Why I’m sick of listening to Joe Rogan’s Podcast

I went through a bit of a crisis recently as I attempted to decipher the opinions and controversies that surrounded Owen Benjamin over the beginning of the past year, and in the process, I’ve realized how I don’t like Joe Rogan that much either.  

Benjamin had more immediately divisive content to sift through that had ramifications which went beyond, just deciding whether or not he was annoying — although I’ve decided that Benjamin is definitely too far up his own ass to be taken seriously — and I’ve chosen to tune him out because of that.

But, in the process of looking into the motivations, intentions and potentially problematic opinions of different comedians as a result of Benjamin, I realized how I’m not really a fan of Rogan at all anymore, and I never was in the first place. 

I first heard of Rogan through his UFC commentary when I would watch the Pay-Per-View fights with my uncle years ago when the UFC was still sponsored by “Mickey’s Malt Liquor” instead of “Bud Light.” Eventually, I became aware of Rogan’s pop-culture presence because of his job hosting “Fear Factor” and his occasional cameos in marijuana documentaries in the early 2000s.

Then, sometime in 2013 I discovered my favorite comedian Doug Stanhope and listened to the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast for the first time as a result. I never had a problem with Rogan, I just didn’t seek out his work. But, the fact that Stanhope had made a few appearances on Rogan’s podcast gave me a reason to tune in. 

I specifically loved the dynamic between the two of them and I have always felt that Stanhope would make a perfect co-host for every-one of Rogan’s podcasts. Stanhope is the perfect foil to Rogan. I enjoyed how whenever Rogan would get a little too lofty, Stanhope would step in with a sobering quip to keep things grounded and funny. 

When I talked to other people my age who had gotten into Rogan’s podcast as well, I realized I hadn’t really listened to any of it except for the two or three times that Stanhope made an appearance. Beyond that, when I did listen to more, I could only sit through episodes that featured other comedians which I already enjoyed more than Rogan in the first place, like Tom Segura, or Bert Kreischer.

As the years went by, friends who listened to the podcast often would recommend episodes with guests I had never heard of, but I could never bring myself to check them out — on one hand, because I am very picky about what I watch and when — but also because I noticed that I just wasn’t as engaged or motivated to listen to Rogan talk when it wasn’t with someone I was sure I liked more than him already. 

There was a chunk of time where I would listen to some of my new favorite comedians on Rogan’s podcast as a way to hear more about them in a long-form conversation — like Theo Von, Andrew Santino and Chris D’elia — but inevitably I would seek out their appearances on other people’s podcasts, or their own and find myself enjoying it much more.

Personally, I feel like the only time it is enjoyable to watch a Rogan podcast is when he has more than one guest, preferably comedians, and he lets them run away with the conversation until Rogan is uncontrollably laughing with tears in his eyes. That’s why I enjoyed the run of Sober October episodes over the past couple of years, or the Bert is Fat weight loss weigh-ins.

But, once Rogan starts talking about some weird alternative health product, or how marijuana and psychedelics are mind-expanding or just generally derailing something interesting that his guests are saying, I start to tune out.

At this point, I can’t listen to Rogan’s podcast even when there is a guest I want to hear from, or like better than him, because I feel like he ruins the conversation right away. 

I’m not saying he is objectively bad at what he does.  He clearly has been successful with his podcast and has essentially inspired the rest of the comedy community to follow in his footsteps. There is no doubt that his podcast paved the way for everyone else, but after a few years of giving it a chance I finally realized I was never a fan of his to begin with. I guess maybe that speaks to how good he is at his job — he is so good at making a successful podcast that I didn’t even realize that I didn’t like him for 6 years.

Regardless of how good of a podcast it may be, my threshold for hearing his voice has seemingly reached its breaking point, and so I will only be returning to listen the next time Stanhope decides to pop-in for a conversation on one of the rare occasions that he happens to be in Los Angeles.