5 ms·

I've watched a few episodes. - He gets high-profile guests across a decently wide spectrum and at an overall high volume. >95% of his interviews don't interest

by sho_hn 6y ago

I've watched a few episodes. - He gets high-profile guests across a decently wide spectrum and at an overall high volume. >95% of his interviews don't interest me, but for the 5% that do - say, John Carmack - the name is the main draw. These people just don't get interviewed all that often so it's an event regardless of the MC. Probably the same for his entire audience, just different 5% slices. - If you know the old mystery TV anthology show Columbo, he does a similar routine to the titular character: He plays the unassuming everyman and then asks unexpectedly smart/pointed questions, using simple terms but with reasonably deep implications. His interviews seem generally well-prepared. They don't go particularly deep on any subject matter, but if you're familiar with the subject matter they still prompt interesting responses from the guests - you can see someone like Carmack or Musk go into rubber-duck debugging mode trying to digest complicated thoughts into succinct answers and that has an interesting information side-channel to it (it tells you what they really think is important to say or highlight, and Rogan seems to be aware of this - he is good at getting the bits they personally find important). - Related to the above, the macho/masculinity slant aside he acts humble and un-obnoxious. I might feel differently if I watched any episode with a guest I really dislike (because he seems to be more accommodating than challenging/critical, for sure), but in the episodes I watched I wasn't annoyed with him. - Part of his prep is also clearly to read up on recent/controversial things related to a guest and probe for it during the interview, so there's the shock value/titilation factor that adds to the entertainment. His skill is that both him and the interviewee anticipate this but he still puts his subjects at ease enough in the moment to make the responses compelling. It has your brain constantly working to sort through what is guarded and what is not (=real), just like quality reality TV (everyone knows reality TV is scripted -- the entertainment is in trying to identify the sliver of authenticity in people's emergent behavior on camera).

julesqs 6y ago
I think the "wide spectrum" part is really important. I'm on the far left by American standards and Rogan still has a lot of interviews that interest me even though I think he's more traditionally associated with conservative-ish or libertarian-ish views.
- 2019-nCoV 6y ago
  Joe Rogan has self-claimed liberal views: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ctTmQn8w7A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ctTmQn8w7A
  - leadingthenet 6y ago
    I hate the fact that Americans say “liberal” when they mean “left-wing”, or vice versa. Classical liberalism / neoliberalism are not left-wing ideologies. They are, at best, centre-right if the Overton window is set to Western standards. Edit: I love being downvoted because I care about the meaning of words. I clearly stepped on some American nerves. Thanks HN.
    - nl 6y ago
      Classical liberalism is basically the opposite of liberalism as it is mostly understood in the West today. Interestingly, you see this most in Australia, where the Centre/Right party is called the Liberal Party. But it hasn't been used like that since the 1970s really, except in the "Liberal Democracy" sense. I think that has actually caused a lot of issues where the US right says they don't support Liberal Democracy, whereas - generally speaking, with the exception of the authoritarian arm - they mostly do.
    - reedwolf 6y ago
      The meaning of words change over time. Always have and always will.
    - julesqs 6y ago
      I'm being downvoted too lol, politics on HN are so ridiculous.
    - leetcrew 6y ago
      people probably don't like this nitpick because the core meaning of "liberal" is relative, just like "left" and "right". "liberal"/"conservative" may have a different connotation than "left"/"right" depending on context, but they have roughly the same meaning. you always need to know (at least implicitly) what position is being compared against to know what "liberal" means.
ravenstine 6y ago
To add to that: - No gotcha questions. On TV, the interviewee might be on for 5 minutes and the interviewer asks a bunch of preloaded questions, especially "gotcha" questions if there's a political divide. Rogan never tries to undermine his guests. - The conversations usually last as long as they need to. His show sometimes go over 3 hours if it's necessary. I don't ever listen for 3 hours and feel like I've wasted my time. - Joe is clearly good at making his guests feel comfortable, which brings out a different side of people that you might not see in a traditional setting. How is anyone supposed to be uptight around a pot smoking, MMA fighting comedian who asks you if you've used DMT?
- Theodores 6y ago
  It is a similar trick Hello! Magazine uses. Allow guests to be themselves and in a positive light, with no scary surprise. The guests open up and share more about themselves and what they are up to.
  - BiteCode_dev 6y ago
    How is being a welcoming host a trick? It's like saying serving good food and making your guest feel at home is a trick for a successful diner.
    - Theodores 6y ago
      Hello! don't roast people so they get A list people open their homes and hearts. Hence they are a safe place for people of celebrity significance to be shown in. In British English 'trick' can mean many things. You can do a trick on a skateboard but the usage I have is a clever or particular way of doing something. "the trick is to put one ski forward and kneel" I hope that clarifies the British English usage. Elsewhere 'trick' probably means deception but in British English there are other uses, e.g. the trick to explaining something is to cite Wikipedia.
      - a9h74j 6y ago
        Compare 'knack'? A positive skill but simple at heart. "There is a knack to it."
jiggawatts 6y ago
A lot of people mistakenly thing that Joe is not very smart because he asks "dumb questions". I think it's the exact opposite, he leads his guests with well chosen questions that he probably already knows the answer to, but the guest can surely elaborate on from deep experience. When I see mainstream media interview people that are expert in topics I'm well versed in, the questions are cringe worthy at best. For comparison with someone trying to create a similar show, Lex Fridman regularly asks some stupid, stupid questions. He's clearly approaching his guests from his own personal perspective, and not letting the individual perspective of their guests be front and centre.
- ravenstine 6y ago
  In the Sean Caroll episodes, he clearly exaggerates his level of confusion in the face of quantum physics.
- guscost 6y ago
  He’s definitely smarter than he lets on, but there are lots of funny moments where he clearly has no idea what the guest is talking about. Elon Musk: We need some kind of like, mind-viral immunity. So that’s, that’s a bit concerning. Joe Rogan: Mind-viral immunity. Meaning that once something like Neuralink gets established, the real concern is that it’s something, that, I mean you said it’s Bluetooth, right?
- PragmaticPulp 6y ago
  > For comparison with someone trying to create a similar show, Lex Fridman regularly asks some stupid, stupid questions. He's clearly approaching his guests from his own personal perspective, and not letting the individual perspective of their guests be front and centre. I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels that way. I had high hopes for Fridman's podcast after the JRE revered him as a sort of young, genius, intellectual version of JRE. He's highly respected among JRE online communities, I think because he presents himself the way most JRE listeners expect a generic smart person to sound. Yet every time I listen to him, I'm left scratching my head. It feels like he's working hard to copy-and-paste the JRE format, but like many other imitators it exposes why Rogan is so popular in the first place: Rogan is a expert conversationalist who makes both the guest and listener feel at ease, like the listener is part of the conversation. His charisma isn't entirely obvious until you start comparing him to imitators. I'm still hopeful that Lex Fridman's podcast will get more enjoyable over time as he relaxes a bit and masters the art of the podcast. He's been able to get some high profile guests on his show, so the potential is there.

by sho_hn 6y ago

julesqs 6y ago

I think the "wide spectrum" part is really important. I'm on the far left by American standards and Rogan still has a lot of interviews that interest me even though I think he's more traditionally associated with conservative-ish or libertarian-ish views.

2019-nCoV 6y ago
Joe Rogan has self-claimed liberal views: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ctTmQn8w7A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ctTmQn8w7A
- leadingthenet 6y ago
  I hate the fact that Americans say “liberal” when they mean “left-wing”, or vice versa. Classical liberalism / neoliberalism are not left-wing ideologies. They are, at best, centre-right if the Overton window is set to Western standards. Edit: I love being downvoted because I care about the meaning of words. I clearly stepped on some American nerves. Thanks HN.
  - nl 6y ago
    Classical liberalism is basically the opposite of liberalism as it is mostly understood in the West today. Interestingly, you see this most in Australia, where the Centre/Right party is called the Liberal Party. But it hasn't been used like that since the 1970s really, except in the "Liberal Democracy" sense. I think that has actually caused a lot of issues where the US right says they don't support Liberal Democracy, whereas - generally speaking, with the exception of the authoritarian arm - they mostly do.
  - reedwolf 6y ago
    The meaning of words change over time. Always have and always will.
  - julesqs 6y ago
    I'm being downvoted too lol, politics on HN are so ridiculous.
  - leetcrew 6y ago
    people probably don't like this nitpick because the core meaning of "liberal" is relative, just like "left" and "right". "liberal"/"conservative" may have a different connotation than "left"/"right" depending on context, but they have roughly the same meaning. you always need to know (at least implicitly) what position is being compared against to know what "liberal" means.

ravenstine 6y ago

To add to that: - No gotcha questions. On TV, the interviewee might be on for 5 minutes and the interviewer asks a bunch of preloaded questions, especially "gotcha" questions if there's a political divide. Rogan never tries to undermine his guests. - The conversations usually last as long as they need to. His show sometimes go over 3 hours if it's necessary. I don't ever listen for 3 hours and feel like I've wasted my time. - Joe is clearly good at making his guests feel comfortable, which brings out a different side of people that you might not see in a traditional setting. How is anyone supposed to be uptight around a pot smoking, MMA fighting comedian who asks you if you've used DMT?

Theodores 6y ago
It is a similar trick Hello! Magazine uses. Allow guests to be themselves and in a positive light, with no scary surprise. The guests open up and share more about themselves and what they are up to.
- BiteCode_dev 6y ago
  How is being a welcoming host a trick? It's like saying serving good food and making your guest feel at home is a trick for a successful diner.
  - Theodores 6y ago
    Hello! don't roast people so they get A list people open their homes and hearts. Hence they are a safe place for people of celebrity significance to be shown in. In British English 'trick' can mean many things. You can do a trick on a skateboard but the usage I have is a clever or particular way of doing something. "the trick is to put one ski forward and kneel" I hope that clarifies the British English usage. Elsewhere 'trick' probably means deception but in British English there are other uses, e.g. the trick to explaining something is to cite Wikipedia.
    - a9h74j 6y ago
      Compare 'knack'? A positive skill but simple at heart. "There is a knack to it."

jiggawatts 6y ago

A lot of people mistakenly thing that Joe is not very smart because he asks "dumb questions". I think it's the exact opposite, he leads his guests with well chosen questions that he probably already knows the answer to, but the guest can surely elaborate on from deep experience. When I see mainstream media interview people that are expert in topics I'm well versed in, the questions are cringe worthy at best. For comparison with someone trying to create a similar show, Lex Fridman regularly asks some stupid, stupid questions. He's clearly approaching his guests from his own personal perspective, and not letting the individual perspective of their guests be front and centre.

ravenstine 6y ago
In the Sean Caroll episodes, he clearly exaggerates his level of confusion in the face of quantum physics.
guscost 6y ago
He’s definitely smarter than he lets on, but there are lots of funny moments where he clearly has no idea what the guest is talking about. Elon Musk: We need some kind of like, mind-viral immunity. So that’s, that’s a bit concerning. Joe Rogan: Mind-viral immunity. Meaning that once something like Neuralink gets established, the real concern is that it’s something, that, I mean you said it’s Bluetooth, right?
PragmaticPulp 6y ago
> For comparison with someone trying to create a similar show, Lex Fridman regularly asks some stupid, stupid questions. He's clearly approaching his guests from his own personal perspective, and not letting the individual perspective of their guests be front and centre. I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels that way. I had high hopes for Fridman's podcast after the JRE revered him as a sort of young, genius, intellectual version of JRE. He's highly respected among JRE online communities, I think because he presents himself the way most JRE listeners expect a generic smart person to sound. Yet every time I listen to him, I'm left scratching my head. It feels like he's working hard to copy-and-paste the JRE format, but like many other imitators it exposes why Rogan is so popular in the first place: Rogan is a expert conversationalist who makes both the guest and listener feel at ease, like the listener is part of the conversation. His charisma isn't entirely obvious until you start comparing him to imitators. I'm still hopeful that Lex Fridman's podcast will get more enjoyable over time as he relaxes a bit and masters the art of the podcast. He's been able to get some high profile guests on his show, so the potential is there.