The zoolander reference was brilliant. A lot of the criticism of Rogan reduces to "the wrong kind of people" getting wealthy, asking questions, having opinions, leading conversations.
The Zuckerberg interview he did was probably the most important interview of the last few years, and to go 3hrs with anyone with a calm and consistent interest and disposition is a direct result of his level of physical fitness and world class expertise as both a comedian and martial artist.
There is a mind required for comedy that is transferrable where instead of making people laugh, you can use it to disarm people and get them to open up and share what they believe. Rogan's interview style is very closely related to comedy but just slowed down to a Tai Chi level, where there is an arc in the discussion where most people run out of neurotic energy after about an hour, and then instead of gotcha'ing them, he is just accepting, and then nudges them toward challenges, but not to catch them out, but to get them to be honest. The effect is beautiful.
There is a lot of middlebrow anxiety about him, but I don't think it has standing unless it's from someone who is also pro-level funny, fit, and competent in their discipline.
The Zuckerberg interview he did was probably the most important interview of the last few years, and to go 3hrs with anyone with a calm and consistent interest and disposition is a direct result of his level of physical fitness and world class expertise as both a comedian and martial artist.
There is a mind required for comedy that is transferrable where instead of making people laugh, you can use it to disarm people and get them to open up and share what they believe. Rogan's interview style is very closely related to comedy but just slowed down to a Tai Chi level, where there is an arc in the discussion where most people run out of neurotic energy after about an hour, and then instead of gotcha'ing them, he is just accepting, and then nudges them toward challenges, but not to catch them out, but to get them to be honest. The effect is beautiful.
There is a lot of middlebrow anxiety about him, but I don't think it has standing unless it's from someone who is also pro-level funny, fit, and competent in their discipline.