Joe Rogan Is The Media Figure America Needs Right Now

Douglas Blair contributed to The Daily Signal

Joe Rogan podcaster, Ultimate Fighting Championship commentator and comedian is one of America’s top figures.

Many people know Rogan as the host of the massively popular “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast, a show that draws in millions of listeners each month and features guests from Kanye West to Mike Tyson.

But in addition to interviewing rappers and wrestlers, Rogan has also spoken with medical experts who dissent from the medical community’s consensus views of COVID-19. Rogan was criticized for giving the platform to these modern-day heretics.

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On News Year’s Eve 2021, Rogan posted an interview he conducted with Dr. Robert Malone. Malone, an immunologist and virologist who specialises in the type and deployment of mRNA technology in COVID-19 vaccinations. 

YouTube made the video viral, with millions of viewers before YouTube moderators removed it. YouTube claimed that Malone, a registered medical doctor who specializes in vaccines was the one to blame for the viral video. YouTube has yet to elaborate on the problematic aspect of this video. 

Malone is no stranger to censorship—he was banned from Twitter for spreading COVID-19 “misinformation,” the left’s favorite accusation to ban data it doesn’t like.

It was important that Rogan spoke with Malone. It is essential that there are platforms for people who oppose the views of leftists, in America where it seems like they have become more comfortable strangling dissent. 

While the Malone interview on COVID-19 was the latest bugaboo, it is not the only one that has drawn the fury of corporate media and government. Rogan however isn’t immune to criticism. 

In July 2020, a mere two months after Rogan signed an exclusivity deal with Spotify, Rogan interviewed Abigail Shrier, author of “Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters,” on the rise of transgender dogma in the West, and how it is harmful to children. 

This interview sparked a furious reaction from the left. Angsty Spotify employees, heavily overestimating their clout, demanded that the episode be removed from the platform, and Rogan along with it. 

Per Vice News, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek claimed, “In the case of Joe Rogan, a total of 10 meetings have been held with various groups and individuals to hear their respective concerns. And some of them want Rogan removed because of things he’s said in the past.”

Thankfully, the episode remains on Spotify to this day, and Rogan seems almost stronger for all the criticism he’s faced. While it is tempting to celebrate small victories and forget about the bigger fight ahead, we must not lose heart.

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Rogan represents an important independent voice that is challenging suffocating orthodoxy. Conservatives argue that the world in which only one view is permitted is dangerous. 

Conservatives have shown time and again that censorship by both state and private actors are anathema to a functioning republic, and that actual open debate is necessary for civilization to advance and flourish.

To his credit, Rogan doesn’t just interview maligned voices. During the 2020 presidential campaign, Rogan had famed socialist Bernie Sanders on his show, as well as former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard. 

Citizens in an open, free society need to be able to voice their opinions. It is clear Rogan believes his job as an interviewer is to expose people to a myriad of ideas, and allow them to come to their own conclusions, contrasted with the views of many in the highest echelons of power that their role in society is to fight “misinformation” and censor wrongthink. 

COVID-19 is no longer the main issue, but another controversial problem will emerge to replace it. As right and left vie for support from the American people, it is inevitable that new battle lines will emerge. 

We have Joe Rogan, who hopes God will grant us the opportunity to make both sides heard. 

The Daily Signal permission granted permission for this syndicated article.