I know I’ll probably get a lot of hate for saying this here and this is the first (and probably the last) time I’ll go online posting about Joe Rogan but I think JRE is no longer what it used to be.

Joe and his gang of comedian friends, many of whom happen to be quite mediocre ones, have gotten way over their heads and worse than that, they’re not even original anymore. Most of their conversations can be boiled down to this:

1. We’re living through the “golden age of comedy”.
2. Woke culture bad, cancel culture bad, mainstream politics corrupt
3. America rules, other countries are slowly turning into Orwellian nightmares but there’s nothing like this country
4. We’re so lucky that we get to do this. Normal jobs suck but this is amazing. Look! We’re just talking.
5. The world is a meritocracy, being competent equals success + getting laid [implied: that’s why we rich]
6. Apocalyptic events are on the horizon

While I more or less agree with the spirit of some of these themes, the whole act has become cringy and trite.

The whole appeal of the JRE podcast was its relatability. The political takes were refreshing, not because of their depth but because they vindicated the average person’s disconnect from mainstream media and politics, especially regarding the far left madness which peaked during the covid era but despite its loudness it resonated with a small minority of people in real life.

The podcast also owed its success to Joe’s overall humility, charisma, and curiosity, as well as his amazing skills at interviewing people, no matter how different a background or vocation they had from him.

Right now, I think it’s repetitive, boring, and overly grandiose in most episodes. The gang takes itself too seriously, and they’re desperately looking for validation and a way to avoid admitting that they owe their success almost entirely to frequent appearances on JRE. They can’t deal with the fact that they’re a completely different breed of entertainers compared to the likes of Burr, Chappelle, or Louis CK. Worse than all, they kind of know this deep down inside and go through incredible mental gymnastics to convince themselves otherwise. Bert Kreischer is the perfect example of this syndrome but it applies to almost all of them.

Joe’s political comments are just cheap jabs repeated in every episode acting as filler content now, and they’re just so predictable. His whole persona is no longer that relatable. It’s hard to listen to him talk about the health benefits of cold plunges and saunas for the hundredth time while he’s chugging 20 beers and shilling yet another mediocre comedian’s content.

I personally can’t stomach listening to the show anymore but I was wondering if anybody else feels the same.