The podcaster/comedian/UFC commentator has risen up the podcast charts with an eclectic collection of guests.
Podcast extraordinaire Joe Rogan can’t stop talking about his isolation tank. His show — the Joe Rogan Experience — attracts millions of listeners each episode. And why wouldn’t it? Politicians, business leaders, and big-name celebrities feature as regular guests. You’d think all that star power would go hand in hand with book plugs and press junkets. But Rogan’s reach is less deterrent, more encouragement, to talk about the niche topics that really interest him. Psychedelic experiences, UFO’s, and of course, intra-dimensional portals are just an entrée of the topics that are not off-menu. On more than one occasion, Rogan has used his platform to advocate his favorite activity — isolation tanks. “You’re floating, you don’t feel your body, the water is the temperature of your skin, the air is the same temperature as the water, and you feel like you’re just flying through infinity,” he says on episode #1178.
Which makes sense because when you feel like you’re flying through infinity, you have to tell someone. You don’t keep something like that to yourself. Unless you’re worried, perhaps a little anxious from the umpteenth joint you’ve smoked on air, that the people listening might get the wrong impression. And I must admit that at times while listening to Rogan’s wild conversations, I can’t help but feel a bit skeptical.
The Joe Rogan Experience is an elite podcast. This isn’t your roommate’s food vlog with a hundred views. In 2017 & 2018 The JRE was iTunes’s most downloaded show. An online blog conservatively estimates it has 50 million listeners a month, which for a mostly one-man gig is insane. It also means that Rogan is financially loaded but I’ll feel better about myself if I don’t do the math. I stumbled upon the show during my LAPHAG years (live-at-parental-home-after-graduation). I was bored. I didn’t have a job, or anything else to do during the day for that matter. Having exhausted other avenues of distraction — Youtube, Netflix, making my own icy pops, a friend turned me to podcasts. I was unsure at first. After all, wasn’t this a step backwards from films and television and the high-res screens that invited themselves into our pockets? But after listening to a couple I was hooked. And I wasn’t alone according to a 2019 Edison Report that claims podcast consumption is skyrocketing across all age groups.
While the popularity of Rogan’s show is a certainty, what is less certain is how to describe it. On any given episode he might host mainstream politicians like Tulsi Gabbard and Bernie Sanders. What follows is a series of thoughtful, overarching discussions about government policy and social issues. “We’ve got to make mental health counseling available to all people in this country when they need it at a price they can afford,” says Sanders to Rogan. It’s the kind of liberal sentiment that the millennial brain digests like crack cocaine — you start to get a good idea of who Rogan’s key demographic is. But then in a complete 360 (or is it 180?) he’ll release an episode where he debates with a Swedish philosopher over whether we are living in a simulation (the answer is a compromising maybe). The conversation is confusing and abstract and very different to Rogan’s more grounded talks. And if Rogan is feeling extra cheeky, he’ll shake things up further by bringing on Elon Musk to discuss why A.I is going to take over everything. Oh, and he’ll cause a minor Twitter meltdown by smoking a joint with him on air but that’s probably less important than the robots who are going to wipe us all out.
Rogan’s eclectic taste in people becomes an issue when he invites on more controversial figures. He recently came under scrutiny for hosting Bob Lazar, the UFO conspiracist who started the original rumors about Area 51. In episode #1315, Rogan and Lazar — a former physicist at the Los Alamos National Lab in New Mexico — discuss Lazar’s claim that he worked on secret government projects to reverse engineer alien spacecrafts. Rogan, a self-proclaimed UFO enthusiast, has been criticized for going too easy on Lazar. Fair play. Instead of asking the tough questions you’re supposed to ask someone who claims alien contact, Rogan sat back and soaked it all in. You could detect a hint of childhood delight creeping into his voice — the vestigial part of Rogan’s personality present in all men who were once day-dreaming young boys.
Rogan is also good friends with Alex Jones. For the fortunate who don’t recognize that name, he’s the round-faced creator of InfoWars, famous for shouting conspiracy theories on the internet like there’s no tomorrow. Jones is about as problematic as they come. He claims to be a credible new source when he is anything but. So the fact that Rogan has had him on twice now is doubly problematic because it lends credence that in some alternate universe, Jones could be a legitimate source of information. In episode #1255, the two pals have a marathon 4 hours and 48 minute conversation fueled by whisky, pot, and the euphoric state of ‘shits-and-giggles’. What follows is some of the most confusing content that exists on the internet. Things they discuss — and I’m not making this up — organ harvesting, human-animal hybrids, aliens, inter-dimensional aliens, Hitler, 9/11, the moon landing…and more.
Needless to say that at times while listening to Rogan’s show I am left disillusioned about my podcast experience.
Perhaps the chaotic show can be explained by Rogan’s own eclectic career. According to joerogan.com, as well as hosting the podcast Rogan is a stand up comic, mixed martial arts fanatic, and ‘psychedelic adventurer’. His Wikipedia page adds that he has acted in films, TV shows, and commentates UFC fights. To Rogan’s credit, it is the CV of a Renaissance man — someone who is curious about many different things. And unlike the majority of us who rot our minds on Netflix and social media, Rogan has the mental fortitude to pursue his interests.
Which got me wondering, why was I so upset over Rogan’s show? He didn’t force people to adopt his beliefs. And as far as I am aware there is no Church of Rogantology (although if that becomes a thing I would like credit for the name). I wasn’t offended by all of Rogan’s guests either. Listening to the episode with Bernie Sanders had me nodding so much that my neck was sore for a week. I was only uncomfortable when confronted by ideas that challenged my own. But wasn’t this the whole point of thoughtful conversations? As millennials we always talk about being stuck in ideological bubbles and loops but very few of us actually do anything about it. Trapped by complacency we watch the same shows, eat the same food, and talk to the same people. Maybe listening to someone visited by extra-terrestrial forces was what I needed at this point in my life.
Rogan reminds me of that kid in college who’s really into pot. You hardly see him in the day but at night he has a thriving social life. Whenever you are invited to his room there’s always a dozen people you’ve never met, and look like you’d never otherwise meet. It’s as if someone filled a bag with all the people in the world, shook it up, and picked out a handful randomly. Then as you pass the bong around in a circle your fears are confirmed when they talk about things you don’t understand or worse, agree with. Acid trips, communism, organic farming….yuck. But by the end of the night, a little high and against all odds you’ve become friends with these people and are convinced that we should cover our crops in horse manure. Maybe.
In college we were exposed to new ideas and people and experiences almost daily. What is it about working 40–60 hours a week that turns our human sense of wonder into stone-cold skepticism? Rogan helps us relax and journey back to our curious schooldays. He drinks and smokes with his guests on air. You wonder whether it’s these treats that make the conversation flow so smoothly or if Rogan is just a natural at asking deep, probing questions. In videos of the show, which you can watch on YouTube, you see that the podcast doesn’t take place in a fancy recording studio. Rogan’s space is a rustic mismatch of brown furniture and walls, reminiscent of the plain decor of college dorms. Joe Rogan doesn’t give a damn about what you or I or anyone else thinks. He’s not a polished late-night host or political commentator. Respectfully, his laid-back appearance and candor is that of your typical college student. Rogan just wants to sit back, get high, and let his imagination run wild.
And so I find myself naked and alone, standing in front of an isolation tank. After hearing Rogan praise the experience for the seventeenth time, it was my turn to indulge in the unknown. I found a tank venue nearby and was ready to step out of my bubble, and climb into a bubble of a very different sort.
I lower myself in and close the pod door. A new life and outlook awaits me. It’s a little claustrophobic and scary but then again, what great experience doesn’t start from a place of fear? As I learned from Rogan’s podcast, part of life is embracing the unknown and stepping outside your comfort zone. It’s what we need to grow. Not repeat the same thoughts and activities that we’ve repeated a hundred or so times.
Had I made a big mistake? My skin touched the water. I was shocked. Not because the water was cold, but because it was the same temperature as my body. It was like stepping into nothing. Pleasantly so. A smile formed on my face as I closed my eyes. I let my mind wander as I felt myself flying through infinity.
