Is Joe Rogan the Johnny Carson of The Internet?

[matt72582]

Both guys were stand-up comedians (I don't think either was/is good). Both guys had a show on NBC (Fear Factor/Who Do You Trust), but their popularity is from interviewing others. Back in the day, if Johnny Carson liked you, and invited you back on the couch after you did your set, you were on your way to greater opportunities, and perhaps a TV sitcom. If you go on Joe Rogan, you're going to get noticed, get a sales bump, and like a spark, you can YouTube everything about a guest you like.

[StuSmallz]

Let's hope not...

[Siddon]

I think of Rogan as being more Dick Cavett and Jimmy Kimmel being more Johnny Carson and Conan O'Brien being David Letterman

[EsmagaSapos]

People love Joe Rogan’s, he knows how to direct questions so the interviewed say something interesting, the podcast brings the best in people, because Joe is usually agreeable and emphatic.

The show also updates people and brings subjects they never heard or thought about, or validates their ideas, or tells them how to think or the various ways to think about it.

People seek transformative wisdom, and Joe Rogan has that by the ton. How to eat, how to exercise, how to be in a relationship, how to be successful, how this and that, he brings gurus, motivational speakers, philosophers, every single one on the show.

He also has people who “tell it like it is”. Uncle Joey, overall, that’s a show for every kind of person, because he brings up there everyone. There’s many reasons for that to be successful, and Joe is the primary reason, the intervier is the most important aspect of the thing.

This to say, I don’t watch the podcast, it takes too long, and I’d prefer to watch a tree for three hours, even when I like the guy, like Louie, I love the guy, but a three hour podcast? Forget it, and I can’t just listen to it, I’m a visual kind of guy, I can’t read or listen, I read people’s reactions, that’s always been my thing, words or sound alone doesn’t do the trick.

[Holden Pike]

Is Joe Rogan the Johnny Carson of The Internet?
No.

[matt72582]

Let's hope not...


I'm not talking about quality, but about influence. I can't think of another show that would give another guest a boost.

[gandalf26]

Guy offered his platform to prominent anti vaxxers at a time when thousands of unvaccinated were dying in the US every day.

Absolute scum, blood on his hands.

[EsmagaSapos]

Guy offered his platform to prominent anti vaxxers at a time when thousands of unvaccinated were dying in the US every day.

Absolute scum, blood on his hands.
Did he offer his platform to people who also believe in vaccination? I don't want to start this whole discussion again, even considering that the pandemic is almost over, forgotten, something that was so serious to our species and even more serious to our civilization. Your approach is the same approach of the cancel culture, is censorship, and they hide it under the pretext it's for the common good, China can say they record civilians 24/7 for the common good.

Many communities discredited vaccination, even in Europe. People forgot this guy promotes and talks about a sport where people get serious injured, that there's serious brutality. People forgot this man loves hunting, promotes hunting, and I have nothing against hunting, some people depend on it, I eat meat every day, I have nothing against UFC, I, myself, I'm excited to see the next Chimaev vs Diaz fight, I love both fighters, although, you won't see any violence in me.

He has a platform, he has likes and dislikes, like every human being, he can invite whoever he wants to, and he chooses to invite various personalities, from various fields. He doesn't hide his convictions, and he doesn't play the PC card. I know people are more comfortable when everyone is swimming on the same boat, it makes them feel like they are correct, but we have to see every side of the spectrum. I was vaccinated, I was on the first row to get my vaccine, I advised the people I care about to be as well, some went, others did not, we're still friends, I don't see them any different, I even took an extra care around them.

[gandalf26]

Sometimes cancel culture is a good thing and people who are censored deserve it. Not sure I follow the China analogy.

The only community that mattered in regards to the vaccine is the scientific community, and AFAIK there isn't a peer reviewed scientific paper anywhere that states the covid vaccine as anything other than overwhelmingly positive.

Actually I don't believe you should be able to have a platform of millions and bring on discredited anti vaxxers at such a critical time during a pandemic. Alex Jones is finding out you can't just say anything you want.

Spotify should have dumped him.

[John McClane]

Dude is a walking cash cow. At this point in his career he’s just playing a caricature. Controversy equals views equals dimes.

:shrug:

[EsmagaSapos]

Sometimes cancel culture is a good thing and people who are censored deserve it. Not sure I follow the China analogy.
The China analogy is simply to see how a valid point can have consequences, although we can all agree censoring people can be the right thing to do, it opens precedents to do things that restrict freedom, in this case of speech, in the case of China, we can all agree recording people's actions can be a good thing in terms of security, but it opens precedents to restrict their individual freedom, and if history tells us anything, once a door is open, we don't know what it'll come out, in my view, once it touches human rights, don't open it.

The only community that mattered in regards to the vaccine is the scientific community, and AFAIK there isn't a peer reviewed scientific paper anywhere that states the covid vaccine as anything other than overwhelming positive.

To me, they are, but I respect those who don't. Science became a big thing, it wasn't a big thing, now science replaced religion on the top of the shelf. No one whose sane would dare to contradict science, because science deals with facts, not suppositions, not faith. Although, I believe people should have will, should choose, and should be responsible for their actions, in this case their calling would be a life or death situation, they knew exactly what they were getting into.

Actually I don't believe you should be able to have a platform of millions and bring on discredited anti vaxxers at such a critical time during a pandemic. Alex Jones is finding out you can't just say anything you want.

Spotify should have dumped him.
I don't share the same opinion, anything that restricts any type of freedom, I'm not voting. We live in a time of information, people should separate the wheat from the chaff. There's people doing crazy things in the name of faith nowadays, not taking a vaccine was one, that's their call, they have information on television, they have information everywhere, we can't restrict freedom of speech.

[WrinkledMind]

I don't believe in cancel culture. It's the worst, and it only affects the small creators.


Science is also about questioning things. I am triple vaxed (Covishield) so far from an anti-vaxer (a phenomenon I personally find amusing existing in first world countries), but they were far from perfect. Do give the reports on Pfizer's a read.


And to be fair to Rogan, he gave people from both sides an opportunity to speak.


As for Rogan's podcast in general, I like the fact that he gives his platform to people who are routinely boycotted by the mainstream. And the format is laid back and good listen.

[gandalf26]

The China analogy is simply to see how a valid point can have consequences, although we can all agree censoring people can be the right thing to do, it opens precedents to do things that restrict freedom, in this case of speech, in the case of China, we can all agree recording people's actions can be a good thing in terms of security, but it opens precedents to restrict their individual freedom, and if history tells us anything, once a door is open, we don't know what it'll come out, in my view, once it touches human rights, don't open it.

China isn't very comparable to western democratic nations, and the Chinese people aren't exactly free in the sense that we are hence my earlier confusion about the China analogy.


To me, they are, but I respect those who don't. Science became a big thing, it wasn't a big thing, now science replaced religion on the top of the shelf. No one whose sane would dare to contradict science, because science deals with facts, not suppositions, not faith. Although, I believe people should have will, should choose, and should be responsible for their actions, in this case their calling would be a life or death situation, they knew exactly what they were getting into.

People should be responsible for their actions but this doesn't work in practice, something like 20% of Americans have fallen into QAnon and all that goes with it, they fill their Facebook feeds up with anti vaxx rhetoric, then in many thousands of cases they catch Covid, go to Hospital despite stating that they wouldn't, and die, sometimes even coughing and spluttering that their Doctors are sheep and Covid isn't real in their final minutes. I've read the stories from Docs/nurses.

Saying that they knew what they were getting into just doesn't stack up, many of these poor people begged for the vaccine in the end but it was too late.


I don't share the same opinion, anything that restricts any type of freedom, I'm not voting. We live in a time of information, people should separate the wheat from the chaff. There's people doing crazy things in the name of faith nowadays, not taking a vaccine was one, that's their call, they have information on television, they have information everywhere, we can't restrict freedom of speech.

I mean I guess no one should ever go to prison then as that restricts freedom :).

Similar to the above large swathes of the population just aren't equipped to do that, especially a large % of Americans brought up on faith based belief systems.

I mentioned Alex Jones earlier, he was free to state that Sandy Hook wasn't real and now I bet he wishes he didn't. Should he be free to say those things?

[Wyldesyde19]

No, he lacks the wit of Carson and the presence. Rohan is slightly too in your face. If it wasn’t for his anti vaxx stance, he probably wouldn’t be as well known. *

Having the right to say certain things has doesn’t recuse one from ado facing the consequences of it. It’s not a restriction of freedom, much like cancel culture isn’t. Although I agree cancel culture can go too far at times, for the most part, it’s their bosses who ultimately decides such things, and that’s still not even a restriction of their rights.

It isn’t discriminatory in any way.

[crumbsroom]

I don't have any need to lump Rogan into either a good guy or bad guy category. He's too busy meeting the quota for dumb guy. And, unfortunately, has an audience who believes because he puts a bunch of bumpkin brains on his show who most hosts wouldn't be bothered with, or actively avoid, is somehow the gateway to truth. He's not. He just gives a lot of conspiracy addled dip shits all the room they need to spin their web, and because Rogan's not astute enough to really push back on any of their claims, they come off looking much smarter than they really are.



I can give credit to Rogan in the fact that I believe he's got a lot of curiosity about various subjects, with is something that is lacking in a lot of people these days. But, as stated above, he's pretty dumb and so really doesn't get much mileage out of this curiosity. So unless we really need to hear another story about his isolation tank, or to learn the chemical composition of DMT, Joe Rogan is an intellectual dead end.

[cricket]

I don't have any need to lump Rogan into either a good guy or bad guy category. He's too busy meeting the quota for dumb guy. And, unfortunately, has an audience who believes because he puts a bunch of bumpkin brains on his show who most hosts wouldn't be bothered with, or actively avoid, is somehow the gateway to truth. He's not. He just gives a lot of conspiracy addled dip shits all the room they need to spin their web, and because Rogan's not astute enough to really push back on any of their claims, they come off looking much smarter than they really are.



I can give credit to Rogan in the fact that I believe he's got a lot of curiosity about various subjects, with is something that is lacking in a lot of people these days. But, as stated above, he's pretty dumb and so really doesn't get much mileage out of this curiosity. So unless we really need to hear another story about his isolation tank, or to learn the chemical composition of DMT, Joe Rogan is an intellectual dead end.

That's exactly what I was thinking. I've seen only a little bit of him, and was surprised when I saw he had a successful show like that, based on what I saw of Fear Factor. He speaks well (relative to most of the population), but doesn't come off as particularly intelligent. I consider myself to be of about average intelligence, so I need a person to impress me to think they are at a high level and he doesn't quite do that. However, what Crumbsroom says is a large part of the battle. I wouldn't compare him to Carson, who just had a way about him that set him apart. As far as who he has on his show, I'm strongly in favor of people like that hosting others with differing opinions no matter how ridiculous they may seem. If a person can't separate truth from fiction on their own, they're screwed anyway.

[EsmagaSapos]

I mean I guess no one should ever go to prison then as that restricts freedom :).
One of the principles of freedom is that yours ends when someone else's begins. If my actions are restricting you from your freedom, then actions should be taken against me, that's called justice.

[EsmagaSapos]

About crumbsroom comment.

Truth and intellectualization might not be what people that watch his show want, they'd be watching another channels, with more rhetorical debates and charts, and actual proofs, but that's boring and people don't want that.

People want interesting people, and those are usually passionate, that inspire by their devotion to something, some are great storytellers, some lived some experience they'd like to share, and because it's something new, people want to hear it. Some others might want validation for their ideals and lifestyles.

He's dumb, but he's truthful, that might be better than someone who actually knows what he's talking about, because two people that can understand each other, normally talk in terms no one else can understand.

[Wyldesyde19]

One of the principles of freedom is that yours ends when someone else's begins. If my actions are restricting you from your freedom, then actions should be taken against me, that's called justice.

Hyperbole. If his show is ever canceled over his views, His freedom isn’t really being taken away. They’re just taking away his platform to do so. Which is also their right, btw. They have an obligation to keeping customers happy, which is always a fine line to begin with.
He can rant and rave about it via other means. It’s not like he is being censored by the government itself, after all.

And before there is any counter touting Freedom Of Speech, it has never been held as an absolute and has always had restrictions. Cancel culture doesn’t even violate the First Amendment, because the First Amendment only protects against the government censorship of free speech (as alluded to in above paragraph) and doesn’t apply to what private individuals can and will do.

[WrinkledMind]

Hyperbole. If his show is ever canceled over his views, His freedom isn’t really being taken away. They’re just taking away his platform to do so. Which is also their right, btw. They have an obligation to keeping customers happy, which is always a fine line to begin with.
He can rant and rave about it via other means. It’s not like he is being censored by the government itself, after all.

And before there is any counter touting Freedom Of Speech, it has never been held as an absolute and has always had restrictions. Cancel culture doesn’t even violate the First Amendment, because the First Amendment only protects against the government censorship of free speech (as alluded to in above paragraph) and doesn’t apply to what private individuals can and will do.


Deplatforming of any kind is a terrible thing and backward behaviour. Unless someone is actually giving a call for violence (and not the 'Words are violence' BS), no one should be deplaformed.


You as an individual are free to 'choose' to not view/hear someone if you disagree with them or their perspectives. It's not that hard, and actually the liberal way, instead of robbing others an opportunity to experience them.


Interestingly, Rogan has given exposure to a lot of people who are actually deplatformed or threatened with it. And that for me is admirable, even if once in while one those individuals turns out to be an absolute whooper like say Alex Jones. I can always ignore him, or if I feel strongly counter his views online.


Secondly, banning bad ideas actually makes them more popular. Or unchallenged bad ideas ferment into something worse. I would rather have those ideas or idiots exposing themselves and be countered.

[MovieBuffering]

Guy offered his platform to prominent anti vaxxers at a time when thousands of unvaccinated were dying in the US every day.

Absolute scum, blood on his hands.

Hate to tell you this but those shots didn't stop anything. In fact I work in healthcare every time those boosters go out the covid halls pop back up. I don't think they do much but give the virus to people. I got covid once two years ago, did nothing to me. Never got jabbed, almost lost my job, haven't gotten it again since. And I've literally dealt with 1000s of covid PTs now. But all my co workers who got the jab keep getting covid. I'm just going with my eyes buddy not Rogan or the paid off media.

Now Rogan had the most published doc in the world on and the doc who had a hand in inviting this technology (I don't call it vaccines because it's not, it's an experimental gene therapy). He absolutely had a right to have these people on to talk about this stuff because there are alternative treatments, Joe being a person who took the alternatives and got immediately better.

Now idgaf if anyone wants to take the jabs. God bless. But trying to mandate these things is were I get furious. Big Phrama and government and mainstream media are obviously in cahoots. I don't find Rogan's stand up all that funny. But to say Rogan has blood on his hands is ridiculous. Big Pharma and government have more blood on their hands for forcing ppl to take this stuff.

[MovieBuffering]

Also about Rogan. Like I said I don't find his stand up that great, never actually seen much of it. I usually don't care about most his podcast. He is undoubtably a great interviewer though. People feel real on there. It's why he has basically killed network shows like Kimmel or Ellen etc. I cringe watching those interviews now. It's all fluffy and artificial. You can't deny his influence either. Everyone has started a podcast now, Obamas, Markle etc.

I usually always give his podcasts at least a chance. He has introduced me to some of my favorite comedians Normand, Dillon, Schulz etc. He has done some of my favorite interviews. Him and Peterson's first pod is still my favorite podcast, whatever you think of Peterson the first one was great.

He changed things. His influence is undeniable.

[gandalf26]

Hate to tell you this but those shots didn't stop anything. The vaccine massively reduced the chance of hospitalization, death and long covid.

In fact I work in healthcare What is it specifically that you do?

every time those boosters go out the covid halls pop back up Covid halls? I don't know what that is, is that like a ward that we have here in the UK?

I don't think they do much but give the virus to people. You work in healthcare and you actually believe the vaccine is giving people Covid? Can you elaborate further?

I got covid once two years ago, did nothing to me. Great, for the majority of otherwise healthy/younger people the effects are minimal. Unfortunately a great number of Americans have health problems that make them very vulnerable to the virus.

But all my co workers who got the jab keep getting covid. Good thing they're vaccinated then otherwise you might have less co workers, and the vaccine doesn't stop you getting covid, it reduced the effect.

I'm just going with my eyes buddy not Rogan or the paid off media. You're going with your own extremely small sample size and ignoring the professionals (scientists not media).


Now Rogan had the most published doc in the world on and the doc who had a hand in inviting this technology (I don't call it vaccines because it's not, it's an experimental gene therapy). He absolutely had a right to have these people on to talk about this stuff because there are alternative treatments, Joe being a person who took the alternatives and got immediately better. Which doctor is that? Joe being a relatively fit man in his 50s probably had more to do with it. Alternative remedies are proven to have little to no effect, and in some cases harmful side effects.

Now idgaf if anyone wants to take the jabs. God bless. But trying to mandate these things is were I get furious. Big Phrama and government and mainstream media are obviously in cahoots. I don't find Rogan's stand up all that funny. But to say Rogan has blood on his hands is ridiculous. Big Pharma and government have more blood on their hands for forcing ppl to take this stuff.

Covid vaccine side effects were causing death at a rate of approximately 1 in a million, unvaccinated people in America were dying at a rate of 2000+ per day at one stage over the winter, and the entire anti vaxx movement has blood on their hands, Rogan too even if its just a small part for bringing people on his show with these views.

[Corax]

I don't know that he is, but pre-Spotify he was. Massively influential.

[gandalf26]

Yet another example of Rogan believing anything he reads on the internet. Here he is making up stories about his friends' teacher wife who's school introduced cat litter trays for children identifying as a cat.

15 days later he admits it was untrue.

Spotify's stock price has dropped 75% in a year. :D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnliS08cSyo

[cricket]

I heard something about this cat thing. I assume he was joking?

[gandalf26]

I heard something about this cat thing. I assume he was joking?

Nope. He really is that dumb.

[crumbsroom]

Rogan is a staggering idiot. He is also a pretty dreadful interviewer. He packs his show with people who are pros at fudging data, taking statistics out of context, playing obviously shallow whataboutism games and other similar kinds of talking points, and he just sits their with his mouth hanging open without the slightest ability to push back on anything because he's too mind blowingly stupid.


The only thing I will give him credit for is he seems like a genuinely curious guy. Which is good. Which, if his brain wasn't so impaired, is what one needs to be a genuinely good interviewer. Unfortunately though, his curiosity just leads him to a place where he brings endless shifty guests on who are there to say whatever explosively contrarian or controversial things they are known for, because he wants to 'hear them out'. Which honestly, fair enough. But because there are so many similar Rogan brains out there who reflexively equate 'controversial' with 'truth' or 'honesty', his probably well intentioned curiosity ends up perpetuating the dumbest and some times most dangerous of talking points. And it is all seemingly directed at an audience who often don't seem to have the critical thinking skills to do anything but let their mouth go agape just like their Daddy Joe. Maybe say 'wow' if they become particularly confused.


Now I don't hate the guy. I actually think he is mostly a genuine person. Dumb, but genuine. But I do hate the bro culture that swarms around him like stink flies. That thinks JRE is a great place to form their opinions (lol) or a place to find rigorous debate of controversial ideas (lol) Dude would just be better laying off the science and the politics and talking strictly to comedians, which is where he isn't completely out of his depth (and might learn how to become a good one in the process)

[cricket]

I'm not a big fan of calling people dumb. Maybe he is, I'm not that familiar with him, but even if I was I don't think I would be qualified to make that judgment. What interests me more, is if he said it out of stupidity or if he made it up. If he made it up, then that's something I am definitely opposed to.

[Captain Terror]

Yet another example of Rogan believing anything he reads on the internet. Here he is making up stories about his friends' teacher wife who's school introduced cat litter trays for children identifying as a cat.

My aunt told this story at a family gathering in August. Now 3 months later it's "his friend's wife"?

Rogan is a staggering idiot.
What's especially frustrating is that after many years as a podcaster, and having been scolded multiple times over dumb s--t like this, he still hasn't learned that when something sounds weird, you should probably check into it before you broadcast it as truth to millions of listeners. In the early days of the internet I was occasionally duped by a bogus email or something but after, like, the second time, I caught on. Rogan is like your aunt on Facebook forwarding stupid memes 24/7, only your aunt doesn't have millions of people listening to her.

Now I don't hate the guy.
I'm starting to get there.

[Captain Terror]

If a time traveler visited me in 2005 and told me that the doctor from Oprah and the hosts of the Apprentice and Fear Factor were going to be major political players 15 years later I would have thought they were lying.

[doubledenim]

His name is Mike Judge.

[gandalf26]

I'm not a big fan of calling people dumb. Maybe he is, I'm not that familiar with him, but even if I was I don't think I would be qualified to make that judgment. What interests me more, is if he said it out of stupidity or if he made it up. If he made it up, then that's something I am definitely opposed to.

Well he definitely made up the part about his friends teacher wife having litter trays in her school because there's no truth to any of it, so what he did is add his own personalised embellishment to something he overheard and wanted to believe.

[John McClane]

Yet another example of Rogan believing anything he reads on the internet. Here he is making up stories about his friends' teacher wife who's school introduced cat litter trays for children identifying as a cat.

15 days later he admits it was untrue.

Spotify's stock price has dropped 75% in a year. :D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnliS08cSyo
The thing that baffles me with this cat litter hoax is they expect people to believe that a generation that is more connected to the internet than ever just decided to not take any pictures. Like if that was real you can guarantee it would get posted to social media. Some people’s suspension of belief starts with words apparently.

[Hey Fredrick]

I don't listen to Joe Rogan but I have seen some of his you tube vids and I don't get the uproar. It seems like an extension of the corner tap/pub. Why do people who don't listen to him get so worked up about him sitting down and bullshitting with people for a couple hours? Are folks really under the assumption that he's some kind of journalist and what he does is somehow making a difference? If so, then that's their problem. He's an iffy comedian and an MMA commentator. Looking over his guests, most seem to be pretty uninteresting to me, but harmless and if some of these guests are up your alley have at it. Looking over his podcast page I see a three hour sit down with Anthony Kiedis (nah), Dr. Phil (nah), record producer Rick Rubin (maybe), Roger Waters (okay), a farmer (?), Jann Wenner (Rolling Stone mag founder - nah), Jon Peters (film producer- maybe), Marc Zuckerberg (nah), Dave Mustaine (okay), David Mamet (maybe) and boatloads of comedians and MMA guys. The biggest conspiracy theorist I see on his past episodes is Oliver Stone. It looks like he does venture into Art Bell/UFO territory from time to time but so what? What other outlet is there for people to just sit and bullshit about stuff, uncensored and unedited, for hours? I'll give him credit for giving up and coming comedians a platform to get their name out there that they wouldn't get anywhere else. That's a nobler endeavor, imo.

It seems like people pull snippets out of hours and hours and hours of content to get all puffed up about. Like he's the only person peddling BS. At least you can check out the entire, unedited episodes which is more than you can say for a lot of other interviewers who take hour long interviews, edit them down to nicely polished five or ten minute segments. A bigger problem, as I see it, is developing people with the attention spans of goldfish (tik tok, you tube) and very little, if any, critical thinking skills who believe everything they hear or see on the internet. What happened to our BS detectors? There's probably more BS being spouted now than ever before (thank you World Wide Web) but it's also easier to figure out what's crap and what isn't (thank you World Wide Web). Doing that, unfortunately, takes a wee, tiny bit of effort/time and nobody's got the time or energy for that.




But to answer the question: No, he is not the Johnny Carson of the internet.

[Corax]

Kinda sad that this is largely "crap on Joe Rogan" thread. Love him of hate him, he made long-form podcasts a thing. He freed us from the Twitterization of public discourse. Now there are long-form podcasts all over the place. For that alone, he deserves credit for pioneering the format. Talking heads screaming at each other for five minutes on an legacy media panel doesn't get anyone into any depth on the issues. Joe broke the ice.