A couple of weeks back, hematologist, oncologist, and Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at UC San Francisco Dr. Vinay Prasad did the unthinkable and actually listened to Joe Rogan’s podcast.
I listened to 6+ hrs of Joe Rogan, Malone & McCullough
In this 3000 wrd essay, I fact check the claims
This will be the single FAIREST analysis of their views you will read
Some take away lessons
🧵🧵🧵🧵https://t.co/zy6bbfg73q pic.twitter.com/gSXFeWB7x8— Vinay Prasad, MD MPH 🎙️📷 (@VPrasadMDMPH) January 19, 2022
In that research, Dr. Prasad found that Joe Rogan’s podcast is not simply a platform for misinformation and disinformation, but rather a platform for open discourse. Sometimes Rogan and his guests might be wrong, and sometimes they might be right, and that’s OK.
Iowa Law Professor Andy Grewal recently decided to take a similar approach to Dr. Prasad’s and try listening to the podcast before passing judgment. And, in a shocking turn of events, he, too, found that much of the criticism of Joe Rogan is unwarranted and unfair:
Okay, the current hysteria made me download Spotify. I've listened to 30 minutes of the most (?) controversial Rogan episode, with Dr. McCullough.
If this episode is representative, I have absolutely no idea why so many celebrities & coastal elites have lost their minds. 1/
— Andy Grewal (@AndyGrewal) January 31, 2022
You’ll want to grab a cup of tea and get comfortable.
Read this entire Twitter thread. https://t.co/2ZipGTDEjN
— Andrew_Langer (@Andrew_Langer) January 31, 2022
Please do:
It seems like Dr. McCullough sometimes says things that are wrong. He claims that COVID re-infection is a "1 in a 7 billion" occurrence, for example.
But it's now obvious that some people will get hit with COVID multiple times, even if you're vaxxed/boosted. 2/
— Andy Grewal (@AndyGrewal) January 31, 2022
Recommended
But more important, Rogan's approach is to just ask specific questions and let people speak. Example: "Tell me the people who disagree with your theories. Are they reasonable at all?" 3/
— Andy Grewal (@AndyGrewal) January 31, 2022
I won't make any medical decisions based on this episode. Dr. McCullough speaks in largely impenetrable medical jargon.
But I think the Twitter elites are probably wrong. I like the Rogan format. Ask very pointed & careful questions, and just let people answer. 4/
— Andy Grewal (@AndyGrewal) January 31, 2022
I'm now at the part of the episode where Dr. McCullough says that vaccines will cause people to die. But now, Rogan is saying, "Hundreds of millions got this vaccine. And this is fine. Can you explain?"
What's so bad about this? 5/
— Andy Grewal (@AndyGrewal) January 31, 2022
I've only listened for ~1 hour. And I hate reductionist explanations.
But I think the media hates Rogan because he actually knows how to interview. He asks great questions. His "sin" is letting people respond.
I'll listen to a few more episodes & update if needed. 6/6
— Andy Grewal (@AndyGrewal) January 31, 2022
Addendum: I didn't want to download Spotify because I didn't want to listen to ads. But I got only a single ad, at the 5 minute mark (about some "herbal supplement").
So I think (?) you can listen to a Rogan episode mostly without interruption. Make up your own mind. 7/6
— Andy Grewal (@AndyGrewal) January 31, 2022
I'm on Hour 2 of this "cancelled" interview.
Rogan keeps asking questions that normal people are curious about:
"When will they give you monoclonal antibodies? Why would they refuse it to anyone? I know Ivermectin is controversial — are antibody treatments different?" 8/6
— Andy Grewal (@AndyGrewal) January 31, 2022
Again, if this is representative of the Rogan show (I've never listened before), it is utterly insane that the elites want this censored.
Rogan just keeps directly asking questions that most of us, including me, want answers to. That's why, I gather, he gets 11M listeners. 9/6
— Andy Grewal (@AndyGrewal) January 31, 2022
Nearing the end of the episode. Rogan asks:
"If I invite someone who is a proponent of the vaccines, will you take them on?"
This is the best approach. Let your guests speak. Then challenge them. 10/6
— Andy Grewal (@AndyGrewal) January 31, 2022
Media can learn so much from this. But by and large, they won’t learn a damn thing.
Their problem isn’t in the way Rogan hosts, it’s that he hosts them at all. They want contrary voices silenced, period. This is “science” to them.
— Gooey Long (@___guybrush___) January 31, 2022
They haven't actually listened to him. They don't care. Nikole Hannah Jones just casually threw out they he and his audience are racists, and no one in media called it out. They don't care. https://t.co/m6mdDd9SNZ
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) January 31, 2022
Censors don't care. They are the blue haired squirrel screaming "you can't say that.". Nothing more.
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) January 31, 2022
Lefty media types lose their minds over Joe Rogan because he's doing what actual journalists considered the essence of their profession a generation or two ago.
They're like vampires hissing at a living man for walking in sunlight and reminding them of what they used to be. https://t.co/5tcgXCaDpT
— John Hayward (@Doc_0) January 31, 2022
***
Related:
Adam Carolla may have gotten to the heart of what really bothers the MSM so much about Joe Rogan
Join the conversation as a VIP Member