The guest
Eddie Huang: Restaurateur, author of the memoir Fresh Off the Boat, filmmaker who directed Boogie, former Vice host of Huang's World, and podcaster.
What this episode covers
Eddie Huang returns to JRE after roughly six years for a sprawling, free-associating conversation. They open on his wild Vice/Viceland years and the absurd extremes of global wealth, then drift through politics, China vs. America as 'business models,' and social credit scores. A large stretch is devoted to artificial intelligence as a potential new life form that could codify the human spirit and even replace us. They also dig deep into combat sports history, weed and Adderall, the value of curiosity over insecurity as a creative drive, and the philosophy of competition, meritocracy, and open borders. The episode closes on relationships, with Eddie recounting how he nearly blew up his own shotgun wedding the week prior.
Recommended on this episode
BookRecommendedISBN verified
Shoeless Joe
W.P. Kinsella
“I think you would like this book; it's dope”
“I think you would like this book called Shoeless Joe Jackson and it became Field of Dreams but the book is really about the White Sox cheating scandal”— Eddie Huang
MediaRecommended
Contact
“one of the best like Alien movies of all time; it's a really good movie man”
“the original uh novel was by Carl Sagan and um they converted it into one of the best like Alien movies of all time”— Joe Rogan
MediaRecommended
The Good Place
“it's funny man I laughed hard; that's a funny show”
“the good place is uh Ted Danson and Kristen Bell and uh it's [funny] man I laughed hard I laughed hard”— Joe Rogan
MediaRecommended
Abbott Elementary
“is good; you would like it”
“Abbott Elementary is good I guess that's what's happening it's about like School teachers in Philadelphia it's like the office but it's a workplace comedy”— Joe Rogan
MediaRecommended
The Ms. Pat Show
“is really funny; genuinely very funny”
“there's a few of them that are good Miss Pat's is really funny Miss Pat's is genuinely very [funny]”— Joe Rogan
The guest's own work
MediaBy the guest
Boogie
Eddie Huang
“there are days where we were doing overnight shoots on the movie boogie right and I have really I had trouble staying up on the overnight shoots”— Eddie Huang
Also referenced (named, not recommended)
BookReferencedISBN verified
The Wealth of Nations
Adam Smith
“everything is still just like Adam Smith Wealth of Nations and it's like there's been Marxism there's been other things but nothing has topped”— Eddie Huang
BookReferenced
The Immortality Key
Brian Murarescu
“have you ever heard of a book called uh the immortality key it's a book by this guy Brian murarescu and it's all about ancient Greece”— Joe Rogan
MediaReferenced
Field of Dreams
“the books like Field of Dreams Shoeless Joe Jackson they kind of present the case that like sports is the last or only meritocracy”— Eddie Huang
MediaReferenced
Succession
“and how many do I enjoy and watch succession White Lotus do you think succession is yes oh no that's not a sitcom”— Eddie Huang
MediaReferenced
The White Lotus
“and how many do I enjoy and watch succession White Lotus do you think succession is yes oh no that's not a sitcom”— Eddie Huang
MediaReferenced
Showgirls
“show Girls show Girls is a cocaine movie yeah with the one with the girlfriend by the Bell”— Joe Rogan
MediaReferenced
Private Parts
“you remember that movie private parts right where Pig vomit yeah Paul giamatta was just down his throat”— Joe Rogan
MediaReferenced
Ex Machina
“imagine if it's like ex machina hot yeah and like then it's a like what if it becomes affordable too”— Eddie Huang
MediaReferenced
The Meg
“this is a scene in a move you'd be like holy [ ] it's close to movie call this looks like the Meg yeah it's very close”— Joe Rogan
MediaReferenced
Waco
“do you have you seen Waco on Showtime yeah you and your homies with some ammunition can actually defend and sustain a campaign against America”— Eddie Huang
ProductReferenced
Kill Cliff
Kill Cliff
“yeah it's good we this is kill Cliff we gave like uh I think there was like seven or eight different samples that we had to go through to get to this”— Joe Rogan
ProductReferenced
Black Rifle Coffee
Black Rifle Coffee Company
“it used to just be like water Juice coffee now it's like oh I got this Black Rifle I got the CB I got one we're greedy”— Joe Rogan
ProductReferenced
cbdMD
cbdMD
“there's uh a bunch of good companies to do that I think cbdmd has it for dogs too yeah I accidentally took some of their dog uh oil”— Joe Rogan
ProductReferenced
iPhone 15
Apple
“it should seem crazy that we're counting down the days to the iPhone 15 comes out super excited about its launch”— Joe Rogan
Big reveals from this episode
- Eddie says Viceland burned money so recklessly that Shane Smith personally called him out for filming a food show at an Abu Dhabi F1 track.
- Eddie admits taking Adderall during overnight shoots on his film Boogie made him uncritically positive and worried it hurt the work.
- Eddie reveals he was tested as a kid, scored off the charts on an untimed IQ test, and doctors wanted to medicate him for attention before his mom refused.
- Eddie recounts nearly canceling his wedding the week before, telling his pregnant fiancee he wouldn't marry her if she skipped the rehearsal dinner.
- Eddie says he started a podcast with his wife because the years-long fallow periods between films left him 'rotting on my couch.'
- Eddie shares his therapist's view that curiosity, not anything else, is the core of love in a relationship.
Worth remembering
- Vice sent David Cho to the Congo to look for a dinosaur and to the Hadza tribe to hunt baboons with bows.
- Joe describes The Immortality Key, arguing ancient Greeks drank ergot-laced wine with LSD-like properties at the Eleusinian Mysteries.
- Joe calls Canelo Alvarez's head movement against Danny Jacobs one of the most beautiful displays in boxing history.
- Joe recounts being live in Sao Paulo for Marcelo Garcia's debut, where his arm-drag-to-back-take choked out Victor Shaolin.
- They note the NBA stopped testing for marijuana during the pandemic bubble because so many players play high.
- Eddie floats his brother's theory that recent leaps in technology like fusion may be reverse-engineered alien tech.
- They discuss China's social credit score system and fears of pairing it with digital currency and vaccine passports in the US.
- Joe describes a Bourdain interview where, at 58, Bourdain fell in love with Jiu Jitsu, got a six-pack, and competed in a tournament.
More from Joe Rogan
All 6342 recommended