Joe Rogan Talks to Edward Snowden

[luchog]

I am convinced that Edward Snowden is now vastly exaggerating the types, scope, and amount of data, and which organizations' data, that he had access to. He started out as a computer contractor for the NSA, but to hear him tell it he apparently had free access to all of the deepest secrets of every single discrete intelligence agency in the country. Not only that, but he was freely able to query all of their databases without arising suspicion.

Eh, I don't know. Given my experience with government information security, and the generally incompetent way that it's structured and maintained, I find it entirely plausible that he could have gone poking around in places he shouldn't have been, with little to no suspicion aroused.

So much of what the governments and megacorps do regarding information security is nothing more than security theatre -- big showy programs and policies, but with little actual practical benefit. The level of incompetence amongst security "professionals" in both the government and civilian corporate world is quite frightening.

 

[Childlike Empress]

How many dishes do you have in your house that it took you two and a half hours?

I was thinking, "Been a while since you washed the dishes, eh?"

I only do manual labour as a form of meditation, so it is going quite slowly. Actually I wasn't finished yet with the single (crystal) wine glas when the talk was over. And still aren't.

 

[The_Animus]

I listened to most of the podcast so far.

Snowden comes off as intelligent and articulate. It's an interesting podcast and I hope one day he gets pardoned and can come back.

 

[The_Animus]

I was thinking, "Been a while since you washed the dishes, eh?"

---------

I like Joe Rogan okay. He's not a "DudeBro" and I don't know anyone who sees him as some member of the intelligentsia.

I agree that he's someone who's improved over time. His evolution to becoming a stoner was an improvement over how he was pre-weed, too.

He's just...a regular person who gets interviews with a wide variety of kooky people.

This is pretty much my opinion of him. He has guests of all types, left, right, kooky, intelligent. The whole point of his podcast is to get away from stupid sound byte interviews so the guest can properly express their ideas in long form discussion.

Joe used to be more conspiracy oriented but I think he is more critical now. I certainly don't agree with everything he says but he does often have good points on certain topics. I laugh at the people who write him off as a right wing conspiracy nut and wonder if they ever actually listen to his podcasts.

 

[Childlike Empress]

Rogan seems very authentic and genuinely interested in his guests. So when he has a guest on I'm interested in as well it is always a pleasure to listen to this show. Most of his guests I'm not interested in though so I don't have him on my feed list to reduce noise. If there's some very interesting guest there's always an angrysoba somewhere to inform me.

 

[Butter!]

I listen to Rogan all the time because my boyfriend basically worships at his altar. I don't agree with most of the people in this thread. I don't like JR much. I try to, but it doesn't quite work. The woo-ish stuff he frequently says about drugs (like DMT) puts me off, and I feel that he gives his kookier guests softball questions and barely challenges them at all. I get tired of hearing about his MMA stories, and his, "Oh, when I was tripping on an Alaskan mountain and saw a UFO" stories. He has said that women who don't like children "disgust" him. He thinks people like Bob Lazar are credible. He's very annoying to me.

He's not evil or outright terrible, of course. I would not call him a right-wing conspiracy kook, or whatever. I wouldn't call him a dudebro either, though a number of his fans certainly fit that description. Being into physical fitness is a good thing, though, and it doesn't make one a meathead. Rogan is clearly not stupid, and I'm sure he's basically an okay guy. He sometimes says things that are smart or humorous or both. But wading through four rambling hours in order to get those tidbits is usually not (to me personally) worth it. He says too many other annoying things along the way, especially about drugs. He works mystical, mind-opening druggles into every single conversation, it seems, and it drives me crazy. He and I are too awfully different to ever be pals.

All that being said, I will definitely be watching the Snowden episode. (I end up watching most of the episodes, haha. The one I liked the most was a conversation with Maynard James Keenan.)

 

[angrysoba]

I listen to Rogan all the time because my boyfriend basically worships at his altar. I don't agree with most of the people in this thread. I don't like JR much. I try to, but it doesn't quite work. The woo-ish stuff he frequently says about drugs (like DMT) puts me off, and I feel that he gives his kookier guests softball questions and barely challenges them at all. I get tired of hearing about his MMA stories, and his, "Oh, when I was tripping on an Alaskan mountain and saw a UFO" stories. He has said that women who don't like children "disgust" him. He thinks people like Bob Lazar are credible. He's very annoying to me.

He's not evil or outright terrible, of course. I would not call him a right-wing conspiracy kook, or whatever. I wouldn't call him a dudebro either, though a number of his fans certainly fit that description. Being into physical fitness is a good thing, though, and it doesn't make one a meathead. Rogan is clearly not stupid, and I'm sure he's basically an okay guy. He sometimes says things that are smart or humorous or both. But wading through four rambling hours in order to get those tidbits is usually not (to me personally) worth it. He says too many other annoying things along the way, especially about drugs. He works mystical, mind-opening druggles into every single conversation, it seems, and it drives me crazy. He and I are too awfully different to ever be pals.

All that being said, I will definitely be watching the Snowden episode. (I end up watching most of the episodes, haha. The one I liked the most was a conversation with Maynard James Keenan.)

I'm sorry to hear your boyfriend worships Joe Rogan. I think that is way too much. He's not worth that much adulation, or so it is said by my Lord and Saviour, the Blessed Joe Rogan. That said, I expect he is a subscriber to his podcast in which case, your boyfriend probably has too much Joe Rogan in his ears.

For a while, I listened to too many of his podcasts and realized that I was listening to him far more than I do to my wife and son (in terms of minutes, not necessarily in terms of attentiveness).

My advice is to cut out on the MMA fighters and stand-up comedians. There are two good reasons for this. MMA fighters are not interesting to listen to and stand-up comedians are not funny when they are not reciting their acts. That last part is really true. In fact, my guess is that most stand-up comedians only become stand-up comedians out of some kind of overcompensation. They are not funny off-stage (there are some exceptions. I think that Bill Burr is fairly amusing, and Anthony Jeselnik).

Joe Rogan's worst woo-acceptance is in the nutrition areas. He listens to and believes all kinds of cranks there. That said, he seems to be getting better even here and recently had a debate between Garry Taubes and Stephen Guyenet, the latter of whom wiped the floor with Taubes.

The other problems with Rogan is that sometimes he just ends up getting stoned and making no sense. Sometimes it doesn't matter, but a few times he is talking to someone making serious points and it is clear that Rogan is too baked to understand what is going on in the conversation.

Overall, though, I think Rogan is a net positive.

 

[Butter!]

I'm sorry to hear your boyfriend worships Joe Rogan. I think that is way too much. He's not worth that much adulation, or so it is said by my Lord and Saviour, the Blessed Joe Rogan. That said, I expect he is a subscriber to his podcast in which case, your boyfriend probably has too much Joe Rogan in his ears.

Yeah, my dude definitely walks the woo-line, and a lot of what he finds super-appealing about Rogan is all the psychedelic theory and ancient alien stuff. The very stuff that gets on my nerves! Luckily, though, bf has a really good sense of humor about all of it. I can freely share my opinions while we listen, and it causes laughter and spirited conversation rather than arguments. So it's all good.

For a while, I listened to too many of his podcasts and realized that I was listening to him far more than I do to my wife and son (in terms of minutes, not necessarily in terms of attentiveness).

My advice is to cut out on the MMA fighters and stand-up comedians. There are two good reasons for this. MMA fighters are not interesting to listen to and stand-up comedians are not funny when they are not reciting their acts. That last part is really true. In fact, my guess is that most stand-up comedians only become stand-up comedians out of some kind of overcompensation. They are not funny off-stage (there are some exceptions. I think that Bill Burr is fairly amusing, and Anthony Jeselnik).

Joe Rogan's worst woo-acceptance is in the nutrition areas. He listens to and believes all kinds of cranks there. That said, he seems to be getting better even here and recently had a debate between Garry Taubes and Stephen Guyenet, the latter of whom wiped the floor with Taubes.

The other problems with Rogan is that sometimes he just ends up getting stoned and making no sense. Sometimes it doesn't matter, but a few times he is talking to someone making serious points and it is clear that Rogan is too baked to understand what is going on in the conversation.

Yeah, I think you've explained it really well. And like I said before, there's a lot of good stuff throughout the interviews. I'm just a bit sensitive to certain topics that pop up with frequency (and easily bored by a few others), so those annoyances jump out at me more than they might jump out at someone more neutral.

Overall, though, I think Rogan is a net positive.

He's definitely not the worst. If I really hated him, I'd refuse to listen to him at all. Bf and I don't live together, so when I'm really not feeling Rogan on a particular day, I beg him to listen later, after I've gone home. I honestly think he enjoys our debates, and yes, I think he enjoys how fired up I get as well.

 

[Cain]

I've clicked on a lot of Joe "the Comments are Funnier" Rogan videos. The clips are less intolerable. Jake the Snake telling Giant stories? OK, I'll give that a listen. I don't know how people make it through the entire podcast. There's something to be said for an unedited, free-ranging interview, but there's also something to be said for an edited interview. With all of his "alpha" brain supplements and coconut water, one would think Rogan could do more research and have more of a game plan for how these things will go down.

 

[nelsondogg]

I've clicked on a lot of Joe "the Comments are Funnier" Rogan videos. The clips are less intolerable. Jake the Snake telling Giant stories? OK, I'll give that a listen. I don't know how people make it through the entire podcast. There's something to be said for an unedited, free-ranging interview, but there's also something to be said for an edited interview. With all of his "alpha" brain supplements and coconut water, one would think Rogan could do more research and have more of a game plan for how these things will go down.

He usually starts off really interesting, but by the 90th minute or so the pot takes over and he starts babbling about aliens or as mentioned, is left completely unable to comprehend the point the guest is making.

Perfect example was the recent episode with Nick Bostrom. An hour or so of great conversation, until Rogan was unable to grasp the probability argument in regards to Nick's "we are living in a computer simulation" thought experiment. He got stuck in a loop for at least 30 minutes listening to Nick's explanation and repeating the same objection to it over and over. Painful.

 

[Cain]

Nick Bostrom! It's a shame because he gets a lot of great guests.

 

[kellyb]

..., and I feel that he gives his kookier guests softball questions and barely challenges them at all.

One of his "gimmicks" is getting already kooky people to say even kookier stuff, sometimes under the influence of mind-altering substances.

It's a "BEHOLD THE FREAK SHOW WHICH IS THIS PERSON'S BELIEFS" thing.

Engaging in a suspension of disbelief and only asking softball questions is the only way to keep the train moving in that particular direction. So, that doesn't bother me.

 

[kellyb]

He works mystical, mind-opening druggles into every single conversation, it seems, and it drives me crazy. He and I are too awfully different to ever be pals.

Joe Rogan's worst woo-acceptance is in the nutrition areas. He listens to and believes all kinds of cranks there. That said, he seems to be getting better even here and recently had a debate between Garry Taubes and Stephen Guyenet, the latter of whom wiped the floor with Taubes.

His show really is "Oprah, for men".
lol

 

[Checkmite]

Eh, I don't know. Given my experience with government information security, and the generally incompetent way that it's structured and maintained, I find it entirely plausible that he could have gone poking around in places he shouldn't have been, with little to no suspicion aroused.

So much of what the governments and megacorps do regarding information security is nothing more than security theatre -- big showy programs and policies, but with little actual practical benefit. The level of incompetence amongst security "professionals" in both the government and civilian corporate world is quite frightening.

It's not so much that; I was thinking more along the lines of stovepiping, and the fact that none of these agencies actually communicate with each other. Their various discrete information systems at the least are definitely not shared, interconnected, or accessible to each other in such a way as Snowden implies.

 

[Jono]

Rarely catch any of his pods. Last one I listened to was when he had Steven Pinker on.

 

[TurkeysGhost]

Joe Rogan is the dude-bro version of Oprah. Getting lots of mileage out of the ole "just keeping an open mind" excuse as he grants a huge platform to a variety of woo and nonsense. Guests know they don't have to expect much push-back for any old BS so long as it feels and sounds mostly right and benign.

Edit: kellyb already called the Oprah comparison, but I hadn't read that comment before posting mine. It really is a very similar business model, just with different audiences.

 

[kellyb]

Joe Rogan is the dude-bro version of Oprah. Getting lots of mileage out of the ole "just keeping an open mind" excuse as he grants a huge platform to a variety of woo and nonsense. Guests know they don't have to expect much push-back for any old BS so long as it feels and sounds mostly right and benign.

Edit: kellyb already called the Oprah comparison, but I hadn't read that comment before posting mine. It really is a very similar business model, just with different audiences.

I don't think it's an excuse with him (or with Oprah for that matter), and it's really not like it has to sound right and benign to be allowed with no push-back.

I mean, he had Milo Yiannopoulos on.

Oprah brought KKK skinheads on her show.

 

[luchog]

It's not so much that; I was thinking more along the lines of stovepiping, and the fact that none of these agencies actually communicate with each other. Their various discrete information systems at the least are definitely not shared, interconnected, or accessible to each other in such a way as Snowden implies.

Eh, I'm not strictly convinced of that anymore either. I know agencies do not like to share information with each other; but I'm not entirely convinced that there is no access; particularly given that many of these systems do have outside access available. We certainly do know that the attitude toward internal security in many government agencies has been disturbingly lax in the past.

 

[Eddie Dane]

I don't think it's an excuse with him (or with Oprah for that matter), and it's really not like it has to sound right and benign to be allowed with no push-back.

I mean, he had Milo Yiannopoulos on.

Oprah brought KKK skinheads on her show.

That episode killed Milo's career.

He is now reduced to e-begging.

 

[Belz...]

I'm on record years ago saying that this guy will once be president of the United States. After the swamp is drained.

Swamp's overflowing right now. We'll get back to you.