Joe Rogan vs. Spotify
Well, I don't have too much to write about Joe Rogan and Spotify.
Here is Trevor Noah's response. I do agree on the point on having a responsibility with a sizeable audience (whatever that means by definition...).
Also, this is Jon Stewart's response. Basically, Twitter users are becoming Kaczynskian socialized leftists. They think they'll save the world if they cancel Joe Rogan. (It's also good to see Stewart still going strong after not being on cable TV anymore.)
But I'll just quote what Snowden said in two tweets:
But sure, blame the magic, third-eye radio man for the decline of basic trust in institutions.
Throw him in the volcano and we'll have world peace by Monday. — @Snowden on Jan 28, 2022 · 10:14 PM UTC
and:
Nobody has stronger opinions about Joe Rogan than people who have never listened to Joe Rogan. — @Snowden on Jan 28, 2022 · 9:26 PM UTC
This is how you create extremists, as recounted in Episode 109 of Darkside Diaries, the latest episode.
Conclusion
As much as Joe Rogan moving his podcast to Spotify exclusively makes absolutely no sense (as explained by Gardiner Bryant), Rogan interviewed Snowden (twice!) and Moxie Marlinspike (who generally hates publicity) for hours at a time... ironically, the Marlinspike interview was done right after the Spotify move — which is ironically tragic.
Even though otherwise I'm largely uninterested in Joe Rogan and I haven't watched anything else from Joe Rogan, I urge people to actually engage, as Stewart puts it, in conversation.
And trust me — there are much more worse people in the world you should be objectively concerned about, and I'm sorry to be the one to break the news you, but I'll have to say this: they're most likely not Joe Rogan podcast listeners.