During episode 656 of This Past Weekend, Theo Von sat down with stand-up comedian Fahim Anwar, and the conversation naturally drifted toward Joe Rogan.
Anwar opened up about what it feels like to appear on Rogan’s massive platform compared to Theo’s show. He reflected on the impact Rogan has had on the careers of many comedians.
“Even doing Rogan, like Rogan’s so awesome. He’s afforded me a career, like you a career. So many of our peers owe so much to him,” Anwar said. “Like I’m able to tour and like make a living and stuff and it’s awesome, but I just don’t know him as well as I know you and that show is so big and stuff and I feel like I can’t be as me as I can with you.”
Theo then spoke about Rogan’s personality and curiosity, describing him as someone who is genuinely invested in learning.
“Joe’s like a learner,” he said. “Joe’s like a genuinely curious dude. Like he’s super curious and he really is. And he remembers everything.”
The conversation later shifted to a recent viral controversy involving Rogan’s comments about antidepressants during a podcast episode that Theo himself appeared on. Theo pushed back on how the backlash was framed online and argued that clips shared on social media often distort the full conversation.
“I was on a show a couple weeks ago and people were giving him a hard time online about him like not being supportive about antidepressants or something,” Theo explained. “And people take a clip and make it like a big deal, but I didn’t feel that way at all like in our conversation. So sometimes it’s so weird the things that people clip.”
Anwar then expanded on what he sees as a larger issue with clipping culture around major podcasts.
“I think it’s so big and it’s so singular that people like adding their spin to whatever it is,” he said. “You can take any clip and add text to it and then you’re funneling people’s viewpoint into that.”
He continued by explaining why long-form conversations work better in his eyes than short viral clips.
“So much of what we do is just the clip version of it,” Anwar said. “I think that’s what’s great about the show is that it breathes for three hours and it has all these different people and then people kind of decide for themselves. But the whole clipping on X is kind of chea ting. It feels a little chea ting sometimes.”
Theo also spoke warmly about Rogan on a personal level and how their relationship has evolved over the years.
“In that instance or with that specific thing with Joe, it just felt like, man, I wish this isn’t what I felt like happened,” Theo said while discussing the backlash. “And he’s just been super supportive. He always kind of checks in over the years. Like he’s gotten a little bit more will check in or invite me out to dinner with his wife and his kids. Little things like that.”
Toward the end of the discussion, Anwar painted a vivid picture of what it is like to be around Rogan in public, especially outside of comedy circles.
“He changes the gravity of a room,” he said. “He’s so big. You forget. I see him at the comedy store all the time and I just see him as a comedian. I know him as that. But then you enter the real world and you kind of see how everyone else reacts to the same person.”
