3 ms·

I don't listen to him, but he is basically the essence modern masculinity. Reddit and HN skew very heavily on the male side, so it's not surprising he's this po

I don't listen to him, but he is basically the essence modern masculinity. Reddit and HN skew very heavily on the male side, so it's not surprising he's this popular. I personally think of him as King of the Bros and think it's kind of sad that he's become the model man, but it is what it is.

iagovar 6y ago
What makes it sad?
- pohl 6y ago
  What’s not sad about mediocrity being held up as a model? Someone once asked “Is Joe the smartest dumb person or the dumbest smart person?” That question captures him so well.
  - kjakm 6y ago
    Mediocrity? He's just licensed his podcast for three years for over $100m. He's a very successful comedian. He's one of the most well known personalities in the MMA world. If that's what you judge as mediocre I'd love to know what you judge as successful.
    - pohl 6y ago
      But that’s also sad, that the amount of a signed contract is what makes someone worth emulating today. Beyond sad: it’s tragic. The world is full of all kinds of people who happen to make money. That shouldn’t make them all models.
      - iagovar 6y ago
        There's plenty of people way smarter than him, making way more money and making the world objectively a worse place. I don't really see much substance in this sadness point. If some people out there has Rogan as role model I honestly, comparing him with most media figures, I can't be bothered. He has a format that people enjoys, and he's not trying to make people swallow any narrative. That's good in my book.
  - iorrus 6y ago
    Joe Rogan is successful across multiple domains. He's the UFC's main color commentator, a successful TV personality, a successful touring comedian, a state champion in martial arts, has a podcast worth $100 million etc. etc.
md2020 6y ago
I won’t disagree with Joe being sort of “bro-like”, but I will disagree with him being the “model man”. I occasionally watch his show and have several friends who do, and none of us would say we aspire to be like Joe Rogan. Like many have said here, it’s simply the fact that sometimes he has good guests on (many physicists, biologists, tech people) and he actually lets them talk, which is a refreshing change from the shocking-soundbite driven news media that had been dominant for so long. Respecting this aspect of his show is completely different from viewing Joe as some sort of role model.
- martythemaniak 6y ago
  Lots, if not all, of those people are available by themselves though and usually in much better form. To use a famous example, watching Musk's talk on Neuralink, or the orignal MCT/ITS talk was fascinating, but watching him "smoke" weed or pronounce the name of his kid is pretty boring.
  - keiferski 6y ago
    99.9% of people listening to JRE have no idea what the ‘original MCG/ITS talk’ is. Rogan’s usefulness is that he is often the first exposure to a person or idea.
  - arcticfox 6y ago
    > Lots, if not all, of those people are available by themselves though and usually in much better form. For anyone that enjoys the medical / health guests on Rogan's podcast, I'd recommend "The Peter Attia Drive" podcast. (Not to be confused with Peter Attia's appearance on Rogan's podcast). Many of the same guests are on both, but on Attia's, they are speaking to an MD and start at a way higher level. It's a great fit for my 100/200 college level basic understanding of biology and chemistry, it usually starts from there and goes up. There's quite a bit I don't follow exactly because of that, but I certainly prefer that than a dumbed down version of everything.
  - md2020 6y ago
    > watching him "smoke" weed or pronounce the name of his kid is pretty boring. Agreed, but those were not the only things Musk did in each of those episodes and they contained a lot of content (that didn't involve just smoking weed) that was probably interesting to people outside of the HN crowd who wouldn't watch Musks's actual Neuralink presentation or the original MCT/ITS talk.
nick_ 6y ago
The thing I always think about Joe Rogan and his podcast is that there will always be a huge audience for a talkative meathead, but Joe is about the best possible version of a popular meathead we could ask for.

iagovar 6y ago

What makes it sad?

pohl 6y ago
What’s not sad about mediocrity being held up as a model? Someone once asked “Is Joe the smartest dumb person or the dumbest smart person?” That question captures him so well.
- kjakm 6y ago
  Mediocrity? He's just licensed his podcast for three years for over $100m. He's a very successful comedian. He's one of the most well known personalities in the MMA world. If that's what you judge as mediocre I'd love to know what you judge as successful.
  - pohl 6y ago
    But that’s also sad, that the amount of a signed contract is what makes someone worth emulating today. Beyond sad: it’s tragic. The world is full of all kinds of people who happen to make money. That shouldn’t make them all models.
    - iagovar 6y ago
      There's plenty of people way smarter than him, making way more money and making the world objectively a worse place. I don't really see much substance in this sadness point. If some people out there has Rogan as role model I honestly, comparing him with most media figures, I can't be bothered. He has a format that people enjoys, and he's not trying to make people swallow any narrative. That's good in my book.
- iorrus 6y ago
  Joe Rogan is successful across multiple domains. He's the UFC's main color commentator, a successful TV personality, a successful touring comedian, a state champion in martial arts, has a podcast worth $100 million etc. etc.

md2020 6y ago

I won’t disagree with Joe being sort of “bro-like”, but I will disagree with him being the “model man”. I occasionally watch his show and have several friends who do, and none of us would say we aspire to be like Joe Rogan. Like many have said here, it’s simply the fact that sometimes he has good guests on (many physicists, biologists, tech people) and he actually lets them talk, which is a refreshing change from the shocking-soundbite driven news media that had been dominant for so long. Respecting this aspect of his show is completely different from viewing Joe as some sort of role model.

martythemaniak 6y ago
Lots, if not all, of those people are available by themselves though and usually in much better form. To use a famous example, watching Musk's talk on Neuralink, or the orignal MCT/ITS talk was fascinating, but watching him "smoke" weed or pronounce the name of his kid is pretty boring.
- keiferski 6y ago
  99.9% of people listening to JRE have no idea what the ‘original MCG/ITS talk’ is. Rogan’s usefulness is that he is often the first exposure to a person or idea.
- arcticfox 6y ago
  > Lots, if not all, of those people are available by themselves though and usually in much better form. For anyone that enjoys the medical / health guests on Rogan's podcast, I'd recommend "The Peter Attia Drive" podcast. (Not to be confused with Peter Attia's appearance on Rogan's podcast). Many of the same guests are on both, but on Attia's, they are speaking to an MD and start at a way higher level. It's a great fit for my 100/200 college level basic understanding of biology and chemistry, it usually starts from there and goes up. There's quite a bit I don't follow exactly because of that, but I certainly prefer that than a dumbed down version of everything.
- md2020 6y ago
  > watching him "smoke" weed or pronounce the name of his kid is pretty boring. Agreed, but those were not the only things Musk did in each of those episodes and they contained a lot of content (that didn't involve just smoking weed) that was probably interesting to people outside of the HN crowd who wouldn't watch Musks's actual Neuralink presentation or the original MCT/ITS talk.

nick_ 6y ago

The thing I always think about Joe Rogan and his podcast is that there will always be a huge audience for a talkative meathead, but Joe is about the best possible version of a popular meathead we could ask for.