09
February
2019
|
18:17 PM
America/Los_Angeles

Podcast Business Models; Litter Boxes For Tech Workers; A Culture Of Recreational Outrage; Medication Will Cure The Irrational

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm a huge fan of Joe Rogan because he is the only mainstream interviewer that can attract so many different people, across spectrums in politics, science, cosmology, archeology. There are doctors studying nutrition, fighters, top athletes... I've learned a tremendous amount about many different subjects with Joe Rogan -- and I'm a fairly new fan -- less than a year.

It's Rogan's respect for his guests that I find so very compelling. He listens. And that creates space for great conversations that can go on for more than three hours. And there's no commercial interruption, there's no over-talkative host that constantly talks over their guests.

But Rogan won't listen to BS -- he's always ready to call out irrational thinking and erroneous claims. Jamie, his ever vigilant and invisible personal assistant quickly checks any factious claims for fiction. Stopping fake facts right there and then at the point of broadcast is brilliant and it's a key responsibility that Rogan recognizes because of his huge audiences.

In this episode we see Rogan's bromance with his pal Sam Harris -- who is an excellent polemicist. There's a very good discussion of podcast media business models and why advertising or subscription models will suit different types of content.

Around 1hr 17 minutes and 45 seconds Sam Harris tells a story of a CEO of a large tech company complaining at dinner that an employee filed a complaint with HR that the restrooms had no litter boxes which violated his rights as a "furry" and self-identifying as a cat.

Irrational Medication...

There's excellent discussion about online toxic cultures. And Sam Harris believes there will be a pill that will cure people of violently responding to other people's beliefs. The pill will calm rage and curb people's irrational thinking. They will remark, "I can't believe I was so upset about this thing." 

I can't see a pill like that succeeding. Irrational righteous rage is an incredible drug, it's an incredibly powerful feeling. We see it practiced in what Rogan calls "recreational outrage." And there's no cure -- yet and it won't be medical. Cutural shift doesn't come in a pill.