… Or You Could Just Listen The First Time
Joe Rogan and Substack are under fire for COVID denial. Why wasn’t very public bigotry enough?
Of all the shocking news stories, “Joe Rogan said stupid shit on his podcast” isn’t one. The former Fear Factor host has long used his podcast as a clearinghouse for harmful ideas; he’s chatted with Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes and neo-fascist cartoon Milo Yiannopoulous. He’s invited TERF pundit Abigail Shrier on to liken trans children’s dysphoria to “demonic possession [and] witchcraft” and chatted with misogynist meat stack Jordan Peterson about his theory that transition is just like “Satanic ritual abuse.” He drops the n-bomb. A lot. That isn’t an interview, it’s just a word he likes to say.
Spotify knew this when they offered Rogan over $100 million to host his podcast: When he joined the service, no less than 42 episodes of his show were scrubbed from existence, most featuring interviews with far-right figures like the ones mentioned above. (Alex Jones. Did I mention Alex Jones yet?) Spotify also didn’t care; in Rogan’s own words, “they don’t give a fuck, man,” and leaked emails in which Spotify executives defended the Alex Jones episode (“we are not going to ban specific individuals from being guests on other people’s shows”) seem to back that up. Joe Rogan said stupid shit, and a…
