It's a great podcast, or show, whatever you want to call it. The secret behind its success is Rogan's unmatched ability for conversation. From the very first second they go live he is able to talk effortlessly with his guests, and keeps that up for hours at a time. No organised routine, just natural back and forth. Very rare in a time when attention spans are getting shorter. I sometimes find it hard to listen other podcasts because they seem a bit too structured by comparison. Meanwhile those talk shows you get on TV have become unwatchable. You can watch someone talking on JRE as their natural self, relaxed and able to go off on tangents. Or you can watch talk shows where they make up anecdotes and reroute everything back to plugging their current project.
That being said I don't enjoy every episode, in fact I skip most. I'm not interested in MMA, hunting and I don't find any of his social circle funny in the slightest. When you do find a guest you like though, you can get ready for a highly enjoyable and educating few hours. I agree with you all about Joe's stance on mental health though. He comes across as incredibly naive. I think it was in the wake of Chris Cornell's suicide that he spoke at length about exercise. I'm someone who relies heavily on physicality for my wellbeing, but at times he seems almost insensitive to others in how he approaches the subject.
My absolute favourite episode was the Chuck Palahniuk one. You have to watch it, he's such a natural storyteller and has such an intriguing creative process.
Sebastian Junger has been on twice talking about, amongst other subjects, mental health in the modern world. I bought a book of his after hearing him talk and loved it.
Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins is a really interesting character, and had some interesting insights into the music industry.
Jordan Peterson seems to retrace the same ground in his latest appearances, but his early ones are essential listening. Off the top of my head Geoffrey Miller, Matthew Walker, Mike Tyson and Louis Theroux were all very entertaining too.
