Do you keep hearing about Joe Rogan on the news and wonder what his podcast is about?
Rogan has released thousands of episodes, so it can be hard to sift through them all. That's we’ve collated the best of the best, so you can see what’s the fuss behind the biggest podcast in the world.
What is the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast?
The Joe Rogan Experience (popularly abbreviated as JRE) is a podcast hosted by comedian, actor, and UFC commentator Joe Rogan.
His guests come from diverse backgrounds — politicians, philosophers, psychologists, physicists, and even ufologists (yeah, Joe Rogan is a big alien buff). Famous guests on the show include Elon Musk, Senator Bernie Sanders, and whistle-blower Edward Snowden.
And those are just the tip of the star-studded iceberg.
Currently, JRE is available exclusively on Spotify, thanks to the $100 million deal Rogan made with the company in 2020 (though recent rumors suggest that the actual deal was to the tune of $200 million). The podcast is easily one of the biggest in the world and receives millions of views and downloads per episode.
The 23 Best Joe Rogan Podcasts
Edward Snowden (JRE #1368 & JRE #1536)
Why you should listen to this episode: This podcast explores how government secretly monitors people's privacy.
Edward Snowden’s appearance on the JRE podcast in 2019 came as a complete surprise. No one expected the show to host such a high-profile whistleblower.
It was hard to pause the episode — the conversation ran for 3 hours, and Snowden talked about how smartphones tracked your every move, his life in exile, his open criticism of Putin at the time, and more.
A fun fact from the episode: Snowden even searched the NSA for evidence of aliens. He said,
“I had ridiculous access to the networks of the NSA, the CIA, the military, all these groups, and I still couldn’t find anything on UFOs.” He continued, “If it’s hidden — it’s hidden really damn well — even from people who are on the inside.”
This episode will get you to appreciate JRE podcasts right off the bat.
Elon Musk (#1169, #1470, & #1609)
Why you should listen: To watch Elon Musk speak about his various ventures.
One of the best parts about Joe’s podcast is that you get to watch celebrities talk about their life and career for an extended period of time. And watching Elon Musk talk about his various business ventures is quite a treat, especially for fans of the entrepreneur.
On the podcast, Elon talks about artificial intelligence, Neuralink, Tesla, and more.
Ep #1169 got Elon into quite the mess, when he smoked pot on air while speaking to Rogan. The move also caused Tesla’s stock prices to drop for a while.
The same podcast is one of the most watched JRE episodes, having received 60 million views.
Lance Armstrong (#737)
Why you should listen: To watch Lance talk about his doping scandal in detail.
Armstrong candidly talks to Joe about his doping incident. He also gives viewers an insider's perspective on how doping is quite common, even among high-level professional cyclists. He goes on to talk about his motivation for doing drugs, the aftereffects of the scandal, and how the incident affected his Livestrong foundation.
The conversation was honest and open and gave a lot of insight into what happened to the cycling champion.
Bob Lazar and Jeremy Corbell (#1315)
Why you should listen: Because aliens.
Do you believe that there’s intelligent life on other planets?
Well, if you don’t, your perspective shift after watching this fascinating episode with Bob Lazar and Jeremy Corbell.
Joe loves talking about extraterrestrial life, which is why Bob Lazar tells Joe about the strange things he saw at Area 51 (yes, he was actually inside the top-secret base).
Bob claims that the government hired him to reverse engineer extraterrestrial technology. He says that the tech isn’t anything on Earth and was alien in origin.
This is a fascinating episode, regardless of whether you think Bob is a lying madman or a person who got a glimpse into the world of aliens.
Bernie Sanders (#1330)
Why you should: If you want to listen to the Senator's positions on policy.
The Democratic presidential candidate of 2019 appeared on Joe's podcast the same year. He also endorsed Bernie, stating that he had been ‘insanely consistent’ in his political positions his whole life.
Joe even asks Bernie the critical question — “If you go into office, and found out something about aliens, or UFO’s, would you let us know?.” The question came after an hour of engaging discussion on topics of gun control and decriminalization of drugs.
Bernie’s answer — “My wife would demand I let you know.”.
Considering that Bernie might run for presidency in 2024, maybe we still have hope that the eternal question will be answered?
Russell Brand (#1238)
Why you should listen: To watch two great intellectuals duke out their ideas.
Brand and Rogan have a humorous yet intellectual conversation on different topics.
One of them was about veganism. Brand is a vegan, and Joe frequently espouses a meat diet, so there was a friendly tussle when they discussed which one is better.
Joe also tells Russell to try DMT (a psychedelic that Rogan’s a fan of). Fans didn't like this because Russell had recovered from drug abuse, and it was a bad topic to bring up.
In another interesting back and forth, Joe's capitalist viewpoint was countered by Brand's more Marxist outlook.
See Joe's and Brand's views on different political and philosophical topics in this 3+ hour episode.
Paul Stamets (#1035)
Why you should listen: If you want to learn how mushrooms can be beneficial to your health.
You’ll learn a lot about mushrooms (no, not the one in your fridge) and psilocybin with this podcast with Paul Stamets — a mycologist and an author who’s written multiple books on the fungus.
You’ll also learn a lot about the different (non-psychedelic) mushrooms that can benefit your health, like Lion’s Mane, reishi, and cordyceps.
You can check out this informative episode if you've been meaning to understand mushrooms.
Quentin Tarantino (#1675)
Why you should listen: To watch the famous director talk about his career and his movies.
This juicy episode is a treat for Tarantino fans — there are so many interesting tidbits that you won’t find in any other interview with the director.
For example, Tarantino says that Reservoir Dogs was meant to be a $30,000 movie. However, he finally made the movie with a budget of $1.2 million —thanks to some investors. The budget was small in Holywood terms but far surpassed Tarantino’s original vision.
The filmmaker also said that he plans to stop making movies after the 10th one.
Joe picks Tarantino’s brains on this one, so if you want to learn more about the director, then we highly recommend this episode.
Matthew Walker (#1109)
Why you should listen: If you want to improve the quality of your life through better sleep.
Suffering from insomnia, or want to sleep better in general? Well, Joe has brought Matthew Walker to the rescue in episode 1109.
As the director of the Center for Human Sleep Science, Walker has some of the best sleep tips on the internet. Take some notes, as it will help you optimize your sleep cycle and live a healthier life.
Some incredible insights from Walker:
- If you are staying in a hotel, as compared to your home, half of your brain won’t sleep as deeply as it would. It’s akin to sleeping with one eye open — a survival tactic present among many creatures. Dolphins and other sea creatures sleep the same way, as half of their brain is on the lookout for threats.
- Lack of sleep can decrease the time it takes to normally get physically exhausted by 30%.
- Naps won’t help you regain sleep you’ve lost. He also says that “Sleep is not a bank. We can’t accumulate a debt and hope to pay it off on the weekend.”
- Human beings are the only species that deprive themselves of sleep on a whim.
These cool sleep tidbits are only the tip of the iceberg. So if you’re interested in the topic or if you want to optimize your health, then don’t miss this episode.
Neil Degrasse Tyson (#1159, #1347, & #1658)
Why you should listen: Science.
The astrophysicist has been on Joe’s channel a bunch of times. Joe is curious about science-related topics (what isn’t Joe interested in tbh), and since he’s a layman, he usually gets the speaker to break down science in an easy-to-understand way.
Neil and Joe talk about aliens, science denial, the future of water shortage, and more throughout the various podcasts.
Kanye West (#1554)
Why you should listen: To watch the eccentric artist share his bizarre views on various topics.
In this peculiar episode, Kanye West talks about how God wants him to be the leader of the free world (referring to the time he tried to run for president), how cities run off four resources (air, earth, fire, and water), how much the earth costs, and more equally outlandish claims.
While this podcast may not inform you of the ways of the world, it’s definitely an entertaining one. After all, it’s Kanye West we’re talking about here.
Author BiosStructured dataQuotesBriefsUpload 4Miley Cyrus (#1531)
Why you should listen: If you want to watch the singer talk about her personal life in an authentic way.
The singer and actress deviate from Joe’s usual roster of guests. But to be fair most of Joe’s guests are unconventional.
Miley talks about her private life, like how growing up in a celebrity family was hard, how she struggled with mental health issues, and her unique relationship with her father.
When she was younger, she hit her head on a tree while her dad was riding a dirt bike. It is this incident that shaped her identity to be what it is now. She also jokes that she gave Billy Ray Cyrus the ‘worst’ dad award.
But she also had good times with her dad. Some of these more memorable times include the occasion when he helped her steal chickens from a barn.
The podcast also gets into her dating life and mental health challenges.
Throughout the episode, Miley is quite open about her flaws and experiences.
Wim Hof (#712 & #865)
Why you should listen: If you want to learn a breathing technique that will change your life.
Wim is pretty famous in biohacking circles, primarily for his well-known breathing technique — The Wim Hof Method.
And the method is not just a woo-woo technique — his practices have actually been studied by many scientists. They discovered that Wim was able to control his internal body temperature, immune and hormonal responses, and inflammation using the method.
Watch the episode to learn this special breathing technique to reduce stress, improve your health, and perform better in general.
Sam Harris (#543)
Why you should listen: To get your intellectual brain tickled.
Sam Harris is a popular philosopher and author. So naturally, this podcast revolves around topics of philosophy.
But that’s not all. It also delves into the interesting realm of psychedelics, the zen realm of meditation, and the messy realm of politics.
Harris bases his arguments on sound logic and uses the scientific method in his approaches. So what he says is worth paying attention to.
By the end of the podcast, you’d find yourself so intellectually stimulated, you’d probably need a break.
And that’s when you should watch the below hilarious podcast.
Alex Jones (#911, #1255, & #1555)
Why you should listen: To watch some of the bizarrest JRE podcasts ever.
Alex is quite a character.
Here are some of his interesting beliefs.
- The government is using chemicals in the water to turn people gay.
- Hillary Clinton is running a child sex ring out of a pizza restaurant
- The government is also manipulating the weather to murder people at whim.
Oh, and did I mention that Hilary Clinton is an “interdimensional” demon that is trying to destroy the planet?
Watching Alex talk is always a good time, if only to laugh at the absurdity. Joe has invited Alex a couple of times to his show, and while Alex can go down deep into the conspiracy rabbit hole left to his own devices, Joe manages to steer the conversation from time to time to bring the topic back to the earth.
Jocko Willink (#729, #1391, & #1492)
Why you should listen: If you want to gain more discipline and take action in your life.
Jocko is a retired US Navy Seal commander and is a great person to take advice from if you want to cultivate leadership, get things done, deal with crisis, and master discipline.
In fact, one of his books is titled ‘Discipline Equals Freedom, and it teaches you how to move forward in life if you’ve been feeling listless, lost, or unmotivated in life.
However, some of his advice might be a bit too extreme. For example, he claims that sleep isn’t important. Well, maybe for him, as he is one of the few people who can sleep 4-5 hours without feeling tired. But as Mathew Walker states in his podcast, short hours of sleep can ruin your health.
So take his advice seriously, but don’t lose your health over it.
Naval Ravikant (#1309)
Why you should listen: If you want to learn sage-like advice on how to be wealthy and happy.
Naval is a wise man. He will teach you how to be happy, make more money, and live a better life. Not only is Naval happy and grounded, but he’s also a successful investor and entrepreneur.
Keep a pen and paper handy as you’ll want to jot down whatever he says every minute.
Listen to this episode if you want to learn more about financial freedom, peace, authenticity, and more juicy life topics.
Edward Norton (#1375)
Why you should listen: If you want to get a look into this famous actor’s career and life.
Norton comes on to the show to promote Motherless Brooklyn, but Joe and him end up talking more about his early life and films.
He also talks about how he almost didn’t get a part in his most famous film — American History X.
Given that Joe is a major martial art fan (he is a commentator for the UFC), they get into an engaging discussion on the topic of aikido (which Norton studied in college).
Dan Bilzerian (#857)
Why you should listen: Because Dan Bilzerian.
Dan is the son of a corporate raider on Wall Street who set up a trust fund for both his sons. Contrary to public opinion, Dan claims on Joe’s show he made his money through poker.
It’s also surprising to hear Dan, a well-known known for splurging money, tell Joe that money can’t buy happiness. He said that he wasn’t fulfilled by his fast-paced lifestyle. Also, he says that money and sex are not the answers men seek.
Surprising wisdom from Bilzerian.
Watch this show if you want to hear crazy stories about poker, women, and drugs. And how he got a heart attack when he took a lot of Viagra and cocaine one day.
Bill Burr (#727, #909, #967, #1219, #1348, #1491)
Why you should listen: Because Bill’s appearance on JRE are always a treat to viewers.
Bill’s been a guest on Joe Rogan’s show six times. And not surprisingly so, as both comics hail from Boston.
One of the most interesting bits is when Bill (humorously) rips into Joe when talking about masks.
When Joe brings up the topic, Bill says,
“Let’s not start this BS. I’m not gonna sit here with no medical degree, talk to you who has no medical degree, smoking this cigar and an American flag in the background, acting like we know what is up better than the CDC.
All I do is watch the news once every two weeks; I see what they say. Mask or no mask. Still mask? Mask. That’s all I care about.”
Watching Bill Burr rant is interesting, and he manages to say a lot of interesting things even though he can come across as offensive (in a good way) at times.
Jordan Peterson (#877, #958, #1006, #1139, #1208, #1769)
Why you should listen: To watch this brilliant man articulate his thoughts on both psychology and philosophy.
Peterson has been on the news way too frequently, for good reasons or bad, depending on which side of the political spectrum you’re on.
The best thing about Peterson is how he applies psychology and philosophy to everyday life. Several men also claim Peterson's advice helped them achieve their goals.
Most people suggest that you stay away from his political ramblings, as his brilliance starts to dim when he rants on those topics. But he’s a genius in the psychological realm and is hard to contest.
Dr. Rhonda Patrick (#901)
Why you should listen: If you struggle with depression.
Dr. Rhonda is another staple of Joe’s podcast and is an expert in biomedical science and nutritional health. Joe often tries to maximize his fitness and physical health, and that’s why he brings guests such as these to his show.
In episode #901, Rhonda and Joe in-depth on the topic of depression. They talk about what goes on in a depressed person’s brain and how that person can rewire their brain for happiness and success.
So if you struggle with depression, or you know someone who does, then watch this three-hour episode to change your life.
Steven Pinker (#1743)
Why you should listen: If you want to feel hopeful about the future.
With all the political infighting in many countries, the stuff going on in Russia, Ukraine, and the Middle East, it’s easy to believe we’re living in the worst time on planet Earth.
However, Pinker believes that the state of the world is better than any time in the past.
Pinker is a psychologist and public intellectual, and he backs up his above statement with evidence.
Watch this episode if you’ve recently been stuck on a doomer mindset and want to feel hopeful about the future.
What is the most watched Joe Rogan’s podcast?
The most watched and popular Joe Rogan podcast is the Elon Musk episode. The episode aired on 2018 and has been streamed on YoutTube almost 59 million times. And that’s not counting the people who listen to Joe on a podcast app.
What is Joe Rogan’s funniest podcast?
The funny Joe Rogan podcasts often feature comedians like Joey Diaz and Duncan Trussell. Some people also find the Alex Jones episodes to be hilarious.
How to listen to Joe Rogan’s podcast?
All current episodes of Joe Rogan's podcast are exclusively available on Spotify.
To listen to the podcast, you can sign up for a free Spotify account. The platform streams the video version, as well as lets you download the audio version so you can listen to it offline.
Learn more: How to Listen to Podcasts (On Any Device For Free)
FAQs on the Best Joe Rogan Podcasts
What podcast format does Joe use?
Joe Rogan’s podcast uses a format that’s a mix between the interview and conversational style. He intersperses light and serious conversation to keep the conversation from being too info heavy.
What is Joe Rogan’s net worth?
Joe Rogan’s net worth is $120 million. His $100 million dollar Spotify deal, as well as his comedic and UFC commentator ventures contributed to this.
How much does Joe Rogan make per every podcast he produces?
It’s unclear how much Joe makes per podcast as the figures haven’t been released yet. However, he made a $100 million deal with Spotify (recent sources say that it was actually a $200 million deal)
Where does Joe Rogan’s podcast rank on Spotify?
Joe Rogan’s podcast consistently ranks among the top 5 podcasts in the world, and gets around 11 million viewers per episode.
-(1).png)
.jpeg)
_-The-Must-Listen-Shortlist.jpeg)
