Brian Simpson is a comedian, writer, host of the “Bottom of the Barrel” comedy show at The Comedy Mothership, and his own podcast, “BS with Brian Simpson.” His most recent special, “Live from The Comedy Mothership,” is streaming on Netflix.www.netflix.com/title/81684893www.youtube.com/@bswithbriansimpsonwww.briansimpsoncomedy.com Perplexity: Download the app or ask Perplexity anything at https://pplx.ai/rogan. Visit https://ketone.com/Rogan for 30% OFF, or find Ketone-IQ at Target nationwide. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Joe discusses astigmatism and using different glasses for driving and computer work. He claims red light therapy plus eye-focused nutrients improved his near vision and reduced his need for glasses, with low-light reading still difficult.
Brian recounts having a heart attack three months earlier during Super Bowl weekend in Atlanta. He describes getting a stent and only remembering brief moments due to sedation.
Brian explains he defaulted to joking in the hospital to handle fear and stress. A surgeon seemed upset by his joking and his movement during the procedure, which he attributes to the drugs and confusion.
They contrast surgeons as serious and time-critical with nurses who often joke and ease tension. They also note how some medical professionals react defensively to criticism despite lifesaving work.
They compare the shock of hospital costs to vet billing practices that pressure owners with upfront choices and financing. The vet context feels more emotionally coercive because the pet’s life is on the line.
Joe describes his dog Marshall swallowing large amounts of gravel after eating chicken feed on a driveway. The dog was hospitalized and monitored until the rocks passed without surgery, and Joe expects the behavior could repeat.
They talk about wolves as intelligent but difficult to train, compared with highly trainable dogs. Joe frames domestication as turning a capable wild predator into a more compliant companion.
Brian criticizes keeping large working breeds in small apartments without daily heavy exercise. They cite examples like Cane Corsos and Great Danes in cities and argue it creates stress and behavioral problems.
They discuss pets reacting to humans showering or being unclothed, and whether animals find clothing strange. Joe mentions bathing dogs in the shower and how some animals appear to enjoy the attention and warmth.
Brian describes his cat Millie as intensely bonded to him but hostile to restraint and grooming. He recounts paying for cross-country transport because flying and handling were too stressful.
They look up how catnip works and learn not all cats respond. The conversation covers typical behaviors, short duration, temporary immunity, and the idea that overuse can cause mild stomach upset.
Joe warns that coyotes track where cats live and wait for predictable outdoor routines. They compare coyote pressure in Los Angeles versus Austin and discuss how food availability changes predator boldness.
They reference the book "Coyote America" and describe coyotes spreading across the US. Joe explains behaviors like vocal roll calls and how persecution can increase litter sizes and accelerate expansion.
They mention claims that city raccoons may be changing physically and behaviorally near humans. The discussion ties cuteness, survival advantages, and parallels to how domestication reshaped dogs.
They discuss selective breeding for tameness producing foxes with dog-like behaviors over generations. The topic includes how quickly physical traits like shorter snouts and floppier ears can emerge under selection pressure.
Joe describes bears gorging on salmon and becoming less aggressive toward humans due to abundant food. They note coastal bears grow larger and that energy-efficient feeding changes social conflict patterns.
They discuss the Everglades python problem and failed approaches like bounties and dog tracking at scale. A robot rabbit lure experiment produced unexpected interactions with alligators and other wildlife.
They describe learning that animals use consistent travel corridors through the Everglades. By analyzing sensor data with AI, researchers allegedly identified routes that concentrate movement rather than random distribution.
They react to a clip where Ilhan Omar reads “World War 11” from a script. The conversation turns to how easy it is to misspeak and how politics amplifies minor errors into viral moments.
Brian describes days where small mishaps pile up, including injuries and embarrassing accidents before stage time. He talks about taking a nap as a way to pause consequences and mentally restart the day.
They connect late waking and missing daylight to feeling dull or scrambled. The discussion frames circadian rhythm disruption as lowering focus even when total sleep time seems adequate.
Brian describes being a heavy gamer and how modern games can become addictive. They frame games as a “dopamine drip” that is hard to resist once a player invests time and money.
Brian explains Deadlock as a team-based, lane-control game with character selection and an economy where “souls” buy power. He emphasizes the long learning curve and how snowballing makes comebacks difficult.
They discuss zero-gravity gaming chairs, multi-monitor rigs, audio control panels, and VR rooms. The tone is half admiration and half concern about how such setups can intensify compulsive play.
Joe recalls the show starting as a casual hang with friends and no plan to earn money. He describes early episodes as chaotic and weed-heavy, then contrasts that with today’s professionalized ecosystem.
They discuss cannabis being treated as highly restricted despite widespread belief in medical benefit. The conversation includes confusion about scheduling, comparisons to alcohol, and how policy framing shapes stigma.
They debate whether addiction is primarily biological or driven by habit and activity. Brian describes being addicted to activities like games and martial arts more than substances, while acknowledging stronger drugs could be different.
They discuss a cardiothoracic surgeon’s claim that nicotine might confer benefits in certain diets and populations. They also acknowledge strong expert disagreement and the difference between observing correlations and recommending smoking.
They compare nicotine delivery speed and note pouches can be high-dose and easy to use constantly. Joe mentions nicotine making him jittery and hurting his pool performance, where calm precision matters.
They describe vaping as especially compulsive because it is usable almost anywhere. Stories include people hitting a found vape in a bathroom and the frantic behavior of users searching for missing devices.
They discuss popcorn lung originating in microwave popcorn factories exposed to diacetyl. They note uncertainty and dispute about how often vaping causes similar harm, while still emphasizing lung damage concerns for heavy users.
They discuss claims that additive-free branding like American Spirit can mislead consumers about safety. The conversation also covers how tobacco companies might profit from both nicotine products and cessation aids.
They speculate that some cigarettes are designed to burn continuously and encourage waste and repeat purchase. They discuss why pack sizes might be optimized for craving cycles and daily consumption patterns.
They talk about patches, gum, and mints as a small but steady market relative to cigarettes. A recurring theme is that quitting attempts can loop users back into higher dependence, which sustains overall demand.
They discuss a special forces soldier allegedly profiting from Polymarket bets tied to a Maduro-related plot. The conversation focuses on how betting could leak operational timing and why authorities might treat it as fraud and market manipulation.
They discuss insider trading allegations and how rare serious consequences seem for powerful figures. They cite examples of violations and argue public trust erodes when ordinary people face harsher penalties for lesser conduct.
They discuss a Florida case where a homeowner was jailed for contempt after refusing to tear down a permitted guesthouse addition. The conflict centers on privacy, technicalities, and how legal processes can destroy value and escalate resentment.
They riff on how people fantasize about retaliation when wronged by neighbors and courts. The discussion highlights how quickly these conflicts can become obsessive, dangerous, and self-defeating if pursued illegally.
They discuss Malcolm Gladwell’s ideas about success and the “10,000 hours” framing. Examples include the Beatles’ intense Hamburg performance schedule and how comedians improve faster by doing many sets.
They mention research suggesting sentencing harshness correlates with time since a judge last ate. The topic expands into how human bias and mood can affect high-stakes decisions that are assumed to be objective.
They discuss how Anguilla’s country-code domain became valuable due to the AI boom. The conversation frames domain demand as a sudden revenue source that can meaningfully shift a small economy.
They discuss companies failing to secure obvious domains and paying later. A highlight is Redban buying `PepsiSpice.com` and using it for a long prank until the company eventually bought it.
They discuss believing privacy tools are limited and that platforms log everything anyway. Incognito mode is mocked as hiding history locally while still signaling what a user wants concealed.
They discuss an indictment of a former advisor accused of using personal email to avoid transparency requests. The conversation frames it as part of broader suspicion about lab-leak debate suppression and institutional self-protection.
They discuss the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope as a wide-field successor in the Hubble lineage. They expect more exoplanet discoveries and data that could challenge timelines for early galaxy formation.
They discuss extremely massive black holes like TON 618 and the difficulty of conceptualizing “billions of solar masses.” The theme is that new instruments keep finding objects that strain existing growth and age assumptions.
They discuss the Great Attractor as an apparent gravitational focus affecting galaxy motions. The conversation emphasizes that dust and the Milky Way’s plane obscure direct observation, leaving large uncertainties about what is pulling nearby structures.
They discuss claims of deep subsurface columns and megastructures under Egyptian pyramids detected by remote sensing. The tone mixes fascination and skepticism while suggesting some ancient sites may conceal unknown engineering purposes.
They discuss a cluster of ocular syphilis cases linked to one male partner and the risk of rapid vision damage. The conversation frames it as a cautionary story about untreated STIs and reckless transmission.
They briefly mention Brian planning to release a stand-up special on YouTube in the summer, aiming for July. It is framed as a milestone and a reason to revisit the conversation then.