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Why Joe Rogan’s Assault on Facts Is So Dangerous

Joe Rogan, host of The Joe Rogan Experience podcast on Spotify. Photo: Screenshot.

If you listened to the March 5 episode of the top-rated podcast on Spotify in the US, you would hear, in the first 30 minutes, that:

  • Richard Nixon was framed;
  • Time travel is possible;
  • Charles Manson was a CIA asset;
  • The 1960s anti-war movement was a CIA operation; and
  • Sirhan Sirhan (the convicted assassin of Senator Robert Kennedy) had been subjected to mind control.

Then, after just a few more minutes, you would hear the guest, Ian Carroll, tell the host, Joe Rogan, “I sound crazy to someone that doesn’t do their own research.”

You don’t say.

If anyone were brave or gullible enough to keep listening after Carroll’s assertion that he “sounds crazy” only to “someone that doesn’t do their own research” (or if you were forced to keep listening because it was your job), you would hear Carroll wonder if the Egyptian pyramids were built by telepathic aliens and hear him, along with Rogan, claim that we don’t really know what happened at 7 World Trade Center.

The destruction of 7 World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, was litigated in multiple cases, with multiple parties fighting over hundreds of millions of dollars. One litigation lasted over 10 years, and an army of lawyers was involved. I briefly worked on one of the cases myself. And I can promise you, we know what happened at 7 World Trade Center.

I suppose I can’t prove that the pyramids weren’t built by telepathic aliens. But should anyone really have to?

This is the sort of exasperation that prompted Douglas Murray, on the April 10 episode of Rogan’s show, to exclaim in frustration, “you don’t need to consume endless versions of a revisionist history!”

It takes about five minutes to look up and then spout off a conspiracy theory, but exponentially longer to debunk one. The sheer number of bizarre claims made on this program, thrown out rapidly one after another for over two and a half hours, could send an actual, serious researcher on a months’ long, or longer, full-time quest to conclusively debunk each one.

No normal person has that kind of time — and that’s part of the conceit here. Carroll, a former Uber Eats driver turned “independent researcher,” wants his audience to feel that if they believe such claims, they are the ones who are in-the-know, in possession of a secret knowledge that powerful people are trying to keep hidden.

And unfortunately someone who believes, or is even willing to entertain, Carroll’s ridiculous claims might also believe him when he claims that Jeffrey Epstein was working for the Mossad to gather intelligence on American officials, or that a group of Jewish philanthropists investing in Jewish causes was conducting espionage (“it is unclear if we have proof that they were conducting espionage,” Carroll says. Do your own research!). Or that “Israel has so much control over our government right now. And I’m not saying that all Jews are in on something. Clearly, Internet. Thank you.”

Such a listener might also have believed comic Dave Smith when he claimed on a solo appearance on Rogan’s show, prior to his “debate” with Douglas Murray, that the US is bombing Yemen “on behalf of Israel,” or when he said of Palestinians in the West Bank, “under Israeli control they have zero rights, zero rights whatsoever,” or when he said that Israel has “gotten us into like seven wars.” (April 3, 2025.)

Those same listeners might also have believed Darryl Cooper’s Holocaust revisionism on March 13, 2025. But these are just the same old tired conspiracy theories, now recycled into a new media environment that has no guardrails. (In fact, most antisemitism — at its root — is just a conspiracy theory.)

It’s good to know, of course, that Carroll doesn’t believe in David Icke’s theories about reptiles (calling them a “grift”), or that the earth is flat (purposeful misinformation meant to “obfuscate the narrative,” he says), but is that really our new baseline? One would hope not.

Rogan ended the episode, after play-acting for the supposed censors, “I can’t believe what you said … I am so upset that I even platformed you, you’re outrageous!” by more seriously telling Carroll that he was “very, very reasonable” and performing a “valuable service.”

Nor was Ian Carroll the first obvious kook that Rogan had on his show – he has previously hosted Terrence Howard, Roger Waters, and Abby Martin.

And just this week, Rogan was once again suggesting that aliens may have built the pyramids in Egypt. (May 14, 2025.) Notably, Rogan pushed back much harder on the former Egyptian Minister of Antiquities, Dr. Zahi Hawass, who opposes such bonkers theories, than he ever pushed back on Carroll. But it took Carroll just a couple of minutes to promote the claim that the pyramids could have been built by telepathic aliens, and it took an actual archeologist with decades of experience two hours to rebut it.

No one knows better than CAMERA that the credentialed experts don’t always get things right. But that’s not an excuse to promote baseless conspiracy theories pedaled by someone with no credibility whatsoever.

Rogan is entertaining, and many people enjoy the super-long format that has at other times allowed him to get much more in-depth into issues than television news, even magazine formats like 20/20 or 60 Minutes, can allow. But if a listener can learn one thing from Carroll, Cooper, and Smith’s interviews on this podcast, it’s that Joe Rogan, who boasts, “I was arguing with people about the moon landing on the radio before [expletive] there was any podcasts,” doesn’t vet his guests for any type of intellectual rigor whatsoever.

It’s also clear that Rogan often lacks the desire or knowledge to push back on some of his guests’ crazier claims. And he’s happy to use his show to promote wild conspiracy theories — including, but certainly not limited to, those about Jews and Israel. After all, it creates controversy and makes for a great podcast — and lots of profit for Rogan.

Karen Bekker is the Assistant Director in the Media Response Team at CAMERA, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis.

The post Why Joe Rogan’s Assault on Facts Is So Dangerous first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem, Sept. 2, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS

Israel has decided to send a delegation to Qatar for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, an Israeli official said, reviving hopes of a breakthrough in negotiations to end the almost 21-month war.

Palestinian group Hamas said on Friday it had responded to a US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal in a “positive spirit,” a few days after US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalize” a 60-day truce.

The Israeli negotiation delegation will fly to Qatar on Sunday, the Israeli official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.

But in a sign of the potential challenges still facing the two sides, a Palestinian official from a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing in southern Israel to Egypt and clarity over a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday, has yet to comment on Trump’s announcement, and in their public statements Hamas and Israel remain far apart.

Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the terrorist group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss.

Israeli media said on Friday that Israel had received and was reviewing Hamas’ response to the ceasefire proposal.

The post Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran

Tucker Carlson speaks on July 18, 2024 during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo: Jasper Colt-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect

US conservative talk show host Tucker Carlson said in an online post on Saturday that he had conducted an interview with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, which would air in the next day or two.

Carlson said the interview was conducted remotely through a translator, and would be published as soon as it was edited, which “should be in a day or two.”

Carlson said he had stuck to simple questions in the interview, such as, “What is your goal? Do you seek war with the United States? Do you seek war with Israel?”

“There are all kinds of questions that I didn’t ask the president of Iran, particularly questions to which I knew I could get an not get an honest answer, such as, ‘was your nuclear program totally disabled by the bombing campaign by the US government a week and a half ago?’” he said.

Carlson also said he had made a third request in the past several months to interview Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will be visiting Washington next week for talks with US President Donald Trump.

Trump said on Friday he would discuss Iran with Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.

Trump said he believed Tehran’s nuclear program had been set back permanently by recent US strikes that followed Israel’s attacks on the country last month, although Iran could restart it at a different location.

Trump also said Iran had not agreed to inspections of its nuclear program or to give up enriching uranium. He said he would not allow Tehran to resume its nuclear program, adding that Iran did want to meet with him.

Pezeshkian said last month Iran does not intend to develop nuclear weapons but will pursue its right to nuclear energy and research.

The post Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages

Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron

i24 NewsAs Israeli leaders weigh the contours of a possible partial ceasefire deal with Hamas, the families of the 50 hostages still held in Gaza issued an impassioned public statement this weekend, condemning any agreement that would return only some of the abductees.

In a powerful message released Saturday, the Families Forum for the Return of Hostages denounced what they call the “beating system” and “cruel selection process,” which, they say, has left families trapped in unbearable uncertainty for 638 days—not knowing whether to hope for reunion or prepare for mourning.

The group warned that a phased or selective deal—rumored to be under discussion—would deepen their suffering and perpetuate injustice. Among the 50 hostages, 22 are believed to be alive, and 28 are presumed dead.

“Every family deserves answers and closure,” the Forum said. “Whether it is a return to embrace or a grave to mourn over—each is sacred.”

They accused the Israeli government of allowing political considerations to prevent a full agreement that could have brought all hostages—living and fallen—home long ago. “It is forbidden to conform to the dictates of Schindler-style lists,” the statement read, invoking a painful historical parallel.

“All of the abductees could have returned for rehabilitation or burial months ago, had the government chosen to act with courage.”

The call for a comprehensive deal comes just as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares for high-stakes talks in Washington and as indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas are expected to resume in Doha within the next 24 hours, according to regional media reports.

Hamas, for its part, issued a statement Friday confirming its readiness to begin immediate negotiations on the implementation of a ceasefire and hostage release framework.

The Forum emphasized that every day in captivity poses a mortal risk to the living hostages, and for the deceased, a danger of being lost forever. “The horror of selection does not spare any of us,” the statement said. “Enough with the separation and categories that deepen the pain of the families.”

In a planned public address near Begin Gate in Tel Aviv, families are gathering Saturday evening to demand that the Israeli government accept a full-release deal—what they describe as the only “moral and Zionist” path forward.

“We will return. We will avenge,” the Forum concluded. “This is the time to complete the mission.”

As of now, the Israeli government has not formally responded to Hamas’s latest statement.

The post Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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