The guest
Shane Gillis, Ari Shafir, and Mark Norman: Stand-up comedians and Rogan's friends, recurring panelists on the booze-fueled 'Protect Our Parks' episodes; Gillis recently hosted SNL after his 2019 firing.
What this episode covers
This is the 11th 'Protect Our Parks' episode, a marathon drinking session where Joe Rogan hangs out with comedians Shane Gillis, Ari Shafir and Mark Norman while pounding beers and whiskey. The conversation is freewheeling and provocative, lurching from JFK assassination conspiracies, the Manson/MKUltra theories and John McAfee's downfall to comedy-scene gossip, MMA, and movie debates. A recurring thread is comedy clubs needing to 'hold the line' and book funny comics regardless of outside pressure, framed around Gillis's SNL hosting redemption and the rise of Kill Tony comics. Running gags include sarcastic Bud Light shout-outs, an eagle beer bong, Shane Gillis blocking YouTube music plays for copyright, and Ari being pushed to launch a travel podcast. It closes with the crew getting visibly wrecked before heading to perform at the Comedy Mothership.
Recommended on this episode
BookRecommended
Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties
Tom O'Neill
“the book's insane”
“this is the primary theory in the book chaos chaos by this guy Tom O'Neal made him the book's insane”— Joe Rogan
BookRecommendedISBN verified
Best Evidence
David Lifton
“the best book on this”
“the best book on this is best evidence by a guy named David lton who was an accountant they hired him”— Joe Rogan
BookRecommendedISBN verified
Hell's Angels
Hunter S. Thompson
“it's great”
“did you ever read uh Hunter S. Thompson's book H Angels it's great”— Joe Rogan
ProductRecommended
Macallan
The Macallan
“it's great”
“have you had this macallen it's great with this advice you should be president”— Ari Shafir
MediaRecommended
Chopper
Andrew Dominik
“it's a great movie, knocks it out of the park”
“it's a crazy movie and Eric bner knocks it out of the park it's a great movie”— Joe Rogan
MediaRecommended
Pulp Fiction
Quentin Tarantino
“the best soundtrack by far”
“Pulp Fiction had the best soundtrack by far the best they reinvented the idea of a soundtrack”— Joe Rogan
MediaRecommended
Forrest Gump
Robert Zemeckis
“Gump rules, a great movie”
“Force Gump Gump rules Forrest gum was a great movie”— Joe Rogan
MediaRecommended
Django Unchained
Quentin Tarantino
“top top bangers top five”
“Jango and and glorious bastards are top top bangers top five”— Joe Rogan
MediaRecommended
Inglourious Basterds
Quentin Tarantino
“top top bangers top five”
“Jango and and glorious bastards are top top bangers top five”— Joe Rogan
MediaRecommended
Shogun
FX
“it's awesome”
“you watching Shogun oh my God it's awesome it's like a Japanese Game of Thrones”— Joe Rogan
MediaRecommended
The Iron Claw
Sean Durkin
“you would like it, really well done”
“did you see ironclaw I didn't oh you would like it it's heavy duty really well done and sad as [ __ ]”— Mark Norman
MediaRecommended
Quantum Leap
NBC
“good show”
“what show is that Quantum Leap good show that's right time travel show”— Shane Gillis
MediaRecommended
The Man with the Iron Fists
RZA
“great soundtrack”
“the man with the iron fist which has got a great soundtrack RZA did the whole soundtrack”— Joe Rogan
MediaRecommended
The Shawshank Redemption
Frank Darabont
“Redemption rules, sound was legendary”
“Shank Redemption sound was legendary Redemption rules”— Joe Rogan
MediaRecommended
Bleed for This
Ben Younger
“that was a good boxing movie”
“what I like is uh Miles Teller and bleed for this that was a good boxing movie”— Joe Rogan
MediaRecommended
Southpaw
Antoine Fuqua
“a good movie, he was great in it”
“he was great in Southpaw you ever see Southpaw yeah that's a good movie”— Shane Gillis
MediaRecommended
Band of Brothers
HBO
“might be the best series of all time”
“he was in banded Brothers banded Brothers might the best series of all time”— Shane Gillis
MediaRecommended
Sod's on the Road
Sam Tallent
“it's good, he's an animal”
“it's called sod's on the road it's on YouTube right now yeah it's good got a million views he's an animal”— Joe Rogan
MediaRecommended
Brian Simpson: Live from the Mothership
Brian Simpson
“look great”
“cheer up for Brian Simpson his new Netflix special available right now live at the Mothership on Netflix look great”— Joe Rogan
Also referenced (named, not recommended)
BookReferencedISBN verified
Cobalt Red
Siddharth Kara
“if you get to the sadar Cara who wrote this book and he did a lot of investigative journalism on the Congo talking about Cobalt mining”— Joe Rogan
ProductReferenced
Lucy nicotine pouches
Lucy
“there's these things called Lucy you've ever heard Lucy they have 12 milligrams this is six”— Joe Rogan
ProductReferenced
Fairphone
Fairphone
“you can't buy this phone called a fair phone the fair phone is a phone that's like sustainably sourced every single piece of it is modular”— Joe Rogan
MediaReferenced
Warrior
Gavin O'Connor
“look at him in Warrior look at those traps”— Shane Gillis
MediaReferenced
Sons of Anarchy
Kurt Sutter
“Anarchy would be awesome if it was on HBO the first couple years dude it opens up with him incredible”— Joe Rogan
MediaReferenced
John Wick
Chad Stahelski
“it was the one day that I watched John Wick 50 times in a row”— Ari Shafir
MediaReferenced
Don the Dragon Wilson vs Dennis Alexio
“I want you to Google Don the Dragon Wilson versus Dennis alexio so good he was a monster”— Joe Rogan
ProductReferenced
Garmin watch
Garmin
“if he had one of them Garmin watches on it be like 197 is crazy”— Shane Gillis
Big reveals from this episode
- Rogan lays out the Tom O'Neill 'Chaos' theory that MKUltra's Jolly West visited both Manson and Jack Ruby in prison.
- McAfee allegedly exploited an Android flaw to read encrypted WhatsApp messages via malware-infected phones sent to reporters.
- Rogan recounts Shane Gillis hosting SNL and being paid only $5,000 for a week of work.
- Rogan describes bringing Tucker Carlson on stage at Kill Tony unannounced after a steak dinner with Lex Fridman.
- The crew reveals Shane Gillis was the first comic ever to perform in the Mothership's small room, with Dave Chappelle going up right after.
- Rogan recalls reading kickboxer Jean-Yves Theroux's book as a teen and starting to run stairs because of it.
- Rogan claims the Fairphone, a modular sustainably-sourced phone, cannot be bought in the United States.
Worth remembering
- Scotland's new hate crime law was a topic, with the crew joking comedians could be targeted under it.
- They discuss the debunked ergot-fungus theory once taught in schools as an explanation for the Salem witch trials.
- LSD can be absorbed through skin and stay potent for decades, citing an engineer who tripped fixing a 1960s synthesizer.
- The 2023 orange smoke over New York from Canadian wildfires spawned conspiracy theories about a lost toxic chemical shipment.
- A walrus penis bone (baculum) is referenced, with a Steven Rinella shout-out.
- Dutch kickboxing dominance is traced to Dutchmen traveling to Japan in the 1970s, not Southeast Asian colonization.
- New York's ornate public urinals were systematically replaced starting in 1980 after roughly a century of use.
- A real news brawl between Thai 'lady boys' and trans prostitutes from the Philippines in Bangkok is pulled up.
- Rupert Murdoch, in his 90s, got engaged again to a molecular biologist after divorcing Jerry Hall.
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