CHAPTERS
- 0:00 – 6:21
Choe’s Austin arrival: hugs, gifts, and instant city scouting
David Choe opens with big energy—hugging Joe, gifting him psychedelic-themed art merch, and explaining his outlandish outfit. He then recounts landing in Austin, biking all over town, and rapidly soaking up the city’s vibe, food, and culture.
- •Choe brings a custom gift tied to mushrooms/psychedelics and JRE lore
- •First impressions of Austin: biking, weather, liveability, fewer visible problems than LA
- •Quick “recon” for Asian food spots and community
- •Austin’s “weird” tolerance: nobody reacts to his look
- •Reconnecting after nearly three years since last in-person talk
- 6:21 – 8:30
Why Rogan left LA: COVID shutdowns, policing politics, and quality-of-life
Joe explains the instinct-driven decision to leave Los Angeles and why he feels Austin offers more freedom and better day-to-day life. Choe echoes the sentiment, describing safety concerns in LA and his growing desire to relocate.
- •Joe’s frustration with LA governance, pandemic restrictions, and ‘defund the police’ fallout
- •Austin as the first scouting trip (May 2020) that sealed the move for the family
- •Perceived benefits: friendliness, lack of traffic, growing arts/comedy scene
- •Choe’s experiences with crime and insecurity in LA (baseball bat story)
- •Choe considers broader escape options (Montana, Costa Rica, New Zealand, Africa)
- 8:30 – 11:50
The Hadza ripple effect: viral clips, donations, and culture-saving attention
Choe describes how a prior JRE conversation about the Hadza exploded online, generating millions of views and tangible financial support. He emphasizes both the power and responsibility of viral media, urging creators to give back to the community they profit from.
- •A Hadza-related clip reaches ~30M views and drives major attention
- •Donations support water, education, clothing, and infrastructure via the foundation
- •Influencers and celebrities pursue Hadza travel after hearing Choe’s story
- •Choe promotes the documentary project 'We Are Hadza'
- •Reflection on how conversation content can materially impact communities
- 11:50 – 16:26
Africa’s lesson on presence: making art, letting it go, and rejecting monetization anxiety
Choe explains why time with hunter-gatherer communities reshaped his values as an artist. A key moment—people casually discarding “great” drawings—teaches him about impermanence, presence, and freedom from turning everything into a commodity.
- •Living in caves, daily rhythms, and observing hunting/gathering life
- •Teaching kids to draw; confronting ego about ‘museum-worthy’ art
- •Transformative moment: the tribe throws artwork away—no attachment, pure presence
- •Choe intentionally practices letting go (even discarding his own work)
- •Desire to reduce anxiety about monetizing creativity
- 16:26 – 20:08
Life as a video game: religion, money, sex, and the ‘final quest’ of spirituality
Choe frames his life in “levels,” contrasting rigid religious upbringings with his later pursuit of money, power, and sexual conquest. Having ‘beaten’ those games, he argues the remaining challenge is spiritual—learning what it means to live from love.
- •Organized religion as binary scoring system (heaven/hell)
- •Money ‘level’: art, gambling, Facebook windfall, and learning wealth doesn’t equal meaning
- •Encountering billionaires and rejecting their lifestyle as a goal
- •Sex ‘level’: decade-long tear, then burnout and a desire to ‘get out while ahead’
- •Spiritual ‘final quest’: why ‘the answer is love’ is hard to operationalize
- 20:08 – 35:53
Billion-dollar fantasies and refusing the art market: ‘Everything is free now’
Choe recounts asking an ultra-wealthy friend for a billion dollars, then realizing he doesn’t want the responsibility or identity shift. He also explains why he stopped selling art after a high-profile Beverly Hills show, pivoting to giving work away and losing money on purpose.
- •Comedic but revealing story: asking a friend for ‘one billion’ and being refused
- •Realization that money equals power—and unwanted burden
- •Disillusionment after celebrity Beverly Hills show: art as status ‘dick contest’
- •Decision to stop selling art and focus on free/community projects
- •Wealth managers vs. Choe’s goal: spend down to zero by end of life
- 35:53 – 40:41
Primal reality on film: baboon hunts, primate taboo, and ethics of survival
Choe and Joe discuss the graphic, intimate realities of hunter-gatherer hunting—especially primates—and why it unsettles modern audiences. They contrast visceral footage with the moral distance people feel eating fish versus animals closer to humans.
- •Documentary scenes: baboon hunts, brain-eating, skull ‘drums,’ and survival routines
- •Joe’s point: people react strongly to eating primates because it feels ‘close’ to us
- •Analogy: cannibalism thought experiment to explain the discomfort
- •Discussion of scarcity and extinction pressures shaping what the Hadza hunt now
- •Tension between modern sensibilities and ancestral survival behaviors
- 40:41 – 50:30
Cannibal loopholes & placenta smoothies: shock humor meets health obsession
The conversation veers into true-crime cannibalism, cultural taboos, and Choe’s personal habit of eating placenta—collecting it in a freezer and blending it into extreme ‘rich guy’ health smoothies. The segment blends grotesque comedy with commentary on health fads and modern excess.
- •Discussion of a notorious cannibal case and public reappearance
- •Placenta-eating as ‘cannibal-adjacent’ ritual across cultures
- •Choe’s freezer of placenta from friends’ births and flavor curiosity
- •Escalation into absurd luxury health routines (unwashed eggs, banana peel, expensive supplements)
- •Contrast between ancestral nutrition and modern biohacking spectacle
- 50:30 – 1:00:10
What people need is community: from abusive ‘accountability’ trainers to third spaces
Choe describes searching for a sustainable fitness and life structure—rejecting both isolated luxury training and grimy public gyms. He identifies “third spaces” and community as the missing ingredient, tying it to spirituality, discipline, and belonging.
- •Hiring a ‘rogue trainer’ who physically hits him for accountability (and the chaos it causes)
- •Realizing fear-based accountability isn’t the right path long-term
- •Seeking communal exercise and play with friends as the only ‘fun’ workout mode
- •Introducing the idea of ‘third space’ as vital social infrastructure
- •Desire to build a balanced family life with nature, not extremes
- 1:00:10 – 1:12:59
Acting, fame, and fandom: why Rogan quit acting & Choe’s Star Wars graffiti cameo
Choe probes Joe about acting and why he won’t return, even for major directors; Joe emphasizes time, interest, and priorities. Choe then tells a detailed story about pitching street art into Star Wars, doing graffiti for The Mandalorian, refusing Disney payment, and becoming an alien-prosthetic extra for a second of screen time.
- •Joe’s acting stance: sitcom experience, no desire to return due to time/interest
- •Choe’s argument: creativity outside the expected lanes (art intersecting with film)
- •Star Wars world-building critique: war implies propaganda/graffiti—so add it
- •Choe’s obsessive research: Aurebesh, scale-accurate graffiti layers, canon details
- •Eight-hour makeup and prosthetics for a blink-and-you-miss-it cameo
- 1:12:59 – 1:23:55
Beef, Survivor, and the cost of ‘going method’: leaking anger into real life
Choe describes being cast in Beef, assuming it was an offer rather than an audition, then unexpectedly getting the role. Playing an aggressive character bleeds into his daily behavior, culminating in checking into a mental hospital for a week to stabilize.
- •Miscommunication: thinking it was a role offer, discovering it was an audition
- •Choe’s competitive fantasy: believing he’d dominate Survivor, then opting out
- •‘Leaking’ character traits—aggression spilling into family interactions
- •Struggle with method acting: repeated gun-waving ‘fuck you’ scenes affecting mood
- •Decision to seek inpatient help after feeling mentally destabilized
- 1:23:55 – 1:32:05
Jiu-jitsu pitch & ‘10th Planet’ origin: from tripping in judo to aliens (Nibiru)
After a break, Joe pushes Choe toward jiu-jitsu and explains no-gi fundamentals and gym recommendations. The discussion expands into the history of 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu, Eddie Bravo, and then spirals into playful ancient-aliens lore and corrections about ‘moon rotation.’
- •Joe argues jiu-jitsu fits Choe’s competitiveness and need for community
- •Choe’s judo background: one devastating trip, no follow-up game
- •10th Planet recommendation (LA HQ) and the differences between gi vs no-gi grips
- •Origin story: Eddie Bravo, Jean Jacques Machado, and no-gi innovation
- •Ancient-aliens detour: Zecharia Sitchin, Nibiru, Anunnaki; plus moon ‘tidal locking’ correction
- 1:32:05 – 1:41:40
Comedy, saturation, and the lost ‘magic’: why everything feels like a TED Talk now
Choe argues the internet has overexposed the craft—comedy, music, and art techniques are now endlessly explained, reducing surprise and wonder. Joe counters that truly great comedy remains rewatchable, and they debate ‘getting out while ahead’ using Eddie Murphy as the case study.
- •Choe’s analogy: porn/comedy abundance vs. ancestors’ limited access
- •Critique: comedians ‘teach’ or ‘talk down’ instead of prioritizing jokes
- •Joe’s rebuttal: great sets remain funny even when you know the mechanics
- •Eddie Murphy debate: preserve legend vs. missing out on more brilliance
- •Choe’s self-recognition: becoming jaded toward the very art he loves
- 1:41:40 – 1:48:54
Psychedelic alien roast & the ‘Mongolian blue spot’: nonsense as spiritual medicine
Choe recounts a psychedelic vision where an obscene, hilarious ‘alien’ explains Asians as hybrid descendants and riffs on anatomy and identity. The story leads to the real-world ‘Mongolian blue spot’ birthmark phenomenon, blending comedy with awe and cultural anthropology.
- •Choe’s psychedelic ‘alien’ persona: crude humor as part of a ‘spiritual’ trip arc
- •Introduction of the Mongolian blue spot and its prevalence across populations
- •Choe’s framing: ‘worship at the altar of nonsense’ as an openness practice
- •Joe notes parallels to ancient-aliens narratives (DNA manipulation themes)
- •Humor as a bridge to taboo topics: identity, shame, and belonging
- 1:48:54 – 3:17:31
God as love, faith as utility: spirituality beyond literalism, plus AI as the new disruption
Joe lays out a nuanced view: not atheist, skeptical of human-authored religious literalism, but appreciative of religion’s moral scaffolding and community—centering ‘God as love.’ Choe connects this to trauma from religious abuse, the need for ‘third spaces,’ and a forward-looking acceptance of AI disruption—arguing the antidote is human connection.
- •Joe: religion contains human bias but also wisdom, structure, and community value
- •Belief can improve life outcomes even if metaphysics are uncertain
- •Choe: religious abuse, shame, and the challenge of choosing love over hate/revenge
- •Discussion of human malleability: pandemic fear, social breakdown, and media fixation on apocalypse
- •AI parallels to Napster: unstoppable tech, job disruption, and the case for human connection (and UBI)
