Waking Up with a Cup of Joe (Rogan)

There is nothing like morning joe to get your day going. No, we’re not talking about that Morning Joe. We’re talking about “Joe” as in Joe Rogan—as in “The Joe Rogan Experience”. A staple since the early days of podcasts, its popularity is ever growing in its ninth year and with every sip it tastes better and better.

Hosted by comedian Joe Rogan (Fear Factor, UFC fame) “The Joe Rogan Experience” per its website is “a long form conversation… with friends and guests that have included comedians, actors, musicians, MMA fighters, authors, artists and beyond.” Consistently ranked in the Top 10 podcasts, the program lacks the production value of its competition—making it a wonder that it can lasso people in for a three-hour conversation.

There are no recurring segments or structure. It’s a conversation, but one that feels natural. It sometimes covers things we don’t want to talk about, but is open-minded and makes us laugh and think. As an interviewer, Rogan is insightful and lets his guests talk. But he doesn’t shy away from asking a pointed question. He’s interested in his guest and the topic at hand. “Experience” episodes have featured guests such as Lawrence Kraus talking science, Jordan Peterson and Sam Harris talking philosophy, and Rogan smoking weed with Elon Musk.

Rarely can someone donate three hours to an episode, but the beauty of podcasts is a person can pick up where he or she left off if they have to press the pause button. And “The Joe Rogan Experience” is a conversation you’ll want to keep listening to until the last word.