Douglas Murray fires back after heated Joe Rogan Experience episode

A commentator who confronted Joe Rogan on air has penned an icy response to the seismic fallout that followed.

Journalist Douglas Murray has fired another shot after a viral podcast episode saw him confront Joe Rogan on-air over his supposed choice of guests.

The conservative culture critic took to the pages of The New York Post, where he is a regular contributor, with a blistering postscript to his recent sparring match, which saw him at times forced to fend off both Rogan and comedian Dave Smith as they discussed the touchy topic of “experts”.

In an op-ed titled So-called Israel-Hamas, Ukraine war ‘experts’ spew false info on Joe Rogan’s podcast — There has to be a standard, Murray unloads a fresh salvo at what he calls the “conspiratorial, one-sided” voices that increasingly dominate the podcast sphere.

The Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute argued that while podcasts may be the town square of the modern age, not everyone shouting from the soapbox deserves an audience, asserting bluntly that there “should be a price to pay for spreading bulls**t.”

“Many of the latter in particular are not just vindictively and maliciously anti-Israel but have been spewing out claims that are demonstrably false,” Murray wrote.

His qualms were especially focused on guests like comedian Dave Smith and amateur historian Darryl Cooper, whose political takes he described as “ahistorical,” “ignorant,” and, in Cooper’s case, evasive when invited to debate actual scholars.

That line about Smith and Cooper is key.

It cuts to Murray’s larger complaint; that the wild west world of podcasts have allowed people to blur the line between being opinionated and being informed.

“It does not mean that a comedian can simply hold himself out as a Middle East expert and should be listened to as if he has any body of work,” Murray argues. “It does not mean that someone who says they are not a historian but who practices false-history should be cited as a historian.”

Some say the raw, unfiltered nature of podcasts has given rise to a sort of performative contrarianism, where aspiring commentators focus on the more controversial points of view to gain traction.

A commentator who confronted Joe Rogan on air has penned an icy response to the seismic fallout that followed.

The Joe Rogan Experience has become a behemoth far larger than the 57-year-old could ever have imagined. What began as a humble web show discussing everything from geopolitics to psychedelics snowballed into something that began to dwarf mainstream outlets.

But it isn’t just the world’s most successful podcast by accident. It has built its empire by leaning into the very things Murray is now attacking. Part of what has made Rogan’s podcast so popular is that it provided a rock-solid rejection of gatekeepers across multiple fields.

The conservative culture critic took to the pages of The New York Post with a blistering postscript to his recent sparring match, which saw him at times forced to fend off both Rogan and comedian Dave Smith as they discussed the touchy topic of ‘experts’.

Rogan’s podcast was a lifeline for many during the Covid-19 pandemic, when mainstream media outlets stuck to very rigorous dogma. While CNN and The New York Times clung to lockdown orthodoxy and avoided any serious discussion of lab leak theories or vaccine side effects, Rogan let opposing voices like Dr Robert Malone, Bret Weinstein, and others speak for three uninterrupted hours.

But Murray wants a clear line drawn between alternative views and false authority.

“We have lived through years after which distrust of experts has become inevitable,” he writes. “Yet that doesn’t mean that expertise does not exist.

“If I had gone on Joe’s podcast and held myself out as an expert in MMA fighting I suspect he would have noticed.

“So why is it hard to grasp that something similar applies in other areas? In bigger rings and more important fights.”

Murray went on to question why Rogan insisted on Dave Smith being present during their episode.

Dave Smith is a comedian who has increasingly spoken out about atrocities being committed across the globe, particularly in the Middle East.

“For my return to the show, the deal was that I could come on only if Dave Smith was — once again — in the studio,” he said.

“As if Joe didn’t want to be unaccompanied. Or that Joe thought it was me — of all his guests — who must be challenged.

“From the outset I challenged Joe on his choice of guests. He and Dave were immediately defensive.”

The fallout was immediate. Clips of the episode flooded X and Reddit. Murray was praised and pilloried in equal measure.

“Many people seem to think that what I mean is that they are not allowed to have an opinion. That is wrong. I think they are. It’s just that there should be a price to pay for spreading bullshit,” he said.

As podcasts continue to eat traditional media’s lunch, Murray’s warning may echo louder than most would like to admit:

“There must be some [standards]. Otherwise the new media will lead people into errors and evils far greater than the old media could ever dream of.”

Originally published as Douglas Murray fires back after heated Joe Rogan Experience episode