Science communicator Professor Dave recently appeared on The Danny Jones Podcast in what he described as an effort to reach audiences living in “an alternate reality.” The appearance, along with host Danny Jones’ follow-up comments, led Professor Dave to release a lengthy breakdown focused heavily on Joe Rogan and the influence he believes Rogan has had on modern science denialism.
Discussing Rogan’s rise in podcasting, Professor Dave argued that timing and format played a major role in his success. “Joe, right place, right time, Rogan is the meathead who perfected this format first, and countless copycats have been chasing him ever since, guided by the almighty dollar,” he said.
Professor Dave also criticized the type of guests Rogan frequently platforms, naming several figures he believes have contributed to misinformation online.
“Take a look at who Rogan has on his show,” he said. “Aaron Siri, RFK Jr., Robert Malone, Bret Weinstein, Jordan Peterson, Suzanne Humphries, Pierre Korey, every antivaxxer in modern history who all spread lies for money. Then the pseudoarchaeology ones, Ben Van Kerkwyk, Michael Button, Dan Richards, Jimmy Corsetti, and of course Graham Hancock.”
According to Professor Dave, Rogan’s podcast shifted direction once controversial scientific figures began appearing on the show.
“Joe’s podcast, which consisted of [bantering] with random comedians, suddenly started becoming huge when he platformed his first grifting fraud who lies about science for money, thereby establishing the model that dominates the podcast space today,” he said.
He also revisited the debate between Flint Dibble and Graham Hancock, claiming Rogan’s stance changed dramatically after the discussion aired.
“He did it with Flint and then after the fact started this giant smear campaign, Flint is a liar, whatever, and then never had him back on and then just had fraud after fraud after fraud,” Professor Dave said.
At one point, Rogan himself referenced Professor Dave during a podcast conversation. “Was that that Professor Dave guy? Yeah, Professor Dave’s done quite a few of those. He’s doing the world a nice favor,” Rogan said.
Professor Dave responded by suggesting Rogan only knew him through his flat earth debunking videos.
“Joe knows who I am, but he seems to be exclusively aware of my flat earth debunking, which means he doesn’t know how often I take a gigantic dump on him for platforming an endless string of worthless frauds and amplifying their reach to the immeasurable detriment of human civilization,” he said.
Professor Dave also outlined what he believes a more responsible version of Rogan’s show would look like, particularly when discussing vaccines and public health claims.
“What if Aaron Siri spewed his nonsense about vaccines never being tested against saline placebo,” he said, “and instead of Joe nodding his head like a buffoon, he Googled it in real time, immediately saw that Aaron is lying, and asked him point blank why he would tell such a blatant lie on his show.”
Professor Dave concluded with a criticism of Rogan’s influence and the public perception surrounding his platform.
“The endless glazing of Joe like he’s some kind of free speech hero is just too much to bear,” he said. “He’s a random person who platforms frauds that brainwash the public by the millions every week. Should he be put in jail? No. Should his podcast be illegal? No. But it’s a bad show. It does harm. We would be better off if it didn’t exist.”
