James McCann on Joe Rogan: Why Australia Sent Him to Texas

1. 0:00 – 0:12

   Intro

   1. SPSpeaker0:02

      Joe Rogan Podcast, check it out

   2. SPSpeaker0:04

      The Joe Rogan Experience

   3. SPSpeaker0:06

      Train by day, Joe Rogan Podcast by night. All day. [upbeat music]

2. 0:12 – 0:42

   Back at the club: nerves, new material, and re-entering the scene

   1. JRJoe Rogan0:12

      Everybody's just-

   2. SPSpeaker0:13

      Thank you for having me back

   3. JRJoe Rogan0:14

      Good to see you-

   4. SPSpeaker0:15

      Yeah

   5. JRJoe Rogan0:15

      ... my brother.

   6. SPSpeaker0:15

      How are you?

   7. JRJoe Rogan0:16

      Always great to see you. [slaps table] I'm good. It was, uh, fun having you at the clubhouse last night.

   8. SPSpeaker0:21

      I was ter- I was fucking terrified.

   9. JRJoe Rogan0:22

      You just looked like you were back.

   10. SPSpeaker0:24

       No, I thought-

   11. JRJoe Rogan0:25

       You were like at home

   12. SPSpeaker0:25

       ... I thought, "That's it. I've been away for too long. I'm gonna suck. None of the new stuff's gonna work."

   13. JRJoe Rogan0:29

       No.

   14. SPSpeaker0:29

       "They'll see me. They'll go, 'He was wrong to come back. Fuck him off.' And then we're done."

   15. JRJoe Rogan0:32

       No.

   16. SPSpeaker0:32

       It was so nice. It was so nice.

   17. JRJoe Rogan0:35

       You were telling the story, I, I said, "Hold these thoughts."

   18. SPSpeaker0:38

       Yeah.

   19. JRJoe Rogan0:38

       Well-

   20. SPSpeaker0:39

       I didn't know you didn't... I didn't know we'd never spoken about it.

   21. JRJoe Rogan0:40

       No, tell me the story.

3. 0:42 – 2:24

   Fired mid-move: the Catholic podcast job that collapsed en route to America

   1. SPSpeaker0:42

      I... Well, that's why I came to America to start, is, uh, I got offered a job hosting a Catholic podcast, and they fired me as... I had packed up everything in Adelaide. This is, like, two and a bit years ago. I had the kids and the wife, and on the way to America, I got fired.

   2. JRJoe Rogan0:56

      [laughs]

   3. SPSpeaker0:56

      And they said, "We'll still pay your rent. It's in Steubenville, Ohio." Beautiful Appalachian town just outside of Pittsburgh. And, uh, yeah, it's where we w- Three months I was there.

   4. JRJoe Rogan1:07

      So what did they see that they fired you for?

   5. SPSpeaker1:10

      Oh, a lot.

   6. JRJoe Rogan1:10

      [laughs]

   7. SPSpeaker1:11

      They made a compilation video. [laughs] No, the guy, the guy whose show, they were right to fire him. They, they were right to fire him.

   8. JRJoe Rogan1:16

      No. No, they weren't.

   9. SPSpeaker1:17

      No, 'cause it was a good, clean Catholic podcast, and then the, the business manager was like, "You've..." There was a sketch about stabbing someone in the throat with an AIDS needle. They're, they're like, "He uses the word 'cunt' all the time." They're like, "This is a sponsorship nightmare. Get him out."

   10. JRJoe Rogan1:30

       Oh.

   11. SPSpeaker1:30

       And I s- So I say, "Okay." But they still said, "We'll, uh, we'll pay your rent for three months, and you can figure something out. You've still got a visa." And I was terrified. I was just in the snow.

   12. JRJoe Rogan1:40

       With kids and a wife.

   13. SPSpeaker1:41

       Three kids, no job. I didn't have the money to go back home.

   14. JRJoe Rogan1:43

       Oh my God.

   15. SPSpeaker1:44

       We couldn't afford [laughs] to go back home.

   16. JRJoe Rogan1:46

       Oh my God.

   17. SPSpeaker1:46

       And I had, I didn't know that I had been passed at the mothership, 'cause I didn't know how the system worked. So on the way in to go, uh, to Steubenville, where I was like, "I'll figure something out," I stopped in at Austin to see Shane. Shane said, "Go and do the mothership open mic." I did it. Adam Eget said, "If you're ever in town, come back. We'll pay for sponsor- " I didn't know that meant I was passed. I didn't know I could work here.

   18. JRJoe Rogan2:07

       Oh.

   19. SPSpeaker2:08

       Uh, I just thought he was like, I could audition again. And then, uh, so I had three confronting months in the snow. Beautiful part of the world. It was the most terrified I've ever been in my-

   20. JRJoe Rogan2:19

       He, he says that-

   21. SPSpeaker2:19

       ... life as an Australian. That's as from, from, from Ohio.

   22. JRJoe Rogan2:22

       No, I love it

   23. SPSpeaker2:22

       I would say that's the most beautiful part of the world.

4. 2:24 – 4:55

   Appalachian beauty and hard realities: poverty, drugs, and small-town America

   1. JRJoe Rogan2:24

      I loved it. I wish... I went back and watched that Wild Whites of West Virginia.

   2. SPSpeaker2:26

      Yeah, that's where you're, that's where-

   3. JRJoe Rogan2:27

      It looks exactly like that.

   4. SPSpeaker2:29

      It is beautiful.

   5. JRJoe Rogan2:29

      Well, that area is gorgeous.

   6. SPSpeaker2:31

      It's, it's God's country, but also so abandoned by, like, the, the potholes are crazy. I saw real heroin addicts. I'd never really seen heroin addicts before, just sleepy people. I saw street prostitutes. That's still going on.

   7. JRJoe Rogan2:47

      And this is a small town, right?

   8. SPSpeaker2:49

      This is a small town. This is, uh, I've, I went to... There are Catholics who've moved there to try and, like, fix it. It was where Dean Martin was from. The Wu-Tang Clan kinda started out there.

   9. JRJoe Rogan2:59

      They're Staten Island.

   10. SPSpeaker3:00

       No- Yes, but I think it's, like, the RZA's auntie-

   11. JRJoe Rogan3:04

       Mm

   12. SPSpeaker3:04

       ... lived there, and they moved out there, and then they got involved in rap in the Pittsburgh scene because they were in the dead zone.

   13. JRJoe Rogan3:08

       I gotta ask RZA real soon. I'll ask him about that.

   14. SPSpeaker3:11

       I believe I'm right about that. They don't have a mural for them.

   15. JRJoe Rogan3:13

       Wow.

   16. SPSpeaker3:14

       Um, but it's great. There's, uh, yeah, there's a lot of Catholic content creators there. Um, and they're trying to take over town.

   17. JRJoe Rogan3:21

       That's interesting.

   18. SPSpeaker3:22

       There's a... I went there originally 'cause my... New Polity is, like, my favorite magazine, and I got to meet the guys who made it, and I was so excited.

   19. JRJoe Rogan3:28

       So how did they hire you? W- Wu-Tang's RZA found a second chance-

   20. SPSpeaker3:34

       I can't believe I got a-

   21. JRJoe Rogan3:34

       ... in Steubenville. Wow.

   22. SPSpeaker3:35

       And then they all come over to visit him.

   23. JRJoe Rogan3:37

       This, uh, he discussed a largely undocumented era of his life in which Pittsburgh played a role. Wow.

   24. SPSpeaker3:45

       And that's one of the first conversations we had. I was like, "You said something about Pittsburgh that wasn't flattering." I said, "I love Pittsburgh." And you're like, "You don't know anything. You're a foreigner. You don't know anything about America."

   25. JRJoe Rogan3:55

       [laughs]

   26. SPSpeaker3:55

       "Pittsburgh is a horrible place." I was like, "I don't know. I had a nice time there. [laughs] I thought it was good."

   27. JRJoe Rogan4:01

       Uh, it's just a little depressing. Do you... See, like, the, the thing about, uh, a lot of those sort of industrial kind of towns-

   28. SPSpeaker4:11

       Yeah

   29. JRJoe Rogan4:11

       ... is there's not a ton of options for people.

   30. SPSpeaker4:14

       No.
5. 4:55 – 7:27

   Greyhound chaos: free-phone hustle and a psychotic bus ride to gigs

   1. SPSpeaker4:55

      And then I was like, "Oh, fuck. I'm unemployed. Uh, I better quickly figure out how to be a stand-up comedian." I was bussing out of Steubenville. [laughs] I was like... I caught the... I went, I'd, I got a, someone gave me a lift to Pittsburgh. This is when I saw the worst stuff. I got a lift to Pittsburgh, and then I caught the Greyhound from Pittsburgh to Cleveland to open for Sam Tallent, who let me op- who, unbelievably, let me open for him.

   2. JRJoe Rogan5:19

      He's the best.

   3. SPSpeaker5:20

      I'd met him in Australia. Yeah.

   4. JRJoe Rogan5:21

      Such a good guy.

   5. SPSpeaker5:22

      And, uh, but, like, that bus trip from Pittsburgh to Cleveland was, it was the most-

   6. JRJoe Rogan5:27

      Mm-hmm

   7. SPSpeaker5:27

      ... upsetting. Oh, man. I was, people were spitting on the ground at the bus station. Uh, like, an immigrant, like, an illegal immigrant woman came and tried to give me a phone. I remember that vividly.

   8. JRJoe Rogan5:37

      Give you a phone?

   9. SPSpeaker5:38

      She tried to give me a free phone.

   10. JRJoe Rogan5:40

       Why?

   11. SPSpeaker5:40

       She's like, "You can have this," because she said, she said, "You're on benefits. Everyone on benefits gets a free phone." It was some, like, policy. She just assumed I was on benefits because I was at the Greyhound bus station.

   12. JRJoe Rogan5:51

       And she was illegal?

   13. SPSpeaker5:52

       I don't know if she was illegal, but she had a strong accent and, like-

   14. JRJoe Rogan5:55

       [laughs]

   15. SPSpeaker5:55

       ... a weird dress and a baby on her back and a sack full of phones.

   16. JRJoe Rogan5:59

       A sack full of phones.

   17. SPSpeaker5:59

       She had, like, a sack of phones that she was-

   18. JRJoe Rogan6:01

       So she was somehow in charge of distributing free phones to people?

   19. SPSpeaker6:04

       I'll never truly know what that was about.

   20. JRJoe Rogan6:07

       Boy, I would've investigated further

   21. SPSpeaker6:09

       There was, uh [laughs]

   22. JRJoe Rogan6:10

       [laughs]

   23. SPSpeaker6:10

       I was just scared. I was just scared. They were like-

   24. JRJoe Rogan6:13

       What the fuck? Some-

   25. SPSpeaker6:13

       ... huge African guys sitting on the ground

   26. JRJoe Rogan6:15

       Who tries to give you a phone?

   27. SPSpeaker6:17

       Oh, it was... And then after that I'd sat next to a guy who was having a full psychotic episode.

   28. JRJoe Rogan6:20

       Oh, yeah.

   29. SPSpeaker6:21

       I think we follow each other on Instagram now. He's gotten rid of [laughs] his Instagram.

   30. JRJoe Rogan6:24

       Really?
6. 7:27 – 8:47

   Parenthood as fuel: pressure, motivation, and why responsibility changes everything

   1. SPSpeaker7:27

      ... hone- the whole time it was like, "If I don't get, [laughs] if I don't get past the mothership now, I..." I don't think people should come here and live in their cars with their family, but it does, you know-

   2. JRJoe Rogan7:37

      Lights a fire under your ass

   3. SPSpeaker7:39

      ... worked.

   4. JRJoe Rogan7:39

      Well, that's the thing. It's like if you're forced into action-

   5. SPSpeaker7:42

      Yeah

   6. JRJoe Rogan7:43

      ... like, you had no... Not just yourself. Like, you could go, "Oh, woe is me." But when you're a father and a husband, you have children.

   7. SPSpeaker7:51

      Yeah.

   8. JRJoe Rogan7:51

      And people who do not have children do not understand the drive that it gives you to protect and care for those little people. It's kind of crazy. So if you'll find something.

   9. SPSpeaker8:03

      Well, I don't understand how people do it without... Like, I'd meet men who are really driven and motivated, and they have no kids. But they're like, every day they're working out. I, I don't know what their motivation is. Before I had kids-

   10. JRJoe Rogan8:13

       Money

   11. SPSpeaker8:14

       ... I was just, "What are you doing, buying things?"

   12. JRJoe Rogan8:16

       They're in a, they're in a game. They're playing a game.

   13. SPSpeaker8:19

       No.

   14. JRJoe Rogan8:19

       Yeah, they're just playing this game of accumulate the most stuff, be able to brag about the most stuff you have and-

   15. SPSpeaker8:26

       I'd so much rather lie down.

   16. JRJoe Rogan8:28

       [laughs]

   17. SPSpeaker8:28

       [laughs] I would rather not do anything if I had a choice.

   18. JRJoe Rogan8:31

       But not really, 'cause you love doing comedy.

   19. SPSpeaker8:33

       I love doing comedy, but I'd never, before I had kids, was trying to do comedy that people would enjoy. Do you know what I mean? [laughs]

   20. JRJoe Rogan8:40

       I think that is also-

   21. SPSpeaker8:41

       I was like-

   22. JRJoe Rogan8:41

       ... though, because you were living in Australia, and-

   23. SPSpeaker8:44

       Yeah

   24. JRJoe Rogan8:44

       ... there's limited options, right?

   25. SPSpeaker8:47

       I had, I had no options.

7. 8:47 – 15:53

   Australia vs America comedy: festival gatekeeping vs road lineage and ‘openers’ culture

   1. JRJoe Rogan8:47

      Can, can you explain, like, the Australian system is very different than America.

   2. SPSpeaker8:50

      It's very-

   3. JRJoe Rogan8:50

      It's mostly festival driven, correct?

   4. SPSpeaker8:52

      It's festival driven, and it's, uh, to a much greater extent, I've thought about this, it's, like, industry driven. Like-

   5. JRJoe Rogan8:59

      Industry.

   6. SPSpeaker8:59

      Yeah. We don't have-

   7. JRJoe Rogan9:00

      What, which industry?

   8. SPSpeaker9:01

      Like, uh, managers and agents, which is one role in Australia, but they, they are deciding who's succeeding, and TV people are deciding who's succeeding. Whereas, like, in America, everybody is on the road, everybody has one or two openers.

   9. JRJoe Rogan9:14

      Mm-hmm.

   10. SPSpeaker9:15

       And there are, there's a whole lineage of who brought who up-

   11. JRJoe Rogan9:19

       Right

   12. SPSpeaker9:19

       ... in the business. Like, uh, Dan Soder had Nick Mullen, Tim Dillon, and Shane Gillis open for him. Like, those were his openers.

   13. JRJoe Rogan9:27

       Right.

   14. SPSpeaker9:28

       Um, and not because they were successful or someone wanted them to thrive, he just thought they were funny people.

   15. JRJoe Rogan9:33

       Right.

   16. SPSpeaker9:33

       And they got to be his openers. And you, I don't know who you were opening for, but you have people who come up and-

   17. JRJoe Rogan9:38

       Well, I didn't really-

   18. SPSpeaker9:39

       ... you get to put them on

   19. JRJoe Rogan9:40

       ... do it... I didn't have it that way. I do it that way, but I didn't have it that way. I didn't really come up with anybody, where I opened for anybody. I just, but I had a very weird path to success.

   20. SPSpeaker9:49

       You also, you got to go to LA and just be in the milieu. Like, there's a scene there.

   21. JRJoe Rogan9:55

       Well-

   22. SPSpeaker9:55

       There's a lot of people

   23. JRJoe Rogan9:55

       ... I came out to LA with a job already.

   24. SPSpeaker9:57

       Okay.

   25. JRJoe Rogan9:58

       I was on a sitcom already.

   26. SPSpeaker9:59

       You started in Boston, though.

   27. JRJoe Rogan10:01

       Yes.

   28. SPSpeaker10:01

       Yeah.

   29. JRJoe Rogan10:01

       Started in Boston. Look, it's very embarrassing how lucky I am. I'm, like, one of the luckiest people that's ever lived. Like, it's stumble upon success after success. So when I was six years into comedy, I was already on TV. So I was three years into comedy, I was basically barely getting paid. I was barely a professional. Like, I was getting some spots in bars and stuff-

   30. SPSpeaker10:28

       Yeah
8. 15:53 – 19:08

   Scenes and rifts: LA vs Austin vs New York, club density, and community vibes

   1. JRJoe Rogan15:53

      ... of clubs closing and club... But, but, like, New York is on the rise right now. There's a bunch of clubs that have opened up in New York. New York's c- comedy right now is fucking doing great.

   2. SPSpeaker16:01

      I hope... Yeah, I hope they can figure it out.

   3. JRJoe Rogan16:03

      What do you mean?

   4. SPSpeaker16:04

      Well, I... Well, I was in, uh... Last time I was in LA, the spirit was so... I was never in LA for it being great, but I've heard all the stories about-

   5. JRJoe Rogan16:12

      Yeah

   6. SPSpeaker16:12

      ... everyone's sports car out the back of the thing, and there's this gig and that gig. And then I was... Everybody, like, has no sense that it's ever gonna work for them. Like, no one's even bothered to... There's like three podcasts in LA now that people are doing. I don't wanna talk it down, but, like, here everybody is so hopeful in Austin.

   7. JRJoe Rogan16:27

      Yeah.

   8. SPSpeaker16:27

      And I, I can look at, like, Peyton made it. Like, last night I'm looking at that green room. I'm like, all of these people have money-

   9. JRJoe Rogan16:33

      Yeah

   10. SPSpeaker16:33

       ... and are touring, and they came here and they got to do it.

   11. JRJoe Rogan16:36

       Mm-hmm.

   12. SPSpeaker16:37

       Like, and the hope and the adventure. And when I was in LA, everyone was [laughs] just-

   13. JRJoe Rogan16:41

       You might've picked a bad night

   14. SPSpeaker16:42

       ... I'm better having a nice time.

   15. JRJoe Rogan16:43

       But it, it's also, like, The Comedy Store has always been a top-

   16. SPSpeaker16:46

       That seems like it's getting better.

   17. JRJoe Rogan16:47

       Yeah, it is getting better. Well, it's de- definitely getting better 'cause Rose is running it now.

   18. SPSpeaker16:51

       Yeah.

   19. JRJoe Rogan16:51

       And she's awesome. But I think The Comedy Store has always been a top-down vibe, and if there was a bunch of, like, big name national acts that were really cool and fun to hang out with, then it was a great vibe.

   20. SPSpeaker17:04

       Yeah.

   21. JRJoe Rogan17:04

       And when they're gone, it always felt empty. It always felt weird. This is how it was with me in the '90s when I was there, and I think that's how it is now. We're all out here now.

   22. SPSpeaker17:14

       Yeah.

   23. JRJoe Rogan17:14

       You know? And it's like... And then people kinda feel abandoned, so they feel sad, you know? It feels... And then they get a little mad at you. Like, "Oh, you think fucking me doing it in Austin, meh, meh, meh." And so it develops this stupid rift, which is-

   24. SPSpeaker17:26

       Yeah

   25. JRJoe Rogan17:27

       ... the dumbest thing ever. We're all on the same team, and also you could work here too. Like, it's so dumb.

   26. SPSpeaker17:31

       Yeah.

   27. JRJoe Rogan17:32

       Like, but the rift is a real thing. But it's like you have to be around a bunch of people that are having a good time to have a good time.

   28. SPSpeaker17:39

       Yeah.

   29. JRJoe Rogan17:39

       You can't be the only person having a good time.

   30. SPSpeaker17:41

       And the rift can be good. The rift can motivate people to... Have you seen Lemay's Twitter?
9. 19:08 – 25:40

   Nicotine addiction, self-regulation, and a detour into bowhunting and Texas wild pigs

   1. JRJoe Rogan19:08

      Do you smoke cigars?

   2. SPSpeaker19:09

      I quit all nicotine s-

   3. JRJoe Rogan19:12

      Interesting

   4. SPSpeaker19:12

      Do you have, do you have alcohol? [laughs] I'll have a drink.

   5. JRJoe Rogan19:14

      I can get you some alcohol.

   6. SPSpeaker19:15

      All right.

   7. JRJoe Rogan19:16

      Yeah.

   8. SPSpeaker19:16

      If I could have a whiskey.

   9. JRJoe Rogan19:17

      We'll get you-

   10. SPSpeaker19:17

       I quit, I quit all nicotine, uh-

   11. JRJoe Rogan19:19

       What happened?

   12. SPSpeaker19:20

       I d- I, I was having heart palpitations. I was doing it a lot.

   13. JRJoe Rogan19:24

       [laughs]

   14. SPSpeaker19:25

       I had a problem. I cannot do a little bit.

   15. JRJoe Rogan19:28

       Ah.

   16. SPSpeaker19:29

       I see you, you'll just, like, you'll be backstage, you'll have one cigarette-

   17. JRJoe Rogan19:32

       Yeah

   18. SPSpeaker19:32

       ... and you're fine.

   19. JRJoe Rogan19:33

       Yeah.

   20. SPSpeaker19:33

       I can't.

   21. JRJoe Rogan19:34

       And I never smoke outside of right before a show.

   22. SPSpeaker19:37

       I don't, I mean, I-

   23. JRJoe Rogan19:39

       But I'm-

   24. SPSpeaker19:39

       More power to you. I can't do that

   25. JRJoe Rogan19:40

       ... I know how to shut things off, and I, I also regulate, like, like, uh, I realize, like when I, when I have an issue. Like the nicotine pouches, I can just stop them. I've gone on vacation and just not take them, and I'm fine.

   26. SPSpeaker19:52

       I-

   27. JRJoe Rogan19:53

       I think, but I think it's my biology.

   28. SPSpeaker19:54

       No.

   29. JRJoe Rogan19:55

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   30. SPSpeaker21:02

       I was quitting, going back, when I went back to Australia and I came off nicotine at the same time. I think that was the closest to serious unpleasant.
10. 25:40 – 43:30

    Predators, vegan pets, and dogs: wolves, ideology, and why cats can’t be vegan

    1. SPSpeaker25:40

       Is this the argument for bringing wolves back in?

    2. JRJoe Rogan25:43

       No. Do not bring wolves-

    3. SPSpeaker25:45

       'Cause no, I'm against it, but I don't understand the... What is the most pro... Is there one sensible argument for bringing back in apex predators to...?

    4. JRJoe Rogan25:55

       Well, there's arguments for it. You could make an argument for it. The problem is y- you do not understand, no one understands what the ultimate result is gonna be of introducing predators. There is a very strong reason why they eradicated wolves from the West Coast-

    5. SPSpeaker26:12

       Yeah

    6. JRJoe Rogan26:12

       ... and from the United States. 'Cause they fucking kill everything. They're super smart, apex predators. They work in packs unlike any other animal. They're very different. [clears throat] And they kill everything, and you can't do shit about them, and they kill people. If they-

    7. SPSpeaker26:24

       Also, like the, i- in the UK, they got rid of them hundreds of years ago.

    8. JRJoe Rogan26:27

       Yeah.

    9. SPSpeaker26:27

       And it's just like they celebrated it, and also things seem to be fine.

    10. JRJoe Rogan26:29

        They got rid of them in America, too.

    11. SPSpeaker26:31

        Yeah.

    12. JRJoe Rogan26:31

        I mean, and now these fucking greenies, these softies that really don't understand nature wanna bring them back. So there's a good argument in some ways that having some predators would help, but the predators were slowly moving their way back into these areas anyway.

    13. SPSpeaker26:50

        Yeah.

    14. JRJoe Rogan26:50

        So they never eradicated them from Canada, so they would come down from Canada and make their way into Minnesota.

    15. SPSpeaker26:56

        Okay.

    16. JRJoe Rogan26:56

        Make their way into Iowa, make their way into, not Iowa, uh, Idaho, um, Wyoming, Montana. They had, like, a small amount of wolves were kind of making their way in. Then they reintroduced a bunch of them into Montana in the 1990s-

    17. SPSpeaker27:12

        Yeah

    18. JRJoe Rogan27:12

        ... into Yellowstone. That changed everything. That changed everything. It dropped the elk population by, down to, like, 40% of what it used to be, which m- many people argue is actually a good thing because there was no predators in terms of, like, like, there's mountain lions, but mountain lions don't kill that many elk.

    19. SPSpeaker27:30

        Sure.

    20. JRJoe Rogan27:30

        They'll kill one i- like, a week.

    21. SPSpeaker27:33

        Like, families go to Yellowstone.

    22. JRJoe Rogan27:34

        Mm-hmm. Yeah.

    23. SPSpeaker27:35

        So now there's just wolves.

    24. JRJoe Rogan27:37

        Yeah, but the wolves are not fucking with the people-

    25. SPSpeaker27:39

        Okay

    26. JRJoe Rogan27:39

        ... at Yellowstone. They really are just concentrating on the animals, and they've, like, really knocked down the elk population substantially. But now they have an open hunting season on wolves in Montana because the, the, the numbers got a lot higher than they should be.

    27. SPSpeaker27:54

        Right.

    28. JRJoe Rogan27:54

        So now, like, I know guys who hunt wolves, and they go on wolf... It's very difficult to hunt them.

    29. SPSpeaker27:59

        I was gonna say it sounds more dangerous and-

    30. JRJoe Rogan28:01

        No, it's not that-
11. 43:30 – 1:01:20

    Homelessness, fentanyl, and governance failure: from San Francisco memories to Skid Row reality

    1. SPSpeaker43:31

       but you could. That would be fun.

    2. JRJoe Rogan43:33

       I feel like you should just have shows. I think themes are retarded. They tried to do an Italian theme at the Comedy Store for a while, like a Night of a Thousand Guidos, I think they called it.

    3. SPSpeaker43:43

       [chuckles]

    4. JRJoe Rogan43:43

       And I did it, and I was like, "What am I doing? I'm on this show-"

    5. SPSpeaker43:47

       Nah

    6. JRJoe Rogan43:47

       ... with all these other Italians just because they're Italian."

    7. SPSpeaker43:49

       There is something different about a Black audience.

    8. JRJoe Rogan43:52

       Yeah, sure.

    9. SPSpeaker43:52

       There is.

    10. JRJoe Rogan43:52

        Yeah, yeah, yeah.

    11. SPSpeaker43:53

        That's a different skill set, I found.

    12. JRJoe Rogan43:55

        It's a different skill set, and they, they won't tolerate nonsense.

    13. SPSpeaker43:59

        No.

    14. JRJoe Rogan43:59

        They won't tolerate all this, like, what else?

    15. SPSpeaker44:01

        Yeah.

    16. JRJoe Rogan44:01

        What else? No, no, no, no, no. They're not here for that-

    17. SPSpeaker44:05

        They'll say-

    18. JRJoe Rogan44:05

        ... which I think is good

    19. SPSpeaker44:06

        ... you can't even make fun of gay th- you can't just br- you can't mention gay stuff at all. I did-

    20. JRJoe Rogan44:10

        Really?

    21. SPSpeaker44:11

        Oh, man, I'd, I had a trans bit. Just people were not happy to hear. They're like, "Why he's talking about that?"

    22. JRJoe Rogan44:18

        [laughs]

    23. SPSpeaker44:18

        "Why you, why you bringing that up? We're out here to have a nice night."

    24. JRJoe Rogan44:21

        Ah.

    25. SPSpeaker44:22

        It was, like, on a dime, it turned.

    26. JRJoe Rogan44:24

        Really?

    27. SPSpeaker44:25

        Yeah. And then people told me afterwards that, that they don't wanna hear about, they don't wanna hear that word from you.

    28. JRJoe Rogan44:29

        Really?

    29. SPSpeaker44:30

        Yeah.

    30. JRJoe Rogan44:30

        Interesting.
12. 1:01:20 – 1:46:39

    Conspiracy whirlwinds: Paperclip Nazis, Reagan rumors, and the SPLC ‘paid extremists’ story

    1. JRJoe Rogan1:01:20

       These guys don't even think the Artemis flight went past the moon.

    2. SPSpeaker1:01:24

       It didn't?

    3. JRJoe Rogan1:01:25

       Kurt thinks there's a secret space program, and that this space cr- program is bullshit, and there's a real space program, and they're using this space cr- program to obfuscate.

    4. SPSpeaker1:01:36

       It just seems very complicated for people who can't do-

    5. JRJoe Rogan1:01:37

       I might, I maybe might be saying it incorrectly.

    6. SPSpeaker1:01:40

       No, but he knows a-

    7. JRJoe Rogan1:01:40

       He knows a lot of things-

    8. SPSpeaker1:01:41

       He does

    9. JRJoe Rogan1:01:41

       ... about a lot of things.

    10. SPSpeaker1:01:42

        He does. And then when I dig in, often it, it seems true.

    11. JRJoe Rogan1:01:44

        A lot of it is true.

    12. SPSpeaker1:01:45

        But also I don't... I think the government is incompetent everywhere.

    13. JRJoe Rogan1:01:48

        Mm-hmm.

    14. SPSpeaker1:01:49

        And if they were able to get that one thing of, you know, building a fake space program to conceal a true space program-

    15. JRJoe Rogan1:01:57

        No fucking chance

    16. SPSpeaker1:01:57

        ... it seems unlikely.

    17. JRJoe Rogan1:01:58

        Yeah. Well, do you know the amount, how much money you'd have to have to run two space programs, one real one and one fake one? That's crazy.

    18. SPSpeaker1:02:05

        There's a Nazi one.

    19. JRJoe Rogan1:02:05

        Just a real one costs so much.

    20. SPSpeaker1:02:07

        Well, the Nazi one was real.

    21. JRJoe Rogan1:02:08

        Yeah.

    22. SPSpeaker1:02:09

        Yeah. That's common. Everyone seems at least a bit-

    23. JRJoe Rogan1:02:11

        Some people are still not aware of it. I've had conversations with people where they, they don't wanna admit it, where they, they can't believe it. "Do you know NASA was run by Nazis?" They're like, "What?"

    24. SPSpeaker1:02:22

        Tell me. Yeah.

    25. JRJoe Rogan1:02:22

        You tell them about Wernher von Braun, and they, they wanna... Like, there's a lot of people that are like NAS- NASA fanboys, and these NASA fanboys don't wanna believe that NASA was run by literal Nazis.

    26. SPSpeaker1:02:34

        Yeah.

    27. JRJoe Rogan1:02:35

        Yeah.

    28. SPSpeaker1:02:35

        I mean, not necessarily like... They were scientific Nazis.

    29. JRJoe Rogan1:02:38

        They were Nazis.

    30. SPSpeaker1:02:39

        Yeah.
13. 1:46:39 – 2:02:24

    War and geopolitics: Israel/Gaza, Iran escalation, and the fragility of democratic norms

    1. SPSpeaker1:46:39

       Well, people... I, I don't know how deep people went into ha- what happened on the security on October 7.

    2. JRJoe Rogan1:46:44

       Oh, it's nuts.

    3. SPSpeaker1:46:44

       Like how that was allowed to happen.

    4. JRJoe Rogan1:46:45

       It's nuts.

    5. SPSpeaker1:46:46

       Yeah.

    6. JRJoe Rogan1:46:46

       A total stand down.

    7. SPSpeaker1:46:47

       Yeah.

    8. JRJoe Rogan1:46:47

       Like, people were told to stand down. Like, how... First of all, it's the most surveilled country on earth.

    9. SPSpeaker1:46:53

       Arm guards everywhere.

    10. JRJoe Rogan1:46:54

        The arm guards everywhere-

    11. SPSpeaker1:46:54

        Huge amount

    12. JRJoe Rogan1:46:54

        ... surrounded by their enemy, and somehow or another, these guys pulled this off when they were warned by Egypt as well.

    13. SPSpeaker1:47:01

        Yeah.

    14. JRJoe Rogan1:47:02

        Also-

    15. SPSpeaker1:47:02

        You're like, "Paragliders in?"

    16. JRJoe Rogan1:47:04

        ... here's another thing. Before that happened, before that happened, before October 7th, hundreds of thousands of people in the street protesting against Netanyahu.

    17. SPSpeaker1:47:12

        Did you read about why?

    18. JRJoe Rogan1:47:14

        Yes.

    19. SPSpeaker1:47:14

        It's so strange because they, their constitution, they don't have a set constitution. They're writing their constitution in real time. They add one article at a time. I think I'm getting this right.

    20. JRJoe Rogan1:47:23

        Mm-hmm.

    21. SPSpeaker1:47:24

        And it was Israel was always meant to be a home for the Jews, and that he made it expressly a Jewish state, that it would be, like, a-

    22. JRJoe Rogan1:47:35

        I thought they were expanding the powers of the government.

    23. SPSpeaker1:47:37

        Am I getting this right? It was, it was that the government... Yes, that was part of the government's powers is that the government then had the power to act on behalf of Jewish interests, interests. So it's like they could take, they could exclude certain areas from voting if it would mean, and citizenship-

    24. JRJoe Rogan1:47:55

        P- please, uh-

    25. SPSpeaker1:47:56

        ... if it would mean that it would challenge their power

    26. JRJoe Rogan1:47:57

        ... put a, put in a search for what was the reason why people were protesting Netanyahu before October 7th.

    27. SPSpeaker1:48:03

        I think I'm getting this right.

    28. JRJoe Rogan1:48:04

        I think you are. There's-

    29. SPSpeaker1:48:05

        That he was stopping it being a secular constitution.

    30. JRJoe Rogan1:48:08

        I think that was one of the things, but there was also something in that they were expanding the government's powers, and people were protesting against it.
14. 2:02:24 – 2:18:09

    AI anxiety: music, self-driving cars, job loss, and the fear of total control

    1. JRJoe Rogan2:02:24

       is in Afghanistan, and it looks like ancient Greek architecture.

    2. SPSpeaker2:02:29

       Yeah.

    3. JRJoe Rogan2:02:29

       Like, look at this. This is nuts.

    4. SPSpeaker2:02:31

       This was the gravesite of empires. This is where-

    5. JRJoe Rogan2:02:35

       Well, pretty wild, right? When you think about how many different civilizations have tried to conquer this one area, and all of them failed. All of them just abandoned ship.

    6. SPSpeaker2:02:43

       Yeah.

    7. JRJoe Rogan2:02:44

       From the Russians to the Americans, Alexander the Great.

    8. SPSpeaker2:02:48

       The English got involved in the great game.

    9. JRJoe Rogan2:02:50

       It's just too crazy over there.

    10. SPSpeaker2:02:52

        But it's just that it has mountains.

    11. JRJoe Rogan2:02:53

        It's too rugged.

    12. SPSpeaker2:02:53

        Is that it?

    13. JRJoe Rogan2:02:54

        Oh, the mountains are just-

    14. SPSpeaker2:02:55

        'Cause Iran is the same stuff

    15. JRJoe Rogan2:02:56

        ... everywhere

    16. SPSpeaker2:02:56

        That's what they say. If there's a ground invasion-

    17. JRJoe Rogan2:02:58

        Yeah

    18. SPSpeaker2:02:58

        ... of Iran, everyone's fucked.

    19. JRJoe Rogan2:02:59

        We're fucked. Yeah, we're fucked. Unless we send in robots.

    20. SPSpeaker2:03:02

        Well, this is... I watched the Duncan Trussell episode recently, where he was talking about robot dogs and the AI.

    21. JRJoe Rogan2:03:08

        Oh, yeah.

    22. SPSpeaker2:03:08

        And that what, what you have to do... Like, we may have just seen the last of revolutions now, because the amount of effort that you need to hold onto authoritarian power is so small-

    23. JRJoe Rogan2:03:19

        Here it says the expedition-

    24. SPSpeaker2:03:20

        ... with AI and robot dogs.

    25. JRJoe Rogan2:03:20

        Yeah.

    26. SPSpeaker2:03:21

        Yeah.

    27. JRJoe Rogan2:03:21

        Oh, yeah. But the problem is then other people have it as well, and, like, who controls anything? Whoever controls the robot dogs controls the world.

    28. SPSpeaker2:03:29

        [laughs]

    29. JRJoe Rogan2:03:29

        The expedition of Alexander the Great, 327 to 325 BC, into what is now Afghanistan, been well documented. He laid the foundations of many cities, some bearing his own name. With the passage of time, some names were changed by newcomers to the area-

    30. SPSpeaker2:03:45

        Yeah

Episode duration: 2:46:42