Educational JRE Episodes
Originally launched on Christmas Eve 2009, the Joe Rogan Experience is one of the world’s most successful podcasts. Rogan himself wears many hats; aside from running his JRE podcast, he is also a UFC commentator, a standup comedian, and a martial arts fanatic.
His work ethic is tremendous. This is a man who embraces putting himself under mental and physical stress. As Rogan himself once said, “One of the most fascinating lessons I’ve absorbed about life is that the struggle is good.”
Joe gets a lot of unnecessary flak from certain quarters. He is often accused of being a gateway to the alt-right even though he has several times said he leans to the left on the political spectrum. He has also offered opinions that back that up. I think he also doesn’t get enough credit for being able to hold intelligent discussions with some of the smartest people on the planet.
Even though it is marketed as a primarily comedic podcast, in my opinion, by far the best guests have been non-comedians. Rogan often recruits people at the top of their game in fields other than comedy, some of whom have veered between being really fascinating to downright educational. Rogan really shines as an interviewer because he asks intelligent questions and lets the other person do most of the talking.
I’ve decided to write here about five JRE episodes I found to be incredibly informative. I’ll also provide some key takeaways from each episode for those of you who don’t have the time to go and listen to them.
1. The Science of Aging with David Sinclair – Episode #1234
David Sinclair is an Australian biologist who works at the forefront of anti-aging science. It was insightful to hear Sinclair describe how he approaches aging as a disease to be treated rather than an inextricable part of life.
In this JRE episode, Sinclair presents some of his main research and discoveries on how aging can potentially be slowed down. Here are some key takeaways you might find useful:
- Intermittent fasting, where you stop eating for 14 to 20 hours each day, helps slow down the aging process and improve longevity.
- Resveratrol shows great promise in fighting aging. This plant phenol is perhaps best known as a component of red wine, however, Sinclair recommends supplementing with resveratrol at 500mg per day. Here is a link to a high-quality resveratrol supplement on Amazon.
- Another supplement David Sinclair recommends as being helpful for slowing down the aging process is Nicotinamide Riboside (NR). He takes 500 mg each morning. Here is an NR supplement you can get by an excellent company named Tru Niagen.
- Exercise and putting the body under temperature stress can help to fight aging. Stress doesn’t mean doing something silly like climbing a dangerous mountain in freezing temperatures. Sinclair recommends going to the sauna once or twice per week in addition to exercising daily. You could also try cryotherapy if it’s affordable/available to you.
2. Nutritional Science with Dr. Rhonda Patrick – #1178
Rhonda Patrick has appeared several times on JRE at this stage and each time she has been really interesting to listen to. The latest appearance came in episode 1178, during which the nutritional health expert revealed the details of hordes of interesting studies and the latest research in the field of nutritional science.
Here are some of the key takeaways from Rhonda Patrick on JRE episode 1178:
- The gut microbiome plays a hugely important role in human health and disease. Fasting has positive benefits for the gut microbiome. Most likely, a prolonged 48-hour fast three to four times per year will be of best help but intermittent fasting also brings positive changes.
- Sulforaphane, a compound found in high concentrations in broccoli sprouts, has incredibly potent benefits for many aspects of health. Dr.Patrick revealed research showing sulforaphane lowered biomarkers for prostate cancer, it promotes excretion of harmful contaminants from air pollution, and it decreases oxidative DNA damage.
- Fish oil can lower cardiovascular disease risk by up to 30 percent.
- Using the sauna before working out reduces muscle soreness. Furthermore, saunas can provide anti-inflammatory benefits to the body.
3. Mushrooms and Mycology with Paul Stamets – #1035
I challenge anyone to listen to this podcast and not feel like you could listen to Paul Stamets speak about fungi for eternity. This is a man who has spent his life studying the mysterious and frequently mind-blowing world of fungi.
Here are some of the main interesting things learned from listening to Paul Stamets on JRE:
- Lion’s mane mushrooms promote neurogenesis, which means they help produce neural stem cells and reduce cognitive decline.
- Humans are remarkably similar to fungi, in fact, we descended from them and we share more traits in common with them than any other kingdom.
- The largest living organism in the world is a type of honey mushroom which is an incredible 2,200 acres in size.
- Enoki mushrooms have potentially potent anti-cancer effects. One epidemiological study conducted in Japan uncovered a marked decline in cancer rates among people who consumed enoki mushrooms regularly.
4. Physics and Cosmology with Brian Cox – #1233
Brian Cox is a physicist hailing from Oldham, England. Not only is he incredibly intelligent, but Cox is fascinating to listen to and he seems like a genuinely nice person to speak with. Cox drew inspiration for learning about physics from Carl Sagan’s critically-acclaimed television series and book, Cosmos.
Here are some of the more interesting cosmological takeaways that Brian Cox gave us as food for thought in JRE number 1233:
- There are an estimated 20 billion Earth-like planets in the Milky Way alone. The Milky Way is one of an estimated one hundred billion galaxies in the universe! So, where the hell is everybody and why haven’t they contacted us? At this point, I’ll take the opportunity to link you to one of the best articles on the Internet – The Fermi Paradox.
- The universe is composed of 5 times as much of a mysterious type of matter known as dark matter as there is normal matter. Dark matter interacts extremely weakly with normal matter, which is why we can’t notice it.
- The universe is made up of 70 percent dark energy, which is responsible for the universe expanding at an accelerating rate, completely contrary to what scientists thought. The presence of this dark energy aligns with Einstein’s original equations which featured a so-called cosmological constant.
5. Psychedelic research with Michael Pollan – #1121
Michael Pollan is an award-winning journalist and author who appeared on JRE back in 2018 to coincide with the release of his new book, How to Change Your Mind, which explores some of the profound positive impacts that psychedelics can have on a variety of mental illnesses. The book itself is an amazing read, and the podcast discussion is based on much of the book’s material. However, Pollan is as interesting to listen to as he is to read.
Here are some of the most interesting tidbits from Pollan’s appearance on JRE:
- It’s highly likely, according to Pollan, that psychedelic use influenced the development of religious ideas. He makes reference to the example of the Greeks who had profound psychedelic experiences after drinking wine, which was most likely fortified with an as yet unknown psychedelic substance.
- Ingesting psilocybin while terminally ill has profound impacts on patients’ fears about death. In fact, the vast majority of people in a particular study showed marked alleviation of death anxiety after their psilocybin experience.
- When researchers imaged the brains of people during psychedelic trips using fMRI technology, they found a huge reduction of activity in a region known as the default mode network. This region can be regarded as the “location” of our egos. The fact that activity is reduced here upon ingestion of psychedelics coincides with what many trip reports describe as the disappearance of boundaries between self and other.
Closing Thoughts
I’m going to wrap up this post now on my favourite and most informative Joe Rogan Experience podcast episodes. I hope you’ve learned something interesting in this article but I’d really recommend listening to the above podcasts in full if you have the time.
Even if you have no interest in the normal eclectic mix of standup comedians or fighters that Rogan invites onto his podcast, it’s definitely worth keeping an eye out for scientists, authors, journalists and intellectuals who frequently appear on the show.