The Joe Rogan Experience is one of the biggest podcasts in the world. With 10 million subscribers and nearly 190 million listeners per month, it was the most popular podcast on Spotify in 2020.
The audio and video podcast features host Joe Rogan, an American comedian and mixed martial arts commentator interviewing a wide range of guests, including political figures, musicians, athletes, scientists, actors, and journalists.
Each podcast follows a similar format with host Rogan creating an informal vibe in his studio where guests are encouraged to chat and open up. Interviews appear unscripted, but don’t be fooled by Rogan’s delivery style, this man is smart, knowledgeable and skilled at creating an instant rapport with his guests which often leads to interviews lasting up to three hours, discussing various subject matters like politics, philosophy, comedy, hobbies, and numerous other topics.
As well as being a podcast super host, Joe Rogan is also well known for being a hardcore cannabis activist who openly discusses cannabis legalisation and its implications for health, well-being, and society. He also smokes a hell of a lot of weed, and more often than not, on screen. This translates into inviting some of his guests on the show to share their own experiences of smoking weed, and in several memorable episodes, even enjoying a joint on camera, with some surprising results and reactions from the media.
You’re probably no stranger to the Elon Musk smoking memes that spread around the internet a couple of years ago, but we’ve rounded up some of the best guests who have chatted about their relationship with drugs, and many who have happily smoked weed on The Joe Rogan Experience.
Wiz Khalifa
American rapper and singer Wiz Khalifa featured on episode #1306 of the show back in May 2019 equipped with a mason jar filled with Khalifa’s own blend of cannabis called ‘KK’ or ‘Khalifa Kush’. Rogan and Khalifa happily puffed their way through the interview and discussed their own experiences of smoking pot as parents and the stigma that once surrounded that.
Khalifa has been at the forefront of legalising cannabis as he’s spoken publicly on the topic many times, as well as releasing music that has been dubbed ‘smoking anthems’. Khalifa also repopularised rolling papers amongst his fanbase as he refers to them repeatedly in his lyrics.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk: “It’s legal right?”
Joe Rogan: “Totally legal.”
Elon Musk: “OK.”
These were the famous last words before the most infamous podcast episode ever saw billionaire Elon Musk lose 9% of his Tesla shares after he took one or two drags from Rogan’s blunt. The episode focussed on a wide range of topics from boring giant tunnels under Los Angeles, and simulated realities, to the Tesla flame thrower.
Tesla stockholders and board members were outraged by the incident and Musk later admitted in an email to his employees that his behaviour was “not wise.” At the time, however, Musk clearly found the experience enlightening. “It may sound corny, but love is the answer” were the words uttered moments after he smoked.
Reggie Watts
American comedian, actor, beatboxer, musician and most famously known for leading the house band on The Late Late Show with James Corden, Reggie Watts has been on the Joe Rogan experience a couple of times.
The two have smoked and discussed topics like hip-hop, why vinyl is better than any other format, his problems with Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg and most notably the Stoned Ape Theory.
Post Malone
Although Post Malone wasn’t necessarily smoking weed on the Joe Rogan Experience we feel he deserves some sort of recognition for stating he and Rogan were on mushrooms at the beginning of the episode, the conversations that follow don’t make that too hard to believe.
American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer Post Malone was a guest on the show in 2020. The podcast starts with Post Malone singing his “Everybody’s Too High” song and goes on to discuss why he lives in Utah, their favourite raw vegetables and how big whales are.
Mike Tyson
Mike Tyson is a former undisputed heavyweight boxing champion of the world. He appeared in the podcast in Jan 2019 and opened up about his drug use, which started really young, when at the age of 2 his mum gave him “liquor and marijuana” to help him get to sleep! It might not have worked as a bedtime drink, but Tyson went on to share his lifelong addiction to cannabis and the role it played in helping him regulate his moods.
Tyson and Joe went on to discuss a shared experience of taking “the toad”, as Tyson described it. He explained how it knocked him off his feet and changed his life. “The toad” is the substance 5-MeO-DMT, and is credited with easing anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Tyson explained “I look at life differently, I look at people differently. It’s almost like dying and being reborn… It’s inconceivable. I tried to explain it to some people, to my wife, I don’t have the words to explain it. It’s almost like you’re dying, you’re submissive, you’re humble, you’re vulnerable — but you’re invincible still in all.”
Honourable mention – Miley Cyrus
While Miley Cyrus doesn’t partake in smoking cannabis anymore we felt she deserved an honourable mention for her interview on the podcast.
A self-confessed stoner, she speaks about how much she experimented with drugs in her early years and her honest confession of “How much weed can I smoke and play a teenage superstar on the Disney channel?” The two discuss how she’s portrayed as “out of control” in the media, the fact that she was struggling to get on planes due to anxiety attacks after “smoking a lot of weed and taking a lot of shrooms” and how she is now sober due to vocal surgery.
