Joe Rogan Experience #2232 - Josh Brolin

1. 0:01 – 0:14

   Cold open and the weirdness of meeting your heroes

   1. NANarrator0:01

      (drumming music) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out.

   2. The Joe Rogan Experience.

   3. JRJoe Rogan0:06

      Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day. (rock music) Hey, oh.

2. 0:14 – 1:23

   Ball-grabbing, boundaries, and why some stars like chaos

   1. JBJosh Brolin0:14

      Little Bo Peep, she needed the money.

   2. JRJoe Rogan0:16

      Oh.

   3. JBJosh Brolin0:17

      Oh. How, remember how great that was, man?

   4. JRJoe Rogan0:20

      Oh, yeah. When I first met him, it was like one of those weird things where, you know, you know, I mean, you've met a lot of famous people. Some of them you meet them and you're like, "Uh, fucking really you?"

   5. JBJosh Brolin0:29

      Bummer.

   6. JRJoe Rogan0:30

      It's weird.

   7. JBJosh Brolin0:30

      (laughs)

   8. JRJoe Rogan0:30

      Oh, there's bummer too, yeah.

   9. JBJosh Brolin0:32

      Right, right, right.

   10. JRJoe Rogan0:32

       The bummer one's are... That sucks.

   11. JBJosh Brolin0:33

       That, that sucks.

   12. JRJoe Rogan0:33

       When you meet someone and they suck, and you're like, "Oh, no, you suck."

   13. JBJosh Brolin0:36

       Yeah. Yeah, exactly.

   14. JRJoe Rogan0:37

       Some people just should just not talk. They should only do what they do, act and sing.

   15. JBJosh Brolin0:42

       Mm-hmm.

   16. JRJoe Rogan0:42

       Just stop talking.

   17. JBJosh Brolin0:42

       But then you get to know them. Like, I don't know, like, I'm pretty good at this now, where you don't, where you see people that you, like, looked up to, like Eddie Vedder, I had a pretty close relationship with Eddie Vedder.

   18. JRJoe Rogan0:52

       Oh, really?

   19. JBJosh Brolin0:54

       Yeah. But I was drinking and then I would grab his balls and do shit like that.

   20. JRJoe Rogan0:57

       (laughs)

   21. JBJosh Brolin0:57

       And then it was like, "I don't want him around."

   22. JRJoe Rogan1:00

       (laughs)

   23. JBJosh Brolin1:01

       "I don't want Josh around."

   24. JRJoe Rogan1:03

       Yeah.

   25. JBJosh Brolin1:03

       "I don't like that anymore. I don't want my..." You know. And I think Sean Penn appreciated shit like that, like, "Wow, somebody has the balls."

   26. JRJoe Rogan1:12

       A little chaos?

   27. JBJosh Brolin1:12

       It's not even a little chaos, it's like somebody has the balls to, like, call me on my shit. Like not everybody is afraid of me.

   28. JRJoe Rogan1:19

       Oh, right. Yeah, he's probably used to people constantly being afraid of him.

   29. JBJosh Brolin1:22

       Yeah, like, "Oh, we can't fuck with him."

3. 1:23 – 3:13

   Sean Penn, El Chapo, and the recklessness of “going to see the monster”

   1. JRJoe Rogan1:23

      Right. Well, he does wild shit, like when he went down to fucking Mexico and met with El Chapo. Like Jesus Christ, dude.

   2. JBJosh Brolin1:30

      That's, that's-

   3. JRJoe Rogan1:31

      That's a fucking wild and reckless thing to do.

   4. JBJosh Brolin1:31

      But that, you know, and I do think that that's organic, but I think that that's also you just have that thing where you just go, "You know what? Shit's getting boring."

   5. JRJoe Rogan1:40

      Right.

   6. JBJosh Brolin1:40

      "Like the weather is just too fucking nice here."

   7. JRJoe Rogan1:42

      "Weather's too nice, I'm too famous, let's go be a mobster." (laughs)

   8. JBJosh Brolin1:45

      Something. Yeah. Let's go fuck some shit up. Let's do something, let's do something big...

   9. JRJoe Rogan1:50

      Let's do something really reckless.

   10. JBJosh Brolin1:51

       ... let's do something that's gonna resonate for at least a year.

   11. JRJoe Rogan1:53

       Yeah. That whole El Chapo thing was so crazy though, because that kind of is one of the things that got him caught.

   12. JBJosh Brolin1:58

       It, it was, right?

   13. JRJoe Rogan2:00

       Yeah, yeah. Because they, you know, they track your cell phone data.

   14. JBJosh Brolin2:03

       Yeah.

   15. JRJoe Rogan2:03

       And they know where you go. And if you're bringing your fucking cell phone, you're basically bringing a tracking device to-

   16. JBJosh Brolin2:08

       Yeah.

   17. JRJoe Rogan2:08

       ... to go find one of the most notorious gangsters alive today.

   18. JBJosh Brolin2:13

       The most noto- I mean, who, who, who was the guy with the football team back in the day? Like the-

   19. JRJoe Rogan2:18

       Pablo Escobar? Yeah.

   20. JBJosh Brolin2:19

       Think about it. It's our day's, this time it's Pablo Escobar.

   21. JRJoe Rogan2:23

       Yeah, yeah.

   22. JBJosh Brolin2:24

       And Sean Penn-

   23. JRJoe Rogan2:26

       Goes and hangs out with him.

   24. JBJosh Brolin2:27

       ... who was suppo- Spicoli-

   25. JRJoe Rogan2:29

       (laughs)

   26. JBJosh Brolin2:30

       ... goes, "You know what, man?"

   27. JRJoe Rogan2:31

       Spicoli. (laughs)

   28. JBJosh Brolin2:32

       "Hey, who wants to come with me and find this motherfucker?"

   29. JRJoe Rogan2:35

       Did he go solo?

   30. JBJosh Brolin2:36

       I don't, I think so.
4. 3:13 – 5:45

   Voluntary adversity: elk hunting, ethics, and Disney’s impact on how we see animals

   1. JBJosh Brolin3:13

      What's the most dangerous thing that you do now? What do you think would, would-

   2. JRJoe Rogan3:16

      Dangerous thing?

   3. JBJosh Brolin3:17

      Yeah. Like we're talking about Sean going out on a limb. Do you find it necessary to go out and do things that, like, challenge you in a way?

   4. JRJoe Rogan3:25

      Yes.

   5. JBJosh Brolin3:25

      Challenge your psyche?

   6. JRJoe Rogan3:27

      Yes.

   7. JBJosh Brolin3:27

      In what way?

   8. JRJoe Rogan3:28

      Uh, elk hunting is probably the most exciting.

   9. JBJosh Brolin3:32

      What is?

   10. JRJoe Rogan3:33

       Elk hunting.

   11. JBJosh Brolin3:33

       Elk hunting.

   12. JRJoe Rogan3:33

       Elk hunting.

   13. JBJosh Brolin3:34

       Why? Because it puts you in danger?

   14. JRJoe Rogan3:36

       Well, no, it's just really difficult, you know. You're bowhunting in the mountains.

   15. JBJosh Brolin3:41

       Right.

   16. JRJoe Rogan3:41

       And it's just you and the mountains and there's fucking mountain lions and bears and shit.

   17. JBJosh Brolin3:43

       Do you stay up there for days and days and days?

   18. JRJoe Rogan3:45

       Yeah.

   19. JBJosh Brolin3:45

       And do you quarter your, your kill?

   20. JRJoe Rogan3:47

       Oh yeah, we pack it out, yeah.

   21. JBJosh Brolin3:49

       See, that's a different thing.

   22. JRJoe Rogan3:50

       Yeah.

   23. JBJosh Brolin3:50

       You know, people say, "I don't, I don't like hunt..." Personally I, like I grew up in a very red part of California. Everybody hunts that I grew up with. And I would shoot and I would hunt with my dad and I would like fucking think about it and dream about it for three weeks.

   24. JRJoe Rogan4:04

       Oh yeah, I love it.

   25. JBJosh Brolin4:05

       Yeah.

   26. JRJoe Rogan4:05

       I love it. I love eating it, I love hunting.

   27. JBJosh Brolin4:06

       No, no, no. I'm saying that I would like, I would spiral.

   28. JRJoe Rogan4:08

       Oh, in a bad way? Oh, you would get negative with it.

   29. JBJosh Brolin4:11

       Not even... It was negative... Yeah, I guess it would be negative, but it would like, made me think of like the kids that were going like, "Mom, mom, are you there?"

   30. JRJoe Rogan4:20

       Oh, because you killed your mother.
5. 5:45 – 7:44

   Disney porn rumors and the never-ending hunt for “the list”

   1. JBJosh Brolin5:45

      Yeah. What, what about the sexual connotations of Disney? Like, you know, did you ever hear that thing that Disney, Walt Disney had like the biggest porn collection of all time?

   2. JRJoe Rogan5:54

      Really?

   3. JBJosh Brolin5:55

      That's what I heard. I don't know how much of it is true. You know there's-

   4. JRJoe Rogan5:57

      Have you ever seen how, um...

   5. JBJosh Brolin5:58

      There's like the Rod Stewart thing and there's the... You know what I mean?

   6. JRJoe Rogan6:01

      Oh right, right, the Richard Gere thing.

   7. JBJosh Brolin6:01

      I don't know if it's what...

   8. JRJoe Rogan6:03

      Right.

   9. JBJosh Brolin6:03

      I don't know how much it is.

   10. JRJoe Rogan6:04

       Go, google it, Jamie. Did Walt Disney have a gigantic porn collection?... I wouldn't be surprised. A lot of people that are, like, really into kids stuff-

   11. JBJosh Brolin6:11

       Mm.

   12. JRJoe Rogan6:11

       ... and, like, sweet, wholesome stuff, they, they need-

   13. JBJosh Brolin6:14

       Have that other-

   14. JRJoe Rogan6:15

       ... they need to flip.

   15. JBJosh Brolin6:15

       ... kind of slant?

   16. JRJoe Rogan6:16

       Yeah. They need something-

   17. JBJosh Brolin6:17

       Or eventually flip?

   18. JRJoe Rogan6:18

       ... that... Maybe. Maybe it's a cover or maybe it's, like, they're so cutesy with the fucking completely wholesome stuff that they have to balance it out with some bondage shit.

   19. JBJosh Brolin6:30

       Some fucked up shit.

   20. JRJoe Rogan6:31

       Some guys getting kicked in the nuts and ball gags.

   21. JBJosh Brolin6:32

       Why is it that people feel that people in Hollywood, and Texans are like that. Like, I know people that have moved to Texas, and they, and they've called me. There was one guy that I used to work out with in Venice, and he started, he moved here, and he called me and he'd be like, "Hey, man, you know the list is coming out." And I'd go, "What list?"

   22. JRJoe Rogan6:50

       (laughs)

   23. JBJosh Brolin6:50

       And he goes, "You know, the list."

   24. JRJoe Rogan6:52

       The list.

   25. JBJosh Brolin6:53

       And I go, "Am I on the list?"

   26. JRJoe Rogan6:54

       Oh, no.

   27. JBJosh Brolin6:55

       And he goes, "No, you're clean. You're good."

   28. JRJoe Rogan6:59

       Phew.

   29. JBJosh Brolin6:59

       "But I know you know who's on the list."

   30. JRJoe Rogan7:01

       (laughs)
6. 7:44 – 15:15

   Epstein, power protection, and Brolin’s experience around politicians

   1. JBJosh Brolin7:44

      Now.

   2. JRJoe Rogan7:44

      ... like the Epstein client list that doesn't get released, then it fuels these kind of conspiracy theories about there being a list.

   3. JBJosh Brolin7:51

      So, why is that list not released?

   4. JRJoe Rogan7:53

      That's a very good question.

   5. JBJosh Brolin7:54

      Who-

   6. JRJoe Rogan7:54

      Powerful people.

   7. JBJosh Brolin7:56

      Who has that list?

   8. JRJoe Rogan7:56

      Well, for sure someone has the list.

   9. JBJosh Brolin7:58

      Okay.

   10. JRJoe Rogan7:58

       Ghislaine Maxwell's in jail, right? So she must have talked. Like, there must have been conversations.

   11. JBJosh Brolin8:03

       Right.

   12. JRJoe Rogan8:03

       And there must be a bunch of very powerful people that are on that list and, you know, protecting them.

   13. JBJosh Brolin8:07

       Are all the powerful people in cahoots?

   14. JRJoe Rogan8:10

       Now-

   15. JBJosh Brolin8:10

       Well, something that I learned-

   16. JRJoe Rogan8:11

       Now, they compete with each other.

   17. JBJosh Brolin8:11

       ... like when I played, when I played W, I played a senator.

   18. JRJoe Rogan8:16

       Mm-hmm. Who was that like?

   19. JBJosh Brolin8:16

       I played W.

   20. JRJoe Rogan8:17

       Was it... Did that... What is it like playing a guy who's still alive? Did you meet with him-

   21. JBJosh Brolin8:20

       Scary.

   22. JRJoe Rogan8:20

       ... or hang out with him at all?

   23. JBJosh Brolin8:21

       Scary. I mean, it, it... No. I wanted to.

   24. JRJoe Rogan8:24

       Did you ever meet him?

   25. JBJosh Brolin8:26

       No.

   26. JRJoe Rogan8:27

       God, that's weird, right-

   27. JBJosh Brolin8:28

       (inhales deeply)

   28. JRJoe Rogan8:28

       ... playing a guy-

   29. JBJosh Brolin8:28

       I had the opportunity to meet him afterwards and, and there was something about him that was more... Remember when he was, like, giving candy to Michelle Obama and all that?

   30. JRJoe Rogan8:38

       Yeah. Yeah.
7. 15:15 – 17:26

   Money: freedom, gratitude, and the ugly side of entitlement

   1. JBJosh Brolin15:15

      How'd you... What's your relationship like with money?

   2. JRJoe Rogan15:18

      In what way?

   3. JBJosh Brolin15:19

      Just in what... You- you've made a certain amount of money for a long time.

   4. JRJoe Rogan15:22

      I don't think about it.

   5. JBJosh Brolin15:23

      You don't think about it?

   6. JRJoe Rogan15:24

      I like... No, no, what I like about money is to not think about it. That's what I like.

   7. JBJosh Brolin15:27

      Do you like spending it?

   8. JRJoe Rogan15:28

      I like buying stuff.

   9. JBJosh Brolin15:29

      Me too.

   10. JRJoe Rogan15:29

       I have a nice car. Drove here.

   11. JBJosh Brolin15:31

       Do-

   12. JRJoe Rogan15:31

       I drove a '69, uh, Camaro once.

   13. JBJosh Brolin15:33

       See, but that's different.

   14. JRJoe Rogan15:34

       I like that. Yeah, I like that.

   15. JBJosh Brolin15:35

       That's fucking different.

   16. JRJoe Rogan15:36

       Yeah.

   17. JBJosh Brolin15:36

       That's character.

   18. JRJoe Rogan15:37

       I like fun stuff, but-

   19. JBJosh Brolin15:39

       Fun stuff.

   20. JRJoe Rogan15:39

       ... for the most part, I'm not interested in it like as a goal. You know, I just... I l- uh, what I like about money is not having to think about it.

   21. JBJosh Brolin15:46

       Mm.

   22. JRJoe Rogan15:47

       My friend, Bryan Callen, said this to me once. He said, he goes, "Real freedom is when you can go to a restaurant and not worry about what anything costs." He's like, "Everything else is bullshit."

   23. JBJosh Brolin15:54

       It is.

   24. JRJoe Rogan15:55

       And it really is.

   25. JBJosh Brolin15:56

       It really is.

   26. JRJoe Rogan15:56

       Everything else is bullshit. When you can just go to a restaurant, get a nice steak, you know, order a bottle of wine, and have a good time and not think about the bill. That's-

   27. JBJosh Brolin16:04

       What I think happens is, is... And be grateful for it.

   28. JRJoe Rogan16:08

       Mm-hmm.

   29. JBJosh Brolin16:08

       And to remind yourself-

   30. JRJoe Rogan16:09

       Mm-hmm.
8. 17:26 – 21:48

   Motorcycles, writing as labor, and summoning creativity without excuses

   1. JBJosh Brolin17:26

      And people say, "Oh, is that an affectation? I know you're friends with Momo or whatever." I go, "No, man. I've been riding motorcycles since I was three and a half years old."

   2. JRJoe Rogan17:33

      They're fun.

   3. JBJosh Brolin17:34

      They're not only fun. There's something on a s- if you read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance-

   4. JRJoe Rogan17:39

      Mm-hmm. I did read it.

   5. JBJosh Brolin17:39

      ... which is the only book that's ever been written that's kind of, gets close to the kind of spiritual place. If you're a true motorcyclist, whether you're riding with your son or whether you're riding with a grid of guys or whatever, that beautiful thunderous hum when you're in a, when you're in a group of guys who really know what they're doing and you're in absolute fucking sync.

   6. JRJoe Rogan18:02

      Yes.

   7. JBJosh Brolin18:02

      And yes, your arms are up here and your arms are pretty numb at that point, but you're fucking soaring. You're an eagle on a fucking jet stream.

   8. JRJoe Rogan18:09

      You ever heard Hunter S. Thompson in... Y- you know that documentary they did, Gonzo?

   9. JBJosh Brolin18:14

      Yeah.

   10. JRJoe Rogan18:14

       The li- that, that-

   11. JBJosh Brolin18:15

       Of course.

   12. JRJoe Rogan18:15

       In the documentary, the very beginning, he talks about riding a motorcycle on the Pacific Coast Highway.

   13. JBJosh Brolin18:21

       Oh, I don't remember that. I don't remember that.

   14. JRJoe Rogan18:22

       Yeah. Oh, it's fucking great. See if you can find that. It, he talks about riding a motorcycle, how about like that the, the, the lines begin to blur.

   15. JBJosh Brolin18:30

       Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's it.

   16. JRJoe Rogan18:30

       Those, and you just, you're just on the edge and how alive you are. It's a fucking fantastic speech.

   17. JBJosh Brolin18:35

       We don't have to get into this book right away, but there was... I wrote, they came to me. It's the only story that I wrote that somebody asked me to write for the book. And they were like, "Well, you're really into motorcycles, why don't you write a story about motorcycles?"... and I tried and it was just bad and bad. And everything I wrote was, like, so forced and bullshit. And finally I said, "I can't do it, I'm not gonna write it." And the minute I said, "I'm not gonna do this," I started writing. It just kinda started-

   18. JRJoe Rogan18:59

       Ah.

   19. JBJosh Brolin18:59

       ... to come out, and it's good.

   20. JRJoe Rogan19:00

       Do you write by hand?

   21. JBJosh Brolin19:02

       I do.

   22. JRJoe Rogan19:02

       Yeah?

   23. JBJosh Brolin19:03

       Mostly.

   24. JRJoe Rogan19:03

       Do you feel more of a connection when you write by hand?

   25. JBJosh Brolin19:05

       No, that's not why I do it.

   26. JRJoe Rogan19:06

       You don't like to type?

   27. JBJosh Brolin19:06

       'Cause I'll write any which way, whether it's on the phone, whether...

   28. JRJoe Rogan19:09

       Mm-hmm.

   29. JBJosh Brolin19:10

       You know, I remember people saying, like, "I, I write, you know, by hand, I hand write because it's, it's the way it used to be." And I was like, "Yeah, it also used to be under candlelight, which fucked your eyes up."

   30. JRJoe Rogan19:20

       (laughs)
9. 21:48 – 26:19

   Rogan’s Hollywood escape and Brolin’s Santa Barbara roots (and trauma)

   1. JRJoe Rogan21:48

      ... I really love about living in Texas.

   2. JBJosh Brolin21:50

      Yeah.

   3. JRJoe Rogan21:50

      Is there's no Hollywood. There's no show business. I don't have to deal with any of these people with, like, alternative agendas. And the worst-

   4. JBJosh Brolin21:57

      We just moved to S- we just... I wanna go back to that, but we just moved to Santa Barbara.

   5. JRJoe Rogan22:01

      Santa Barbara's-

   6. JBJosh Brolin22:02

      Santa Bar- ... awesome. Santa Bar- It's funny.

   7. JRJoe Rogan22:04

      I love it out there.

   8. JBJosh Brolin22:04

      Like, why does everybody fucking think that? It is awesome.

   9. JRJoe Rogan22:06

      Montecito, I love it out there.

   10. JBJosh Brolin22:07

       Why?

   11. JRJoe Rogan22:08

       So pretty. 'Cause it's beautiful.

   12. JBJosh Brolin22:09

       'Cause it's beautiful. What about the people?

   13. JRJoe Rogan22:11

       Uh...

   14. JBJosh Brolin22:13

       I'm not, I'm not-

   15. JRJoe Rogan22:13

       They're a little elitist. There's a lot of elitist people-

   16. JBJosh Brolin22:16

       Okay, so this-

   17. JRJoe Rogan22:17

       ... out there.

   18. JBJosh Brolin22:17

       ... is a perfect place for me.

   19. JRJoe Rogan22:18

       Yeah.

   20. JBJosh Brolin22:18

       So I grew up in Santa Barbara.

   21. JRJoe Rogan22:20

       Mm-hmm.

   22. JBJosh Brolin22:21

       I was in Paso Robles, which is ranch country, about two hours above Santa Barbara. And then we moved to Santa Barbara when I was 11, and it was Montecito, but it was a very different Montecito. Like, yes, there were a couple rich people. Yes, my dad was doing okay by then. He had done Marcus Welby. He did, uh, at that time, he did Amityville Horror, so he had a little bit of money.

   23. JRJoe Rogan22:40

       (laughs) I remember that.

   24. JBJosh Brolin22:40

       But we bought, you know, what would now be a $35 million home in Montecito-

   25. JRJoe Rogan22:45

       Right.

   26. JBJosh Brolin22:45

       ... he bought for $600,000.

   27. JRJoe Rogan22:48

       Oh.

   28. JBJosh Brolin22:48

       Same fucking house.

   29. JRJoe Rogan22:49

       Right, right, right. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

   30. JBJosh Brolin22:49

       Do you know what I mean? So it was a different Montecito, and then whatever, you know, group I, I grew up with. But I went to... The point is, I went to jail there a lot.
10. 26:19 – 40:26

    Bell’s palsy, vaccine talk, liability shields, and the distrust spiral

    1. JBJosh Brolin26:19

       ... is that I was so freaked out about moving up to Santa Barbara, I still hadn't made the kind of transition, that I contracted a mild case to, of Bell's palsy.

    2. JRJoe Rogan26:29

       Really?

    3. JBJosh Brolin26:30

       Yeah. Like, literally was stressing out my wife with, like, "You gotta..." And I'm not a stress guy. And she was like, "You gotta mellow the fuck out." I'm like, "Yeah, but you don't know what's gonna happen when we move up here." It's like, it's gonna be-

    4. JRJoe Rogan26:39

       So your face started, like, sagging?

    5. JBJosh Brolin26:40

       So literally, I'm washing my face and I'm doing this, and it just started going br-...

    6. JRJoe Rogan26:47

       Wait, when was this?

    7. JBJosh Brolin26:49

       Four months ago.

    8. JRJoe Rogan26:50

       Okay.

    9. JBJosh Brolin26:51

       Four and a half months ago.

    10. JRJoe Rogan26:51

        That's a side effect of the vaccine too. That's one of the side effects of COVID-19 vaccines.

    11. JBJosh Brolin26:55

        I've heard that.

    12. JRJoe Rogan26:56

        Yeah.

    13. JBJosh Brolin26:56

        And I've also heard that speech impediments have als-... I've heard a lot of things. Kids taking vaccines-

    14. JRJoe Rogan27:00

        Yeah.

    15. JBJosh Brolin27:01

        ... and things happening.

    16. JRJoe Rogan27:03

        (clears throat) Yeah.

    17. JBJosh Brolin27:03

        Yeah.

    18. JRJoe Rogan27:04

        That vaccine in particular.

    19. JBJosh Brolin27:05

        That one.

    20. JRJoe Rogan27:06

        The MRNA one.

    21. JBJosh Brolin27:07

        Yeah.

    22. JRJoe Rogan27:07

        Yeah.

    23. JBJosh Brolin27:07

        Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

    24. JRJoe Rogan27:09

        Yeah, I know quite a few people that developed Bell's palsy from them. Well, whatever you wanna call it.

    25. JBJosh Brolin27:12

        Are you serious?

    26. JRJoe Rogan27:12

        Yeah. Facial paralysis. Yeah. I know two people specifically-

    27. JBJosh Brolin27:16

        I wonder if that's-

    28. JRJoe Rogan27:17

        ... developed fac- facial, like droopy face.

    29. JBJosh Brolin27:20

        Because when my older kids-

    30. JRJoe Rogan27:21

        It went away. (clears throat)
11. 40:26 – 51:43

    Hunter S. Thompson deep dive: ‘the edge,’ routines, and why greatness decays

    1. JBJosh Brolin40:26

       And it just makes me fucking smile. So I saw this thing when I walked in, because I have one, and that is Ralph Steadman's print that you have.

    2. JRJoe Rogan40:35

       Oh, okay.

    3. JBJosh Brolin40:36

       And here's the story.

    4. JRJoe Rogan40:37

       The Hunter S. Thompson print.

    5. JBJosh Brolin40:37

       So, so Ralph Steadman... Johnny Depp gave me Ralph Steadman's number, because he was close with Hunter. And my son was graduating. My son's an artist and he was obsessed with Steadman, right? And, and I, I called Ralph Steadman. He goes, "Hello?" And I said, "Hey." I said, "Listen, uh, you don't know me. I'm a friend of Johnny's and this." I said, "You know, my son's graduating, and like the greatest gift I could ever get him..." And this is not just to throw Steadman under the bus, because it comes full circle. But he says... I said, "My son's graduating. Can you do like a little th- I'll pay you for it. Can you do... just draw a little thing for him for his graduation?" There was a long, long pause and he goes, "Why the fuck would I do that?"

    6. JRJoe Rogan41:19

       (laughs)

    7. JBJosh Brolin41:19

       And so that conversation went nowhere.

    8. JRJoe Rogan41:22

       (laughs)

    9. JBJosh Brolin41:22

       I was like, "What the fuck? What an asshole." And then 20 years went past and my book is designed by one of his proteges.

    10. JRJoe Rogan41:32

        Oh, wow.

    11. JBJosh Brolin41:33

        And then, so Joey Feldman, he called me one day and he said, he said, "Ralph wants to send you a print." And I said, "No way. Does he know? Or that we have, like, a history?" And he said, "No, I don't think so."

    12. JRJoe Rogan41:47

        (laughs)

    13. JBJosh Brolin41:47

        So I sent him a voice memo of the history and I said, "I never held it against you. I totally understand it, especially for somebody..." So he sent me one for my son and one for me.

    14. JRJoe Rogan41:55

        Oh, that's cool.

    15. JBJosh Brolin41:56

        And I have it hanging up in my house.

    16. JRJoe Rogan41:57

        That's cool.

    17. JBJosh Brolin41:58

        I love having that thing, man.

    18. JRJoe Rogan41:59

        He was an interesting artist.

    19. JBJosh Brolin42:01

        He is an interesting artist.

    20. JRJoe Rogan42:02

        Very, yeah, I should say. He is.

    21. JBJosh Brolin42:03

        Yeah, mm-hmm.

    22. JRJoe Rogan42:04

        But I mean, the, the stuff that he did, uh, it's like... That's also in that Gonzo documentary where it talks about how Hunter gave him acid and mushrooms and he just started fucking writing-

    23. JBJosh Brolin42:12

        Yeah.

    24. JRJoe Rogan42:12

        ... and drawing-

    25. JBJosh Brolin42:13

        Drawing all this-

    26. JRJoe Rogan42:13

        ... like, really crazy shit.

    27. JBJosh Brolin42:14

        Yeah.

    28. JRJoe Rogan42:15

        And, like, um, the thing for... Do you remember the thing he did for, um, the, the Kentucky Derby as decadent and depraved?

    29. JBJosh Brolin42:23

        Yeah, that was like the first thing, wasn't it?

    30. JRJoe Rogan42:25

        Yeah.
12. 51:43 – 58:01

    Psychedelics without drugs: breathwork, sensory deprivation, and thinking alone

    1. JBJosh Brolin51:43

       And how do you find yourself doing that once you're not on it?

    2. JRJoe Rogan51:48

       I just-

    3. JBJosh Brolin51:48

       The incorporation of it into your life.

    4. JRJoe Rogan51:50

       I just remember. You know, I just, I've, it's, so there's profound moments where I think that, you know, will change you forever.

    5. JBJosh Brolin51:57

       Mm-hmm.

    6. JRJoe Rogan51:57

       And those, if you can hold onto them, some people don't hold on to them, but it's a matter of intention, right?

    7. JBJosh Brolin52:02

       Mm-hmm.

    8. JRJoe Rogan52:02

       It's a matter of, like, what are you trying to do? Are you trying to be better at life? Well, if you're trying to be better at life, you can hold onto it.

    9. JBJosh Brolin52:07

       Mm-hmm.

    10. JRJoe Rogan52:07

        If you're not, if you're just trying to, like, be the man or, you know-

    11. JBJosh Brolin52:10

        Mm-hmm, exactly.

    12. JRJoe Rogan52:11

        ... you know, and get all the accolades or, you know, win a fucking Grammy or whatever you're trying to do, like if that's your real goal, like, you're gonna get lost 'cause it's a shitty goal.

    13. JBJosh Brolin52:20

        How old were you when you took a, a hallucinogen for the first time?

    14. JRJoe Rogan52:22

        30.

    15. JBJosh Brolin52:23

        I was 13.

    16. JRJoe Rogan52:24

        Whoa, so that's a little too early. (laughs) I wouldn't recommend that.

    17. JBJosh Brolin52:28

        W- I wouldn't recommend it either.

    18. JRJoe Rogan52:29

        (laughs)

    19. JBJosh Brolin52:29

        But it, it changed my life.

    20. JRJoe Rogan52:31

        It can-

    21. JBJosh Brolin52:32

        And I had, by the way, I took it twice in a 24-hour period.

    22. JRJoe Rogan52:35

        Whoa.

    23. JBJosh Brolin52:35

        So I took it 13, had the greatest trip ever, like still affected by it.

    24. JRJoe Rogan52:40

        Wow.

    25. JBJosh Brolin52:41

        And then I took it again that night and went to hell.

    26. JRJoe Rogan52:44

        Oh, no. Yeah.

    27. JBJosh Brolin52:45

        I don't know. I don't know.

    28. JRJoe Rogan52:45

        You got cocky.

    29. JBJosh Brolin52:47

        No.

    30. JRJoe Rogan52:47

        (laughs)
13. 58:01 – 1:05:32

    Training, injuries, Regenokine/PRP, and the ‘movement heals’ philosophy

    1. JBJosh Brolin58:01

       Have you ever gotten hurt in jujitsu?

    2. JRJoe Rogan58:02

       Oh, yeah.

    3. JBJosh Brolin58:03

       A lot?

    4. JRJoe Rogan58:03

       Oh.

    5. JBJosh Brolin58:03

       Everybody tears and pops and meniscus and...

    6. JRJoe Rogan58:05

       Yeah, yeah. I've had surgeries and fucking-

    7. JBJosh Brolin58:09

       Yeah.

    8. JRJoe Rogan58:09

       ... bulging discs and torn this and torn that. Yeah. You have to. It's a sport-

    9. JBJosh Brolin58:14

       I had sciatica.

    10. JRJoe Rogan58:14

        ... where you're trying to kill each other. (laughs)

    11. JBJosh Brolin58:19

        (laughs) It's true.

    12. JRJoe Rogan58:20

        You try to get really good-

    13. JBJosh Brolin58:20

        It's just the nature of the sport.

    14. JRJoe Rogan58:21

        ... at killing people with your body.

    15. JBJosh Brolin58:22

        I had-

    16. JRJoe Rogan58:23

        So other people are doing that to you.

    17. JBJosh Brolin58:24

        I had sciatica for a year and a half.

    18. JRJoe Rogan58:27

        Oy.

    19. JBJosh Brolin58:28

        Bad sciatica. A nine millimeter slip between S5, no, uh, L5 and S1.

    20. JRJoe Rogan58:33

        How'd you get rid of it?

    21. JBJosh Brolin58:35

        And they wanted to do surgery, and I'd had surgery when I was really young because I had a slipped disc between C5 and C6, and they took out part of my hip and they went in through my neck. They moved everything over and they replaced my, my disc with part of my hip back when they used to do that.

    22. JRJoe Rogan58:50

        They used to play, replaced your disc with part of your hip?

    23. JBJosh Brolin58:52

        Yeah, they would chisel out a part of your hip.

    24. JRJoe Rogan58:54

        Like a bone?

    25. JBJosh Brolin58:55

        Yeah.

    26. JRJoe Rogan58:56

        And that's what your disc was now? A piece of bone?

    27. JBJosh Brolin58:59

        Is now.

    28. JRJoe Rogan59:00

        That doesn't even make sense. Your disc is supposed-

    29. JBJosh Brolin59:02

        Yeah, because they-

    30. JRJoe Rogan59:02

        ... to be spongy.
14. 1:05:32 – 1:16:33

    Rock bottom, addiction, and why artists self-destruct (Philip Seymour Hoffman, fame, money)

    1. JBJosh Brolin1:05:32

       I was just about to say that.

    2. JRJoe Rogan1:05:33

       Yeah.

    3. JBJosh Brolin1:05:33

       But- yeah, but you don't... I don't... I hit rock bottom when I was 15, you know? I was shooting coke at 15.

    4. JRJoe Rogan1:05:38

       Geez.

    5. JBJosh Brolin1:05:39

       So yeah, that thing that you didn't want to try, I did want to try.

    6. JRJoe Rogan1:05:43

       Geez.

    7. JBJosh Brolin1:05:43

       But that was that group. That's why so many of those guys died.

    8. JRJoe Rogan1:05:45

       Yeah.

    9. JBJosh Brolin1:05:46

       You know what I mean? So when I look at Hunter S. Thompson, who I love as a writer, when I look at Dylan Thomas, who I love as a writer, and all these guys that had this kind of amazing life, and I feel it too. Parallel. I had an amazing life, except nobody cared about mine. People really cared about theirs. I was just Josh that you wanted to stay the fuck away from.

    10. JRJoe Rogan1:06:06

        (laughs)

    11. JBJosh Brolin1:06:06

        You're like, "That motherfucker's great to spend like an hour with, and then once it hits 10 o'clock-"

    12. JRJoe Rogan1:06:11

        Yeah.

    13. JBJosh Brolin1:06:11

        "... and the moon comes out and the clouds part, you don't want to be-"

    14. JRJoe Rogan1:06:14

        Right.

    15. JBJosh Brolin1:06:14

        "... anywhere around." Yeah.

    16. JRJoe Rogan1:06:16

        Yeah.

    17. JBJosh Brolin1:06:16

        But then you get to that point where you go, "When did Hunter S. Thompson, when did these guys just become, like, some kind of clown mask of themselves?"

    18. JRJoe Rogan1:06:27

        Right.

    19. JBJosh Brolin1:06:28

        Do you know what I mean?

    20. JRJoe Rogan1:06:28

        Well, in the end, Hunter was definitely that. You- did you ever see when Hunter was on Conan O'Brien's show?

    21. JBJosh Brolin1:06:33

        No.

    22. JRJoe Rogan1:06:34

        It was horrible. He could barely talk. You barely could understand him.

    23. JBJosh Brolin1:06:38

        Just everything was mumbling. Just mumbling.

Episode duration: 2:32:55