The Joe Rogan ExperienceJoe Rogan Experience #1928 - Jimmy Corsetti & Ben van Kerkwyk
CHAPTERS
- 0:00 – 0:20
Show opens: Joe reunites with Jimmy Corsetti and meets Ben van Kerkwyk
Joe welcomes Jimmy back and meets Ben for the first time, setting up a deep dive into Atlantis, cataclysms, and ancient engineering mysteries. Joe praises Jimmy’s recent Atlantis/Richat video work and pushes the conversation straight into evidence and visuals.
- 0:20 – 5:02
The Richat Structure case for Atlantis: Plato’s details and geographic matches
Jimmy lays out why the Richat Structure (“Eye of the Sahara”) is proposed as Atlantis’ capital city: concentric rings, an opening to the south, mountains to the north, and material/color parallels. The conversation emphasizes how many independent “hits” appear to line up with Plato’s description.
- 5:02 – 7:11
A green Sahara and the “mud and reeds” aftermath: rethinking Atlantis as land-based
Jimmy argues many people misunderstand Atlantis as necessarily underwater, while Plato’s aftermath description suggests mud shoals and reeds. He connects this to the reality that the Sahara was once green with major rivers and enormous lakes, which could support a flourishing civilization inland.
- 7:11 – 10:48
Catastrophic water erosion in the Sahara: Mount Koussi, lava flows, and salt on peaks
Jimmy pivots to geological evidence suggesting major water action through the Sahara far more recently than standard timelines for the Trans-Saharan Seaway. He highlights Mount Koussi’s lava flow being “cut” by erosion, plus widespread surface salt and marine indicators at high elevation.
- 10:48 – 14:39
Egyptian parallels enter: Edfu temple origin myths, Solon, and Younger Dryas timing
Ben connects Plato’s “reeds and mud” motif to Egyptian origin stories (Edfu inscriptions) describing a primordial island/mound and cultural migration. The group then ties Atlantis’ purported date (9,600 BCE) to Younger Dryas endpoints and broader catastrophe/flood myth patterns.
- 14:39 – 19:32
Impacts and floods as recurring history: Burckle crater, mega-tsunamis, and fire evidence
The discussion broadens from Atlantis to repeatable planetary cataclysms: ocean impacts, mega-tsunamis, craters, and widespread burning layers. Ben describes Burckle crater and chevron formations; Jimmy and Joe discuss how these events could reset civilization repeatedly.
- 19:32 – 25:16
The offshore “seafloor slide” near Richat and gigantic ripple patterns
Jimmy introduces a large underwater sediment feature off West Africa dated roughly to the Atlantis timeframe, suggesting massive outflow/flooding from the Sahara. They compare enormous ripple-like structures to Missoula flood ripples, arguing for water forces on an almost incomprehensible scale.
- 25:16 – 28:40
Sizing, access, and objections: Atlantis dimensions, trade plausibility, and Richat logistics
Joe presses on the mismatch between Plato’s stated dimensions and Richat’s scale; Jimmy argues long oral/translation chains can distort numbers and that a bustling hub implies a much larger city. The group also discusses why West Africa (green, river-connected, coastal access) may fit better than mid-Atlantic hypotheses.
- 28:40 – 38:56
Atlantis as a stigmatized topic: Troy analogy, academic gatekeeping, and Hancock backlash
Conversation shifts to why “Atlantis” became a pseudo-archaeology label despite earlier serious study. Joe, Jimmy, and Ben criticize institutional incentives, reputational risk, and attack tactics (including accusations of racism) used against Graham Hancock and alternative inquiry.
- 38:56 – 41:36
Global megalithic parallels and the dating problem: Japan–Egypt similarities and “stone can’t be carbon-dated”
Joe brings up worldwide construction similarities (Peru, Egypt, Japan) and highlights how stone structures can’t be directly carbon-dated. The group argues conventional timelines may be overly confident when based on associated organic material and dynastic attribution rather than the stonework itself.
- 41:36 – 51:54
The precision-vase ‘smoking gun’: scans, thousandth-inch tolerances, and machine-like symmetry
Ben details high-precision ancient Egyptian hard-stone vases and recent metrology work using expensive structured-light scanners. Measurements show extreme flatness, circularity, and perpendicularity—levels he argues are incompatible with hand methods and imply advanced machining processes.
- 51:54 – 1:10:34
Tube drills and machining marks: Petrie’s Core #7 and the spiral-groove controversy
Ben explains the famous drill core with spiral striations and what it implies about drilling rates, tool geometry, and power. He claims mainstream responses range from dismissal to photo manipulation, and argues broader ‘machining mark’ evidence exists across restricted or under-discussed sites.
- 1:10:34 – 1:17:34
Civilization timeline expansion: Gobekli Tepe, Egypt’s deep king lists, and “inheritance” models
They argue Gobekli Tepe and related sites force a rethink of ‘civilization begins 6,000 years ago,’ criticizing the rebranding of builders as ‘hunter-gatherers.’ Ben outlines Egypt’s own deep-time traditions (Zep Tepi, Shemsu Hor) and proposes dynastic Egypt inherited older tech and monuments.
- 1:17:34 – 1:25:27
Cosmic ‘splash damage’ landscapes: Carolina Bays and saturation bombardment ideas
Ben introduces the Carolina Bays—millions of oriented elliptical depressions—arguing wind-based explanations fail and proposing an impact-ice-ejecta model. The discussion frames the bays as evidence of catastrophic bombardment and liquefaction effects consistent with Younger Dryas-type events.
- 1:25:27 – 1:32:29
Modern secrecy and tinfoil detours: Georgia Guidestones, elite foreknowledge, and ‘bunker logic’
The conversation detours into modern preparedness and suspicion: the Georgia Guidestones’ destruction, missing time capsule claims, and perceived lack of investigation. They also speculate about what elites might know, referencing Davos rumors, billionaire bunkers, and military interest in underground-city operations.
- 1:32:29 – 1:51:12
Pole shifts, ‘Adam and Eve’ catastrophism, and what the magnetic field weakening could mean
Jimmy and Ben discuss geomagnetic pole reversals as real science but debate the potential severity and timing, referencing the ‘Adam and Eve’ narrative and rapid-shift claims. They connect pole movement and field weakening to greater vulnerability to solar and cosmic events, and contrast mainstream reassurance with their concerns.
- 1:51:12 – 2:03:18
How did they move and cut megaliths? Thunderstone comparison and ‘anti-gravity/resonance’ speculation
Ben compares historic heavy-lift feats (Thunderstone) with ancient multi-hundred/1000+ ton Egyptian objects, arguing the conventional story doesn’t scale. Pressed for a ‘wild guess,’ he entertains anti-gravity, resonance, ultrasonics, or other physics-adjacent mechanisms—emphasizing uncertainty but insisting primitive-only models don’t fit.
- 2:03:18 – 2:10:34
Aswan’s unfinished obelisk and the ‘scoop marks’ problem: hands-on tests vs. orthodox claims
They focus on the Aswan quarry: the unfinished obelisk, test pits, and distinctive scoop-like removal marks that look unlike pounding-stone work. Jimmy describes visitors being shown an explanatory video and allowed to try dolerite pounding themselves, arguing the demonstrated removal rate is incompatible with quarry scale.
- 2:10:34 – 3:00:45
Ancient Egyptian ships as a reality-check: the Khufu boat and missing ‘heavy haul’ maritime evidence
Jimmy and Joe use the Khufu ship as a contrast point: despite its fame and length, they argue it’s not a convincing heavy-transport solution for megalith logistics. Ben notes how small illustrative scenes are often overextended by mainstream narratives to ‘explain’ far larger transport feats.
