're going to this, To This Day, and you're like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah." (laughs)

   8. RRRadio Rahim24:23

      (laughs) Uh, y- you know, it's funny because now in, with this, uh, bit longer view of it and the events that happened, uh, the other night, I got a lot of death threats from that. Like, you know I joke about the celebrities and shit that were mad at me.

   9. JRJoe Rogan24:35

      You got, wait a minute, you got death threats from that interview that you did with Deontay?

   10. RRRadio Rahim24:37

       Oh, are you kidding me?

   11. JRJoe Rogan24:38

       Really?

   12. RRRadio Rahim24:39

       Yes. Absolutely. Uh, you know, I had to take that in stride because I didn't take it that seriously.

   13. JRJoe Rogan24:49

       Right.

   14. RRRadio Rahim24:50

       But...... to this day, I still get inbox like, you know, uh, threats. People t- people took that moment to think that I was some kinda Uncle Tom or I was, you know, trying to pretend as though slavery didn't exist or something ridiculous like that.

   15. JRJoe Rogan25:07

       You were just... It was so obvious that you were just trying to get him to expand on his feelings. Like (laughs) that's his face.

   16. RRRadio Rahim25:15

       (laughs) .

   17. JRJoe Rogan25:17

       We talked about it the last time you were here, but that- that interview-

   18. RRRadio Rahim25:20

       Yes.

   19. JRJoe Rogan25:20

       ... was-

   20. RRRadio Rahim25:20

       But for people who don't know-

   21. JRJoe Rogan25:21

       ... was a classic.

   22. RRRadio Rahim25:21

       ... it's like now, I mean, I'm the renowned Uncle Tom. Like, (laughs) that- that one moment can define how somebody sees you forever. And if they... It's not about me, right? Like, they hate whatever they f- believe an Uncle Tom represents to them.

   23. JRJoe Rogan25:35

       Right.

   24. RRRadio Rahim25:36

       And then they think, "Okay, well in that moment, man, that guy, he is that, so I am gonna aim all my negativity and- and-"

   25. JRJoe Rogan25:43

       Mm-hmm.

   26. RRRadio Rahim25:43

       "... hatred and visceral fucking comments his way."

   27. JRJoe Rogan25:47

       Yeah.

   28. RRRadio Rahim25:48

       And it takes one moron. That's not me. Like, it d- like, what- uh, whatever this person's built up in his head about who I am or what I mean to him, I have no idea that's happening.

   29. JRJoe Rogan26:00

       Right.

   30. RRRadio Rahim26:00

       And if that guy decides that he wants to actually do what he fantasizes about, wha- how am I gonna stop that?
9. 28:21 – 34:40

   Cancel culture, media credibility, and the ‘mental diet’ needed to stay sane

   1. JRJoe Rogan28:21

      I think people think too much about why, you know? Like, you think the- people think too much about this idea that you can stop someone from talking, and that's the whole idea about cancel culture, right, is that you're gonna remove someone from the conversation. You can d- and it's worked for some people. I mean, rightly so for people like Harvey Weinstein, right? They- they... That's-

   2. RRRadio Rahim28:43

      Well, yeah, but-

   3. JRJoe Rogan28:43

      That's cancel culture in its best form, right? That's the best version of it.

   4. RRRadio Rahim28:47

      Yeah. I've never heard Harvey Weinstein's perspective on anything. He's a serial rapist. Yeah, let's remove him-

   5. JRJoe Rogan28:53

      Right, but-

   6. RRRadio Rahim28:53

      ... from society.

   7. JRJoe Rogan28:54

      ... but we didn't- but we didn't find out about that until people were outraged and until Ronan Farrow wrote that piece and until... 'Cause that was, like, an open secret in Hollywood. So, like, that was the non-cancel culture. That was the let-people-slide culture.

   8. RRRadio Rahim29:08

      Right.

   9. JRJoe Rogan29:08

      It was still like, "Lookit, he's gonna help us and get us an Academy Award, and he's a, yeah, he's a scumbag, but, like, you know, like, thank him when you win your Oscar."

   10. RRRadio Rahim29:16

       Okay. Well, I make a serious distinction between someone's actions-

   11. JRJoe Rogan29:21

       Oh, for sure. For sure.

   12. RRRadio Rahim29:21

       ... that harm other people as opposed to someone's opinions that you have to go somewhere to, uh, hear.

   13. JRJoe Rogan29:29

       No, no, no. Obviously, obviously.

   14. RRRadio Rahim29:30

       Yeah.

   15. JRJoe Rogan29:30

       But what I'm- what I'm saying is, like, there- this is a weird time in terms of people being able to express themselves. It's so unique and unprecedented that untold millions of people at any time can pick up their phone and go onto Facebook or go onto Twitter or whatever and just start putting your opinion out there.

   16. RRRadio Rahim29:47

       Mm-hmm.

   17. JRJoe Rogan29:47

       Go onto YouTube, make a video. "You know, I was listening to radio Raheem. He was on Joe Rog- he talks too fucking loud." And like-

   18. RRRadio Rahim29:54

       (laughs)

   19. JRJoe Rogan29:54

       ... you know, the- and people-

   20. RRRadio Rahim29:55

       (laughs) .

   21. JRJoe Rogan29:55

       And you could read that and you could listen to that, and that can affect you. And that's why you have to be careful about... You know, people talk about your diet-

   22. RRRadio Rahim30:05

       Mm-hmm.

   23. JRJoe Rogan30:05

       ... like, in terms of, like, what you eat. Well, you have to have a good diet in terms of what you take in mentally as well. It's very important.

   24. RRRadio Rahim30:12

       Right.

   25. JRJoe Rogan30:12

       And that's why you don't wanna read comments.

   26. RRRadio Rahim30:14

       (sighs) .

   27. JRJoe Rogan30:14

       'Cause you're taking in complaints, and you can only take in so many complaints before you start internalizing them and thinking like, "Man, maybe I do suck," or maybe, uh, m- you know, and you- you maybe get a little defensive. I've seen a lot of people get ultra-defensive and get really weird because of reading too many comments. It's like y- you should do your own personal auditing, you should be objective and introspective and think about yourself and your life and who you are and what you say and how- how it affects other people.

   28. RRRadio Rahim30:42

       Mm-hmm.

   29. JRJoe Rogan30:42

       But you can't- you can't take all those negative things in too much. It's like- it's- it's like drinking too much alcohol or smoking too much cigarettes. It's not good for you.

   30. RRRadio Rahim30:52

       And you can't take for granted though the, the freedom of being able to express one's views and be authentic.
10. 34:40 – 38:25

    ‘Trust the experts’ vs incentives: how authority, money, and uncertainty collide

    1. JRJoe Rogan34:40

       Well, I tell people to read the s- the- the- the actual pertinent information, you know. That- that's actually a joke now, like do your own research, you know. "I did my own research." Like, no, you should trust the experts. Well, so- not anymore, you know?

    2. RRRadio Rahim34:52

       (laughs)

    3. JRJoe Rogan34:52

       It depends on what you're talking about. Should you trust the experts on nuclear physics? Yes. Should you trust the experts on... It's- it's- soon as money gets involved, this whole trust the experts things gets fucking weird because we know that people have ins- influenced people to make certain statements that do not jibe with the facts. And if you look at all that accurately and you say, you know, "Trust the experts," like which ones? Which experts? You wanna trust the experts in math? Yes. Those guys can't lie 'cause you could do the work. Everyone can see it. It's math. It's as clear as it gets. Trust the experts in ancient history? Sure, as long as they agree.

    4. RRRadio Rahim35:27

       (laughs)

    5. JRJoe Rogan35:27

       If they don't agree with each other, then who's- which experts are... Like I was just reading this thing about Clovis, um, yesterday, and I sent it to a friend of mine who, uh, is an expert in it, and I said, "Hey, what do you think about this article?" And he sent it to another guy. So these people are, like, passing this, these experts are passing this article around.

    6. RRRadio Rahim35:43

       Mm-hmm.

    7. JRJoe Rogan35:43

       Like, here's the problems with this. You know, like the idea is that, um, people were in North America thousands of years earlier than they thought, and this is, like, pretty much established now that it's true, 'cause they keep finding bones and, and, and al- all sorts of artifacts that are far older than they thought they were. Then a new article came out just a few days ago about how reexamining Clovis first and that might be accurate. And so I sent this article to these other guys. I said, "Well, who's right? Is it that people were here 30,000, 40,000 years ago-"

    8. RRRadio Rahim36:12

       Mm-hmm.

    9. JRJoe Rogan36:12

       "... or is it the- the Clovis people were the first people?" And so they're all breaking this down. So experts don't even agree.

    10. RRRadio Rahim36:19

        (laughs)

    11. JRJoe Rogan36:19

        So this fucking guy who wrote this article is an expert, and I sent it to some other experts, and they sent it to other experts, and they're all going... So like when you say trust the experts, on what?

    12. RRRadio Rahim36:29

        Right.

    13. JRJoe Rogan36:29

        On what?

    14. RRRadio Rahim36:29

        Well, and science is an ongoing study, right?

    15. JRJoe Rogan36:32

        Right.

    16. RRRadio Rahim36:32

        That's part of it-

    17. JRJoe Rogan36:33

        Yes.

    18. RRRadio Rahim36:33

        ... to continue to question, and there are things that are proven to work and things that have been established over years that we can rely on.

    19. JRJoe Rogan36:40

        Yes.

    20. RRRadio Rahim36:40

        And I- I think the part that makes it so confusing is what we spoke about earlier, the lack of credibility of institutions.

    21. JRJoe Rogan36:47

        Yes.

    22. RRRadio Rahim36:47

        What institutions do you trust?

    23. JRJoe Rogan36:49

        100%.

    24. RRRadio Rahim36:50

        And-

    25. JRJoe Rogan36:50

        That's exactly what it is because when, when you just trust...... the people that are in power, then you get a dictatorship.

    26. RRRadio Rahim36:57

        Mm-hmm.

    27. JRJoe Rogan36:57

        You, you can't just trust anyone who has authority. That's nonsense. You have to know why they know what they know, and how did they g- come about? And are they being influenced and do they have an agenda? And is there a v- do they have a vested interest in this being accurate as opposed to that?

    28. RRRadio Rahim37:12

        Right. (laughs)

    29. JRJoe Rogan37:12

        Is there a financial gain involved in it? And oftentimes there is. And that's, that's real. That's, that's, that's real human beings. And most people know that. And when you can get people to just fucking step in line and just listen to authority, the problem with that is that doesn't go away. They keep that fucking attitude, and that's the attitude that they have in all these communist dictatorships where the people are under the boot of these fucking evil thugs. How did that come about? That came about because they just had to listen. They have to listen.

    30. RRRadio Rahim37:40

        Hmm. And so free speech-
11. 38:25 – 57:46

    Government power grows through crises: Patriot Act, TSA, surveillance, and ‘step in line’ culture

    1. JRJoe Rogan38:25

       Don't you think it's also a factor of no one has enough time? No one. Like, no one has enough time. Like, if you really wanna find out about, like, the fucking, the, the Spanish flu from 1918, do you have the time? How many people have the time?

    2. RRRadio Rahim38:40

       (laughs)

    3. JRJoe Rogan38:40

       Do you have the time to research, like, the waves and how people started wearing masks and when people died and where it came from? Did it actually come from Spain or did it actually come from America, they think.

    4. RRRadio Rahim38:50

       Right.

    5. JRJoe Rogan38:50

       Nobody has the fucking time. So when... even things that are happening right now, like when they're talking about, uh, oh, you know, we've gotta stop being so dependent on foreign oil. Fuck, I gotta go research foreign oil.

    6. RRRadio Rahim39:01

       (laughs)

    7. JRJoe Rogan39:01

       I gotta start thinking about (laughs) how, how bad was fracking? Some people say fracking's the devil.

    8. RRRadio Rahim39:06

       Right.

    9. JRJoe Rogan39:06

       Other people say fracking's necessary. It's gonna fuck up some spots, but it's gonna eliminate our dependence on foreign oil. (sighs) Fuck, I gotta research this?

    10. RRRadio Rahim39:13

        (laughs)

    11. JRJoe Rogan39:13

        I gotta go and find out who's right and who's wrong. I've had experts that had completely different opinions on climate change.

    12. RRRadio Rahim39:20

        Yeah.

    13. JRJoe Rogan39:20

        And it's exhausting. You know, I'm just like, "Who's right?" One guy is saying that solar and wind can take care of a lot of our energy needs and we need to optimize those, and we need... if we, if we don't do that, we're fucked, and here's all these examples of pollution and this is what the carbon's doing to the atmosphere. And then there's another guy that goes, "Well, here's like a thousand-year chart of how the temperature of the Earth just keeps going up and down. We're on course." It has an effect, but it has a small effect. And there's a lot of people that are profiting off freaking everybody out and the control that they're gonna get from some sort of climate crisis-

    14. RRRadio Rahim39:54

        Mm-hmm.

    15. JRJoe Rogan39:54

        ... the same as they would get it from a war crisis, the same as a health crisis. If they have the opportunity to close in and get tighter and tighter control on your actions and what you're allowed to do and not allowed to do, then it's easier to be a dictator 'cause there's a lot of people that out... they're out there that don't like the idea of people voting for things. They would rather just run things.

    16. RRRadio Rahim40:14

        Of course.

    17. JRJoe Rogan40:14

        They would rather just tell you what to do. And in certain cases they can do that, in cases of war, in cases of any sort of extreme medical emergency, in cases of any sort of civil dif- disobedience, they can impose martial law. Like that stuff's scary. That stuff's scary because then you have an incentive for those things to take place so that you can control things. And then even after you're done controlling things, you could allow things to relax a little bit. But you have more c- control over the people now than you did a year ago, two years ago, five years ago, before the crisis. It's what they did with 9/11. I don't think that the United States caused 9/11, but I most likely think, I most certainly think that they used 9/11 to get the Patriot Act through. The... a lot of stuff that was in the Patriot Act existed before this, long before 9/11. They couldn't get it through. There's a lot of idea... They do that with bills. They shove a bunch of shit in there-

    18. RRRadio Rahim41:05

        Mm-hmm.

    19. JRJoe Rogan41:05

        ... and you're like, "Wait a minute, why does it say things about crosswalks in, in a, a thing about, you know, something that's totally unrelated?" Why is it... do you guys have a, a deal with the Crosswalk Union? Like why does it, why do they, why do they have a th- it's a bad example, but why do they have, uh, provisions in, in, in certain bills that have nothing to do with, with what the title of the bill is?

    20. RRRadio Rahim41:24

        And the life of those provisions-

    21. JRJoe Rogan41:26

        Ugh.

    22. RRRadio Rahim41:26

        ... that may (clears throat) long outlive the crisis at hand.

    23. JRJoe Rogan41:31

        Yes. Forever. Like the Patriot Act, like the TSA. One guy tries to blow his shoes off, we have to take our shoes off forever. Like, what is that? What fuck... and it just, it's forever and it just keeps going and it just, it, you don't... when you lose power, when you lose power over your decision to make, uh, choices and whether or not you want to do this or do that and what, what you're allowed to do in freedom, once you lose that, you don't get it back. You never get more freedom.

    24. RRRadio Rahim41:57

        Yeah.

    25. JRJoe Rogan41:57

        You always get a little less, and they go, "We're still better off than Haiti. We're still better off than Cuba. We're still better off than China. We're still..."

    26. RRRadio Rahim42:04

        (laughs)

    27. JRJoe Rogan42:04

        But the fucking reality is we're not better off in terms of our ability to make decisions for ourself than we were before they im- imposed these things. We're not as free in terms of government surveillance. Like, the idea that the government could be looking out for terrorists and stop terrorists, yeah, that would be g- that would be nice. It would be nice if you, you could prevent a terrorist attack. Okay. Well, the only way we can do that, Rahim, is we're gonna have to look at all your emails and read all your text messages-

    28. RRRadio Rahim42:30

        (laughs)

    29. JRJoe Rogan42:30

        ... whether you like it or not-

    30. RRRadio Rahim42:32

        Yeah.
12. 57:46 – 1:04:16

    Cannabis in sports and training: pain relief vs performance enhancement debate

    1. RRRadio Rahim57:46

       I think you have to let combat athletes smoke. I don't know-

    2. JRJoe Rogan57:48

       Yeah, it's crazy.

    3. RRRadio Rahim57:48

       ... if anybody shouldn't be allowed to smoke weed.

    4. JRJoe Rogan57:51

       Well, isn't it still banned in the NFL?

    5. RRRadio Rahim57:53

       Y- I mean, as far as I know. I, I'm, I'm no authority but-

    6. JRJoe Rogan57:55

       I was just reading something, I was just reading something about w- these NFL guys that are pissed off because, uh, marijuana is banned there.

    7. RRRadio Rahim58:02

       And it's a pain reducing drug, right? And how many drugs can they use to reduce pain that are far more dangerous, addictive, destructive than marijuana?

    8. JRJoe Rogan58:14

       Oh, look at this. NFL players no longer face the possibility of being suspended from games over positive tests for any drug, not just marijuana. So this is new under February 1st, 2022. Uh, under a collective bargaining agreement. Instead, they will face a fine. The threshold for what constitutes a positive THC test has also increased under the deal. But even then, I mean, it's like you shouldn't-

    9. RRRadio Rahim58:38

       Well, that's a fine. It's not, they're not, it's not permitted. You're still-

    10. JRJoe Rogan58:41

        Right.

    11. RRRadio Rahim58:42

        ... penalized for it.

    12. JRJoe Rogan58:42

        You still have, yeah. You, listen-

    13. RRRadio Rahim58:44

        I don't wanna smoke a million dollar joint. (laughs)

    14. JRJoe Rogan58:46

        (laughs) I know, like, what's the fine, right?

    15. RRRadio Rahim58:48

        Yeah.

    16. JRJoe Rogan58:48

        N- NFL players are balling. That, you have to hit 'em hard to make 'em change their ways. You have to hit 'em with a big fine. But if like, uh, like, you shouldn't be high playing maybe, but don't-

    17. RRRadio Rahim58:59

        Why not?

    18. JRJoe Rogan58:59

        ... basketball players love to play high? They love to play high. Jamie, hit me with this. You know this. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. They all play high, right? For sure. I mean, I don't know all, but...

    19. RRRadio Rahim59:07

        W- (laughs)

    20. JRJoe Rogan59:07

        I would imagine that it's like anything else that requires a feel. You know? Like, there's a thing about, you feel thing- like, jujitsu players love to get high.

    21. RRRadio Rahim59:18

        Uh-huh.

    22. JRJoe Rogan59:18

        It's very common. Because you feel movement better, you feel balanced, you feel-

    23. RRRadio Rahim59:22

        You think THC is a, a performance enhancing drug?

    24. JRJoe Rogan59:26

        Yes. Yes, I do.

    25. RRRadio Rahim59:27

        Really?

    26. JRJoe Rogan59:27

        Yeah. It is. It is for some things.

    27. RRRadio Rahim59:28

        I can't even hit the pads high. (laughs)

    28. JRJoe Rogan59:31

        Yeah, but that's just you, man. Everybody's different. Everybody's different when it comes to the way alcohol affects them. People are different. It's just, I guarantee there are people that have a, a positive net benefit, and I'm one of 'em, when they do certain things while high. Marijuana enhances my pool game greatly. Marijuana, my-

    29. RRRadio Rahim59:51

        Huh.

    30. JRJoe Rogan59:52

        When I play pool, I'm one ball better.
13. 1:04:16 – 1:19:33

    Rahim’s combat sports origin story: boxing from childhood, ‘drunk sparring,’ and respect for martial arts

    1. RRRadio Rahim1:04:16

       I never thought of a, an, uh, in any way I was gonna be a professional athlete. Like, I never thought I would compete, right?

    2. JRJoe Rogan1:04:23

       Yeah.

    3. RRRadio Rahim1:04:23

       But I started boxing in fifth grade. There was, like, a guy in my neighborhood-

    4. JRJoe Rogan1:04:27

       Mm-hmm.

    5. RRRadio Rahim1:04:27

       ... that had boxing equipment in his, like, garage. And I would go in there and he trained fighters. Now, I wish I knew more then to, like, remember who was there and if this guy ever became, like, a real boxing coach of any type.

    6. JRJoe Rogan1:04:40

       Hmm.

    7. RRRadio Rahim1:04:40

       But it was such a childhood memory of mine, like, where this whole idea started. And the fact that I never thought I would do anything for a living that didn't involve talking. Like, I knew that was my thing.

    8. JRJoe Rogan1:04:52

       Right.

    9. RRRadio Rahim1:04:53

       Like, I could, I could speak, right? Um, that, my godfather was my first, like, adult trainer, like, when I was, like, 19. And he's like, "You're not training to compete with athletes. You're training to win a fight. Now, boxing is your discipline of choice, but the fight you're gonna have won't be in the ring on Thursday at 8:00 as the two men have decided. It's gonna be at 3:00 in the morning after you leave a club in the parking lot with some fucking idiot, and you're gonna be drunk too, and you're gonna be tired, so that's how we're gonna train." (laughs) And so, yes.

    10. JRJoe Rogan1:05:29

        What?

    11. RRRadio Rahim1:05:30

        Yes. I would leave clubs, and again, 22, 23 years old. My best friend at that time was Bokeem Woodbine. We both, uh, Dana Bratton trained both of us. And we would go from the club, from the bar, from the party, to the gym and spar.

    12. JRJoe Rogan1:05:47

        Oh my God.

    13. RRRadio Rahim1:05:47

        Hit pads and train. Yeah.

    14. JRJoe Rogan1:05:49

        You drunk sparred?

    15. RRRadio Rahim1:05:51

        Th- thousand times.

    16. JRJoe Rogan1:05:54

        (laughs)

    17. RRRadio Rahim1:05:54

        (laughs) So, if I were boxing in a ring, I'd wanna be sober. But if I'm in the street where any of my real fights are gonna take place-

    18. JRJoe Rogan1:06:02

        Hmm.

    19. RRRadio Rahim1:06:02

        ... I'm probably better fucked up. That's how we train. We train to win fights completely trashed.

    20. JRJoe Rogan1:06:09

        That's hilarious.

    21. RRRadio Rahim1:06:10

        (laughs)

    22. JRJoe Rogan1:06:11

        That's hilarious.... that's a funny way to do it.

    23. RRRadio Rahim1:06:15

        Yeah. (laughs)

    24. JRJoe Rogan1:06:15

        Uh, did you ever learn any martial arts, other than boxing?

    25. RRRadio Rahim1:06:18

        (sighs) Uh, I... Learn? No. Try? Yes. Judo-

    26. JRJoe Rogan1:06:22

        No?

    27. RRRadio Rahim1:06:22

        Judo.

    28. JRJoe Rogan1:06:22

        Judo?

    29. RRRadio Rahim1:06:23

        Judo was the first thing. Dislocated my elbow in the-

    30. JRJoe Rogan1:06:26

        Ooh.

Episode duration: 3:26:09