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A
You're listening to the Joe Rogan Experience Review.
B
What a bizarre thing we've created now with your host, Adam Thorne. This might either be the worst podcast.
A
Or the best one. One go.
B
Enjoy the show.
A
Hey, guys, and welcome to another episode of the JRE Review. I am Adam joined this week and for most weeks, actually, really good old Brandon. How you doing, bud?
B
Doing all right, man. It's a nice fall afternoon here in Boston.
A
Oh, fantastic. Beautiful day here in Bozeman, actually. We got Dave Smith up today, episode 2370 from the World of Rogan. You know, he. Libertarian Dave Smith, right. Politics, history, current events, some of the key topics. U.S. foreign policy, U.S. ukraine, Gaza, conflicts, media bias, economic impacts of war and inflation, government overreach, intelligence agencies. I mean, all coming from a comedian. Wild. This is where we get our news these days. And you know what? I can't hate on it. I trust it. I like that guy.
B
It's kind of rare that comics don't talk about politics, right?
A
They've been doing it for a long time. For sure. For sure. Quick shout out to our Patreons. Thank you guys so much for plugging in, logging in, signing up, subscribing, and we got some good stuff coming your way. Yeah. What do we do? What do we do?
B
Yeah. And to, you know, before we get into it, just want to say with the Patreon, every single episode we record here, the day of the recording, it goes to Patreon. And not only do you get early access, but you get the video format of each episode so you can see how much of a hippie I look like. But, yeah. So, you know, I feel like we should have a guest on this because I know we've talked about it in the past, but we should have reached out to Douglas Murray for this one. I think he would have probably been like, you know, Adam, have you even been to Rogan Studio?
A
Yeah.
B
If you can't even be talking about.
A
This, have you even been to a Jersey Mike's? I'd be like, whoa, heavy. Yeah, I guess you got to go there, dude. You got to go somewhere before you can even say anything about it.
B
Exactly. So I feel like if we want to keep doing this podcast, we have to break into Rogan Studio or something.
A
Imagine.
B
Imagine soil.
A
Imagine if Douglas Murray was interviewing, like, an astronomer, and they're like, have you even been to Saturn? Like, well, no. Well, discredited, clearly.
B
Can't you even touch the black hole?
A
If you even been to the center of the universe, it's like, okay, all right. Well, it. I hate to say it because I do like Douglas. I've liked a lot of the stuff that he said I've liked. Other times he's come on Rogan, but he. When he came on with Dave Smith, I was just like, oh, dude, you just got wrecked. And that's Dave Smith, dude. That's just Dave Smith. I mean, he. He is on. He's on one right now. That's how he'd say in England. He's on one. It's like people have been giving him a hard time about the fact he's a comedian, you know, whatever. Like, oh, are you even, you know, a specialist at this? Like, are you, like. It's like, okay, you know, he's getting that massive hit back, but my God, you put him in front of anybody on any panel and he just smashes it. He is so passionate about this stuff. And not only that, he's very compassionate. Like, he really does care about the state of things.
B
Yeah. And if you listen to his podcast, you can see a little more of that side of him, and it's really cool to see. And, yeah, like, you look at Lenny Br Garland, it's. It's in the blood of comedians, I guess even a lot of my fellow comics are very, very political. Some I know only have political material. So it just coincides because that's what comedy is. You observe the world and you pretty much roast it.
A
Yeah.
B
And there is a ton to roast right now. It's so true.
A
Oh, hold on real quick. I want to do a quick shout out. I totally forgot and we talked about it.
B
Okay.
A
I want to do a shout out to our boy Ed over at the JRE Companion, which is the best fan run Instagram for the Rogan sphere in the world. It's fantastic. And Ed is going through some health issues. I'm going to put a link in the Bio to his GoFundMe, and I spoke to him the other day. He's in good spirits. He loves the positive feedback. If you're listening to this, you probably already follow him and on Instagram, keep those positive messages going in. We're all praying for him. And I say that not even like a religious person, but sometimes I'll throw out a prayer because I don't know what else to do. Love that guy. So we're giving him. Giving him our best.
B
Just an absolute legend. We hope he recovers. But going forward with the Dave Smith episode, we're gonna do something now here, where I'm gonna get into the episode reception, and it's something we're gonna do going forward where we're gonna have a little more structure. Talking about the overview and general reception of the podcast. So, yeah, this is Dave's 16th appearance, which is crazy.
A
Yeah, yeah, he's getting, he's getting very popular on Rogue.
B
Yes, yes. And you know, on Spotify, the first 10 comments were pretty much requesting other guests, which means that people liked it.
A
Yeah, you know, yeah, the, the first one is always, when is Alex Jones coming on? And that is the top comment on every pod for the last, like, well, ever since Epstein List.
B
I think we gotta get like an Eddie Bravo, Tim Dillon, Alex Jones episode really soon.
A
Oh my go explode.
B
I know, right? We gotta, we'll have to do like a three hour episode on that one. So on Spotify, you know, the top three are pretty much requesting other guests besides one being like, finally a guest worth listening to.
A
Yeah, yeah.
B
Which, which I know people have feelings about a lot of the politics on this podcast, especially some of the Congress members and all these people pushing policies on the podcast. I've seen a lot of controvers on how people are ignoring the Epstein files. And this is just, it's just a straight up comic and let's just talk about some shit, you know, Top comment was about getting Ron Paul on the podcast on YouTube, freeing America from the AIPAC as well as a comment, I can confirm that Dave Smith has been there, being obviously, you know, referring to the Douglas Murray. That's amazing bullshit.
A
That might be my favorite.
B
Yeah. And the biggest pushback on the whole episode has been Dave's opinion on Ukraine. And I really haven't been able to find like a single positive comment on it. And a lot of people were saying, oh, it's Russian propaganda, whatever. But that's something we'll get into for sure. But the general reception was pretty good.
A
Real quick, can we in our merch store have a T shirt that just says Dave has all caps been there? Yeah, I'm happy. I don't want to take from Dave. Okay. They're like, I'm happy to just either give him all that money or we give it to charity. But I think that T shirt was so. And I want one.
B
Yeah. Yeah. I feel like if anything, if there's anything he needs to touch or like Douglas Murray, I know that's his whole thing. Like, you know, you have. If you're an expert in it, you have to like, you know, touch it or whatever. He's definitely. It seems like he's not an expert in women at all. By how fucking stressed out he is. I think if he needs to touch anything, it's a pussy, to be honest.
A
Dude, it just, it just makes me think what about like, what about people that are specialists in dinosaurs? And he's like, where do you go from these arguments so bad. Like have you even met a Tyrannosaurus rex? Is like, no, dude, I dug up the bones. Like shut up dude.
B
You need, it's like you need to get laid and just have a joint be like, you know what, maybe I am overreacting a little bit.
A
Yeah, he needs mushrooms.
B
But yeah, literally, like we're saying like, like have you even touched a black hole? Like what are you even. You don't even know what you're talking about anyway. But a lot of the reception was pretty positive on YouTube and, and Spotify. It seemed like everybody who listens enjoyed it. Except of course Reddit where everyone just goes to be critical. And the most.
A
What were they saying?
B
Yeah, the most comments I saw about it were just, you know, how repetitive some of these Dave Smith's conversations are with Joe, how people feel like they're whining about the same points over and over. A lot of people found the irony of, you know, Joe and Dave complaining about the Patriot act when currently we're seeing military deployment on US soil as well as the whole eyes of DraftKings Casino has your playbook for gaming action all season long. Play thousands of popular slots for a shot at jackpots. Over 400 million has already been awarded. New players get 500 spins on Huff and more puff over 10 days. Download the app, use code JRE and claim your spins after your first five dollar wager. Get in the game with DraftKings Casino, home of the largest jackpot win in online casino history. The crown is yours. Gambling problem call 1-800-GAMBLER in Connecticut. Help is available for problem gambling. Call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org Please play responsibly. 21/physically present in Connecticut, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia only. Void in Ontario eligibility restrictions apply. New customers only. Non withdrawable casino spins issued as 50 spins per day for 10 days. Valid for featured game only and expire hours. See terms@casino draftkings.com promos ends October 5, 2025 at 11:59pm Eastern Time. Palantir, which is a whole podcast within itself online. I noticed there was a lot of push back on like how they're complaining about politics from decades ago and policies and things like Watergate. Yeah, when we are facing one of the biggest scandals in American history currently, which Epstein I'm not sure was even brought up at all, if I'm remembering correctly. But, you know, Nixon and. And the whole thing with. Oh, God, blanking. Bob Woodward.
A
Oh, and everything.
B
It's. It's like that. That whole thing, and it's like, yeah, what about like. Like, it's like, what year is this podcast from? Because it's like, there's so much the world changes.
A
The.
B
The American politics seem to change, like, every week so dramatically, and it seems like there's so much to talk about where I kind of understand where people are coming from, where it's like, dude, why are we talking about, you know, Watergate? And that's come up about Bob Woodward's past. You know, the whole thing with. Yeah, he, you know, has background in military intelligence or whatever, and possibly Nixon was framed, which is crazy.
A
Oh, yeah. Crazy.
B
Think about. And. And we'll definitely get into. But before we do, you know, Adam, how do you feel about this episode? Like, when you finished it, what was your reactions and what are your thoughts?
A
Dude, the same thing that I said to you over text. It was freaking me out. When you said back to me. What part? I was like, I don't think you've listened to it yet, because it was all the fucking parts. There were just so many moments. And look, I get what they're saying on Reddit. It's like, yeah, you're bringing up JFK again, but it's to kind of. Basically what they're doing is they're saying, today we're being lied to. These countries keep lying to us. These that, like, what we think is happening is actually bullshit and it's propaganda. Let me explain how it was in the past, which we know it's true. Like, that's kind of it. I mean, the Watergate thing, what did they say it was? He was some sort of, like, intelligence guy that became a journalist and happened to have that as his first story.
B
To like, yeah, he was in military. Like, Bob Woodward, before he was a journalist, he was in military intelligence, and he had top secret clearance. He wasn't like a fucking janitor.
A
Yeah.
B
You know.
A
Yeah.
B
And now he's like, in his twenties, and then puts out this groundbreaking story, this. This historic story, the biggest scandal in American history up to that point. I do think the Epstein thing, maybe.
A
He'S just an absolute prodigy of, you know, journalism, dude. Maybe he's just that good story, number one. Biggest story of all time. Or let's throw out A weird conspiracy. Somebody totally set him up to be able to just get in there and do this.
B
Like, how fucked.
A
Duh.
B
And it makes me think, like, what if that is true? And like, even Watergate, what if Watergate, Nixon was able to get in there, everything and the plan was executed perfectly and we just didn't know.
A
Yeah.
B
And. And all that info died with the people involved. Oh, yeah. I'm sure so many things in government that all these scand that were, you know, what was that quote we were talking about last time? Science. And it's even brought up in this episode. Science dies with every funeral, you know.
A
Oh, yeah.
B
I feel like you can. You can put that context in everything. It's like there's. There must be scandals that we don't know about that we'll never find out about because they shredded the evidence and everyone involved died.
A
Yeah. And time.
B
I will never know.
A
Time covers it up like a dinosaur bone, dude. And then Douglas Murray comes in and he's like, will you. Have you even been there? They shredded it, though, dude. They shredded it.
B
You talked to Nixon?
A
Did you even go back in time and talk to this? You even know who Alexander the Great is? You're like, ah, Douglas, sit down, sit down.
B
Doggy, doggy, doggy. Take some dmt and.
A
But I think that's why it's worth talking about these things and maybe even doing it again and again, because it's like, hey, the stuff that we've actually found out about that we discovered was either an inside job or some propaganda bullshit or was just basically told to us in a way that was completely not real. There are only a few. I would imagine we catch less than 10% of these, so we should hit it up because they're so good at covering these things up. Epstein. Whatever it is, it's like, hey, guys. Not the first time they've lied to us. And these lies are egregious. And there is literally no limit to how egregious these lies can be. So be suspicious of what you're hearing. And that's. That's a lot of the feel that I get from Dave Smith when he's on.
B
You know, I could not agree more. And I get some of the criticism with this episode, but the. The history, like humans are predictable. You know, the history tells the future.
A
Right.
B
So studying all these scandals, studying human history and old American politics can give us some insight on the mindset of people in office, people who are trying to corrupt and might make us think certain ways and how to look at things in the future. But at the same time, to be devil's advocate, you kind of have to have both, you know, and I feel like there, there was a little bit of a one sided conversation where it was like, yeah, Nixon, you know, the 60s drug move, all this shit where it's like, what about today? Like I'd love for them to kind of compare some of that stuff to some of the happening today. And of course, you know, Ukraine, Gaza, all that is brought up for sure. But there's so many parallels with this whole MK Ultra they talked about on this episode. Even Watergate, we've seen similar things today. So it would have been nice to connect some of those. But at the same time, yeah, for sure. Like, like this Bob Woodward, people don't know that. People think he was just some random journalist. It's like, no dude, he was in military intelligence. Yeah, so. So it makes you like look at people today who just suddenly are on like our prodigies and it's like, well let's look into their history a little more. And I think that's what this teaches us.
A
Well, I think it's crazy that the person that called out Woodward the hardest was Bill Murray. Because if there's any legend in American comedy like he, he is his own, you know, obviously he's not like a stand up, but he has the dopest movies of all time. He's an absolute hero. American national treasure for sure. New Belushi. Well read that book and was like, this is my friend. That wasn't true. Therefore everything else this guy has wrote is bullshit. And I've never believed someone so much in my life. I don't know what it is about Bill, but I'm like, he's not the guy to give me this information yet. I trust it 100%. I'm like totally discredited. I completely believe what he thinks about that guy.
B
I'm like, you know, Nixon was a crook. Well, was Nixon a crook?
A
Dude that I think fucking all presidents.
B
Are probably, you know, I'm not a crook. Yeah, yeah, you kind of have to be to get to that point for sure.
A
But what I'm saying is the guy that wrote that book is also full of shit too. So yeah, he had an agenda. He knew something would sell. He was willing to just be like, right, this is the picture that I'm gonna paint and I don't give a fuck about facts. I'm just going to say whatever and people will believe me because I wrote a book about it.
B
Imagine the power that has to. And I can't imagine being in my 20s and you become a journalist and you write an article that makes a fucking president quit.
A
Yeah, dude. He was, like, the most.
B
What does that do to your name?
A
He was one of the most popular presidents of all time.
B
Insane. Insane, man. Like. Like, how. What does that do to your ego? That would. That would make me. Oh, I'm the greatest writer of all time. Oh, I can do nothing wrong.
A
Yeah, yeah. You're gonna go on a ramp.
B
Dangerous. That's so dangerous.
A
Too much power.
B
Yeah, but interesting stuff with Woodward, Nixon, you know, war on drugs, that whole bullshit. And I think we should talk about this, which. Which is kind of a. A point that connects to that pretty nicely. But the whole weird science, weird scenes for Inside the Canyon, the whole MK Ultra thing, the whole conspiracy that The Doors, all these bands from the 60s were fueled by the FBI, CIA. There were government plants to spread drugs and tame the youth.
A
Yep.
B
I thought that was very interesting. That's something I actually have, like, looked into a bit myself. As you can tell by. I look like I just crawl out of the 60s. A big fan of these vans, you know? And of course, like, people are saying weird. The Doors, the monkeys, America. Why do they have family in Intelligence? Why do they have family in the FBI? How convenient. How weird.
A
What is. Yeah. What are we supposed to make from that? Like, what's your take on that? Like, what does it mean? What is that connection? Is it random? It seems, like, less likely to be random because of the tight connection. But then also it's like, well, just because you had this ability, why would it also mean your kids could just actually make good music? And is there any control, Relate. Like, what is that fucking relationship? It's an interesting question.
B
Yeah. Just. Just because you're Luke Skywalker doesn't mean you're. You're gonna be Darth Vader. You know, it's like, just because you're. And I agree. And I don't think there's a conspir. Conspiracy behind it.
A
No, but it is interesting.
B
It's interesting because it's lined up to make sense now. The whole point would be, like, to defuse, like, angry teenagers. Because it's like, that was. We're talking Vietnam, we're talking protesting, where it's like, okay, let's reprogram these teens. You. You have that angst to go revolt. You have that angst to go protest. Just go to a concert. Same. Same thing. Same vents. Same vents. You know, and it's the whole. You know, it Redefining anti war activism into psychedelic escapism.
A
It does kind of make me think, like, imagine Morrison growing up right. Handsome guy. He grows up in this world. Dad, intelligence guy, obviously raising him, telling him what's up. This is how the world is. This is what I've seen, this is what I know. Like, we talk. I'm not saying that he's like telling his kid classified shit, but he's giving him a real good picture of like, what's going on in the world at that time. And Morrison is like, all this, I'm gonna do acid, write weird songs, go dance around the desert. Like, I'm not. I'm not trusting any of this that I've just heard. He.
B
He was too crazy to be a plant. He. He is not the person you, like, put this on his shoulders up, because it's like, no, he's a.
A
He's a reaction. He's a reaction to the information.
B
A hundred percent. A hundred percent. That's why I don't buy a lot of this because it's like, you realize. It's like, you know, you realize how crazy these people are. Jim Morrison, who's like. Who thinks he's like, possessed by a Native American soul. Like, you think he's gonna be like, yeah, you know, plants. I. I'm wearing a wire. If, if that. That dude would crack so fast under pressure. But then you have like, oh, well, 27 Club. What if it was a ritual? He did whatever. Whatever bullshit is connected to that. But I think it's interesting and it's a book I do want to read.
A
It's fun.
B
The dead, there's a big connection there, which they didn't bring up. Where a lot of people think the dead were FBI plans or like CIA plants. Because, fun fact, just since we're on the subject and like, I know a bunch about the dead. Their sound engineer was one of the first people to individually mass produce lsd. Hundreds of thousands of lsd. You know, like they were touring, giving out, like, just handing out massive quantities of lsd. And you were, you know, thinking, it's like, oh, the whole MK Ultra plan and the whole thing with LSD and mind control. Yeah, very interesting. And the guy also had connections to intelligence. What? Very interesting, very interesting stuff. So you never know. It's just really, really interesting. And I don't think it's real. I don't think it's actually the government controlling people and let's just fuel drugs to the people through, you know, a jam band. But it's weird how the dude who did it, like, this random guy was making thousands of. Of tabs of acid to just hand out on. On tour and pretty much started the. The psychedelic movement and the whole acid phase.
A
Yeah.
B
American youth, just individually. That's why it's interesting. Yeah. Cool stuff. Really cool stuff.
A
What do you think about all the Russiagate shit they were talking about? So Obama, like, trying to frame Trump and the timing on this stuff did look like a little bit of a distraction from, like, it's the recent allegations towards Obama about what he did with Russia. I was like, it's kind of convenient timing right after the Epstein list to try and, you know, as soon as the Epstein stuff blew up in Trump's face, I knew they were looking for a distraction immediately. Now, there also could be something to it, like, they're trying to frame Trump. He obviously has been hammered in every direction. You know, I mean, that's pretty fucking clear. Like, you can. You can sit there all day and be like, he deserves all those federal, you know, felony charges he got. And it's, like, based on a bunch of different payments. It just seems, like, dumb. I'm like, if they found out he killed someone, I'd be like, yeah, that is fucking super outrageous. I'm not saying that he shouldn't be hammered for breaking the law, but we know these politicians never are. They're all doing it. How Nancy Pelosi is not in jail for something, I have no idea. But it's. It's like, no, they shouldn't be above the law, but also, they are. They constantly are. So there was a clear indication that people have focused on this person to hammer him. How he keeps surviving is like, love him or hate him, it's like, that shit's impressive.
B
And, yeah, like, I agree, man. And my whole view on that is just like. Like, you're saying it's like, I'm gonna let the water and the. The dust settle on this one.
A
Right.
B
You know, I'm gonna wait for some more information to come out because the Epstein files is all I'm. I'm giving a. About right now. Of course, Ukraine, all this other international stuff, of course, is on my radar.
A
Yep.
B
But, like, you know, and Obama, too. It's like, let's not forget the dude wore, like, a tan suit. And everyone's like, fucking call me.
A
Oh.
B
You know, it's like every. Everyone had.
A
Yeah.
B
So, you know, the. The. Their phase of ridicule and criticism, Trump especially, out of everybody, like, everyone was throwing pitchforks at him. But I don't know, man. It's like there's bigger fish to fry.
A
Of course.
B
I don't think this should be swept under the rug at all. I don't think this should be forgotten at all. But it's like, dude, like, the Epstein case is the biggest American scandal and we don't even know the scale of it. Like, Obama this, Obama that. Yeah, fucking. He was bombing weddings. That fucking sucks. There's a lot of shady things he was doing.
A
But shouldn't we find out if we are inadvertently just being run by billionaire pedophiles? That seems like a big question that should be answered.
B
Yeah. And it does feel like distraction. The timing is really suspicious.
A
Yeah.
B
I don't know how I feel about it. I don't know how I feel about it. I think we got to just let the dust settle.
A
Let the dust settle. We can't make our minds up on this. All right. Big thing for Dave always. Israel, Palestine conflict, Gaza crisis. Like, my goodness, dude, we're talking massively polarizing. What it seems like to me is people are pretty fucking upset with Israel right now. Multiple countries are coming out and being like, no, no, no. I think it's highlighted that the US is like deeply, to some degree controlled by Israel because I think that that hundred percent, like, we definitely would have taken a step back, but there seems to be a clear line that no one can criticize this. Even Trump's not brave enough to do it. And the fucking devastation over there. Think what you want about a people, but those. There's a bunch of kids there, dude. Kids stuck in rubble. I was the saddest thing ever. And I know they. I know they're throwing some propaganda out there. I know, you know, they're like, there are videos that have been doctored to show that they're like, starving, but it also is happening. So, you know, everyone loves propaganda. Why would they not be doing it? Hamas would be doing it. The Palestinians want you to, like, give a shit about what they're going through. But the video, I watched it and bear in mind I have a year and a half old daughter who, like, that's a whole new thing where you're like, oh my God, I got to keep this thing alive. She even gets a cold. I feel terrible. This building crumbled, collapsed. So there was like the wire frame that, like holds, you know, it's like in the concrete that was open, exposed, and this guy's two year old was stuck behind it. And because two other buildings around just got bombed, there wasn't enough people to like, or machinery or whatever to come in and like, help. He couldn't do it. He sat there for hours with the lid of a water bottle feeding because that's the only thing he could reach through. And I'm not gonna tell you how it ended because it's too sad. But Jesus, can you. And I'm like, alright, yes, in a war you can always pick like the saddest story and feel bad about it, but I'm just like, this is fucking happening there a lot. And then you hear the details of the blockade and you know, one of their statesmen says stuff like, no grain of wheat will get in. It's like, how can you fucking do that and live with yourself at all?
B
War crimes. Yeah, fucking war crimes. 100%. And it's like, it's so fucking depressing.
A
Starve your prisoners, award to death. Like, I know other countries have done it and they've been awful, but there's like, you know, the Geneva Convention, there's like more modern warp tactics to be like, all right, you're prisoner, but you will get some snacks. And then they do this.
B
I don't just get some Cheez its or something. It reminds me of like a Bill Hicks thing, you know? I'm not sure if you ever saw that Bill Hicks special where he's talking about, like, I think it was like the war in Iraq. And he's like, it's not a war, you know, because a war is when two sides are fighting.
A
Right?
B
You know, where this is like the whole, you know, genocide thing argument. It's. It's a mess, dude. And the more I look into this, it's like, dude, I just want to re. Watch the Karate Kid movies or something. Like, this is just too depressing.
A
Yeah.
B
To look at and talk about. Because it's so.
A
We're not even making good. The more, you know, to distract us, dude. It's like, yeah, dude, the 1980s, you would get like Ghostbusters, Predator, like Terminator. You would have so much positive distraction. Now they can't even make a fucking good movie. So all we have to do is look at this depressing shit. I'm like, fuck.
B
Like, dude, I'm watching Fantastic Four and I'm just thinking, fuck, the Nelk boys are humanizing Israel. You know, it's like it just doesn't end. I can't. There's no escapism anymore.
A
Dude, that was a dumb interview. Those guys are, bless them.
B
You know what was the fucking funniest part of that? I don't think I I. I don't think I watched the whole thing, but when they're like McDonald's or Burger King, and he's like, burger King. And they're like, dude, that's probably your worst take ever.
A
Yeah.
B
Worst take ever.
A
Yeah, dude, there's that.
B
Worse decisions than picking between McDonald's and burger. He's just a dude, man. He's just. You know, he eats fast food like the rest of us. The dude is a demon. He is the devil.
A
It's not good. It's not good, dude. I don't think that he is good.
B
I will say also, there are ties with Epstein. When we're talking Israel, it's just. It's. It's depressing and time will tell. I'm afraid that fucking. There's gonna be a crater and there won't be a genocide anymore when everyone's dead. Mm. And everyone's like, yeah, whatever, you know, it happened. Oh, I guess we can move on. It's. It's just. I hate this world. We're living in, like, the space that.
A
We supposed to just be cool with this, though, once they flatline that place and turn it into a fucking country club. Like, are we just supposed to be like, oh, yeah, that's cool. I'm like, wait a second. I think that we're supposed to talk about this and be pretty upset. Like, yeah, I don't know. I. I'm not. I'm not behind it. I'm not getting behind this. I'm not. Like, that's all right.
B
It's. It's hard because we can talk about it all we want, but there's nothing we can do. No, we can. Like, the people protesting, it's like, they don't give a.
A
True.
B
They don't give a. He doesn't give a.
A
No.
B
You know, it's.
A
But we do have a podcast that, like, thousands of thousands of people listen to, so maybe. Maybe that is something we can do.
B
Yeah, Go. Yeah.
A
Two idiots guessing the most complicated thing in the world and going like, I don't. I don't like it. I don't care for this.
B
Yeah. Yeah, I know, right? It's like, remember when this podcast was about talking about monkeys getting stoned? You know, let's go back to that.
A
You know, I don't want to take anything away from Dave's episode. Like, I'm glad that he came on. But also, this is what I have always loved about Rogan is, like, really quickly after this, we will have, like, a Bigfoot episode, and we can all just take A break. Remember, his show really was for entertainment. These are the actual good distractions if they're not making good movies anymore. It's like, this is why people lean towards podcasts. However, Rogan just accidentally got is massively popular as a human being has ever done. So. He gets into the mix because honestly, he is making changes. Whether you like it or not, he can do it. There's a good argument to say that a big part of why Trump got elected is that podcast. I believe it has massive power.
B
55 million views, I think. And that's YouTube. That's just YouTube.
A
It was a million a day. It was growing by more than a million a day until YouTube changed something in their frickin algorithm. And then that's when Elon went, oh yeah, and put it up on X. And Joe did the same and it ended up with like 200 million views. I'm like, oh my God.
B
Insane. Insane. Yeah, that's some ins for free marketing. There's nothing like that. There's nothing like that.
A
There's nothing.
B
But. But yeah, I also want to talk about the whole thing of like, and this is right off the bat, and since we're like talking about Joe and the whole rise of this podcast, they had this whole debate about, you know, we're just comics, don't take us seriously. I kind of wish more comedians, like just were, like, held their opinions higher and were responsible about their views. You don't have to like, like, you know, you don't have to be an expert or whatever Douglas Murray was saying. But also, like, if you're wrong, you don't have to. You can just be like, yeah, man, I up. I got some information wrong. Instead of just being like, I'm a comic, I don't know, I'm a comedian. Who gives a. It's like, I don't know, man. Like, I. I think you should be proud of your opinions. And I'm not sure how you feel about that, dude.
A
Totally, though. And I think that, listen, like, there's something to be said by if people listen to what you say, right? And I'm even talking about the fucking Kim Kardashians and like, people that I actually think are, you know, dare I say fucking donuts. Like, they just got nothing to add. But God bless them. If people are listening to you, there's a reason. It doesn't make you right. It doesn't make you anything other than probably somehow more interesting than other people. And if you have an opinion on something, what is free speech? It's like What? Because we're just a couple of dummies that you. You know, that you do stand up. I used to do it. We really don't have a resume to, like, justify any opinions on anything. If a lot of people are listening, we can't have thoughts about stuff. I mean, I don't. You know, it's. It's like, you don't have to listen. Turn it off, then, like. Yeah, but then you get someone like Dave Smith talking about things. He's, like, massively articulate, obviously reads a lot, gets into it. I mean, dude, I think Tim Dillon's takes on shit, even though he breaks it up masterfully with, like, the wackiest comments and then goes silly immediately. I think there's a lot of beautiful, poetic truth behind the shit that he talks about.
B
Yeah, I agree. I agree. And there's so many great comics who have political commentary, and it's more than just a bit. You know, it's like, these are real opinions you're sharing, and it's like, yeah, like, you know, hold them high, like, stand up to them. Like. I don't know. It's. It's just. I. I've seen that a lot lately where comics will, like, say, some, like, really controversial. That's, like, not a joke or some shit. That's like, you know, people might disagree with, and then they'll just crack under pressure and be like, yeah, it's a bit. I'm a comic. Who gives a. But I don't know. I think. I think people should be a little more proud and, like, confident with their opinions. But anyway.
A
Well, I think Dave is. I think he's just defending him very. I think he's just defending his point. And then, you know, Rogan does it a lot by being like, listen, listen, don't listen to me. I'm just a comic. I mean, he's doing it because that's an important, humble state that he should keep, because what's the alternative? He comes out and he's like, I am the guy. Listen to me. It's like, all right. The cult of Rogan, like, easy. It's just not his style.
B
He's like, yeah, you're right, 100%. But at the same time, like, the Rogan podcast, like. Like, the Joe Rogan Experience is one of the most influential platforms right now. Like, we're talking about it. Elected a fucking president. A podcast elected a president. Yeah, you know, pretty. Pretty influential. So there's. It's. It's tough because. Because Rogan's battling this thing where he's even talking about. I don't know how I got here. This. This whole thing, this whole situation I'm in. I just. I thought it'd be fun to get fucked up with comics. And now here I am.
A
Right.
B
So it's. I don't. Like, if I was in his position, I don't know how the hell I would. I would handle this.
A
But, yeah, I wouldn't be able to even begin to navigate it like he can. The pressure would be insane. I would just crack. Especially when CNN came after him for Ivermectin and all the rest of it. I mean, I would have just quit and gone and lived in the woods. The fact that he weathered that storm and honestly came out the back of it, like, it was really clear after that, that good luck taking down Rogan, like, good luck. It's just. It's not gonna happen. And it made CNN look like massive dickheads.
B
Yeah. Which is easy to do at this point.
A
It's so easy.
B
Idiots.
A
So easy.
B
Now we have to talk about 9 11.
A
Yeah. One of my favorite things.
B
We have to. Yeah, we have to talk about 9 11. A massive part of this episode.
A
As.
B
Yeah.
A
What are we thinking inside?
B
I was gonna try Norm McDonald joke.
A
Yeah.
B
That's the whole, like. I don't think back in the day, they're like, you know, I'm not sure if you saw. What was that documentary? Loose Change.
A
Oh, yeah.
B
That was like, one of the first, like, 911 is fake documentaries. Yeah. Yeah.
A
The old skinny guy that did it.
B
Yeah.
A
They've made a bunch of steel.
B
Can't mill steel beams, you know, all.
A
That well, dude, like, look, three, like, steel. What is it? Like, external steel construction buildings. They're, like, the toughest ones, right? They're the toughest. Only three have ever come down. They were all owned by the same guy, and they came down on the same day, and it's like, all right. There was a really compelling Instagram I saw today just randomly popped up. And it talked about this legendary fireman that got up to the floors, like, to get elevated for a bit, then eventually got to the 78th floor, and he went in. He's. I. We're at the point of impact. There's two main fires in here, and we can put them both out. And then one minute later, the entire building collapsed.
B
It's. It's.
A
Stuff like that is worth. Look, that's not. That's just a report. They heard him on the radio. People wrote it down. You know, he's like a legend in his in his world, he's done this for 20 plus years. He knows what he's looking at. And there we go. You don't need to bring in conspiracy theorists. You don't need to bring in structural engineers. You've got a guy that's like, boots on the ground in the middle of it, and he's like, we can handle both these fires. It's not a big deal. And then boom.
B
Yeah. I hate.
A
What are we supposed to make of that?
B
One of the. The most enjoyable conspiracy theories. Because the iceberg goes so deep with that dude. Like, that. Like, you're saying George Bush, his approval rating went up fucking insanely high after it. The whole speech, you know, I hear you. It was like it was free reign.
A
To invade any way you want in the world. And it didn't even have to make any sense. I mean.
B
Yeah, like the Patriot act, it was like all like. It was like, wow, this really. This sucked. Yeah, this killed a lot of people. But for the government, like, was just do whatever the fuck, right? It was almost like. It was. It was almost like a Star wars fucking Palpatine.
A
Yeah.
B
You know, Pay the fucking people to attack me so I get full power to do whatever I want. It was like, there's some parallel. That's a very nerdy example. No, but that's what I mean.
A
But it is very true. And, you know. Yeah, you can also. To, like, ground this a little bit. You can also go back and be like. That would be really fucking complicated to pull off. If they fucked up any part of this, that would be massively destructive. Like, even the idea that in the future, someone could figure out that this was bullshit. I mean, who the fuck would believe in the. Any government institution after that? That's the type of thing that en masse Americans would be like, we're not paying taxes anymore. Like, there's one smoking gun. They find out one thing, it makes it real clear that somebody. It was an inside job or whatever. It's like everyone just takes a step back and goes, you're fired. Goodbye, government. Like, whatever you're doing is bullshit.
B
If Nixon can't break into a fucking office building and get away with it, there's no way Bush could. Like, there's no way you could pull this off. It was arguably harder than the moon landing. If I think.
A
Yeah. If it wasn't. If it was done, it wasn't Bush that did it. He was just told that it was happening. Like, whatever would have done it is a whole different group now. It's a group that. That is on a whole new level now. I don't know if those groups exist. I kind of don't want to believe they do. I want to believe that we're like very, very flawed, bad at keeping secrets, and it actually would be that difficult. But I don't know, dude. There's like real energy that we're reverse engineering fucking UFOs. If. If you're gonna take that on, which is honestly. Each year becomes. Seems more and more genuine. I'm like, who knows what people are willing to do and capable of.
B
Alex Jones predicted this as well. There's a lot of things about 911 that are like, oh, that's. That's weird. But at the same time, it's like, you know, the whole like money conspiracy and everything where you fold it and it's the Twin Towers burning.
A
Yeah.
B
You know, there's that great Nick Mullen joke where someone's like, it's a conspiracy. He's like, it's actually origami. And he's talking about how it's. How it's like, you know, it's not like the government's gonna be like, all right, we. We masked this conspiracy, now we gotta. We gotta make the clues.
A
Well, exactly.
B
So, yeah, the Justice Department teamed up with MAD magazine and we're gonna make some origin. It's like, it's so.
A
So clues. That whole thing about the clues is like, all right, we got a good conspiracy here, but now we've got to leave the clues is one of the funniest fucking parts of any conspiracy theory. It's like we're trying to hide it. They're not leaving clues. They don't want to. We're looking too hard in the wrong places, folks.
B
Relax. Yeah, the whole idea of the government teaming up with MAD magazine, I just fucking love that line. But, yeah, there's a lot of just bullshit in it. And yeah, it would just be so hard to pull off, I think, like, really, truly. It would be so hard to pull that shit off. It would be harder to. I think it'd be easier to fake the moon landing, probably.
A
Yeah, it's a big one, dude. It's a big one and it's wild. But that Tower 7 just falling, just. Yeah, it's like. I just. It just. Whoops, man. It doesn't make sense. None of that shit does. And then they found a fucking passport of one of the terrorists, like, in the rubble. I'm like, what? The plane blew up in the building.
B
Incinerated.
A
Yeah. What, did it fall out? That's a fucking super reasonable question to ask. How in the. Would it have floated down to the ground for some investigator to find it, too? It was like, straight up an FBI agent, oh, I found this. Wasn't even burnt. Yeah, but no black box, remember? No black box was found.
B
Yeah, yeah. Crazy, man. It's crazy because it's like. It's just the perfect layup to, like, you know, the war on terrorism.
A
Oh, dude.
B
In the Pentagon, remember, like, everyone to reunite united. And it's like, throw as much fucking money into the war as you want. Do whatever the fuck you want. All right? We're gonna spy on you too. Go for it.
A
Ye.
B
Whatever the fuck you want.
A
Keep us safe. I'm so scared. Red alert.
B
Exactly.
A
Orange alert. Green alert. Blue. Remember the Pentagon? No video. Basically, didn't look like a plane at all. They, like, barely found any plane parts. There's, like, scraps of metal on the lawn. And I'm like, just show the video. Why would you not want to show. Why would you take all of the footage and then somehow it's like a straight shot along the ground that blows up on the building. It's like three images from a one megapixel camera on the most heavily guarded building probably in the world. And I'm like, I. I don't even get it. I'm like, if you were gonna fake something, wouldn't you at least get some sort of fucking animation put together for that?
B
Yeah, it's. It's weird. And it was just kind of. Yeah. Like, it was. It was more of the idea of it happening than, like. Because it's all. It's like the Twin Towers. Nine, 11. Like, it. The Pentagon. Like, it was crazy. And. And they're like, what it represents. And that being hit is, like, scary and.
A
Oh, yeah.
B
Wow. I thought. We thought we were protected here, but.
A
Dude, the only other thing they could have added is, like, somebody crashes into the White House. You know what I mean?
B
Allegedly, that was what's gonna happen. But the. The passengers, like, hijacked the plane and it crashed in the field. That was like, the. The other plane in that field that.
A
Had also no plane parts for some reason.
B
Yeah, yeah. And they're like, yeah, it just incinerates.
A
Yes. It was just, like, scraped along the ground. And they're like, the plane's gone. It just is gone. I'm like, what? I mean, I'm too dumb to, like, figure that stuff out. Of course, I don't know anything about how planes break up or whatever, but when they bring these experts on that know about like crashes or how buildings are made or how strong they are. All of them are like, yeah, that doesn't make sense. I don't know why that would happen.
B
Yeah. But whatever. It's. It's one of those things where it's such a tragedy where people are just like, yeah, I don't know, but.
A
Well, they're almost mad at you for questioning it. Like, you're, like, you're being rude or disrespecting the. The poor fuckers that died. And I'm like, I don't think that's true. I think that all the people that suffered and died during this whole thing would want the truth to come out instead of be like, how dare you question this. Those. That was such a tragedy and we did everything we could to protect. Blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, well, why does so much of it not make any sense? Yeah, you know, it should. Seems like it should. It did for a long time. I didn't question stuff until they started making those documentaries. I was just mad. The Middle East.
B
Yeah. And then like the. The war on terrorism costed a million lives total. You know, like. Like the amount of soldiers and. And people killed and the crossfire of like what happened after 9, 11, the whole war on terrorism, like the ripple effect, what this snow snowballed into we still see today with tsa and like you were able to walk to the gate with family. It was like this whole fun.
A
Oh, yeah, you got to take the travel off now.
B
Yeah, now it's like, you know. You know how many times I've been like, pulled aside? Like, they see me, they're like, oh, yeah, you're fucking going in the room.
A
I pull you over there, there's zero chance you don't have some weed in your pocket right now.
B
This guy, this guy shoved the box cutter up his ass or something. We got something. He's guilty of something.
A
But the fact that you can't even take like a certain amount of a liquid through is so annoying. I'm like, can I just have a coffee and then walk through your X ray machine, please?
B
I can't bring my Dr. Pepper to Chicago. It's like, what?
A
There's a bomb in it? Like, what? How many. What? I like, I do. I don't want to be a pain in the ass because they have a job and it's like, whatever. The job sucks. It's like working at the dmv, but sometimes. And they don't make the rules, but I just want to look at them. And be like, seriously, dude, One time I was flying to Germany and I was doing this, like, work thing. I had to go to Latvia, and I had a charcuterie, right, That I got at Whole Foods because they have great cheeses. So I just like, amazing. I knew that on the plane. I, you know, a lot of those times those international flights are fairly empty, so you might have a couple of tray tables in front of you you could spread out on. I was like, you know what I'm gonna do? It's a long ass flight, 11 hours, whatever. I'm gonna have like a charcuterie line. I'm gonna have the crackers and the jam and the cheeses and the meats and whatever. I just, like, treated myself. They tried to take the jams off me because they were like 4 ounces and it was like 3.2, you're allowed, or something similar. I don't remember the numbers. And I, I, I. Usually we just agree and be like, no worries, just take him. And I'm like, listen, I spent like $85 on this cheese plate for this flight. If I don't have those jams with this cracker and these cheeses, the whole thing's fucked. Please find it in yourself to allow this extra. I go, they're not gonna blow up. Which maybe I shouldn't have said because it was the tsa. This lady looked at me, she laughed, and she's like, I know, but we just got rules. But, okay, you can take them. But to me, that just highlighted like, oh, we live in, we kind of live in a fucking wacky world right now.
B
Yeah. Adam, you know you can suffocate someone with that jam, right? It's like.
A
I was trying to think, like, of all the weapons I could bring on a plane, jam is the worst one. It might be the most useless.
B
Second. Nine, eleven. You know, it was, was, you know, the jam was, was the main weapon. It's, it's, it's like TSA and, and there's so many, like, people who give you a hard time. And it's like, yeah, I get. It's a, I get it's a job. But if you, like, hate everybody because of it, why are you working here? You know, like, there's, there's a fine line between, like, your job sucks. I get it. I'm gonna, you know, try to make this easy for you. But there's, you know, at the same time, there's people where it's like, dude, why do you work here? It seems like you are in hell at this job?
A
Yeah.
B
Like, you hate everybody. You're making this harder for everybody else. It's just. I don't know, man. It's a. It's a rough position to be. I can't imagine being in TSA. But, yeah, why don't we just. Thanks to 9 11, why don't we.
A
Just throw out, like, one airport that has, like, no security? You know, you could do it in Bozeman. Do Bozeman Airport. No sick, nothing. You just walk through airlines, carry whatever you want. And then we just hang out and see what happens. And then we give it six months. You know, it'd be like Sweden during COVID where they didn't do any of the lockdowns or fuck with anything, and everyone lived and it was fine. And we're like, yeah, we got to try some of those. To be like, hey, can we take a step back? Or is it just, like, better and better X ray machines until they're, like, scanning the inside of our bones to find out if we're smuggling heroin?
B
Yeah, it's like, you go through tsa, it's like, oh, you know you have, like, colon cancer, right? It's like, what? Like, that's what the future's looking like.
A
Where they just print out a diagnosis for you. They're like, you have high blood pressure and you're too fat.
B
Like, yeah, you go through tsa, they're like, damn, you're still a virgin. Like, they know everything about you. They're like, stop looking at my dick. I'm trying to go to Chicago.
A
They're like, sir, you might be retarded. You're like, man, these brain scans are good also. Yeah, I am terrible across.
B
Alex Jones.
A
Yeah, well, listen, let's call it a day of this Dave Smith.
B
That's a race episode.
A
Oh, yeah, yeah.
B
We forgot to do that last time, dude.
A
Honestly. Honestly, I loved it. It's for me. And just because of what I love about Rogan stuff. And don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want these three times a week. It would be exhausting. But when it pops up, I'm glad that someone like this Dave is brave enough to say the shit that he does. I think it's important to hear. You know, it's the. It's the uncomfortable truth that, you know, we don't get enough of. It's unfiltered. It's, like, probably more accurate than we get from the news. This. It's a fucking eight out of ten for me. Are we doing an eight out of out of Ten. We're doing ten, right?
B
Well, dude, I'm gonna be right there with you. 8 out of 10. 100%. Everything I said. I think that one thing that holds us back is kind of like, you know, a bit of the criticism of what people are saying of, like, I would have liked to see some modern topics and to hear about Epstein and more about the Trump administration and just everything else. But, yeah, I think it was great. 8 out of 10, solid. 9. 11. You got some Ukraine stuff, you got some Israel. Like, there was a bit of modern stuff there for sure, but the Epstein stuff and some of like, the. The other things in the current administration, you know, just completely being forgotten about in this episode. Keep it from that. 10 out of 10. But for sure, extremely high rating banger of an episode. Really great stuff. And it's funny because when you text me, this is, like, making me depressed. I usually watch them, like, a day before we do the episode, so I really have it fresh in my mind. So I was like, damn, like, you know. Yeah, I'm like, what part? You know, I got.
A
I gotta squeeze it in, watching it. I gotta squeeze it in where I can. But look, also, it's important to say, like, you know, sometimes you get carried away, and people often are not good at rating anything, right? We got to be like, what's his name? That guy that does the pizzas from Dave Portnoy. Yeah, we got to be a bit like that. Like, it's. It's. You've got to be exceptional to get over 8, because otherwise we just like, oh, this was fun. Everything's a 10. Like, tens are gonna be rare, nines are gonna be way out there. And this eight comes with a caveat. It's like for every Rogan listener, this might not be the angle of things that you enjoy. Right?
B
Yeah, it's like 10 out of 10 is like every. Every topic is just. You know, it's funny. It's. There's a lot of insight. It's like everything I want out of Rogan episode. Rogan himself hands me a joint from my phone. You know, like, everything had. The stars have to align.
A
It's like Tim Dylan is back on cocaine and just rips through three hours. Or a Joey Diaz from ten years ago. That. That's the kind of thing that I'm gonna hold the standard of.
B
Like, the Eddie Bravo, Alex Jones stuff like Wowzer. That's like, yeah, Wowza.
A
Well, we'll see. Anyway, thank you, Brandon, as always. Check out the Patreon. We got some new stuff. Coming up there. Think about Ed, and we'll talk to you guys next week. Thank you.
B
You take care.
A
Of.
Reviewing JRE #2370: Dave Smith
Release Date: September 4, 2025
Hosts: Adam Thorne & Brandon
This episode of the Joe Rogan Experience Review podcast delves into Joe Rogan's recent interview with Dave Smith (episode #2370). The focus centers on Smith’s take on U.S. and global politics, media bias, intelligence agencies, government overreach, and the current state of wars and scandals—all from the unique perspective of a libertarian comedian. Adam and Brandon, the hosts, add their own analysis and inject humor throughout, reflecting on both the episode’s serious conspiratorial content and its reception among Rogan’s fanbase.
(Timestamps: [03:01]–[08:44])
(Timestamps: [36:43]–[42:19])
(Timestamps: [11:45]–[18:19])
(Timestamps: [27:26]–[29:00])
(Timestamps: [29:12]–[35:18])
(Timestamps: [20:22]–[25:43])
(Timestamps: [42:21]–[53:30])
(Timestamps: [17:16]–[19:50], [38:07]–[42:14])
(Timestamps: [58:29]–[61:48])
Adam on Dave Smith:
“He is so passionate about this stuff. And not only that, he's very compassionate. Like, he really does care about the state of things.” [03:01]
On Bob Woodward, via Bill Murray:
“I'm like, totally discredited. I completely believe what he thinks about that guy.” – Adam [18:19]
On American Corruption:
“Shouldn't we find out if we are inadvertently just being run by billionaire pedophiles? That seems like a big question that should be answered.” – Adam [28:48]
On Gaza and the limits of activism:
“We can talk about it all we want, but there's nothing we can do. No, we can. Like, the people protesting, it's like, they don't give a shit.” – Brandon [35:03]
On 9/11 Clues:
“That whole thing about the clues is like, all right, we got a good conspiracy here, but now we've got to leave the clues is one of the funniest fucking parts of any conspiracy theory.” – Adam [48:08]
This episode stands as a lively, wide-ranging review that honors both the gravity and absurdity of the Dave Smith JRE appearance. Adam and Brandon mix serious analysis, personal reflection, and classic Rogan-style comedy, making this recap as much about the state of media and comedy as the specifics of Smith’s political content. Their shared skepticism and humor leave listeners better equipped to navigate both the Rogan-verse and the wild world beyond.