Why You Should Care About “The Joe Rogan Experience” Scandal

Joe Rogan is an actor, comedian, podcaster who started his own podcast back in 2011 called, The Joe Rogan Experience. For many years, the podcast was primarily on YouTube. Then YouTube changed their rules in one of their Adpocalypses, and ticked off a bunch of creators on the platform.

Rogan left YouTube during this time, but don’t feel bad for the guy, because Spotify, one of the largest music streaming platforms in the world, picked him up with a deal valued in the nine-figure range. Not too bad for a guy that used to be the host of a show in which contestants competed in physical or gross challenges for a cash prize.

What is the Joe Rogan scandal?

Recently Joe Rogan’s show came under the spotlight for two episodes that were aired last year. One episode featured Dr. Robert Malone, a virologist who is credited with helping in the development of mRNA technology. The other guest was Dr. Peter McCullough, a cardiologist who is the most published doctor in his field.

During these two episodes, Rogan had a long conversation with the doctors about the coronavirus pandemic. The doctors cited information from studies and offered their own opinions about the pandemic as well as the validity of the vaccine. Sounds simple enough.

The scandal is that much of what was discussed went completely against the mainstream narrative of “just get the vaccine.” A total of 250 doctors, nurses, and teachers signed a petition to get the episode removed, and Rogan was slapped with the label of “promoting and distributing dangerous misinformation.”

Rogan’s conversations were so dangerous that well-known musicians such as Neil Young, Joanie Mitchell, and others presented Spotify with an ultimatum. Either Spotify removes The Joe Rogan Experience from the platform, or they want their music removed.

Spotify’s response? They kept Joe Rogan.

Why should you care?

This is yet again another example of cancel culture. Joe Rogan isn’t the first to experience the ridiculousness of cancel culture, and unfortunately, he probably won’t be the last. Just last year, comedian Dave Chapelle was under fire for cracking jokes about transgenders, and many tried to get his special banned.

Honestly, it doesn’t matter if you listen to The Joe Rogan Experience or not. What matters is that someone said something that others didn’t agree with, and they are trying to shut him down, ban him, censor him, and/or cancel him in a country where we have freedom of speech.

Obviously, the call to remove Joe Rogan hasn’t worked, at least not yet, and just a few weeks later, another scandal surfaced. Now, he is being accused of being racist. Somebody decided to go back and piece together a nice, little montage of Rogan using the N-word during his podcasts.

It’s interesting that when trying to cancel his podcast over dangerous medical misinformation didn’t pan out, he suddenly became a racist. By the way, the montage was made up of soundbites taken out of context, covering years of interviews.

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Interesting tidbits…

Take the information below as you will. They are interesting to consider when thinking about dangerous misinformation.

• Dr. Peter McCullough’s episode aired in April of 2021, a full nine months before someone decided to come forward and warn of this dangerous misinformation.
• Apparently, many musicians seem to have a beef with Spotify, not Joe Rogan, due to the rather low earnings they receive through Spotify.
• Dr. Robert Malone stated on air that he himself is vaccinated.
• Both episodes that are under fire for misinformation featured doctors that are respected in their fields.
• At one point in time, saying certain things about the pandemic would have gotten you labeled as spreading misinformation when later that information was found to be true.

A little bit of humor…

Part of the reason this whole scandal is humorous is that Joe Rogan is not a doctor. The guests he has on his shows range from Snoop Dogg, Dan Aykroyd, comedians, actors, authors, musicians, journalists, professional athletes, and other podcasters.

It seems odd that a show that interviews people with such a wide range of disciplines, most of which are not doctors, is trying to be shut down for spreading dangerous medical misinformation.

Leaving on a personal note

In case you couldn’t tell, I’m on Joe Rogan’s side, and I am a fan of the show. However, that doesn’t mean I like everyone he talks to. Nor do I take everything that is said on the show as gospel.

What I like about the show is he has long conversations with his guests, which in an age of soundbites and quotes taken out of context, is refreshing. He also doesn’t let people off the hook when his questions aren’t fully answered.

I was late to the game in finding out about The Joe Rogan Experience, so I have not listened to every single episode, but I have listened to enough to know that it doesn’t seem like he is pushing any kind of agenda. As Rogan says, he is just having interesting conversations with interesting people.

Isn’t that what all this should be about?

Having conversations. That is how we learn and grow and figure out that maybe, just maybe, my limited perspective on something could be wrong.

Also (no offense to Joe or the content he provides) but who is listening to this podcast thinking, “I need to go no further in researching medical information?” Is someone really going to make a medical decision about their health without talking to their family physician and doing as much research as possible? If so, that’s on you. The responsibility of your safety is just that, yours.

And herein lies the other reasons why you should care. The fact that people are trying to shut him down says something. Maybe there is some truth in the conversations he has. Perhaps the people that are trying to shut him down think you are too stupid to think for yourself. As adults, we should have the option and responsibility to listen, not always follow, but at least listen to all sides.

Maybe people will actually care when freedom of speech is completely canceled, or maybe not.

Thanks for reading.

What are your thoughts on all this? Should Joe Rogan be canceled forever? What will happen if he is? Let us know in the comments below.

About Bryan Lynch

Bryan Lynch is the author of two books, Swiss Army Knife Camping And Outdoor Survival Guide, and Paracord Projects For Camping And Outdoor Survival. He has also written hundreds of articles about prepping, emergency preparedness, self-reliance, and gear reviews. Through his writing, he hopes to help educate people and get them interested in these topics so they are better prepared for an emergency.

Image by Do512 via Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. Article cross-posted from The Organic Prepper.