Joe Rogan Experience #1387 - Josh Homme
Joe Rogan (host), Josh Homme (guest), Narrator
In this episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, featuring Joe Rogan and Josh Homme, Joe Rogan Experience #1387 - Josh Homme explores josh Homme and Joe Rogan Explore History, Danger, Drugs, and Meaning Joe Rogan and Josh Homme have a long, free‑wheeling conversation that moves from motorcycles, risk, and traffic rage into deep dives on history, indigenous cultures, and the brutality of conquest.
Josh Homme and Joe Rogan Explore History, Danger, Drugs, and Meaning
Joe Rogan and Josh Homme have a long, free‑wheeling conversation that moves from motorcycles, risk, and traffic rage into deep dives on history, indigenous cultures, and the brutality of conquest.
They explore altered states and addiction—from psilocybin and alcohol to nicotine and extreme sports—framing many self‑destructive behaviors as trauma responses and avoidance strategies.
Homme opens up about feeling lost in recent years, and how ideas like the law of attraction, vulnerability, and being fully present in relationships are reshaping how he approaches life, art, and fatherhood.
They finish by talking about artistic integrity, ignoring online criticism, parenting in the age of smartphones, and finding authentic joy in things like old cars, music, and real‑world experience.
Key Takeaways
Risk can sharpen presence and awareness.
Homme describes motorcycling in LA as a zen practice: because a lapse in attention can be fatal, it forces him into the present moment and away from phone distraction and mental drift.
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Historical narratives are filtered through the biases of victors.
Their discussion of Native Americans, Aztecs, and conquistadors highlights how official history often downplays emotional reality, spiritual richness, and atrocities, and elevates the conqueror’s perspective as superior.
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Awe and reverence signal that older civilizations understood things we still don’t.
Standing at Teotihuacan or Mayan pyramids, Homme feels gratitude and awe at their acoustic design, astronomical ponds, and large‑scale engineering, suggesting modern tech isn’t the only—or even the highest—form of sophistication.
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Extreme performers often have atypical fear responses.
They note brain studies on climber Alex Honnold showing his amygdala barely activates under fear stimuli, implying some people’s neurology (plus training) enables them to operate calmly in situations that would paralyze others.
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Addiction is often a response to trauma, not a simple moral failure.
Referencing Gabor Maté and their own experiences, they frame drug and alcohol abuse as attempts to dam up emotional pain, arguing that honest dialogue and vulnerability work better than punitive “war on drugs” approaches.
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Where you place your attention shapes your emotional reality.
Homme explains how engaging with Esther Hicks’ ideas led him back to focusing on what he loves instead of what he hates, treating “law of attraction” less as magic and more as deliberately directing mental real estate toward positive action.
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For artists, authenticity matters more than fitting a genre or pleasing critics.
Homme insists on making music he and his band genuinely love, ignoring genre labels like “stoner rock” and avoiding reviews and online commentary, arguing that if he doesn’t love his own work, it’s unlikely listeners truly will.
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Notable Quotes
“You tend to go where you’re looking. Not a lot of people are walking backwards and talking to you as they go forwards.”
— Josh Homme
“The people that wrote our history wrote it from the perspective of, ‘By the way, we’re way better.’”
— Josh Homme
“Vulnerability’s the opposite of weakness. Weakness is identifying that spot and doing nothing.”
— Josh Homme
“If you focus on all the shit you don’t like, just wait a sec—it’s coming.”
— Josh Homme
“How can you love my stuff if I don’t?”
— Josh Homme
Questions Answered in This Episode
How much of ‘manifestation’ is mindset versus concrete action, and where’s the line between useful optimism and denial?
Joe Rogan and Josh Homme have a long, free‑wheeling conversation that moves from motorcycles, risk, and traffic rage into deep dives on history, indigenous cultures, and the brutality of conquest.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
What would history look like if we had equally detailed accounts from the conquered and indigenous peoples rather than mainly from the conquerors?
They explore altered states and addiction—from psilocybin and alcohol to nicotine and extreme sports—framing many self‑destructive behaviors as trauma responses and avoidance strategies.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Are extreme athletes like Alex Honnold and David Goggins inspirational exemplars of human potential, or do they unintentionally normalize self‑harm disguised as achievement?
Homme opens up about feeling lost in recent years, and how ideas like the law of attraction, vulnerability, and being fully present in relationships are reshaping how he approaches life, art, and fatherhood.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
In a world of constant online feedback, how can artists and public figures practically protect their mental health while still engaging with their audience?
They finish by talking about artistic integrity, ignoring online criticism, parenting in the age of smartphones, and finding authentic joy in things like old cars, music, and real‑world experience.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Given the link between trauma and addiction, what would a truly trauma‑informed drug policy and treatment system look like in practice?
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Transcript Preview
(humming) Boom. Did you roll in on a motorcycle?
I did.
You're a fucking animal.
(laughs)
In this day and age, in LA traffic?
But, uh, d- there's a, there's a bit of a zen thing happening because if you don't pay attention, you could die, you know?
Oh, right.
You know, I, and I, I find myself trying to have this field of view. And plus, you can't be on the phone.
Right.
Because, uh, I think sometimes when it's, when you drive a car, you forget to take the moment to do nothing-
Right.
... and just sort of be for a second.
Yeah.
Uh, and you can listen to tunes, and it makes all the songs better. Like, I, I don't know if I fully appreciated Judas Priest until I rode a motorcycle and could listen to music, like-
So, you listen, like, in your head? Like, you have it in, uh, your, your-
No, that, that one has a ... I, I, I'm, I have the luxury of having a couple of them, and ... But that one's almost like the grandpa bike for going to the movies, but-
But is it its speakers, or is it in the helmet?
It's speakers.
Oh.
I, I don't do the helmet 'cause there's so much of that in my life anyways.
Oh.
Like, pointblank range.
Oh, right, right, right. Yeah.
(laughs) And so it's, it's almost like you kinda end up rocking your head like that.
Yeah.
And you're like, << Breaking the law >>
(laughs)
It, it, it sort of, like, flips your Beavis switch. (laughs)
(laughs)
And, and it feels wonderful. Like, the, the wind in your hair.
Yeah.
And, and getting here took ... Well, I don't know where you came from, but I, I beat you here, and I left b- after you did because-
Where'd you, where'd you drive from?
Like, um, I came ... I was sort of over by Runyon Canyon.
Oh, okay. Yeah, if you live in, like, Orange County-
(laughs)
... I get it 'cause that's really, like, the only way you're gonna get here and not lose your fucking mind.
Well, something that's 21 miles away is 25 minutes away.
Legitimately.
Y- yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
I mean, there's a little bit of, like, << Uh, should I go stop here? >> And also, you're always going to the front of traffic, which really is the safest place to be, at the very front.
Mm-hmm. Sure, yes.
Just with everyone, everyone on each butt cheek, sort of, you know?
The, the thing that freaks me out, though, is the lane splitting. Like, some, some people are just not paying attention, and some people are just trying-
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