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March 14, 2025 - The Joe Rogan Experience
02:41:20
Joe Rogan Experience #2290 - MIchael Kosta
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j
joe rogan
01:37:20
m
michael kosta
59:37
Appearances
Clips
j
jamie vernon
00:12
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Speaker Time Text
unidentified
Joe Rogan Podcast.
Check it out.
The Joe Rogan Experience.
michael kosta
Train by day.
Joe Rogan Podcast by night.
unidentified
All day.
joe rogan
Yes, sir, Michael.
michael kosta
Good to see you, my friend.
Thanks for having me and really appreciate you showing me around.
Wow, what a space you've created, man.
joe rogan
Thank you.
michael kosta
That's so cool.
Keeps going.
I was excited to show you the picture of my sauna.
And then you show me you got an archery.
It's so cool, man.
joe rogan
Thank you.
That's so cool.
It's fun.
We were just singing Jon Stewart's praises before this started, but I'm so happy he's back at The Daily Show, and I'm so happy he makes fun of everything, and I'm so happy he still makes dick jokes.
michael kosta
Yeah.
joe rogan
You know, it's fun.
It's like The Daily Show seems like The Daily Show again.
That guy's a very unique dude, very unique person, and one of the most important pieces to unify everybody.
He's reasonable.
He gets the whole big picture.
Like, let's stop being so fucking ridiculously tribal.
michael kosta
In the morning meeting, he'll come in, and we're all sitting there, the writers, and he just kind of shuts the door behind him, and we start talking.
But it's like a conversation with a college professor, but he's in charge.
And it's...
Beautiful.
All sides.
This.
I disagree with that.
What about this?
And it's like, oh, wow.
It's really fun to be a part of.
And then someone will yell out a dick joke, and then that joke will make it to the show, too.
It's like smart things and dumb things.
That's beautiful.
joe rogan
Well, he's never abandoned being a real comic.
michael kosta
Correct.
joe rogan
Which is what got him to the dance in the first place.
So he always has those instincts.
And he's the very best.
At, like, holding a line and, like, making something, like, even more preposterous just with a facial expression.
michael kosta
Correct, yeah.
joe rogan
And pointing out, like, these fucking unbelievably ridiculous in-your-face hypocrisies that we see every day from both sides.
michael kosta
Yeah, from both sides.
Have you ever done stand-up with them?
joe rogan
Oh, yeah, we've done stuff together, like, back in the day.
Yeah.
God, I can't remember the last time.
I was supposed to do something with him at one of Dave's things that he was doing outside back in the day, but I never wound up doing it.
But I definitely did stand up with him in the clubs back in New York, and I knew him way, way back in the day.
michael kosta
He was on MTV. Yeah, I remember that, and I think I remember one of his books was called...
Naked pictures of famous people?
Which is great.
joe rogan
He's a solid guy.
He's a solid guy.
I don't know if he's agreeing with him, but I don't even agree with me.
michael kosta
Isn't that good?
Isn't that the point of this?
It's like you want a couple people to be mad sometimes.
joe rogan
I also think we all, as human beings, need to be divorced from our ideas.
Your ideas are not you.
You are you.
And ideas are things that you should consider.
Ideas are something that you should...
If it's going to have some sort of a real physical impact on your life and your family and your family's life and people you care about, I understand.
I understand why you get connected to things like that.
But for the most part, most of these ideas don't affect you.
A lot of them don't.
And yet we're so ideologically captured that we fight for these ideas as if it's our very nature.
You're talking about your essence as a human being.
And it's stupid.
michael kosta
This reminds me of a time I left my joke book On a train in New York.
And in the joke book I have, this book is important to me.
Call me if you get this, you know?
And this guy texts me and he says, I have this joke book.
And, you know, talk about your ideas.
The joke book is the most...
Unfiltered, dumb idea ever.
Oh, yeah.
That's the beauty of it.
joe rogan
Yeah.
michael kosta
And I said, man, I'm sure he's reading it.
You're going to read it.
You're going to read a stranger's joke book.
And I connected with him.
He was very kind.
He gave it to me.
But he kind of looked at me like, are you a comedian type thing?
And I said, yeah.
But it's terrifying when that idea gets attached to you when it was just a fleeting idea.
joe rogan
Right.
Yeah, the joke book idea is the best example of that, right?
Because most of what you write is shit, which took me forever to figure out.
I was like, God, I just write shit.
And then every now and then a gem.
Like, ooh, and then you extract the gem.
But I've realized afterwards, it's basically like gold mining.
Most of the time you're not finding gold.
You're finding garbage.
michael kosta
And you only get to gold by going through garbage.
joe rogan
Yeah.
michael kosta
Sometimes I'll do a show.
And it's terrible.
New joke show.
But then the next day, the thing happens.
And I think, oh, that's because I was digging all day yesterday.
joe rogan
Yeah.
It's the muse, right?
You have to show up and request the muse's love.
michael kosta
I like that.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Do you ever read Pressfield's War of Art?
michael kosta
No.
joe rogan
We have a stack of them out there.
I'll give you a copy of it.
It's a small book, easy read.
michael kosta
Jay Larson, comedian in L.A., recommended that book to me 10 years ago, and I never tackled it.
joe rogan
It's really good.
I used to have a stack of them in the studio where I'd give out to guests because so many comics, I was like, this is what you need.
michael kosta
What's the essence?
I will read it.
Also, you know what keeps freaking me out?
There's a shooting star above my head.
joe rogan
Yeah, there is.
Every now and then one will fly above your head.
michael kosta
What's the essence?
The war of art.
That makes it sound like it's a struggle to create art.
joe rogan
Yeah, it's the struggle against resistance, which is procrastination, which is this thing that we all do before we actually write, which is so weird.
Because I love...
When I'm actually locked in and great ideas are coming, it's one of the best feelings in the world.
It's like somehow or another you're pulling these ideas out of nowhere and then it's your job to take this seed and try to go plant it on stage and try to water it.
Over the course of many months, it'll become a great bit.
And they just only come if you sit there.
They only come if you sit there.
And what he is saying is that you have to treat it like you're a professional.
And you have to decide at 8 a.m.
I will show up and I will be there for three hours.
I will shut my phone off.
I will lock in.
This is what I do because I am a professional.
And you literally make a prayer to the muse.
You offer yourself to the muse.
You say, I'm here to work.
I'm here.
To gather ideas.
michael kosta
To be open.
joe rogan
To be creative and be open.
And you treat it that way.
Whether or not the muse is real or not.
Right.
That's kind of...
michael kosta
Right.
joe rogan
You can get hung up on that.
But if you treat it like it's real, it works.
Which is really crazy.
michael kosta
I love that.
And I don't do that.
And early in my comedy career, I would go to the coffee shop at this time and start typing.
And I had all these, and I remember Tommy at the comedy store, he would say, every time I see you, you have new bits.
And I would go, yeah, because I'm going, and now what's crazy, life has gotten crazier.
I don't make time for myself to do that, but I need to honor the muse, man.
I like that.
joe rogan
My move is when everyone's asleep in my house.
michael kosta
Okay.
joe rogan
Because I still, I get up pretty early for a comic.
michael kosta
Yeah.
joe rogan
You know, I'm up by eight.
Almost every day.
michael kosta
Comics are unreal with that.
joe rogan
Right.
But that means that I can go to bed at one and still get seven hours of sleep.
So that's what I do.
So when everybody in my house kind of goes to bed early, my kids go to school, my wife goes to bed early.
So when everyone's asleep, it's just me and the dog.
And either we're watching YouTube or I'm writing.
And that's when I get my best work done.
michael kosta
You write by hand?
joe rogan
No, I type.
I feel like I can't write fast enough by hand.
What I like about typing is that I don't have to look at the keys.
I know how to type.
So I can make a letter.
I can make a word very quickly.
And I can zone in to it.
But what I really like is a keyboard that I can feel.
Like, I need travel in my keys.
michael kosta
Yeah.
joe rogan
You know, and these clickety-clickety-clickety little MacBook keys, those are bullshit.
michael kosta
Okay.
joe rogan
What you want is a keyboard that you don't have to look at because it's got, like, little divots where your finger sits.
So I use a ThinkPad.
And ThinkPads have the best keyboards.
They have travel.
Each one has, like, a couple of millimeters of travel.
So it's a clickety-clickety-clickety.
So my fingers know exactly where to go and I can just get into the zone.
michael kosta
You're zoning right now.
joe rogan
Yeah.
But that's how I do it.
I have a whole thing.
The laptop that I write on, it has no apps.
It never goes anywhere.
It doesn't get email.
I only allow myself to use the Bing search engine to find out.
Because most of the time, if I'm writing about something, when was this discovered?
What happened here?
Who figured that out?
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michael kosta
That's a trap for me.
Frequently, I'll start typing.
I was working on a bit recently that all of these amazing men, these explorers, these achievers, the idea was, because I found out that Sir Edmund Hillary, Mount Everest's first man to climb Everest, he had like nine kids or something.
And the idea of the joke was...
I don't even think he likes climbing mountains.
I don't even think he enjoys outdoors.
It's that he's trying to get away from his family.
So then I looked up Roger Bannister, the guy who broke the four-minute mile.
He had like seven kids.
I'm like, I don't even think he likes running.
He's just trying to run away from his family.
But I remember writing that bit.
It's a funny bit.
There might have been an Elon thing there.
He has a lot of kids going to Mars, whatever.
There's other stuff.
But I would keep getting sidetracked by these Googles, right?
I'd start typing a bit.
Now I'm on Sermon Hillary's Wikipedia page.
Now I'm gone.
And that's a trap.
That's tricky.
joe rogan
It's procrastination.
It really is.
And you can get locked in.
michael kosta
So the discipline is to stay on the bit, Costa.
joe rogan
I would play this stupid game with myself.
I'll just go on YouTube real quick and see if I get inspired by anything before I write.
And I'm watching two hours of muscle car builds.
Right.
michael kosta
Oh, dude, it's wild.
joe rogan
Watching people turn their Land Cruiser into an off-road vehicle.
michael kosta
I would do motorcycle handlebars.
I would find my motorcycle and then there would be 20 different handlebar builds and stuff.
joe rogan
What kind of motorcycle did you drive?
michael kosta
I have a Triumph Bonneville 2011. It's in storage in Pennsylvania now.
I take it out.
In LA, that was what I used all the time.
joe rogan
You ride a motorcycle in LA? I did forever.
michael kosta
Holy shit, dude.
My wife doesn't really...
We have a family now.
In PA, I ride it a lot.
And there, it's deer, man.
That's the scary thing there.
They get very close.
They're not afraid of cars or motor vehicles at this point.
joe rogan
Well, there's a time between September-ish to December-ish where they're retarded because they're horny.
Once it starts getting warm out, they start getting goofy.
And then when you get cold around November, that's when it really kicks in.
If you're in Pennsylvania or Iowa, oh my god, I visited my friend John in Iowa and I'm driving down the road and every 15 seconds you're slamming on your brakes because something's darting near the road.
They're all over the place.
michael kosta
So they're horny and looking.
joe rogan
Yes.
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
They're also getting chased.
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
So the bucks are chasing the females.
And the females are just running out into traffic.
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
And the bucks are following them.
unidentified
Bang!
michael kosta
Bang!
I mean, this is like men at night.
Oh, yeah.
unidentified
Sixth Street.
joe rogan
Where my club is.
Don't drive fast.
That's why the road is closed on the weekends.
They don't want people driving down 6th Street with all these horny idiots.
michael kosta
I love that they closed that, though.
That's good.
I didn't know that.
joe rogan
It is great.
But what scares me is what happened in New Orleans, where they have these roads where only people walk down, and everyone knows it, and this psycho decides to kill a bunch of people.
It's crazy that you have to think that way.
But, I mean, there should be some sort of retractable posts that they can pull up.
michael kosta
Wasn't there for that one?
joe rogan
It wasn't up.
michael kosta
It wasn't up.
In New York, you know, it's a big concrete slab.
I was in France last year, and they had these huge flower pots with beautiful flowers in it.
And I said, you know, this is the New York version.
It's a huge concrete slab that says NYPD on it.
And this is the French version, which was this enormous, beautiful flower pie.
I go, that's serving a function and also beautiful.
joe rogan
Yeah, well, the French know how to do things, right?
michael kosta
They know how to do it.
joe rogan
Yeah, they party.
They know how to party.
They drink a lot of wine.
They stay thin somehow or another, which is odd.
Like, I hope RFK Jr. figures that out.
michael kosta
It seems to be full butter all the time.
joe rogan
I go to Italy, and it's also the standard cliche, but it is true.
You go there, you can eat the food, and it doesn't affect you the same way.
And we don't even think twice about it.
We come back here and still order pizza and still feel like shit.
If I eat a pizza here, I feel so bloated.
I ate a pizza in Italy last summer, and I ate the whole pizza, too.
The whole margarita pizza.
I ate the whole fucking thing.
And I was like I just would just resign myself to like the thud of it hitting my digestive tract and like feeling like I'm on drama me Just like I've resigned myself.
I'm like I'm eating pizza fucking Let's just do it.
Nothing never came right never came ate a whole pizza.
I was like this the rest of the day I was like this is crazy.
michael kosta
I'm not even like brisket Sludgy brisket crushes me Terry blacks put you down son I mean I mean I had I was in Houston and Steve Byrne was at the other club.
You want to get lunch?
Yeah, of course.
We go.
Get brisket.
I went back to it.
I slept for like three and a half hours.
I mean, it is very delicious.
joe rogan
Did you have sides, though?
michael kosta
I don't remember what we were doing.
joe rogan
I bet you had sides.
michael kosta
You think it was the sides that did it?
joe rogan
Yeah, I think it's mostly the starches and the carbs.
It's mostly macaroni salad.
michael kosta
It's fatty, delicious meat.
joe rogan
So good.
michael kosta
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
joe rogan
Terry Black's in town is my favorite.
They have a beef rib that is the most preposterous thing.
You pick the bone up and the rib slides off the bone.
I mean, and when you slice into it, it's just juicy, fatty, smoky.
michael kosta
Why is the meat falling off the bone such an important...
joe rogan
Because it's so tender.
It means it's been slow cooked perfectly.
unidentified
Copy that.
joe rogan
They have a thing where you want your brisket to fold but not break.
So they take a slice of brisket and they put it over their hand.
And if it breaks off, you fucked up.
You made a mushy brisket.
But you want it where it's just folding.
You know, like a thick cloth.
michael kosta
There's a life metaphor there, too.
joe rogan
Brisket, you want it right out, too.
You want it, like, right after they slice it.
You don't want to wait on brisket.
You want to eat it while it's still warm.
Look at that.
See the fold that guy's got on his finger?
That's a perfectly cooked brisket right there.
michael kosta
Dude, I learned...
Every time I'm here, I learn...
I remember last time, dude, we...
We were talking Italian billiards.
I didn't even realize it was a different billiards.
Oh, they have a bunch of different billiards.
That's funny.
I never had any idea about that brisket.
joe rogan
You know, it was all originally Germans?
michael kosta
That they would do the brisket stuff?
joe rogan
Germans who came over through Texas.
Like Fredericksburg is one of the hubs of it.
It's all a bunch of Germans who came over here and they made smoked sausages.
So they came over here and the brisket became a thing because...
Brisket was not a choice cut.
It was a thing that they would throw away.
Like, you wanted the steaks.
You wanted a T-bone.
So they would take the brisket and they just figured out, like, if you just slowly cook it, you render it down and break down all the toughness of it, and at the end you have this delicious, tender, smoked perfection.
michael kosta
That puts me to sleep.
joe rogan
They know how to do it here, man.
They make the best fucking brisket on earth right here.
Terry Black's, Franklin's, La Barbecue.
There's like a bunch of spots in town.
michael kosta
Yeah.
joe rogan
What's it, QB Barbecue?
Is that the Egyptian joint that I went to with Action Bronson?
That place is insane.
michael kosta
Oh man, having a meal with him would be super fun.
joe rogan
KB? KG. KG Barbecue.
So this gentleman came from Egypt.
And he was like a finance guy, I think, in Egypt, just working a regular job.
Came over here, fell in love with brisket, decided to just open up his own barbecue shop.
And so this guy makes these incredible recipes with like Egyptian and Middle Eastern spices, but with Texas barbecue.
Oh my God, it was so good.
It was so good.
Cool story.
And he's blowing up now.
And he's a super nice guy, too.
I love when someone does that.
It's like, fuck this job.
You know what I want to do?
I want to feed people.
I want to make brisket.
Awesome brisket.
I want to make a food truck.
And this guy, it becomes so popular so quickly that this guy has a real business now.
And he's got a restaurant.
He's opening up a second one, I believe.
michael kosta
That was my favorite part of living in Los Angeles.
It's easy to make fun of L.A. for good reason.
But for the most part, a lot of people were betting on themselves and a talent they had.
But I do love that.
I always appreciated that.
joe rogan
Living in a place where people are definitely going for something and taking chances.
The problem with LA is it also becomes attached with what is the engine that gets you to where you want to go.
And sometimes that engine is like pure narcissism.
michael kosta
Yeah, or fame.
If that's the goal.
Most of the time it's fame.
joe rogan
Which fuels the narcissism.
michael kosta
But I think a more interesting question is...
How do we find the thing that we're meant to do?
That Egyptian finance man found that brisket is his calling.
That's fascinating.
joe rogan
In his 30s.
michael kosta
In his 30s.
joe rogan
With a career.
michael kosta
Right.
With a career.
Making money, having health care, still decided to give it up.
joe rogan
Living in Egypt, by the way.
It's not even close to Austin, Texas.
And he comes here and he doesn't just decide to make barbecue.
He decides to make barbecue in the home of barbecue.
michael kosta
The place.
joe rogan
Yeah.
He's like, fuck it.
If you want to learn jujitsu, go to Brazil.
michael kosta
Yeah.
joe rogan
He went right to the heart of it all.
michael kosta
I remember I was coaching tennis at University of Michigan.
I was making $31,000 a year.
And I go, I think I can make this in comedy.
If I'm going to get paid like shit, let me at least do what I want.
So, of course, the first year I left, first year I did comedy, I made whatever, $6,000 or whatever.
But I think often how much harder that would have been if I was making $100,000.
joe rogan
Right.
michael kosta
You know, it's...
Because I was poor, let's be poor and pick the thing I want to be doing.
joe rogan
Oh, 100%.
But that's the thing about youth.
If you're 47 years old and you decide that you need to change careers and you're going to be a folk singer and you have a family, what are you talking about?
You have a Volvo.
You have a fucking mortgage, you idiot.
You have to go to work.
You have to go to work.
If you're going to make folk songs, you're going to make them on the two hours you have for yourself on the weekend when everybody else is out of the house.
You don't have any time for that.
michael kosta
Is it true that Rodney Dangerfield found comedy so late like that?
joe rogan
Well, Rodney did comedy and then quit, but kept writing and was selling aluminum siding.
michael kosta
Right.
That's what I remember, that story.
joe rogan
And then remade it when he was like 46. That's a fucking awesome story.
Yeah.
How about Schimmel?
Schimmel didn't even start until he was 36, which I thought was crazy.
I remember what I heard because I was a giant Schimmel fan.
michael kosta
Okay.
joe rogan
And then when I had heard that he started when he was 36, I was like, what?
I didn't think you could do that.
I thought you had to start when you were like 21. Yeah.
Or you had no chance.
michael kosta
I remember starting at 27 and wondering if it was too late.
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
Isn't that crazy?
michael kosta
Or maybe it was 25. I forget.
joe rogan
I wish I started at 27. Yeah.
Because when I was 21, I was such a moron.
michael kosta
Right.
joe rogan
I just had no opinions on anything.
So all my jokes were basically about sex.
It was like sex and relationships.
michael kosta
Where were you at age 21?
joe rogan
Boston.
michael kosta
Boston.
Okay.
That's right.
You were in...
I was going to say, because...
You were at least in a good comedy scene.
You could see good comedy.
joe rogan
Oh, it was a great comedy scene.
michael kosta
Yeah, you've talked about that.
joe rogan
It was the best comedy scene.
It was the best comedy scene because it was a comedy scene that had world-class comedians that the rest of the country didn't know about.
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
So it was a cheat code.
It was like you're in a gym and you're sparring with world-class fighters, like world championship caliber fighters that the rest of the world hasn't seen yet.
michael kosta
Right.
joe rogan
That emerges sometimes in fight gyms.
You have a bunch of elite fighters and then all of a sudden there's three world champions in this gym like two years later.
That's what it was like in Boston because there was these guys that were the Steve Sweeney's and the Don Gavins who were as good as anybody that's ever done comedy and no one knew who they were outside of Boston.
And you get to see them every night just murdering.
michael kosta
Was their drive to get out?
joe rogan
No.
michael kosta
It was to make money, stay there.
joe rogan
Do coke and play golf.
Those guys are partying.
michael kosta
I remember the documentary about Boston comedy where they said they would pay comics and coke.
joe rogan
It was a totally different kind of comedian.
There were these big football player looking men who were rowdy, who partied all the time.
They were all heavy drinkers.
They all played golf.
They were all animals.
They would go on stage and obliterate.
When I say obliterate, these guys would go on stage with a...
Drinking their hand.
And they had a fucking act that was as hammered as a samurai sword.
It was polished.
michael kosta
From the paws they would take to the eyebrow raise.
joe rogan
Everything.
And a lot of it was like local references.
Like local Boston stuff.
And they would bury these out-of-town comedians.
I saw them bury Billy Crystal one night.
Bury him!
unidentified
Bury!
Death!
joe rogan
Death!
Satan was nipping at his heels and dragging him down into the netherworld.
It was horrible.
He was in hell.
michael kosta
I feel like when I started comedy, drinking was still big.
Now I meet all the young comics and everybody's sober or they're thinking more about all the different facets.
But when I started, there wasn't YouTube yet.
joe rogan
Right.
michael kosta
Comics talk shit in the green room a lot.
Terrible.
joe rogan
Yep.
michael kosta
I went and did...
Yuck yucks in Vancouver recently.
In the green room, there's a sign up that says we don't harass people in the green room.
And I'm like, this is different.
This is different, you know?
joe rogan
Well, Canada's just on another level with their wokeness.
michael kosta
Canada's on another level.
joe rogan
Come back to us, Canada.
michael kosta
I remember driving down the road in Vancouver and there's all these people just lining up.
And I go, what's going on?
And said, oh, well, they're lining up for the bus that's about to come.
And I'm like, that's Canadian.
joe rogan
They're so polite.
michael kosta
They're waiting.
They know where the bus will be and they're lining up.
That is not how it works in Brooklyn.
joe rogan
And then before they get on the bus, they give their land acknowledgement.
Before they step on the bus.
michael kosta
Do you think that comedy with the Polish, the local...
I mean...
It feels like comedy's taking a different turn now.
Now it's, if a bit is kind of working, we post it.
It's up.
It's not polished.
And I miss some of that.
I miss some of that.
joe rogan
There's some of that, but there's still guys, you know, like Louie who don't do that, and Attell doesn't do that.
It's like, I get for young guys coming up, it's a very good way to develop an audience.
Like, there's guys that have a clip, the clip goes viral on TikTok, all of a sudden they're selling out shows everywhere, like a guy like Ralph Barboza.
It's a funny guy.
Gets a funny bit.
It gets put up.
Bam!
All of a sudden, he's headlining all over the country.
And it happened to him like that.
michael kosta
He was opening for me in Dallas before any of that.
And, you know, you always watch the opener.
And normally, I watch the opener like this.
Like, oh, this is just...
Is this what I have to go up after?
Why didn't I bring my own guy?
You know, whatever.
And I'm sitting in the green room and I'm going, oh, that's a good bit.
Oh, that's a fun...
Oh, the crowd's going to do it.
And I'm going, this guy's got it.
joe rogan
Yeah.
michael kosta
And then six months later, I was like watching his special, right?
Or it wasn't maybe a year later, but yeah.
I mean, that's a great example.
He's a funny dude.
joe rogan
Yeah, it's a great example of what can be done with social media today.
michael kosta
There's a lot of bad ones.
joe rogan
Like from Kill Tony, where they do one minute.
And a lot of these one minute clips get put into reels.
And then these guys are getting huge responses for this.
And now they're doing the Killers of Kill Tony, where they're selling out these huge places.
So it's amazing what can be done.
michael kosta
But they don't have an act.
joe rogan
Some of them do.
Like Ari Matty's 12 years in.
He was doing stand-up in Australia.
I actually worked with him in Australia in like 2016, I think.
Somewhere around then.
2015, somewhere around then.
So Ari's been at it for a long time.
So he's really good.
He's a really solid comic.
So he's headlining now because of this.
But there's guys that are in it four or five years, and they don't really have an act yet, but they have a couple of good jokes.
But they'll figure it out.
They'll figure it out.
But you don't want to figure all of it out on video in front of the whole world.
michael kosta
That's what it is now.
I'm so thankful that as soon as I could, I posted my first set on the internet.
But that was seven years in.
You couldn't even do it.
I would have done it too soon.
I mean, it still was too soon.
joe rogan
But it's okay.
You know, look, you go back and watch my first episodes of this podcast.
They were fucking terrible.
I encourage everybody to go back and watch them.
Dog shit.
Nobody would watch it.
michael kosta
Where does one watch the first?
joe rogan
I bet they're on YouTube.
michael kosta
They're on somewhere.
joe rogan
They're somewhere.
It's everywhere.
But, like, when we first started doing it, I mean, there was no production value.
I was boring.
And then you figure out how to do it.
It's like stand-up.
It's everything else.
Go back and watch someone's first amateur fight.
They were terrible.
They make mistakes.
michael kosta
It is very beautiful to watch.
People get better at stuff.
There's a female tennis player right now named Andrieva.
I forget how to pronounce her first name, but I just watched her at Indian Wells, and I saw her four years ago at the French Open.
Everyone was saying, she's about to watch Andrieva, and I'm like, this is a child that doesn't know how to play the sport.
Why are we talking about her?
I watched her last week in absolute nightmare of a beast.
You know, hitting the ball, the movement, her shape.
And it was like, oh, every day she got better.
And to see that was nuts.
I always go back and watch, oh my god, Novak Djokovic's first Grand Slam, when he's got the worst haircut and the baggy shirt, and the backhand was looking different.
Now, it's just amazing to see how these athletes evolve, and I'm sure it's the same for fighters you mentioned it was.
joe rogan
Sure, yeah.
michael kosta
I love seeing that.
joe rogan
Yeah, well, tennis is like all things, right?
michael kosta
Yes.
joe rogan
When you really do it, then you can truly appreciate people who are great.
michael kosta
Yes.
joe rogan
Like, there's so many things that are like, like in martial arts, it's a big, like, especially...
When things go to the ground, a lot of times people don't understand how difficult a specific maneuver is, like how he did that, how he baited him with that, and then you have to, like, there's certain things I watch where I'm like, oh my god, does everybody appreciate this?
That was insane!
It's a language.
michael kosta
It's a language, and if you don't speak the language, I mean, when I don't speak MMA language, but that's where good commentators come in, oh, they're excited for a reason.
That was something that we don't see very often, and that helps me.
I assume that's how it works for non-tennis people when they're watching tennis.
joe rogan
Oh, I'm sure.
But I think only a person like you, who is a professional, could appreciate the technique involved and the changing of Djokovic's backstring.
michael kosta
I pause it.
I make my wife come into the living room and I say, watch this.
And she'll watch and she'll go, that was good.
And I go, are you even seeing what he did?
unidentified
He did a short slice to pull him in.
michael kosta
But it's a language that I speak.
This is life, man.
Picking these little things we have that we get passionate about is just awesome.
As I've gotten older, I used to shy away from tennis a little bit.
It's an elite sport.
It's got its own history.
And now I'm just like, I fucking love it.
I love that I'm good at it.
I love that I know it.
joe rogan
The Wookiees pushed you away from tennis?
michael kosta
No, the Wookiees that pushed you away from tennis.
unidentified
It sounds like it did.
joe rogan
It sounds like it was a little too elite.
It was a little too country club.
A little too segregated.
michael kosta
It definitely is those things.
No, I think what happens...
joe rogan
It doesn't have to be.
michael kosta
It doesn't have to be.
And that's why Serena and Venus were such a fun fuck-up to the sport.
joe rogan
Do you know the Freeway Ricky Ross story?
michael kosta
No.
joe rogan
Freeway Ricky Ross was a guy who, you know Rick Ross, the rapper?
michael kosta
Yes.
joe rogan
He named himself after a famous cocaine dealer in Los Angeles called Freeway Ricky Ross.
Freeway Ricky Ross was selling cocaine unbeknownst to him for the CIA to fund the Contras versus the Sandinistas.
michael kosta
Okay, yeah.
So this is the cocaine cowboy type stuff, isn't it?
joe rogan
Type stuff, but this was about Oliver North.
This was all about funneling money into the war.
He was a tennis player.
Like an elite tennis player.
unidentified
That's hilarious.
joe rogan
Couldn't even read.
Couldn't read.
unidentified
Yes.
joe rogan
And was this really good tennis player.
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
Who, that was like his hope for a scholarship.
michael kosta
Right.
joe rogan
Gets involved, starts selling cocaine, starts selling a lot of cocaine.
michael kosta
I'm sure.
joe rogan
Doesn't know how he's so successful because he's working with the CIA. CIA's helping him.
Goes to jail, learns how to read when he's in jail, becomes a lawyer in jail, gets himself off because they tried him on three strikes, but they did it for one incident.
So they did it incorrectly.
And so he gets out of jail.
michael kosta
So incarceration educated him to the point where he got himself out.
joe rogan
But is there origins or as a tennis player?
michael kosta
As a tennis player.
joe rogan
He's a tennis player, like a really good tennis player.
michael kosta
You know, Menendez brothers, excellent tennis players.
One of them played at UCLA. Maybe not the best example.
unidentified
I'm talking about a guy from South Central LA who can't read.
joe rogan
Just to say it's not necessarily an elite sport.
It doesn't have to be.
It's just a sport.
michael kosta
I agree.
joe rogan
And all you need is a court.
I mean, it seems pretty cheap.
You need a flat surface, a tennis racket, and a ball.
Like, let's go.
michael kosta
The kids that were beating me when I was a pro played on a dirt court.
With a rope tied between two sticks.
These South American and Russian players, it was not a money sport.
It was not a sport of money.
It was a sport of movement and competition.
And because there's no clock, you can have as much time as you want to figure out and beat down your opponent.
That gets a certain type of athlete.
I think it was Jimmy Connors who said, I didn't lose, I just ran out of time in that match.
I would have figured it out, but unfortunately he beat me.
What happened with me, I was trying to be a stand-up comic so badly that I was trying to remove the athletic stigma.
Even now, you sometimes say tennis and people kind of back up.
But as I got better at comedy and more confident in my abilities, I said, why am I shying away from the sport that I love and that is such a foundational part of me?
joe rogan
Isn't that weird that you felt like you had to move away from athletics in order to fit in in comedy?
michael kosta
That's probably a more succinct way to say it.
And the new book that's out right now, Lucky Loser, is all about how...
I'm now embracing this tennis because it gave me all the skills to actually be good in comedy.
joe rogan
Of course.
Yeah.
Discipline, realizing, like the tennis player that you were talking about, that if you do put in the work over time, the results will pay off, and you'll see it.
michael kosta
And you're alone.
joe rogan
Yeah.
michael kosta
Figure that shit out by yourself.
You're alone, and you're going to have success and failure.
When I was eight years old, I lost in the finals of the Ann Arbor Junior Open.
And I realized I was going to lose, and I started crying on the court.
And my older brother runs on the court and holds me like a child.
I'm crying.
There's a picture of that in the book.
Now as a parent, I'm going, who the fuck took that picture?
Right?
I'm just a kid crying and my brother's holding me because my parents take that picture.
joe rogan
They did it for the gram.
unidentified
But man, as a comic, holy shit, we've all felt like that.
michael kosta
Oh man, it's so personal when you fail as a comic.
joe rogan
Well, it's important to learn how to lose at things.
Everything.
Like, if you marry your high school sweetheart and you guys never broke up and that's the...
You probably missed out on me.
Congratulations on achieving the most difficult thing humanly possible that everybody admires, right?
When you meet a couple, and like, I have two friends of mine that have actually been dating since they were like 16 years old, and now they're married with kids in their 40s.
Congratulations.
But I think there's some value in getting your ass kicked.
I think there's some value in a girl saying, no, I don't even like you.
Like, no, you don't like me?
You know, I think it's good getting dumped is good.
I think all that's valuable.
I think you have to learn.
And I don't think you learn by winning all the time.
And I don't think you learn if something's easy, which is why really handsome and really beautiful people are often ridiculous in the way they behave.
michael kosta
That's true.
joe rogan
Because they have five aces.
michael kosta
Right.
joe rogan
And, you know, and they didn't earn them.
They were just born with five aces.
michael kosta
So how do you instill grit, toughness in a generation?
As a parent, I see my...
Five-year-old struggling.
I oftentimes pop in.
Let me get that for you.
You know, she's trying to do little things, trying to do the buttons on her shirt.
And I do it for her, and I think I shouldn't do it for her.
She should be struggling to do this.
But this is a big issue right now, right?
The younger generation, you hear that word grit.
How do we instill that?
joe rogan
Well, sports is a great way to do it.
unidentified
It's a great way to do it.
joe rogan
It doesn't work with everybody because some people play sports and they come out even cuntier.
Yeah, they come out more aggressive or more competitive or more psychotic in their pursuits and it just alienates everything else in their life.
michael kosta
Or it creates trauma for them.
Not real trauma, but...
joe rogan
Or real trauma.
Fucking head trauma if you're playing football.
Yeah, there's...
I think difficult things are important for kids.
It doesn't necessarily have to be that.
It could be art.
It could be music.
It could be something.
But I think there's something when you put your attention to something and realize you can get better at this thing and you find yourself in that thing and you find your potential in that thing that you focus on.
It's not necessarily that it has to define you, because oftentimes it does, unfortunately.
When people are really good at a thing, it becomes the whole essence of who they are as a person.
It's a valuable tool for elevating your human potential.
And it's also a way that you can quantify effort versus results.
And you can do that in sports and games and in chess and art and things that are difficult.
You can say, I am so much better at playing guitar now because I've been playing three hours a day for six months and look at what I can do now.
And it teaches you that if there's a thing that you really love and you focus on it, That thing, if someone does it for a living, why can't you?
Why can't you?
Why do I have to be in this fucking bullshit office in this cubicle with these stupid papers that I don't give a shit about that I have to fill out for this company that I don't give a fuck about?
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michael kosta
I agree with you.
Some things we will improve upon faster based on our natural abilities.
I loved the way DJs used to seamlessly transfer one song to the other.
Beat matching, whatever that was called.
I asked for two turntables for Christmas.
I obsessed over it.
I fucking sucked at it, dude.
I couldn't do it.
I tried so hard.
And then I'm thinking...
I pick up this tennis racket, and it all kind of clicks very quickly.
joe rogan
Well, you have a good frame for tennis, first of all.
michael kosta
Thank you.
joe rogan
So you're tall and long, which really helps.
You can reach stuff that other people can't reach.
michael kosta
You don't think I don't have a good frame for DJing?
joe rogan
Yeah, you have like a foot more space.
Look how much wider you are.
My arms are pretty long, and yours are like a foot more.
michael kosta
Dude, if Pete Sampras did this, the greatest server.
Oh, yeah.
Don't they say that this is the same height?
joe rogan
I think so.
michael kosta
I think they say that this is your height also.
joe rogan
Is that what it is?
unidentified
Yeah, it's not really.
I mean, it's your wingspan.
joe rogan
Well, I always heard that from here to here is your foot.
I saw that I'm a pretty woman.
From here to here is your foot.
michael kosta
But I mean, Pete had like...
Extra length.
joe rogan
Yes.
michael kosta
And people go, how did he get the pop on the serve?
joe rogan
Torque.
Like Tommy Hearns with his punches.
Tommy Hearns was so long and tall.
Like Deontay Wilder is another example.
Those long, tall guys.
When you have this torque.
You ever see Deontay Wilder?
michael kosta
No.
joe rogan
He's arguably the greatest one-punch knockout artist in the history of the heavyweight division.
At one point in time, he was like...
What is Deontay's record?
I think it's like 40, and he's had a few losses recently, but at one point in time, he had like 39 knockouts out of 40 fights.
michael kosta
Jesus.
joe rogan
Which is insane!
unidentified
And these are professional fighters he's knocking out, it's not me.
joe rogan
And he's undersized for the heavyweight division.
When he fought Tyson Fury, Tyson Fury was like 260, he was 209. 209. He made it to 40-0.
40-0, and...
39 of those 40 were knockouts.
Look at everybody.
Knockout, TKO, TKO, KO. He knocked out everybody.
Get the Luis Ortiz fight.
Show him the Luis Ortiz fight.
michael kosta
Forgive this extremely ignorant question.
When you say knockout, that means the guy's done.
That's not like the ref calls it.
joe rogan
TKO is the ref calls it.
Knockout is like, it's over.
Like, you got flatlined.
michael kosta
And these are guys that know how to take hits.
joe rogan
Elite guys!
Well, this guy, Luis Ortiz, was on the Cuban Olympic team.
He's a fucking elite fighter, and he was really durable.
So Deontay, see, he's the one with his back to us.
He's long and tall, but he's not giant.
He's not a big guy in comparison to a lot of these guys.
But he catches him with a right hand and flattens him.
I think this is the first time they fought, Jamie.
unidentified
Oh, you went the second one?
joe rogan
Yeah, the second one is the KO with one punch.
So he beat him up in the first fight, too.
But Ortiz is an elite boxer, and Deontay's not the best boxer.
michael kosta
Right.
joe rogan
He's just a hitter.
michael kosta
Got a hitter.
joe rogan
And he's just waiting, waiting, waiting, blam!
michael kosta
Yeah.
joe rogan
And he hits guys, and they're like, what the fuck?
Here it is.
Watch this.
michael kosta
Wow, that...
joe rogan
Yeah, it just collapses.
michael kosta
It didn't even seem like it was that hard of a hit.
joe rogan
And this is an elite heavyweight.
michael kosta
Yeah.
joe rogan
Show it again.
Show it again.
Because it's so crazy.
It's just one punch.
It's just black.
See, Wilder just waits, waits, waits.
It's all waiting.
It's not boxing.
michael kosta
Yeah, it's right.
joe rogan
He's just waiting.
Waiting for his chance.
michael kosta
Look at that record.
Right here.
Unbelievable.
joe rogan
When you got that kind of power, that is so crazy.
michael kosta
That's crazy.
That's hard for me to even wrap my head around.
joe rogan
See if they show it in the replay, because he hits him on the forehead, which is so crazy, just before that.
Watch this.
unidentified
Right there.
joe rogan
Just before it, Jamie.
Okay, here it is.
Watch this.
He hits him on the forehead, man.
michael kosta
Not punching.
unidentified
Waiting.
michael kosta
So he's just waiting.
joe rogan
He's just waiting.
He's just pawing at him with his left hand, and BAM! Oh my god, look at that.
Bro.
But it's all that torque and length and leverage and just God-given power like nobody has.
michael kosta
Jeez, and the fucking slow motion.
joe rogan
Bro, that is so crazy.
michael kosta
The slow motion camera.
joe rogan
That is so crazy.
And look at the torque.
Look at the wide shoulders and the timing and the speed and watch it just straightens out right on his fucking noggin.
Boom!
michael kosta
And the follow-through with the shoulder?
joe rogan
Oh my goodness.
michael kosta
In these sports, like mixed martial arts too, these sports aren't for me because one punch, it's done.
joe rogan
Oh yeah.
michael kosta
Meaning, I like watching that.
Meaning, I wouldn't have been a good athlete in that sport.
joe rogan
Why do you think that?
michael kosta
Well, in tennis, what I love is if you're just bombing aces, After the first set, clean slate.
We start all over again.
And in boxing, you make one mistake like that, and it's done.
joe rogan
Well, against that guy.
But that's very unusual.
Most guys can't do that.
michael kosta
They can't do that.
joe rogan
Most guys can hit you pretty hard.
michael kosta
You would take a hard hit, but you could recover.
joe rogan
That's crazy.
michael kosta
That's crazy.
joe rogan
Deontay's in a world of his own.
And he's also in a world of his own, again, because he's not big.
Like, there's Daniel Dubois.
Who is the...
I forget which division he's a champion of right now.
But he's a giant heavyweight who knocks everybody out.
But he's 255, 260, built like a tank.
Deontay's literally 40-plus pounds lighter than that.
And just one punch.
michael kosta
I liked how...
We watched a lot of that, and he hadn't even thrown a punch.
He's a hitter.
He's a hitter.
He's there to kill you.
joe rogan
He's not going to outbox you and be slick.
In fact, his movement is sometimes awkward.
He's criticized for having bad footwear.
His legs look like sticks.
He has the skinniest legs you've ever seen in your life.
It's crazy.
You look at his legs, you're like, how?
How?
But the power this guy generates is out of this world.
michael kosta
So his software during a fight is just constantly trying to find the open for one of these huge...
That's the whole time he's doing.
joe rogan
He's not boxing you.
I mean, he's boxing kind of, but he's really looking for the big one.
And you know if that big one lands, it's nighty night for everybody!
The only one who's able to survive it is Tyson Fury because he's a fucking animal.
michael kosta
Right.
joe rogan
And he rose from the dead in the 12th round of their fight where it looked like Deontay had knocked him out cold.
Deontay even went like that at the end of it.
unidentified
Oh my god.
joe rogan
Because he hit him with a right hand and then a left hook as he was going down.
And he went flat out on his back and Tyson Fury rose like the undertaker and got right back and won the rest of the round.
But that's just because he's a...
That's another very, very rare human being, Tyson Fury.
Just an animal.
michael kosta
Jesus.
joe rogan
Just an animal.
One of the greatest boxers of all time.
And one of the greatest heavyweights, without a doubt, of all time.
michael kosta
When you get hit like that, there's got to be an enormous physical pain, duh.
But then there also is like...
Don't you get scared then after a big hit?
joe rogan
Well, you get super confused.
michael kosta
You get confused because I would get scared.
joe rogan
You know, you got to kind of shake off the cobwebs, your ears are ringing, your legs don't work right anymore.
When you get knocked down, I only got TKO'd once in a kickboxing fight, and ironically, it didn't hurt.
The punch that hit me just twisted my jaw.
He hit me with a left hook, and my legs just gave out.
Like, weep!
Like, gone.
It's the craziest feeling.
It's like, it's not like you got hurt.
It's like your legs just shut off.
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
Like, he clipped me with a left hook that I didn't see in an exchange, and when you get hit on the jaw, something happens in the jaw, and I don't know what it is with the nerves behind your neck, but it just shuts everything off.
michael kosta
Right.
joe rogan
And you're conscious, which is weird.
Like, so it was completely conscious, but my legs just, like, disconnected and went down, but they reconnected right away, and I got up and I was like, oh, no.
No, I'm in trouble.
They weren't working good.
Everything wasn't working good.
And then I got dropped again.
He hit me with an uppercut and dropped me.
And then the referee stopped the fight.
Totally conscious the whole time.
But the feeling that you get when you get hit real hard is real weird.
It's like nothing works right anymore.
And you've got to get on your bike and try to move around and get everything working again.
And it might take 30 seconds before...
michael kosta
And that's that 30 seconds when he's also trained to kill you.
joe rogan
Now in the UFC... It's way more accurate because when you get knocked down, they climb on top of you and beat your fucking brains in or strangle you.
Which is really what's supposed to happen.
The whole thing of letting someone get up, what you're really doing is giving them a chance to get more damage.
michael kosta
That's true.
joe rogan
Because they can recover, but not all the way, you know, sometimes.
Sometimes a guy gets rocked early in a fight and you can tell for the whole rest of the fight they're still fucked up.
And they're very defensive.
michael kosta
So it's safer, in your opinion, the way...
UFC does it, where if you start wobbling, I'm immediately on you trying to kill you.
And then it's like, as opposed to boxing where they would get you up and you maybe...
joe rogan
I don't think either one is safe.
I think it's an unsafe sport.
It's as safe as we can make it.
We have laws of when you can hit someone, you can't hit them in the back of the head.
But it's not safe.
It's a very dangerous, very scary sport.
But I think realistically, when someone gets hurt, And someone finishes them off on the ground, that's probably less damage than they would have taken if you gave them a standing eight count, dusted their gloves off, made them move forward, and let them go back again and get really mollywalled.
You know, because a lot of times, those are where the real bad KOs come from, is when a guy's hurt and then he stands up and...
michael kosta
The only thing I can even closely compare this to is being in a car accident.
joe rogan
Yeah.
And I... Let me show you one of the greatest examples of that.
Alex Pereira, who was a two-division glory world champion.
Pull up Alex Pereira KO's Jason Wilness.
So he's like the most destructive kickboxer in the history of the sport.
And he went over to the UFC, became a two-division UFC champion.
Just lost his title last weekend in a really close fight.
Great fight.
But he hits this guy with a head kick and drops him.
And you can tell this guy's fucked.
But they give him the standing eight because he's in kickboxing, not in MMA. They give him the standing eight count, dust his gloves off.
You okay?
Come forward.
And then he gets hit with a flying knee on the chin and just sent into the shadow realm.
michael kosta
Right.
joe rogan
And it didn't need to happen this way.
And this is what happens when you take a guy who's like really rocked and kind of fucked.
So watch this.
So he catches him with a head kick.
By the way, Jason Welles had beaten him twice before, so he drops him with the left hand.
Is this the first fight?
Or is this the head kick?
I don't know.
I don't know if this is the one.
I think this is the one when they went back and forth.
I don't think this is the one where he KOs him.
I think this is the one where he drops him.
Yeah, try to find the later one.
This is it.
This is the one, because I can tell by his haircut.
Pereira, at this time, was the champion, and he was getting revenge on Willness, who had beaten him before, and stopped him with low kicks in one of their fights.
So he head kicks him.
unidentified
Boom!
joe rogan
So right now, he's fucked.
In MMA, he would follow up, beat him a couple times, and that would be it.
But Willness is like, they're giving him a chance to clear his head.
michael kosta
And you're coached to get up immediately, show that you're okay.
joe rogan
Yeah, and he's like, move forward, then watch this.
unidentified
Boom!
michael kosta
Oh my god!
joe rogan
That's the kind of shit that happens when you're really already fucked.
So he can hit you with this flying scissor knee right on the chin.
michael kosta
What the fuck is that, dude?
joe rogan
And he's the most ferocious knockout artist literally in the history of the sport.
michael kosta
Look at this.
joe rogan
On the chin.
michael kosta
And that's like legal and everything.
joe rogan
Oh, yeah.
It's encouraged.
It's not just legal.
It's celebrated.
That's one of the greatest techniques in the history of the sport.
And Alex Pereira, that's how he won his first UFC fight.
He won with that.
Want to see another nasty one?
Pull up Pereira, Kaos, Michaelitis.
michael kosta
You want to see another nasty one?
joe rogan
So this is Pereira's first entrance into the UFC, and I'm a giant fan of kickboxing.
So I watch Muay Thai, I watch Dutch kickboxing, I watch Glory, I watch everything I can about kickboxing, and I knew this guy was really special.
So I was completely hyping him up in this first UFC fight.
I'm like, just watch.
And he...
He came through in flying colors and he came through with that flying knee and it's it's so nuts the amount of power this guy can generate and With punches and with kicks, but with a flying knee you have so much torque You're literally throwing your body weight up into the air.
michael kosta
So how do you avoid a flying knee?
Just step out of the way?
joe rogan
It's in the second round Jamie, so it's right after this Like right at the beginning of the second round.
Yeah, so they start the second round and he's like fuck this dude.
I'm just gonna Catch him coming in and flatline him.
This is...
Watch this.
I mean, this is nutty.
Here it is.
unidentified
Oof.
Oh my god That is so fast He's such a fucking animal.
joe rogan
He's such a monster, dude.
michael kosta
You can't block that.
joe rogan
You just try to get the fuck out of the way of that.
You don't want to block that because you certainly should block it rather than take it on the chin.
But once he's in the air like that, if that catches your arms, it could break your forearm.
I mean, the amount of power that's involved in that particular technique is fucking extraordinary.
Because it's a natural movement of your hips.
It's a thing that you do your whole life, running and jumping.
So you can explode very quickly.
And you're hitting someone with your knee, which is the most immobile part.
If you want to hit someone with a joint, it's elbows and knees, but the knees...
Preferable.
michael kosta
But aren't you putting yourself in a vulnerable position to throw a flying knee?
joe rogan
Yeah, you gotta wait till a guy's fucked.
And that's what he does.
He waits till you're fucked.
michael kosta
Because you are jumping in the air, exposing yourself.
So what I would do is I would move out of the way, Joe, and then I would pop him.
joe rogan
But some guys are just really good.
Like John Jones, when he won the light heavyweight title, one of the craziest things that John did, he was 22 years old, and he's fighting Mauricio Shogun Hua, who is a legend.
He was a light heavyweight champion.
He was a legend of this organization called...
He's a real legend of the sport.
And Jon opens with a flying knee.
Opens.
First move.
Flying knee.
Catches him.
And then just beats the shit out of him and wins the title and becomes the youngest ever UFC champion.
michael kosta
That's a great name.
joe rogan
Watch this.
This is the beginning of the fight.
Now, Shogun is, like I said, he's a fucking legend and a knockout artist.
And Jon starts right away.
Boom!
Flying knee to open up the fight.
And just put on a clinic.
Put on a clinic and won the title at 22 years of age.
michael kosta
That's a ballsy move to start with that.
joe rogan
He's a ballsy motherfucker.
michael kosta
Yeah, that's a big swing right out of the gate.
joe rogan
Yeah, that's a crazy move.
But some guys can pull it off, and it helps being tall.
Like, Alex is very tall.
John's tall, so it's hard to hit their chin.
But, you know, it doesn't always work.
Like, sometimes guys do it and they get knocked out cold.
michael kosta
How does your fucking kneecap not break, too?
joe rogan
It doesn't.
No, your kneecap versus chin.
I'll take kneecap all day long.
Especially when your knee's bent and you're hitting them with this part right here.
You can hit that pretty hard on things.
You'd be surprised.
michael kosta
I have so much respect for these athletes, and I'm also...
I can't be far enough away from it.
joe rogan
Want to see it go wrong?
I want to show you the flying knee go wrong.
Pull up Fedor Emelianenko versus...
Oh, Andrey Arlovsky, I'm sorry.
michael kosta
You want to see a flying knee go wrong?
joe rogan
Yeah, Andrey Arlovsky, Fedor Milianenko.
So this is, Andrey Arlovsky was actually winning this fight, and he actually was kind of tuning Fedor up, and he was hitting him with some big shots, and he got a little crazy.
And he leapt in with a flying knee and got flatlined.
michael kosta
Well, that's what I'm, that's...
joe rogan
This is what you would do.
michael kosta
That's what I was thinking.
This is what I would do.
No, but I was thinking, this is a vulnerable position.
You don't want to be in the air.
joe rogan
True.
So he's fighting the guy with the bald head.
That's Fedor Emelianenko, who's a legend.
So watch Arlovsky.
He catches him with a kick.
He's feeling cocky.
Tries the flying knee.
michael kosta
Boom!
Oh, shit.
joe rogan
Flatlined.
But he's fighting, and Fedor, that's literally the greatest heavyweight of all time.
If not one of the greatest, like, there's the argument that he's the greatest.
So he catches him on the chin as he's leaping in.
Like, perfect punch.
michael kosta
So the guy with the beard thought...
joe rogan
He thought he was vulnerable.
He was beating his ass a little bit.
michael kosta
And he made a mistake.
joe rogan
And he tried to come in cocky with a flying knee, and he got clipped on the jaw.
michael kosta
And as soon as he gets hit, you just see his flying knee knee just drop.
joe rogan
Also, you've got to think where Fedor threw that punch, because Fedor knew he was going in the air.
This is like the reads this guy's able to get.
He sees Arlovsky make a motion, like bend at the knees, like he's going to launch himself.
So if you look at where he punches him, he punches him so high up in the air, so he knew where his head was going to be.
Look at that.
Look how high he's...
See it?
He's ducked down, and Orlovsky's way up in the air, and he catches him perfectly on the chin.
That is just an understanding of positioning, where a guy's going to be, and what the timing of your punch is.
michael kosta
This is reminding me of the way Roger Federer would notice his opponent would...
Quarter of an inch, open up his grip on the run, and Roger would know, forehand slice is coming, I'll sneak in and pop.
And now it's a much different sport, obviously.
unidentified
Really?
michael kosta
But it's reading...
joe rogan
Just the grip?
michael kosta
Yeah, dude, if you just...
Typically, he does it like this, and this time, he's doing it tiny...
Boom.
Wow.
What's so different about tennis, obviously, is then you just volleyball for a winner.
It's 15 love.
joe rogan
You don't get head kicked.
michael kosta
You don't get fucking knocked out.
I mean, this is why this shit fascinates me, but...
joe rogan
Well, the consequences are so great that people look at it as a barbaric, horrific thing, which is valid.
I understand why pacifists and people who are very peaceful don't want to have anything to do with violence.
I get it.
But what it is to me is the ultimate problem solving.
It's problem solving.
You have a person in front of you that is doing all these things to try to throw you off.
They're feinting you, they're moving, they're switching stances, they're shooting in for takedowns that they don't want so they can catch you with a punch on the way in.
There's so many variables you have to think about.
So it's just like high-level problem solving with dire physical consequences.
michael kosta
I love sport because it teaches life lessons with very low stakes.
In these sports, there's high stakes.
And that's very interesting for me because I would much rather my kid play soccer or tennis, learn some important lessons with low stakes.
But this type of thing, that is serious stakes, man.
joe rogan
It is serious stakes.
I think kids, especially boys, should all learn how to fight so that they don't ever fight.
That's what I think.
michael kosta
I, as a 45-year-old grown man, I wish I would have learned how to fight.
joe rogan
Yeah.
michael kosta
And I think it's probably not too late.
joe rogan
It's not too late.
michael kosta
I know you got a gym over here.
joe rogan
Yeah, I was telling you, you could get into jiu-jitsu.
You'd be great at it.
You have long limbs, you're athletic.
michael kosta
So that's what I should be doing.
joe rogan
Long limbs are huge for jiu-jitsu because there's certain things that you'll be able to catch that other people can't catch with shorter limbs, like a Darce choke.
So a Darce choke is, so say if you come to grab me and you have your head here and your arm wraps around me like this, I can shove my arm under like this.
Go off the side of your neck and clamp it like this, and now I've got you in a wicked choke.
It's called a Darce choke.
You will be way better at that than me, because you have an extra six inches that you could seal this thing up.
So your hand will go further than mine.
You'll be able to grab it deeper than I can.
michael kosta
Dude, I'm writing down Darce choke.
joe rogan
Yeah.
And what I'll do tonight on my YouTube is I'll watch some Darce chokes, and I... And then you do it the other way, it's an anaconda.
So you either go armpit this way, it's a darse, or you go head this way, armpit that way, it's an anaconda.
And with the anaconda, you roll like an anaconda and you squeeze them deeper into the choke.
michael kosta
And I just squeeze until the referee says it's over.
joe rogan
And your long legs, you could wrap around their body to secure them in place.
You could grab ahold of one of their legs so they can't turn away from you.
You could turn into them and fucking keep the squeeze on.
michael kosta
Dude, you'd be wicked at it.
In a competition, that happens until the ref calls it?
joe rogan
The person taps out most of the time.
unidentified
They tap out.
joe rogan
Most of the time you tap out.
Because you know it's over.
You know it's over.
If you're a psycho, you go to sleep.
And there are a lot of psychos who just let people choke them unconscious.
That happens all the time.
Guys just say, fuck it.
I'm going to get choked unconscious.
And they just go out.
michael kosta
And then the referee stops you.
joe rogan
Hopefully.
But sometimes the referees miss it.
And sometimes someone's out for like seconds.
While someone's still fucking squeezing the shit out of their neck.
And then the referee finally figures.
michael kosta
I do absolutely love that in these sports there's this extreme violence, high stakes, but then also a simple tap.
joe rogan
Yes.
michael kosta
Is a mutual agreement.
joe rogan
100%.
michael kosta
That's fucking awesome.
joe rogan
And if you don't stop when someone taps, you will get kicked out of the sport.
michael kosta
Yeah.
joe rogan
There's a guy named Usamar Paul Harris who was one of the scariest motherfuckers to ever fight because he was a leg lock specialist.
unidentified
Okay.
joe rogan
And what he would do is rip your knees apart.
And he wouldn't let go when you tapped.
And he got kicked out of the UFC for it.
unidentified
Wow.
joe rogan
Because he did it to so many people.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
He was known for not letting go.
michael kosta
Right.
joe rogan
And these guys would be screaming in agony and slapping and tapping.
michael kosta
Saying I'm out.
joe rogan
And he would be still twisting.
He was built like a human pit bull.
He was like 5'7", 185 pounds of solid muscle.
And he would just dive on your legs and roll into these positions and rip your knees apart.
Like with a heel hook.
A heel hook is so terrible because your knee has a lot of strength going forward and backwards.
But it has almost none going side to side.
So they isolate the top of it with their legs.
They wrap the heel into the crook of their elbow.
And then they wrench that motherfucker apart.
It's literally twisting your knee apart.
Terrifying.
michael kosta
Oh my god.
joe rogan
And he cripples people.
Like, you are fucked.
He'll tear your ACL, your MCL, your meniscus.
You're gonna go a whole year before you can fight again.
You're gonna have to get surgery to reconstruct your knee.
And then your knee's never gonna be the same because your meniscus is shot now.
And maybe some of your cartilage.
unidentified
So this is him.
michael kosta
I don't know.
I don't know.
Oh, I don't know.
joe rogan
So this is a fight that he had against David Avalon, and this is fucked because they stop the motion and they put him back into the same position.
And when they put him back into the same position, he doesn't let go.
So he holds on to the heel hook and just wrenches the fucking shit out.
Like this right here.
He let go there.
He let go there because I think they were chastising him to make sure.
Look at that.
michael kosta
Look at what he does.
I don't want to look really.
joe rogan
And look at the build on this guy.
Paul Harris was a fucking specimen.
michael kosta
And he's trying to turn the knee sideways.
joe rogan
He's ripping this shit apart right here, man.
He's pulling it backwards.
It's backwards and at a slight angle.
I mean, this is horrific.
And look at the build on Paul Harris.
Imagine the fucking force.
The size of this guy's legs.
The size of his torso.
And perfect technique.
And he's just ripping his fucking knee apart.
That's a nasty knee bar right there.
That's so horrible to watch.
But in MMA, he wound up getting kicked out of the UFC. Because I think it was Mike Pierce.
See if you can find the Mike Pierce fight.
It might not have been Pierce at one of these fights.
michael kosta
I love that the tap...
joe rogan
Generally speaking, it does.
Yeah, of course.
But in this case, the Mike Pierce one, he's screaming and tapping, and Paul Harrods is still ripping it apart.
michael kosta
I mean, one of my favorite parts of tennis is how they'll battle for five and a half hours, and then they calmly walk.
joe rogan
So here it is, look.
michael kosta
He's tapping.
joe rogan
Watch.
So he gets it, he's tapping, and he won't let go.
He's still, when the referee's on him, he's still yanked on it.
So that extra second will just rip your shit apart.
So he taps immediately.
unidentified
See?
joe rogan
None of this has to happen.
He was tapping immediately.
michael kosta
I feel like the ref was on that.
joe rogan
I know, but it's like Paul Harris doesn't give a fuck.
He's out for blood.
I mean, he had a crazy childhood.
He grew up on a farm with no food.
He's feral.
He's feral.
And he's super technical.
michael kosta
Which would serve you, I'm sure.
joe rogan
Oh, yeah.
Well, until you get kicked out of the sport.
michael kosta
God, it's incredibly violent, but also systematic in its understanding of the human body.
joe rogan
Oh, yeah.
michael kosta
We're going to know that the knee doesn't go this way.
joe rogan
No, it's really, really technical.
michael kosta
All sports are like this, actually.
joe rogan
Yeah, I think all sports at the highest levels, they have to be like that.
Because you only get so far with genetics and so far with natural speed and endurance.
There's certain aspects of it that require a careful, considered study.
michael kosta
And wouldn't you, if you know your opponent is a guy that likes to do the...
Wouldn't you then in your training work on defending that and also making sure your knee can withstand more of that than normal?
joe rogan
No, you're not going to be able to do that.
michael kosta
There's no special knee pill you can take.
joe rogan
You've got to tap when you get into those positions, and then you've got to make sure that you don't get into those positions, which is the most important thing.
michael kosta
The tapping must be so humbling as a fighter because you've trained so hard, you want to win so badly, and yet you have to do this thing.
You have to press the eject button.
joe rogan
Well, hopefully you will tap because guys haven't tapped and they've gotten their arms broken in half.
And I've seen quite a few of those, including legends like Frank Mir one time.
michael kosta
Too much pride you mean to tap?
joe rogan
Yeah.
michael kosta
Yeah.
joe rogan
Because he fought Antonio Noguera, who was another legend who was former heavyweight champion of pride.
And he caught him in a Kimura and snapped his upper arm.
And we watched his arm crack and then go limp.
And you could see like where it was cracked up here.
Oh, it was horrific.
michael kosta
That's terrible.
joe rogan
So hard to watch.
michael kosta
When you're commentating, are you...
Present moment completely?
Oh, yeah.
joe rogan
100%.
unidentified
Locked in.
michael kosta
You're not thinking like...
It's not like these baseball commentators were like, I got a story I'll tell later in this.
joe rogan
No.
michael kosta
No, because it is that.
joe rogan
Yeah, great.
Especially not while the actual fight is going on.
The actual fight is life and death.
You have to be locked in.
But Daniel Cormier, my...
So there's like two color commentators, me and Daniel Cormier, and there's John Anik, who's the play-by-play guy.
Me and Daniel fuck around a lot.
We joke around a lot about stuff.
Because he's like a fun guy.
But when things are serious, we're serious.
You have to be like, you know, this is like, you're representing these people's hard work.
You're trying to like put words to...
michael kosta
I love that.
joe rogan
Yeah.
You have to be very serious about it.
michael kosta
Because the stakes are so high.
And it's wild, though, that people might know you.
If they're just being introduced to you as the commentator for that and maybe don't know the other stuff and What's confusing for sure, but it's also like it's one of the things that I'm most Impressed with by what you do is as someone that has this passion for tennis.
I'm like It's so cool.
You dive into a completely different world.
joe rogan
Yeah We just can't apologize for it.
You can't wonder what other people think about it.
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
You just have to be yourself.
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
And I grew up a martial artist.
michael kosta
Right.
joe rogan
Martial arts is an enormous part of my life.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
It's an enormous part of like how I became who I am.
michael kosta
Yeah.
joe rogan
So for me, like commentating on martial arts is normal.
michael kosta
You're not a comedian who then...
Right.
joe rogan
No.
michael kosta
You switched over to martial arts because it served you.
It's your foundation of who you are, and you also happen to be a comedian and podcast host.
joe rogan
Yeah, but I'm not interested in being funny.
I'm just trying to do that.
I've done commentary on professional pool, too.
michael kosta
Whoa.
joe rogan
Because I play pool, and I play pretty good.
So I really understand the game, and I know what's going on.
So I've done commentary on that, too.
It's the same thing.
michael kosta
What's your favorite pool movie?
The Hustler.
joe rogan
The only answer to that question is The Hustler.
michael kosta
I thought The Color of Money had a run.
joe rogan
It's okay.
The Color of Money is good.
It's a good tournament movie.
There's some things in it, and because Paul Newman was in it, it kind of gave it some...
Validity.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Because it was the same Walter Tevis novel as The Hustler, The Color of Money.
It was very different.
The book was very different, though.
But, yeah, The Color of Money was great because it got a lot of people playing pool again.
But The Hustler is just an amazing film.
Like, the actual film itself is amazing.
It's like, Piper Laurie is incredible in it.
It's just...
George C. Scott is in it.
Jackie Gleason plays Minnesota Fats.
By the way, Jackie Gleason was a real pool player.
He's probably the only guy that's ever played a pool player in a movie that really could play.
michael kosta
My brother once got a book for Christmas called How to Hustle Your Friends a Pool.
It was in our basement.
We had a pool table.
But it was one of those things, same, that I worked at it, I could never get it right, and eventually other things came more naturally to me.
But it is fun.
joe rogan
Pool is something that if you really want to play right, you have to get coached.
michael kosta
Okay.
joe rogan
Yeah.
It's just like tennis, I'm sure.
It's like you can develop some bad habits and bad fundamentals that you're never going to pass a certain level of play.
But I think it's like everything.
I think it's like chess.
It's like tennis.
It's like Schultz was in here the other day, and he's into this sport, Paddle.
Have you seen Paddle?
michael kosta
Is this P-A-D-E-L? Yes.
Paddle?
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Oh, is it Paddle?
michael kosta
I've heard Padel.
unidentified
It depends on how pretentious you want to be.
michael kosta
Perfect, of course.
unidentified
Or if you're Spanish.
joe rogan
Oh, did they say Padel?
Oh, well, why don't we call it Padel then?
unidentified
It's because Schultz said that's what they said.
joe rogan
He said paddle, like a New Yorker.
michael kosta
Yeah, so, you know, tennis has had this great historical run on elite racquet sports, and then pickleball has been this counter-response to tennis.
Ball, loud noise, don't really have to move much.
And pickleball's been taking off.
I don't know if you've played or if you've seen it.
joe rogan
Kid Rock plays every day.
michael kosta
Okay, perfect.
joe rogan
He gets up at 8 in the morning and plays pickleball with his trainer.
michael kosta
That is exactly my point.
I was in Scottsdale, Arizona recently.
I did an hour of pickleball.
The community there had music going, cracking beers.
Costa, come over, play with us.
Very fun.
I then go over to the other side and play tennis, which is my sport.
And no joke, this older couple says, you're talking too loudly on the courts, right?
It's this beautiful dichotomy of these two sports.
I don't know if pickleball's a sport.
But Padel comes along and seems to be this middle ground.
What I don't like about pickleball is you get to what they call the kitchen line and you can't move anymore.
You're frozen.
So you just stand there frozen and you knock the ball around.
I like a sport.
I want 360-degree movement.
I don't want the dimensions of the court to restrict my movement or the rules of the game.
Padel seems to be both.
It's tennis, but it's in this box, and they sometimes run outside of the box.
joe rogan
Yeah, they run outside the box.
michael kosta
I mean, it's fucking insane, and I've actually never played, but the points never end because you're on this...
joe rogan
I just see people blowing their ACLs out.
michael kosta
He's going outside the box.
joe rogan
I know, that's nuts.
That is nuts.
michael kosta
So it almost seems gimmicky to me.
That's funny that Andrew plays.
unidentified
But...
michael kosta
I would like to play this.
And look, you know, also, one of the best things that happened for racquet sports is HDTV, dude.
When you were a kid watching Jimmy Connors and John Mack, you'd never even see the fucking ball.
It was the same color as the court.
And this shit now is unbelievable to watch.
joe rogan
That's like what they've done with hockey, where they highlight the puck.
michael kosta
I love that shit.
joe rogan
That's a game changer.
Now I know what's going on.
michael kosta
At first people made fun of it, and I was like, I need...
And in hockey with the...
Substitution's on the fly.
I never know who the fuck's on the ice.
unidentified
Yeah.
michael kosta
I love that though.
I love that they do that.
That's so cool.
joe rogan
I've been watching professional lacrosse lately.
Once I realized they could beat the fuck out of each other.
I didn't know that they could fight like they do in hockey.
michael kosta
I didn't know they could fight.
joe rogan
They fight and they wear shoes, which is crazy.
Because now you're bare knuckle boxing in the middle of a game.
michael kosta
What does the shoes have to do with it?
What do you mean?
joe rogan
You get grip.
michael kosta
Oh, you mean like a cleated shoe?
joe rogan
Well, the difference between running around on ice skates, you're sliding around.
The fighting is like, yeah, they're fighting, but they're kind of compromised because they can't really like, you know, good skaters can kind of hold.
It's not like having grip with your shoes and being able to really, you can really hurt people.
They're beating the shit out of each other.
I'm like, wow.
unidentified
Lacrosse always kind of had the like douchey.
michael kosta
Rich kids sport, but it is incredibly...
unidentified
They stopped doing this in the 90s.
michael kosta
Yeah, I was going to say, they stopped doing this.
I don't watch hockey.
My favorite...
joe rogan
I thought they put a circle around it when it flies around.
michael kosta
It got a lot of pushback, but I always enjoyed it.
joe rogan
Sorry.
unidentified
Sorry, hockey people.
It might show it sometimes in a highlight.
joe rogan
That's funny.
I always avoided winter sports when I was a kid.
I didn't learn how to ski until I was in my 40s.
And I never learned how to ice skate.
Because I was fighting all the time.
So I didn't want to do anything that would hurt myself doing.
And everybody was like, we're going to go skiing.
I was like, uh-uh.
Get the fuck out of here.
I need these.
It was super important.
unidentified
This got everybody excited, though, a few weeks ago.
michael kosta
The USA-Canada game.
joe rogan
There was nine fights in three times.
unidentified
They just started squaring off.
joe rogan
Yeah, why are we upset at Canada?
Is this over tariffs?
Yes, 100%.
They booed us over tariffs.
unidentified
They got a ton of attention.
joe rogan
Who's red and who's blue?
Well, Canada's red.
There you go.
Who's winning this exchange?
unidentified
Red, white, and blue is America.
joe rogan
One dude keeps his helmet on.
That's ridiculous.
That helmet's a problem.
michael kosta
I do love when you hear their microphones during a fight and they fight and then they go like, you ready to be done?
Yeah, I'm ready to be done.
I love that.
I was at the comic strip in Edmonton years ago when Canada played US in the gold medal game.
Someone sent me the country's water usage.
During that game.
And at every period end, the water usage would go up because everyone would go to the bathroom.
unidentified
Right.
michael kosta
And it was like the whole fucking country went to the bathroom at the same time.
And Canada won.
I think it was in overtime.
I was the only American there.
But, man, do they love a good winter sport up there.
joe rogan
We've got to become friends with Canada again.
We have to, like, you know.
michael kosta
I'm down.
joe rogan
This is so ridiculous.
I can't believe that there's, like, anti-American and anti-Canadian sentiment going on.
It's the dumbest fucking feud.
michael kosta
There it is.
joe rogan
That's nuts.
michael kosta
Look at the water consumption.
joe rogan
That's crazy.
michael kosta
I love on this pod where if I say something, I gotta be ready for you guys to fact check my ass.
joe rogan
Jamie's ready.
michael kosta
Is there anti-Canadian sentiment?
joe rogan
Yeah, there's a lot of idiots that now think that they're our fucking enemy.
Why are we subsidizing Canada?
Well, they don't have their own military.
Well, they don't, so let's just deal with it as it is.
michael kosta
You know, Trudeau is out, right?
He's already leaving.
joe rogan
Yeah, they got a new guy who's just as bad.
michael kosta
Same thing!
joe rogan
They got a new party, 150 people voted, and now they have a new guy running the country.
But their whole election system is so different.
They don't have a specific time when they have elections.
michael kosta
They can call an election, and I think it happens within three weeks.
joe rogan
The whole thing is so crazy.
And so, I don't know what's happening with their politics, but I just want America and Canada to get along.
I think it's ridiculous.
michael kosta
It's a good, as someone who's from Ann Arbor, Michigan, you know.
joe rogan
I don't really think they should be our 51st state.
There, I said it.
michael kosta
You said it?
It's on record.
joe rogan
It would be fun if it happened.
It would be fun.
I think Greenland's more accessible.
michael kosta
Yeah.
joe rogan
You could probably buy that.
michael kosta
Yeah.
joe rogan
If you want a 51st state, it's Greenland.
Plus, if global warming is real because of all the digging and oil and all that shit, you know, it'd be good to have a cold spot to eventually warm up.
michael kosta
I just read this crazy book called Power Metals by Vince.
Bizer, possibly.
We had him on the show, Daily Show.
And it's all about, like, minerals and metals and what we need for our batteries and cobalt mining in Africa.
And I went down all this YouTube shit with, like, the child, you know, labor and all.
But very, I was very ignorant to how much we need and use metals.
Nickel, copper, you know, wild.
Batteries, EVs, everything.
And so then when the news came out that Trump wanted Greenland, I was like, oh, this is starting to make more sense to me now.
joe rogan
There's a lot of stuff up there.
There's also a lot of stuff in the sky.
If they can mine asteroids, if they can successfully figure out how to mine asteroids, they can get a lot of precious minerals from asteroids.
michael kosta
Let's fucking do that.
joe rogan
Yeah, well, that's a few decades away, but they'll figure it out eventually.
They've been able to get samples from asteroids, and they know what the composites are.
And there's asteroids out there that are...
They're filled with trillions of dollars in minerals.
michael kosta
That is fucking nuts.
joe rogan
I know, it's nuts.
Yeah, and they can figure it out.
They will.
They'll eventually figure it out.
But I had Siddharth Kara on, who has done some pretty brilliant and brave investigative work on the cobalt mines.
And he took video of what they call artisanal mines.
It's essentially slaves digging this stuff out of the ground with their babies on their back.
This is from Siddharth's book.
I mean, this is fucking crazy.
And they're digging the cobalt out of the ground literally with sticks.
Everybody's breathing it in.
It's all toxic.
These women have babies on their back.
The babies are breathing it in.
michael kosta
And then there's these pools, right, that you put the water, and it's toxic water, and the pools are different colors.
And we don't know where this goes, and the water seeps in.
And is this also, I can get the new iPhone 14 Max or whatever the fuck it is?
joe rogan
100%.
That's exactly what it is.
It's terrible.
It's the only way we're getting that stuff.
michael kosta
Right.
joe rogan
It's most of the cobalts coming from that area.
And it's also then you go to the actual construction of the phone itself and you see those factories, those Foxconn factories where they have nets around them to keep people from jumping off the roofs.
And you realize these people are working in these horrific conditions so that you can get an iPhone that costs $13.99 instead of $15.99 or whatever the fuck it would be if it was made in America with people paid a working wage and health care.
All the stuff you're supposed to get if you're going to be working.
Especially if you have a company like Apple that's worth more than any corporation ever.
Like, Apple's insanely profitable.
michael kosta
So we did this piece at The Daily Show once about the sugar cane agriculture in the central Florida.
They over-fertilize it.
It makes more sugar faster.
All of the fertilization goes down to Lake Okeechobee, then goes out to the oceans where the algae blooms, the manatees die, da-da-da.
And I'm just going, I think most people would pay an extra 25 cents a year for this not to happen to spend more on sugar.
Why are we doing this?
I would pay more to have my iPhone be made in America by American hands.
joe rogan
Yeah, we've talked about that, but the problem is the infrastructure that's required to be able to build phones here is a decade away.
It takes a long time to build the kind of factories that can have the tolerances of these chips.
They've been doing it in China forever.
michael kosta
So most of- I mean, I was loading my kids in the car, put my phone on top of my car because I didn't have an extra hand, forget it's there, driving through Pennsylvania.
Yeah, and it's gone.
I hear it's bop, bop, bop all over the highway.
It's bouncing.
I stop.
I finally find my phone in the woods, and 911 is on the phone.
unidentified
Whoa.
michael kosta
We recognized that there was a crash.
Are you okay?
joe rogan
Holy shit.
michael kosta
And I'm like, how the fuck?
What?
joe rogan
Holy shit.
michael kosta
That's in this thing?
joe rogan
Yeah.
That's pretty wild.
michael kosta
It's wild.
joe rogan
It's also watching everything you do and listening to all your conversations and recommending Google searches.
Why don't you buy this, Michael?
Hey, Michael, maybe you'd be interested in buying this.
It seems like you were interested.
You were talking about vacation homes in Hawaii.
Look, Michael.
michael kosta
What about when you've already bought it?
That is weird.
joe rogan
Yeah, it's weird.
michael kosta
When it's feeding me a thing, I'm in the algorithm.
joe rogan
Yeah, you get sucked into the algorithm.
It's an interesting world that we live in with all that stuff.
Because it's like you're constantly getting inundated.
That's one of the things that I really enjoy about podcasts.
It's the one time for three hours a day where I don't look at my phone.
I don't have any text coming in.
It's on do not disturb.
I don't care.
michael kosta
I mean, that could arguably be why maybe you have this supernatural memory and brain power.
Because you, more than anybody, probably...
In the world, maybe United States, are actually away from this for four hours just talking.
That could be interesting.
Did I just crack something?
joe rogan
That's something, maybe something to that, but I think it's just the sheer volume of people that I've talked to.
It's like you're getting information.
michael kosta
But you're retaining a lot of that.
joe rogan
I've always been good at that for some reason.
michael kosta
I mean, you just referenced the guest you had in the previous book.
joe rogan
Yeah.
michael kosta
Are you retaining, are you doing a trick or anything to retain that?
joe rogan
No.
michael kosta
You're just locked in and engaged.
joe rogan
Yeah.
I take supplements from memory, too, though.
I take AlphaBrain, which is called a nootropic.
michael kosta
I saw it out there.
joe rogan
You can grab something.
michael kosta
I didn't want to be too sharp for the pod.
unidentified
No, get in there.
joe rogan
You have that thing, that vending machine.
You get free AlphaBrain.
You just press the button.
michael kosta
How many pods do you get free AlphaBrain on?
That's pretty sick.
joe rogan
Any one you want.
But that stuff's legit.
It really works.
That was from...
I had already had experience with nootropics because there's a company called Neuro One.
And Bill Romanowski, the football player, developed it because he was having memory problems after all the hits.
And I was on a radio show in San Francisco, and one of the guys was working out with Bill Romanowski, and he started taking this Neuro One.
He's like, dude, I'm so much more focused.
It's really great.
I'm like, okay, let me try this.
And I was like, oh, this is legit.
I feel like my mind feels clearer.
I feel like I have more thought energy, if that makes any sense.
So then we started experimenting with different ones.
There's a bunch I like.
One of them is this company, Neuro.
These are mints, Neuro mints, but they make Neuro gum, which I'm a big fan of.
I chew it all the time.
It's gum that has a little bit of caffeine and a little bit of theanine in it.
michael kosta
What's the...
The goal, just to kind of keep the brain energy high?
joe rogan
Yes.
Yeah, you want to provide your brain with the nutrients your brain needs to produce human neurotransmitters.
michael kosta
All right, I'm going to take this.
Maybe we'll do like a before or after.
joe rogan
That, you know, is mine.
I usually take two.
michael kosta
Okay.
joe rogan
I'm going to take the mints.
But they're legit.
So this is one.
NeuroGum's another one.
TrueBrain is another one that I've tried.
It's really good.
It's like little packets you drink.
michael kosta
I've found...
I just assumed it was like kids and age and...
Getting older that I'll lose my train of thought more often than I ever have before.
Oh, yeah.
And I hate it.
Writing a joke, it's not fun.
And everything I read says, like, keep exercising, get blood flow in your body, maybe sauna helps.
Sleep's a big one.
Isn't it crazy how much an athlete, the best athletes, treat sleep?
joe rogan
Oh, yeah.
michael kosta
I mean, Pete Sampras used to travel with duct tape.
So when he'd get to the hotel, he would tape the curtain.
To the window so no excess light would get in because he wanted like a float tank situation.
And I'm like, you know, at that level when you're playing for one in the world, like all that little stuff.
joe rogan
Yep.
michael kosta
And that's wild.
Meanwhile, you get my house.
I lay down.
We shut off the lights.
Sonos has a light.
The Wi-Fi thing has a light.
unidentified
The clock has so much extra excess light all around.
joe rogan
Yeah.
It's not good.
michael kosta
Maybe that's why I can't remember the joke I'm about to tell.
joe rogan
Sleep is a big problem.
michael kosta
Yeah.
joe rogan
You know, you really need to get a solid seven, eight hours of sleep every night.
And if you don't, you're going to feel it.
One of the best supplements for mitigating the effects of sleep deprivation is actually creatine.
unidentified
Okay.
joe rogan
Creatine is actually...
michael kosta
My buddy just started taking it.
I don't know.
joe rogan
I take it every day.
unidentified
It's legit.
michael kosta
I took it in college.
The strength team coach made me take it.
Bothered my stomach.
joe rogan
Well, there's different forms of creatine.
I take it in gummy form, which doesn't seem to bother me at all.
I've had people that take it like liquid, they pour it into water and they get diarrhea.
I haven't had that happen, but it's also like there's different kinds of creatine.
You want really good creatine, like you want a reputable company that makes creatine monohydrate.
And then there's another thing called HMB that people mix with creatine.
But creatine, besides being a muscle builder, because it really does enhance your recovery and helps you build muscle, it also is a nootropic.
It also helps brain function.
Which makes sense, because if your body works better, your brain works better.
It makes you retain more water.
You have more water in your body, which is obviously also a good thing, especially for an athlete, and especially for someone who wants to think.
One of the worst ways to think is if you're dehydrated.
If you're dehydrated and tired, you're fucked.
You're working on 50% brain capacity.
michael kosta
Well, I love watching sports.
In the end, you see these silly mistakes always.
Why would they do that?
Why'd the ball go through his legs?
Why did he choose to serve to that side?
Why did he throw the fastball down the middle?
Because they're fucking dehydrated and tired, and it's crazy how that affects brain function.
And that's why I love the couch fan.
Oh my god, why did he throw that?
joe rogan
With a beer in your hands, big belly.
michael kosta
You're literally drinking a beer.
joe rogan
This guy's a pussy.
unidentified
If I was getting that money, I'd fight Mike Tyson.
joe rogan
I'd come out swinging.
Yeah, the couch fan is their best.
In fights, you see it all the time.
When people are exhausted, they make terrible decisions.
They shoot for takedowns, they get caught in guillotine chokes because they're exposed.
They're exhausted, and they just take a chance, and they don't have the energy to complete the technique correctly.
Yeah.
michael kosta
Oh, dude, I mean, my parenting with a full night's sleep versus, like, had an early flight, had to fly, I mean, it's crazy.
joe rogan
Yeah, everything is.
michael kosta
I mean, I'm like, I'd like to think a kind, patient parent on a good night's sleep, but, like, when I get home after a road gig or whatever, even coming up this Sunday, I have an early flight, I'm going to get to Brooklyn, I know it's going to be 1 p.m., and the wife's going to hand me the kids and go, your turn.
joe rogan
Right.
michael kosta
And I'm going to be like, dude, the patience is going to be tough.
joe rogan
Well, you're gonna be exhausted from the flight.
michael kosta
Yep.
joe rogan
You know what I found helps a lot from flights is, if you can, work out immediately.
michael kosta
After?
joe rogan
Right when you land.
unidentified
Okay.
joe rogan
Like, right when you land.
michael kosta
Just get into it.
joe rogan
Just get something going.
Even if it's 20 minutes, do a bunch of push-ups and sit-ups and chin-ups.
Just get it going.
Just reset the clock.
Because when you exert yourself, like, hard, you have a hard, you know, 20 minutes, half hour of working out, it resets you.
And you're like, I'll get back.
I'm okay.
michael kosta
I'm very excited about this weekend because my former assistant coach at Illinois, where I play tennis, is the head coach here at Texas.
Oh, IUT? IUT. Nice.
So he's won an NCAA championship.
His name is Bruce Burke.
He's an excellent coach.
But he's like, dude, come hit with us.
joe rogan
Oh, wow.
michael kosta
So I'm going to be training with the Texas team, and they're beasts.
These guys are...
So that's exciting for me.
joe rogan
That's cool.
michael kosta
That's super fun just to get to do that.
And then perform at Mothership, dude.
Never even stepped foot in this place.
joe rogan
Oh, I'm excited for you to go.
michael kosta
And it's selling out so fast.
I mean, you've created it.
Last time I was here, it was like still an idea.
joe rogan
Yeah.
michael kosta
Adam Egott was around, but now, I mean, it's just amazing, man.
You've built something amazing.
joe rogan
Yeah, it's as good, it's better than we have ever hoped.
We never hoped it was going to be what it is now.
It's perfect.
michael kosta
Was the Comedy Store a foundational thought with this?
joe rogan
Oh, yeah.
michael kosta
Yeah, for sure.
Because Mitzi's room is obviously a testament to her.
And I never met Mitzi.
I never fucking met her.
joe rogan
That's crazy.
That's her.
That painting's her.
michael kosta
Let me ask something that's crude.
unidentified
Okay.
michael kosta
Was she a hot...
joe rogan
She was hot when she was young.
unidentified
Yeah, okay.
joe rogan
When she looked like that.
She's hot.
michael kosta
Because I see, like, I go to the La Jolla Comedy Store and I see all the pictures of her and I'm like, I think Mitzi was hot.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
She was hot when she was young.
I didn't meet her then.
I met her in 94. You know, she was already quite a bit older.
And she started suffering the beginnings of her neurological condition.
Like, she would have a little bit of shakes.
But she was there.
michael kosta
Yep.
joe rogan
And, you know, you could have conversations with her.
And she helped me a lot.
And she also helped.
Foster an environment of creativity and of collaboration.
It was a home for a lot of road comics.
There was this thing that you knew that you would go home.
And on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, we would be at the store having the time of our lives.
On Tuesday and Wednesday nights, we would be working on new jokes.
We would be doing sets.
We would be laughing together.
Everybody's cracking jokes in the parking lot.
It was so much fun.
And it was that That's awesome.
As comic-friendly as possible, what have you ever wanted in a club that you didn't have?
Okay, let's get that.
How do you want to get to the stage?
What do you think we need to do?
And I asked everybody, and Louis C.K. gave me some of the best advice.
Louis told me to lower the ceilings.
I shortened the stage in the smaller room.
He told me to deaden the sound as much as possible.
Everybody wants that echo because it makes it sound like people are killing more.
You want clear sound.
He's dead right on everything.
Because he has a production mind.
He doesn't just have a mind of a comic.
He also has a mind of what's the best way to set things up for a film or set the environment.
michael kosta
You feel and notice all that stuff on stage.
I was performing recently Ceiling's Tall.
Crowd is full.
joe rogan
Yeah.
michael kosta
But where's the laughs going?
Am I killing?
I feel like I'm doing well, but I'm not hearing it.
joe rogan
Yeah.
michael kosta
Now I'm in my head a little bit, right?
That's changed my order.
Now I'm doing the bit that I know is going to kill instead of just letting things...
And it's like, all of that matters.
joe rogan
Yeah.
michael kosta
All of that matters.
joe rogan
High ceiling is a big thing.
michael kosta
It's a problem.
joe rogan
You want to be locked in.
I want everybody to be locked in.
michael kosta
The Comedy Store, the way you just described that, really became my clubhouse.
joe rogan
Yeah.
michael kosta
And I was a little bit...
I got past there when you were gone for a little while.
And I remember when you came back, it changed dramatically.
But LA was really, really tough for me initially upon moving there.
And then all of a sudden you get into a place like that.
There's a place to drink.
There's a place to talk shit.
There's a place to...
Oh my God.
Even just parking.
Right?
Park here and then just hang.
It changed the game.
It changed the game for me.
joe rogan
It changed the game for all of us.
The improv was always a great club to perform at.
I always performed there.
Laugh Factory's fun.
But there's something about the store that was home base.
And so the idea of doing something like that in Texas, Ron White was the first guy to open my eyes to it because...
Ron had moved here before the pandemic.
And Ron's like, it's in the middle of country.
I don't have to fucking fly for six hours.
It's like, the place is great.
Food's nice.
People are cool.
I'm like, fuck, can I live in Texas?
Because I always wanted to get out of LA. Yeah.
Because I felt like, especially when my kids were young, I was like, I've been through this with my older daughter.
I was like, I don't think LA's a good place for children.
I don't think it's a good place for young people.
I think it's just filled with too many, like...
Bizarre ambitions and creeps and it's just like people are devalued because there's so many of them.
It's too overwhelming.
So I'd always thought about getting out, and then the pandemic hit, and then Ron White was the one who talked me into opening up the club.
We were doing local shows at the Vulcan, and we had talked about maybe opening up a club, like maybe we should buy a club here, and then Ron White got off stage.
He hadn't been on stage in like seven or eight months, and he murdered.
He got a standing ovation when he got on stage, and it turned out he had...
He was playing it off.
He had practiced all day, gone over his notes, and he's just fucking professional.
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
Just murdered.
And then he grabs me by the shoulders.
unidentified
He goes, whatever the fuck we have to do, we're gonna keep doing this.
joe rogan
You can open up that goddamn club.
I was like, okay.
unidentified
Yeah.
Okay.
joe rogan
Okay.
michael kosta
Always a great hang.
joe rogan
Oh, he's the best.
michael kosta
I mean, at the comedy store, he didn't know me, and he would just hang and...
joe rogan
He's the best.
He's the elder statesman of the Austin comedy scene.
michael kosta
Okay, got it.
joe rogan
He's the best.
michael kosta
Yeah.
joe rogan
And he's such a good guy.
And he's always around.
And so, like, with Ron, it's like, so we had Ron, we had Tony Hinchcliffe, and then Tom Segura moved here, and Christina Pazitsky, and then the floodgates opened.
Tim Dillon, everybody started coming.
michael kosta
It's a tidal wave, dude.
joe rogan
And then Shane Gillis moved here, and he brought the whole Philly crew, and there's all these killers.
It's like...
Duncan moved here.
It just became so fun.
It became so fun.
And all these things had to happen for it to take place like that.
The comedy store had to lose guys like Adam.
They had fire everybody.
So these people were all unemployed.
So I hire them.
And I brought them over here.
It wasn't even a club yet.
I was like, I'll pay you now.
You can start getting paid now.
You'll have health benefits, all the jazz.
Just enjoy the city.
Just have a good time.
In a year or so, I'll call on you.
And so then we started working.
michael kosta
I mean, I've been texting Adam for a long time, and I was like, yes, something is happening, but we don't know when.
But not to come back and excited to walk through it.
joe rogan
Yeah, a lot of people dismissed it.
unidentified
It's not going to happen.
joe rogan
But it was going to happen.
michael kosta
When you're an outsider looking at your plate, there's a lot on it.
Yeah, but this was important.
joe rogan
It was also...
If I'm not gonna do it, who's gonna do it?
You know, it's one of those things where if you have an opportunity to do something very unusual and you don't do it, well then, what, does nobody ever do anything unusual?
michael kosta
Yeah.
joe rogan
Just fucking do it.
michael kosta
Everyone just always either goes to New York or L.A. and that's it forever.
joe rogan
And it was also, we had so many people, like Brian Simpson, he moved out here early, Derek Post and Hassan Ahmad, they all moved out here early.
We had so many killers that were already here.
We were already doing sold-out shows at the Vulcan.
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday nights.
Kill Tony was there on Mondays.
We were already doing weekend shows.
It was a no-brainer.
We knew we could do it.
michael kosta
That's sick.
joe rogan
But it was a little scary.
It's a little scary.
Dump a bunch of money, buy a building.
michael kosta
Oh, shit.
joe rogan
Renovate the whole thing for a year and a half.
michael kosta
The decisions alone?
joe rogan
It's a lot of decisions.
A lot of decisions.
michael kosta
Doorknobs, carpets, lights, ceiling, drywall.
joe rogan
We had a really good architect that helped, too.
Shout out to Richard, Richard Wise.
But at the end of the day, really what it was all about was a lot of great timing.
Great opportunity and great timing.
And then doing it the right way from the beginning.
Make it as comedy-friendly as possible.
And just make an environment where people like to be there.
Nice, friendly people.
Everybody's having fun.
Everybody's real supportive.
michael kosta
I love that.
joe rogan
Yeah, it's great.
michael kosta
In comics...
To their credit, I think naturally are nonconformist, and I love that they'll jump at a new opportunity.
They're not like all tied.
So, you know, yeah, Joe's opening a club?
We'll go.
Boom.
Done.
And people moved here.
It's like nuts to hear.
I can't believe how often...
I was texting with Adam.
He said, who do you want to be opening for you this weekend?
I said, send me some names.
Send me all the names.
I'm like, this feels like all comedy store names.
These are all in Austin?
joe rogan
Holtzman lives here now.
He's here all the time.
michael kosta
That's crazy.
joe rogan
He was fucking killing the other night.
Now, Holtzman has a crowd here now.
So, instead of Holtzman going up at 2 o'clock in the morning in the main room when there was no one there and the comics sit in the back of the room and laugh, now he's got sold-out shows and people come to see Holtzman.
And he's doing different material like every Nightmare.
michael kosta
That's great.
joe rogan
It's amazing.
He's got a crowd now.
And he can make money in town.
michael kosta
Right.
joe rogan
Which is huge.
He doesn't have to travel.
He doesn't have to do the road.
And he is doing the road a little bit too now.
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
Which is unique for Brian too.
It's really funny because he puts up these videos of people getting offended.
michael kosta
He does?
I haven't seen it.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
On his Instagram it's people getting offended and screaming at him and walking out of his show.
Because they don't get it.
michael kosta
Yeah.
joe rogan
But once you see him a couple of times and you get what he's doing, then...
We have what we have in Austin now, where people, you know, when Holtzman's there, it sells out.
They're coming to see Holtzman.
It's fun.
michael kosta
There's nothing more beautiful than a person talking into a microphone causing a reaction to a group.
joe rogan
Yeah.
michael kosta
It's beautiful.
It's nuts.
It shows how powerful words and energy and communication can be.
It's like, you let that person make you that mad.
And this person didn't touch you or hit you?
joe rogan
Yeah.
michael kosta
That's wild.
joe rogan
Right.
michael kosta
That is wild to think that we have that ability.
joe rogan
Especially with Holtzman, because he lets you in on it every now and then, what he's doing, and then he comes back to it.
It's like he does this very beautiful dance of letting you in on it and then going right back to the fucking guy!
michael kosta
Yeah, yeah.
Well, it's fucking great.
I'm looking forward to performing there, so that's sweet.
joe rogan
You're gonna have a good time, man.
Did you bring people to open with you, or you got local people?
michael kosta
I think we got local.
I'm not 100% sure, but I didn't bring people with me, but...
joe rogan
We have a lot of good local people.
michael kosta
Well, that's the thing.
It's like, you could bring somebody, or you're in a community where there's great comedy.
joe rogan
Yeah.
michael kosta
So I'd much rather do that.
joe rogan
Yeah, and you'll have a great hang.
The green room is really great.
It's a great hang.
We have Mae West's couch in there that Peter Shore gave me.
It's Mitzi's.
She had it in her house, and so we had it reupholstered.
unidentified
That's hilarious.
joe rogan
So in the green room, this beautiful pink couch, that's Mae West's couch.
michael kosta
Okay, amazing.
joe rogan
Yeah, so the bones of it are Mae West's couch.
michael kosta
That's great.
joe rogan
Yeah.
And so we have Rodney Dangerfield's handwritten notes on the wall from his last Tonight Show special.
So it's all the different bits that he wanted to hit and all the different things that he wanted to talk about.
And then Patrick Bet-David gave me one of Lenny Bruce's microphones.
michael kosta
Holy shit.
joe rogan
So we have Lenny Bruce's microphone framed on the wall above the monitors.
michael kosta
I feel like Lenny Bruce...
Not enough comics understand what...
The road he paved for everybody else.
It's known that he did that, but...
He's the OG. He was the OG. He's the OG. That's what I'm trying to say.
joe rogan
He was the first guy to go to jail.
He was going to jail.
michael kosta
He fucking arrested him.
joe rogan
A bunch of times.
michael kosta
That is insane.
joe rogan
For stuff that is nothing.
Today, it wouldn't even get you kicked off TikTok.
michael kosta
But we still had the First Amendment at that time, so that's what's so interesting to me.
joe rogan
Yeah.
michael kosta
The interpretation of, or the enforcement of...
That's wild.
joe rogan
Well, this is the role...
michael kosta
Same Constitution.
joe rogan
Yeah, same Constitution.
Well, this is the role that comedy plays in free speech, because we are really one of the only countries that has the kind of free speech that we have, the Declaration.
When we have the First Amendment, it talks very specifically, the very first one, about our ability to express ourselves, how important that is.
But if you're a comedian...
And you can't do that.
Like, if someone's deciding, well, that sets the boundaries for everything else.
If he didn't do that, if he wasn't doing that in the 50s and the 60s, and getting arrested, like, who knows where free speech would be today?
michael kosta
What was he arrested on?
joe rogan
Profanity.
michael kosta
You could be arrested on profanity?
joe rogan
Yeah, he was arrested on profanity charges.
Yeah, they had profanity laws back then, where in public places, you couldn't have...
And, you know, different places in different districts had different regulations, but I'm sure in San Francisco where he started, he probably could do whatever he wanted, and then, you know, as you travel and you start, and then he became more and more popular.
unidentified
Obscenity.
joe rogan
Obscenity.
michael kosta
This reminds me of...
joe rogan
Profanity, obscenity.
So here it is.
So he was arrested at the jazz workshop in San Francisco, which is even crazier, in 1961, where he used the word cocksucker.
And said that to is a preposition, come is a verb.
That the sexual context of come was so common that it bore no weight, and that if someone hearing it became upset, he probably can't come.
Although the jury acquitted him, other law enforcement agencies began monitoring his appearances, resulting in frequent arrests under obscenity charges.
michael kosta
Yeah, but Joe, see there...
Although a jury acquitted him, I'm just wondering, like, was he actually breaking a law?
Or were they just hassling him by arresting him?
Because he can't...
joe rogan
Dude, they arrested him for saying schmuck.
michael kosta
Go back to that real quick.
But I'm saying, what do you charge somebody with?
joe rogan
Well, this was the obscenity charges.
Like, they said, if you go back to that Wikipedia page, look at that.
This is crazy.
He said...
Sherman Block later became the county sheriff.
The charge this time was that the community used the word schmuck, an insulting Yiddish word that was also considered a term for penis.
michael kosta
Oh my gosh.
joe rogan
The Hollywood charges were later dismissed.
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
So this was in Philadelphia and then Los Angeles and then West Hollywood.
In West Hollywood he was arrested.
Imagine, the place where the comedy store resides right now.
He was arrested just 10 years before Richard Pryor was performing live in the Sunset Strip.
michael kosta
I mean, what about the one in Philly is legit?
joe rogan
The gay drug possession.
Yeah, he did a lot of drugs.
michael kosta
I would do a lot of drugs if I got arrested every time I said schmuck.
joe rogan
So Live in the Sunset Strip I think was 81 or 82. Is that correct?
What year was Live in the Sunset Strip?
Because I was in high school.
I remember that.
66. I have that poster.
That Lenny Bruce poster.
michael kosta
There's a lot of Lenny Bruce love out there.
joe rogan
Yeah.
michael kosta
Which is so cool.
joe rogan
Yeah, I have a lot of Lenny Bruce stuff out there.
Like, he was the guy.
And it's hard when you listen to his stuff today because most of it, it's kind of trite.
Like, we've heard all the premises before.
It's because he broke the ground.
You have to remember, people were so innocent in 1961. The culture was so different that what he was saying was groundbreaking.
michael kosta
I fell into that trap.
You know, I was like, I'm not really digging it.
I'm not enjoying it.
But it's like, you have to really think about...
Where we were then.
joe rogan
Sure, if you listen to Shakespeare talk, you're probably like, this guy's a retard.
What the fuck are you saying?
What, thou dost not?
Like, shut up.
But it's like, in the context of 1961, what he was doing was, it was akin to a lot of things that were to come, like the anti-war movement, the civil rights movement, all these things were bubbling up about this freedom of exploring ideas and expressing yourself.
But in comedy, it had just been two Jews walking to a bar.
You know, it'd been jokes.
It was set up punchline.
The Italian says to the Polish guy.
It would have been a lot of that stuff.
And so he came along and was like, why do we have these words that are forbidden?
Why do we have this?
Why is that?
Why can't people be in love this way?
Why can't that happen?
And it was like, people were like, Jesus, why can't we?
And he changed the way people thought about life, not just about comedy.
And then I think Richard Pryor came along and made it way better.
michael kosta
Yeah, made it funnier.
But also what fascinates me...
Yeah.
Those words have not changed, but society has, or its interpretation has, or its enforcement has.
That's wild.
joe rogan
Yeah.
michael kosta
That's wild.
joe rogan
The enforcement is the thing, and then the concept of obscenity charges.
Obscenity charges are very subjective, right?
Who's to decide what's obscene?
To me, schmuck is not obscene.
It's kind of cute.
If someone calls you a schmuck, it's probably a friend of yours.
You know?
Hey, you fucking schmuck.
It's not a...
You get arrested for schmuck?
That's crazy.
What is this, Jamie?
This is where the obscenity law came from, a court case.
Well, this is 73, though.
unidentified
I typed in where the obscenity law is in San Francisco.
joe rogan
No, I understand, but this is 73 because, you know, he was 61. So what does it say there?
The ruling?
Scroll up at the top a little bit.
It says a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court clarifying the legal definition of obscenity as material that lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.
The ruling was the origin of three-part judicial tests for determining obscene media content that could be banned by government authorities, which is now known as the Miller Test.
So here's the thing to think about this.
michael kosta
The Miller Test is actually quite relevant right now.
It's coming up a lot.
joe rogan
Oh, is it?
michael kosta
The Miller Test, yes.
For what?
First Amendment stuff.
I just heard something about it.
That's interesting.
joe rogan
Yeah, it is interesting because the thing about this is this is probably all in response to all the anti-war activists and all of the whole hippie, freedom of speech, flower child movement.
michael kosta
I did a piece for The Daily Show after Biden won and this woman in New Jersey had up 10-15 flags.
Fuck Biden.
Fuck Joe Biden.
Fuck Joe Biden flags.
Was on a path to a school.
And a lot of parents said, take down the flag.
She said, it's my First Amendment right.
Got all messy.
The city made her take it down.
She refused.
NAACP popped in to defend her, saying it was her right as a...
Biden was a political figure, but then it became an obscenity.
It was a very interesting piece.
And I spoke to her, and she was very outspoken, and my whole take was like, hey, just maybe let's say legally you can put those flags up, but it's just kind of shitty, right?
And she was like, fuck you, I'm gonna put my flags up.
But interesting when obscenity mixes in with school, kid.
What is that now?
joe rogan
Right.
Public figure.
michael kosta
Public figure.
If it says fuck Tony, fuck Michael, that's different than fuck Joe Biden, the sitting president of the United States.
joe rogan
Right.
michael kosta
All fascinating.
joe rogan
Yeah, it's also, it's like, you know, what do you want to see in your neighborhood?
I don't like people putting those fucking stupid signs on their lawns.
My parents...
We were diehard liberals.
They were living in Florida at the time, and this is during 2016, and my mom was complaining, every time I put my Hillary Clinton sign, someone takes it down.
I'm like, you're in Florida!
Like, why are you putting Hillary Clinton signs on your lawn?
But to my mom, it might as well be like she was supporting the Miami Dolphins.
You know, that was her team.
Her team was the Democrats.
michael kosta
Well, I was just going to say, I don't like when a kid is wearing a Dolphins hat, or a Yankees hat, because I'm like, We, as adults, have put that on the kid.
joe rogan
Well, maybe the kid is just a fan of the sport, though.
michael kosta
It's possible, but Dad probably made him do it.
unidentified
Maybe.
joe rogan
Maybe the kid just likes us.
That doesn't bother me at all.
There's nothing wrong with supporting teams.
But there's a real problem when it's how the whole country's run, and you're thinking about it like a team.
That's kind of ridiculous.
And people that put those fucking signs in their lawn, like, settle down.
Just, why?
Why?
Why are you doing it?
It's just like you're like...
unidentified
Right in the yard.
joe rogan
Right in the front of your house.
Where's your point?
unidentified
Like those people that are like, science is settled.
joe rogan
Love is love.
Black lives matter.
Okay.
michael kosta
Who was the Supreme Court justice with the flags?
Got in the whole fucking neighborhood fight with the flags?
Had the white flag with the...
Green pine tree on it.
What is that flag?
It was Christian nationalism or had ties to it, whatever.
But I'm saying...
joe rogan
A white flag with a green pine tree is Christian nationalism?
michael kosta
Wasn't it?
I don't know.
joe rogan
I don't know about this.
michael kosta
Do you know what I'm talking about this?
joe rogan
No.
What was this?
Do you remember it, Jimmy?
unidentified
I'm looking it up.
michael kosta
It's Jim Alito, I think.
Samuel Alito.
It was...
I thought it was maybe Robert...
But his wife...
And then he's...
There it is.
joe rogan
An appeal to heaven.
michael kosta
So that flag was flying.
You can see there the Boston Globe.
That's his New Jersey...
The one right underneath that, Jamie.
That's his New Jersey house.
Beach house.
And that got put up.
But this was all because neighbors started fighting about their signs.
joe rogan
What is that an appeal to heaven?
What does that mean?
michael kosta
I don't know.
joe rogan
What's that flag supposed to represent, Jamie?
unidentified
Huh.
michael kosta
But interesting that our Supreme Court justice got involved in one of these sign fights.
And then they called him out on it and he said, it's my wife.
It's just fucking hilarious, right?
My wife did it.
joe rogan
My wife's a Christian nationalist.
Is that a Christian nationalist thing?
michael kosta
What?
joe rogan
A call to heaven?
michael kosta
I don't know.
We'll find out.
joe rogan
I've never even heard of it until just now.
unidentified
They took it down from in front of San Francisco City Hall.
joe rogan
Oh, really?
Well, what does it mean?
unidentified
It has to do with the colonies, it said.
joe rogan
What?
Revolutionary War.
Okay, the flag was originally used during the American Revolutionary War, flown by George Washington's cruisers, and is associated with the early quest for American independence.
It's since been adopted by a different group, one that doesn't represent the city's values, so we made the decision to swap it with an American flag.
Well, first of all, you probably should have the American flag there anyway.
You shouldn't have to swap it.
How about have the American flag everywhere, you motherfuckers?
unidentified
America!
joe rogan
January 6, 2022, videos and photos show that some supporters of former President Donald Trump waving the Appeal to Heaven flag.
Oh, they ruined it.
Just like the Nazis ruined the swastika.
The swastika, which was a Buddhist thing.
Where is it?
Oh yeah, an Appeal to Heaven.
So it's because it's Trump supporters now?
Is that why?
That's why?
michael kosta
I don't know why Alito put it up, but I remember it being...
Something to do with, like, the homeowners associations all were mad at each other and they put the flag up.
joe rogan
He threw his wife right under the bus.
Look at this.
My wife is fond of flying flags.
I am not.
Alito wrote, my wife was solely responsible for having flagpoles put up at our residence and our vacation home and has flown a wide variety of flags over the air.
How many Palestine flags do you fly?
Wide variety?
Got a lot of Ukraine flags flying in your house?
What kind of flags you got?
michael kosta
It just makes me laugh that, look, this is the petty shit that, like, Normal Americans get in.
Supreme Court justice, just get out of it.
joe rogan
Yeah, I don't know about that flag.
This is the first time I've ever seen that.
But it's just a thing that people do.
They want to let you know what they support and what they don't.
michael kosta
Yeah.
joe rogan
We love telling people what we believe.
michael kosta
And it's very important that we feel like we have beliefs.
And it's when we start sharing them that...
joe rogan
Well, you find out other people don't agree.
michael kosta
You find out other people might not agree with you.
And this gets back to grit and toughness.
joe rogan
Well, this also gets back to the importance of your show, The Daily Show.
Because The Daily Show, especially under the tutelage of Jon Stewart when he's running the helm, it's so balanced at pointing out ridiculous shit all over the place.
Which I think is so important.
michael kosta
That's the goal.
That's the aim.
joe rogan
So smart.
michael kosta
And when we do it right, I love it.
You know, it is every day.
So sometimes you do it right, and you're thankful, you pat yourself on the back, but guess what?
There's a show tomorrow.
And I think we benefit, man, so many, I'll take, when I host, so many questions, I'll take questions from the audience, and so many people go like, Michael, how do you hold yourself to journalistic integrity when you, and I go, what?
I'm a fucking comedian.
This is on Comedy Central.
I'm not a journalist.
Just because you see us as informative, which I'm thankful for, and the fact that you come to us for information, which I'm thankful for.
joe rogan
It's a little terrifying, though, right?
michael kosta
Don't ever forget, lady, I'm not a journalist.
I'm not in the war zone.
I'm a clown.
My job is to put all this shit into a comedy machine and crank out some type of sausage and feed it to you.
But it's nuts that...
joe rogan
Comedy Central, Daily Show, is considered journalism.
michael kosta
Yeah, or people will stop me on the subway and go, like, thank you for what you're doing.
And I'm going, I'm trying to just make you laugh.
Is that what you mean?
It's not what they mean, though.
They mean, like...
joe rogan
Fighting the good fight.
michael kosta
Fighting the fight.
Decompressing the...
Fascists.
Right.
And also, comedy, as we've talked about, is one of the only places that can challenge and speak.
To power, truthfully.
joe rogan
Yeah, and comedy also can make you consider something.
So, like, if you have an opinion and you go out there and state your opinion eloquently, I could be there.
Well, I disagree.
I have a different opinion.
But if you go out there with that opinion, you make me laugh with something I don't even necessarily agree with.
michael kosta
That's the best.
joe rogan
And then you go, oh, he's got a fucking point.
He's got a fucking point.
michael kosta
That is the magic trick.
That's the magic trick of comedy.
And The Daily Show does that great.
But I remember one time sitting with my wife at the comedy store.
Tiger Woods had just like, you know, all of that shit came out.
The cheating, the voicemails.
I mean, he was like, you know, maybe arguably one of the more promiscuous husbands of all time.
And Burr goes up and he starts defending Tiger.
Right?
And I'm watching, I'm feeling my wife's energy.
Like, I'm like, Bill, don't do this, dude.
You're defending this guy who is in the heat of all the hatred.
And as I watch the joke, I feel her relax.
Now at the end, she's laughing.
And I'm like, you just did the fucking magic trick, dude.
unidentified
Yes.
michael kosta
You did the trick.
joe rogan
He's one of the best at it.
michael kosta
You took the level of difficulty at its highest.
joe rogan
Yeah.
michael kosta
All of us were against you.
You did it.
And that's the shit.
That's as close to magic as there is, man.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Well, it's a beautiful thing if you could turn a controversial subject into something hilarious.
michael kosta
Yeah.
It at least puts people's guard down for a second.
joe rogan
Yeah.
michael kosta
I think they'll see through it if they feel like it's just, you're truly trying to trick them into a message.
If your real goal is to entertain and laugh, that, yeah, that's, you know, I heard, I was researching sauna stuff a lot, because I was building this sauna last summer, and I read that in Finnish culture, a lot of the politicians won't even start negotiating or talking until they're like fucking scorched in the sauna.
And I thought that was really interesting, because comedy, I don't know how truthful it is, but I know there is a lot of pictures of...
It's a good move.
joe rogan
You all suffer together, and then you come back to being a human.
michael kosta
Comedy kind of does that, too.
It's like, if we're all laughing...
We at least have that in common.
If we're all sweating and having a hard time with this moment, I love that.
joe rogan
It's a human moment.
michael kosta
It's a human moment.
joe rogan
I mean, you're literally dying.
michael kosta
You're dying in there.
joe rogan
You can't stay there forever.
You've got about 20 minutes, and then you've got to get the fuck out, and you're like, whoa.
And now you can all be human together.
michael kosta
That's a good move.
It's something really nuts.
To me about the dry heat of a sauna that I don't understand completely, but it really fixes a lot of shit in me.
joe rogan
You know another good thing about having the politicians go in the sauna?
michael kosta
What?
joe rogan
We can kill off a lot of the old ones.
Mitch McConnell ain't gonna make it.
michael kosta
There's no fucking way.
There used to be a World Sauna Championships, and then a guy died.
joe rogan
Oh, yeah.
Well, they kept pouring water on it.
On the rocks?
They were pouring a liter of water on every...
I don't know.
But I heard that.
I was like, oh my god.
And it was like 200 plus degrees.
michael kosta
What's your sauna?
How would you advise me to get the most out of my sauna?
20 minutes?
joe rogan
Yeah, 20 minutes is good.
michael kosta
Cool off and come back in?
joe rogan
You can if you like.
I don't necessarily do that all the time.
I'll do like one day a week.
I go cold plunge sauna, cold plunge sauna.
I'll go back and forth.
Usually I start with sauna.
I always end with cold plunge.
If I do three cycles, whatever it is, you end with cold plunge.
michael kosta
Because you want your body to fight to warm it back up.
joe rogan
So you're just shocking the shit out of your system.
But the Finnish studies that have showed...
The more people do it, the more effective it is in terms of what they studied was they found that when people over the course of 20 years use the sauna four times a week, they had a 40% decrease in all-cause mortality.
michael kosta
Crazy.
joe rogan
Everything.
Strokes, cancer, heart attack, everything.
Because your body is becoming far more resilient and you're also developing all these heat shock proteins and eliminating inflammation, clearing out your system, and then you're rehydrating afterwards.
Very, very good for you.
michael kosta
And you're also not on the phone.
joe rogan
Yes, you're also not on the phone, although I do have a Bluetooth speaker in there.
You can get some Bluetooth speakers.
I got one called Not A Brick.
It's a really good one.
You can take the heat of a sauna.
So I listen to books on tape when I'm stretching, sweating my brains out.
michael kosta
I was in my sauna all by myself, and it's very quiet.
I'm in the woods in Pennsylvania, and this fucking buck just walks right in front.
And it was just me and him.
I don't know if you saw her or smelt or whatever, but it was like...
Crazy.
joe rogan
Oh, that's cool.
michael kosta
You know what?
That's like...
What's it called?
I'm not a hunter.
What's it called when you just kind of go to watch and see where they're going to be?
Is that called something?
joe rogan
Yeah, observation.
michael kosta
Yeah, sure.
joe rogan
Nature.
michael kosta
It was like, yeah, just opening your eyes.
But that's, it was wild to see that.
joe rogan
Yeah, it's cool, isn't it?
unidentified
Very cool.
Very, very cool.
joe rogan
Wildlife is wild.
And especially if you don't expect it.
Like you're sitting in the sauna and the deer's right there.
What's going on here?
About the government doing it there.
unidentified
They apparently drink alcohol in the sauna.
joe rogan
It's not a good idea.
michael kosta
They get drunk before they go in.
joe rogan
I like that too.
michael kosta
I love a drink in there.
joe rogan
A long drink, iconic Finnish gin mixed drink that's basically a Tom Collins in a can, but way better because it's being sipped in a sauna with newfound sauna friends.
That's cool.
michael kosta
That is cool.
joe rogan
That's a great move.
Yeah, like something that makes you more human.
You suffer together.
michael kosta
Yeah, you're focusing on a thing that isn't this result that we need or want.
joe rogan
Yeah, this shit will probably take all the congresspeople and make them run a tough mudder together.
You know, go through the mud, fucking climb ropes and shit, go over obstacle courses.
That'd be great.
michael kosta
I've actually found...
My wife and I, when we do a sauna, you know, there's always stuff you got to talk about with the family, logistics, there's always things to argue about, but we'll go in there and we both start sweating and then it's kind of just like eases the tone, eases the conversation.
unidentified
Yeah.
michael kosta
Which is helpful.
joe rogan
Yeah, no one's real loud in the sauna.
michael kosta
Yeah, and you just chill.
joe rogan
We're both suffering together.
michael kosta
Yeah, just suffering.
joe rogan
Yeah.
michael kosta
That's interesting.
joe rogan
Yeah, I think it should be a part of everybody's life.
And there's, by the way, if you can't afford it, they make a sauna blanket.
That is one of our sponsors.
It's really good.
I've used that thing before.
It's great.
You just climb inside this fucking blanket and you can bring it on the road with you.
michael kosta
And you sweat it off.
joe rogan
It doesn't weigh that much.
You carry it and it'll heat you the fuck up and it'll give you the heat shock proteins.
I like a dry sauna better.
I like being in a sauna.
But if you want to travel or if you don't have the resources or a place for it, those things are great.
Hot baths are great too.
Hot baths after a workout are supposed to increase muscle.
michael kosta
It's tough to find sauna, though, in a lot of American cities.
When I go on the road, I'm always trying to find...
Cold tubs are more frequent now.
joe rogan
Really?
michael kosta
They're more frequent now.
joe rogan
You know the way to do the cold plunge is you do it before you work out.
That's the real move.
michael kosta
Oh, no shit.
joe rogan
Yeah, that really increases testosterone, too.
And also, it increases your work output, because your muscles are pre-chilled.
michael kosta
I would think it would be...
Easy to get injured.
joe rogan
No, you just warm up.
michael kosta
You just warm up.
joe rogan
You warm up.
So I go through a series of things that I do that are like pretty low intensity.
I do 20 kettlebell swings, and then I do 20 push-ups, then I do 20 bodyweight squats, and I do a cycle of five.
So I do 100 swings, 100 push-ups, 100 bodyweight squats.
And by the time of that, that's like probably 15 minutes.
By the time that's over, I'm sweaty, I'm ready to go.
And then I go into everything else.
michael kosta
Dude, I want to show you this picture.
I know that, you know, This lake house I have.
joe rogan
Nice.
michael kosta
New Year's Eve.
I don't want to kill our time with this, but when do you get to show Joe Rogan this pic?
So let me find it.
This is New Year's Eve, dude.
Cut a hole in the lake with an axe.
And I'm just in the lake.
Try to do three minutes.
There's a safety rope, which I don't know if that could even help me if I fucking pass out.
joe rogan
That's nice.
michael kosta
Doing a cold plunge in nature.
joe rogan
Yeah.
michael kosta
Not just a tub.
Love the tub, too.
But man, I fucking love it.
joe rogan
I was in...
michael kosta
I feel amazing after that.
joe rogan
Utah.
And they had a creek running through a glacial creek.
Freezing cold.
michael kosta
Yeah.
unidentified
I climbed in that bitch in my underwear and got up to my neck.
michael kosta
That's good stuff.
joe rogan
It's nice.
It's like something about doing it in nature, too.
It's like you're even more connected to everything.
michael kosta
Oh, totally.
unidentified
Yeah.
michael kosta
Yeah, very cool.
joe rogan
Just get in that cold water and breathe.
michael kosta
I get like a weird...
A weird high after, for sure.
unidentified
Oh, for sure.
joe rogan
It lasts for hours.
It increases your dopamine by 200%.
And it lasts for hours.
michael kosta
So why is it that healthier than doing a drug that increases your dopamine?
joe rogan
Well, because it's natural.
michael kosta
Natural.
joe rogan
Yeah, it's natural.
Also, it gives you something...
In terms of mental resilience, it gives you like an exercise.
That exercise is very difficult, especially for the first minute.
It's hard.
First minute, your body's like, let's get the fuck out of here.
And it keeps talking to you and you're like, shut up, bitch.
And then after a minute, that calms down and you can breathe clean.
You start getting those rhythmic breaths in and out and just keep your shit together for three minutes.
And then when you get out, you're like, ah.
michael kosta
That's what you do typically three minutes?
joe rogan
So it's like, one, there's the feeling like, I did it.
Which feels great.
Like, I didn't bitch out.
I actually did the three minutes.
But then there's, like, this euphoric feeling as your body just, your norepinephrine, your dopamine, everything elevates.
You just feel wonderful.
michael kosta
Patience, too.
My patience is killer.
unidentified
Yeah!
michael kosta
Kids, I'm smiling more.
Oh, that's fine.
You can draw on the wall.
Yeah, whatever.
joe rogan
It's like that part of your brain got exhausted.
The part of your brain that's dealing with, like, real adversity.
So, like, little kids' adversity is nothing.
michael kosta
It's not.
joe rogan
You're not freezing to death.
They're just like, that's my crayon!
Come on, guys.
Let's get along.
michael kosta
It's been a super benefit to me.
The problem living in New York is I don't get to cold plunge as much as I... Want to, but...
joe rogan
Well, they have stuff that you could do, like, you know, you could do it in your tub if you can get ice.
michael kosta
Ice, do the ice thing.
joe rogan
And they also have these coolers that you can plug in, and you could do, like, if you have, like, one of those big Yeti coolers, you can climb in that, and you'll put a hose in there and a cooler, and it'll bring that down to, like, 40 degrees.
And you can just get in, like, a Yeti cooler.
michael kosta
Yep.
joe rogan
Yeah, I bet you could do it in a bathtub, too.
I bet they figured out how to attach an engine to that.
Do they have one?
Yeah, they do have one.
Jamie knows it.
So how does it work?
unidentified
I'll show you, but there's just like a little motor thing you attach.
joe rogan
So that's perfect.
Like, if you just have a bathtub, you're golden.
michael kosta
You can actually do that.
joe rogan
You know, if you live in an apartment that has a tub, you have a cold plunge now.
Or if you don't have that, get yourself a Yeti cooler.
Yeti makes some giant-ass coolers, like from people who hunt caribou and shit.
I just typed in bathtub cold plungers.
Yeah, there it is.
So you just have this thing, it plugs in, it cools everything off, and you climb it.
How cold does that motherfucker get?
39 degrees.
michael kosta
Perfect.
It's crazy that now...
joe rogan
Never buy ice again.
Two-year warranty.
michael kosta
We're such comfort zones as humans now that we have to pay $800 to cool our water to get into it.
joe rogan
Yeah, it's a bit of an issue.
michael kosta
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah, we're pussies.
michael kosta
We're pussies now.
joe rogan
We've made life very easy, which is wonderful.
It's better than being hard.
I don't want to live in the fucking gladiator days.
michael kosta
That's what the point was, was to make it easy.
To have food and sugar and fat readily available at all times.
joe rogan
You don't have to carry a sword with you everywhere.
michael kosta
Dude, I love going to the Natural History Museum in New York and going to the armor.
Jesus Christ.
It's like what these motherfuckers had to wear and use and carry.
joe rogan
Did you ever see that?
michael kosta
To defend themselves is nuts.
joe rogan
From, I think it's Waterloo.
One of the battles, one of the French soldiers got hit with a cannonball in the chest.
And they have the armor that has the hole in the chest, like in the cannonball out the back, exploding outward.
Look at that.
Look at that.
Yeah, that's from the Battle of Waterloo.
That guy got hit with a cannonball in the chest.
michael kosta
And I bet you his armor salesman was like, I'm going to upsell this guy.
And he's like, no, I don't want the upsell.
And he should have.
unidentified
Monsieur, I'm telling you, this armor, no cannonball.
michael kosta
That is a great reminder of what society and life used to be like.
joe rogan
God damn, man.
Look at that one on the other one, Jamie.
No, but the one to the left where you see the exit.
Right to the left of that.
Yeah, right there.
You see the exit hole.
michael kosta
Jesus Christ.
joe rogan
Boom.
Blew right through this guy's body, his armor, his chest, out the back.
michael kosta
That's crazy.
joe rogan
The size of a fucking softball.
unidentified
That's fucked up.
joe rogan
Yeah, it's pretty fucked up.
michael kosta
That's super fucked up.
joe rogan
That was life back then.
It's better.
michael kosta
And that's a guy that could have had armor.
That's probably a high-ranking person.
joe rogan
Yeah, right.
He got hit.
That's a wrap, son.
But you gotta think that...
Those people would have much rather lived today with all this comfort.
Oh my god.
The problem is you just can't rely on it too much.
You can't live for comfort.
That's stupid.
You gotta have voluntary discomfort.
That'll help you get through this life.
michael kosta
That's a good way to put it that those people would pick today for sure.
Fuck, yeah.
I remember I went to the Museum of Medical Oddities in Philadelphia.
And they were doing a whole thing on dysentery.
And it was like, oh, most people in the Civil War died of that.
They didn't die of wounds.
And it was like wild that...
Of course.
If you were a soldier today, you don't die of dysentery.
That's insane.
But they would put the kitchen near the toilet and it was like...
joe rogan
And what kind of water are you drinking?
michael kosta
Water and all that shit.
joe rogan
There's no iodine tablets back then.
michael kosta
Yeah.
joe rogan
No SteriPens to clean your water.
michael kosta
What's the one I used?
I did the Appalachian Trail last year.
Not all of it.
unidentified
Did you really?
michael kosta
Just a few days.
And I forget the thing I would filter the water with.
It was great.
Man, there's such cool stuff like that now.
joe rogan
Oh yeah, there's great stuff.
michael kosta
I mean, millions of those things.
joe rogan
Yeah, there's a lot of stuff that'll filter water and make it drinkable.
michael kosta
And there's all these cool Appalachian Trail communities that leave stuff for people along the trail.
joe rogan
Oh, that's cool.
michael kosta
I remember I was just dying.
I'm like, no more snacks.
Blood sugar's dropping, I have water, but it's just like, I'm in it, I'm doing the difficult thing, and then you get to this cooler, and it's like, from this Appalachian Trail Club, and it's just like gummy bears in there.
joe rogan
Oh, nice.
michael kosta
Jesus Christ, man.
joe rogan
Nice.
That's cool.
That's cool that they have that set up.
michael kosta
Yeah.
joe rogan
But it's a weird thing to choose to do, to go for a long walk.
michael kosta
That doesn't appeal to it?
I mean, there are some famous murders that have happened on the Appalachian Trail, but I felt very safe.
Did you?
Yeah, I mean, I love the idea.
I was alone.
I love the idea of finding a place to sleep that's in the middle of nowhere.
I love that shit.
joe rogan
Dude, I'd be super nervous.
Something about the woods.
michael kosta
Really?
joe rogan
The woods are dangerous at night.
michael kosta
Here's what's crazy about the Appalachian Trail, at least where I was in Jersey.
Most of the time I had cell service.
unidentified
Oh, wow.
michael kosta
So I'm like in my tent answering texts.
joe rogan
That is kind of crazy.
michael kosta
You know what started that for me was...
During COVID, my wife got me this week with Jordan Jonas in the survival.
Jordan Jonas won alone.
joe rogan
He's been on the podcast.
michael kosta
Yeah, he's been on the podcast.
Yeah, that's right.
joe rogan
Won lost.
Shot a moose with a bow and arrow.
michael kosta
I think he killed a wolverine with a hatchet.
Yeah, with a hatchet.
joe rogan
Stealing his meat.
michael kosta
So my wife bought me a week.
With the survival camp with him and a bunch of other people.
And it was just like, one of the things, one of the conclusions I and we came to while we were up in the Bitterroot Mountains of Idaho was at least once a year.
We all need to be doing something where we are embedded with nature.
And this might sound silly to somebody who goes hunting or somebody who's already doing this, but if you're living a city life, going to the park is not really experiencing nature.
joe rogan
Well, it is a little.
michael kosta
Tiny bit.
joe rogan
It's nature.
I mean, it's contained nature, but it's real nature.
You see squirrels and birds.
It's good for you.
It's good for you to sit under a tree.
There's ticks.
There are ticks.
michael kosta
There are ticks, man.
Ticks are wild.
joe rogan
Your dog's going to get fleas.
Yeah, ticks are a bitch, especially on the East Coast because of Lyme disease, which turns out was man-made.
unidentified
What?
joe rogan
Turns out there's a lot of real evidence that Lyme disease was...
It was weaponized and that it leaked out of a lab and it came out of a lab called Plum Island, which was close to Lyme, Connecticut.
And RFK Jr. firmly believes that this was a weapons program.
And what they were going to do is develop...
These fleas and ticks with a disease that spreads rapidly, wipes out the medical system of a community, so you could dump them from a plane.
Everybody gets infected, overwhelms their medical system, and then they're more vulnerable if you want to attack them.
michael kosta
That just doesn't seem very thought through, though.
joe rogan
Well, there's some less thought through ones.
There's one that they were developing at one point in time.
I don't know where they got with it, but there was talk of them developing a bomb that they would detonate over cities that would blind everybody.
michael kosta
Holy shit.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Yeah.
Imagine that.
Imagine you detonate that and then you have 300,000 blind people.
michael kosta
Isn't it amazing what we can do in a positive light and also what we can do in a negative light?
joe rogan
Oh, we're scary.
And we're scary in our ability to justify these things.
michael kosta
Yeah.
joe rogan
You know, that's what's really crazy.
michael kosta
Yeah.
joe rogan
We're scary in our ability to decide that these people are the other, so we should bomb them into oblivion.
And like, yeah, we're winning.
Like, oh my god.
Like, what are you talking about?
You don't even know those people.
michael kosta
The other is an effective strategy.
joe rogan
Well, it's built into our tribal mindset.
michael kosta
Is that right?
joe rogan
Yeah.
We had Daryl Cooper on the podcast yesterday.
He runs a podcast called Martyr Made.
And one of the things he talked about was oxytocin.
And he was like, it's really interesting because oxytocin makes you really deeply love your family and your community.
And this is what women get when they have children and men get when you're in love.
But it also makes you very hostile to outsiders.
michael kosta
Crazy.
joe rogan
It's like it protects the people that you love and that are vulnerable, but it makes you very protective of the outside.
So you are less likely to trust strangers, less likely to trust other people.
michael kosta
And it probably served an enormous benefit.
It was probably very beneficial.
joe rogan
In the caveman days, you had to have it.
You had to have it.
There was no friendly people coming over with spears.
You know, they found you, and you had women and food.
Like, you're fucked.
And that was most of our evolutionary existence.
Most of the time, from leaving the savannas and, you know, experimenting with different foods and becoming human beings, we were fighting.
michael kosta
And that's gotta be undone, as long as it took to make that, which is a very long time.
unidentified
Yeah.
michael kosta
That's being undone, yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah, well, slowly but surely.
And if we all give in to our god AI, we'll be fine.
We all just need to submit to the chip and become a part of the hive mind, and everyone's going to read each other's minds, and there'll be no more secrets, and there'll be no more violence.
michael kosta
They really want us to do AI. Oh, yeah.
joe rogan
Everybody does.
michael kosta
It is like...
joe rogan
It's inevitable, man.
michael kosta
I know, but even I write an email now, and it's like, you want us to polish this thing?
And it's like, I don't even want you anywhere near me.
joe rogan
Right.
I know.
Well, you know, Samsung, they were the first to wheel out AI with their Galaxy S24 Ultra.
I have two phones.
I have an iPhone and I have a Galaxy phone.
And what I really like about the Galaxy phone is if I use Samsung's browser, I can go on websites and it gives me a summary.
So instead of like reading this long-winded Tell me what you figured out right and then I can get a summary and then I get in oh They've realized that earth is actually blah blah blah blah right oh, okay cool It's like quicker right and then it also does a lot of things it transcribes things it translates things in other languages Translates it directly into your ear if you have the galaxy earbuds pretty fucking crazy.
michael kosta
That's crazy.
joe rogan
Yeah, it's wild shit, man And this is just the beginning of this stuff.
Essentially, when you have ChatGPT or Grok on your phone, you have access to the most insane amount of answering power that a human being's ever experienced.
We could ask you questions about what was the reason why Columbus...
And then it'll give you a fucking historical, detailed 5,000-word essay on what went down.
You're like, this is nuts.
michael kosta
But it's only as good as the food it's been fed, correct?
unidentified
Right.
michael kosta
Right.
joe rogan
Well, that's why Google had abandoned theirs.
michael kosta
Oh, yeah.
Was that the, like, show me a Nazi or whatever?
And it was, like, a beautiful black woman or something?
joe rogan
Native American woman Nazi.
It was a Chinese lady Nazi.
michael kosta
We covered that on the show.
That was a trip.
joe rogan
But that was just a good example of wokeness and ideology interfering with information.
Like, that's crazy.
Nazis look like German men.
Make them look like German men, you fucking idiots.
michael kosta
Yeah.
joe rogan
This is dumb.
But this, like...
michael kosta
But they won't say bye-bye.
They'll just come back with a newer version that doesn't do that.
joe rogan
Well, they did.
Certainly they did.
I mean, Google Gemini is one of the search engines.
I mean, if you have an Android phone and you press that button and you ask Google a question, it's Google Gemini.
So they've fixed that.
michael kosta
They've fixed that.
joe rogan
But it's also like, how much did you fix it?
Did you get it out 100%?
Is this objective information?
If I want to ask a question about a controversial subject, will you give me the real data?
michael kosta
Yeah.
joe rogan
Or will you give me some whitewashed bullshit version of it that's supposed to be acceptable today?
I want to know what's going on.
michael kosta
My Wikipedia page has said that I'm Greek for as long as I'm alive.
Greek women show up to my show.
These beautiful Greek women.
They have dessert.
Greek people.
No one's ever fucking checked.
I'm not Greek.
joe rogan
But Costas is such a Greek name.
michael kosta
It makes perfect sense.
It fits with the ideology or the idea that, you know.
And somebody wrote an article once that I was Greek.
It was like a blog.
They showed a picture of me.
And no one checked.
And it's just kept spiraling.
And it's really funny for me.
After the show, these beautiful Greek people come up and they say, we're so happy.
And they say, where are your parents from?
And all this shit.
And I go, we're fucking Ukrainian.
I don't want them to tell you.
Thanks for the dessert.
joe rogan
Do they get a sourpuss?
Do they get a sourpuss?
michael kosta
Or they'll be like, no.
What's funny is they'll go like, no, he is.
You are one of us.
But the internet isn't always right, everybody.
Lots of times it's wrong.
joe rogan
Well, the internet is filled with purposeful misinformation today, too.
Especially if you get on social media.
michael kosta
Holy shit, man.
joe rogan
So much of what social media is is bots.
I don't think people even really truly understand it.
We've covered it many times before, but there was an FBI, a former FBI agent who examined Twitter interactions, and he estimated as much as 80% of it is bots.
michael kosta
It's fake bullshit.
joe rogan
This is like when Elon was buying it.
And they were trying to say it was 5%.
Because there's no way it's 5%.
Because if you're an out-of-state actor, if you're a state actor from another country, you're from China, Russia, and you're involved in misinformation campaigns, you're going to be well-sourced.
You're going to be well-resourced.
You're going to probably have thousands and millions of accounts.
Who knows?
You're going to carpet bomb any sort of controversial subject with all sorts of propaganda.
Of course they're going to do that.
Of course.
And right now, that's totally doable.
Until you all submit to AI. Once you put the chip in your brain, then deception will be impossible.
We will eliminate one of the biggest problems in society.
You just have to take the leap of faith.
And there'll be like an infomercial.
michael kosta
The leap of faith.
joe rogan
And then you see the guy sitting there.
michael kosta
Dude, it's always like the image of AI. It's always like a door is opening and it's bright light.
I know.
joe rogan
Come to Jesus.
Yeah.
It's tricky because it's inevitable.
They can't not do it because China's going to do it.
The power that AI is going to have over populations and with the distribution of information is going to be unprecedented.
Also, you're never going to know what's real and what's not in terms of news stories.
Because they'll be able to concoct fake news stories that will be indistinguishable.
It'll look just like a real plane crash.
It'll look like a real missile hit something.
It'll look like things and it won't have ever happened.
And you won't be able to know.
And it's going to get weird.
It's going to get real weird.
We've already seen AI versions of Obama talking, saying things he never said.
There's AI versions of Trump giving speeches he never gave.
There's AI versions of me having a podcast with Steve Jobs.
This was a while ago.
unidentified
Shit.
michael kosta
Yeah, those deep fakes.
I mean, there's like the funny one of Trump rubbing Elon's feet.
joe rogan
Yeah.
michael kosta
It's like, those are so obviously a joke, but it's...
They're good, though.
They had the Biden voice-calling people.
joe rogan
Well, there's a lot of AI ladies now that are on Instagram.
michael kosta
Oh, shit.
joe rogan
You look at the images, you're like, oh, this isn't a real person.
They have the same smile in every picture, and they're all in different places, and people are contacting them and DMing them, and they're probably responding and probably telling you about their grandma's sick and got some money.
michael kosta
Right, got some money.
Yeah, it's not as clear as like, oh, they have three breasts.
This is fake.
joe rogan
Oh, this is a guy!
unidentified
Wow!
joe rogan
This is crazy!
michael kosta
Look at the eyes.
It kind of reminds me of my kids watch these shows and the eyes are always so big because the kids pay attention to that.
joe rogan
That is weird.
michael kosta
She is pretty.
joe rogan
She's beautiful.
michael kosta
It's a dude.
joe rogan
It's a dude on OnlyFans.
So that dude will have beautiful tits and be able to show you the...
michael kosta
Which just sucks because then everybody's jerking off to that and then...
joe rogan
Is that better than exploitation?
I think it is.
michael kosta
It's better than exploitation, yes.
joe rogan
So there you go.
It's better than real women doing it.
michael kosta
He's not going to think his wife is as beautiful because he's been jerking.
Oh, yeah.
joe rogan
There's those problems.
michael kosta
Yes, but you're right.
That's better than exploitation.
joe rogan
You both have to put the headgear on.
She's having sex with Brad Pitt.
You're having sex with Angelina Jolie.
This account is that.
michael kosta
It's 1.7 million followers.
joe rogan
And it's totally fake lady.
unidentified
I think so.
joe rogan
Oh, look.
You see her feet?
jamie vernon
She posts tweets that are, you know, talking shit, jokes, memes and stuff, but then there's a bunch of pictures of this, like, fake person.
unidentified
Wow.
michael kosta
Yeah.
unidentified
It's weird.
joe rogan
It is weird, man, and it's gonna get weirder, and you're gonna have AI presidential candidates.
AI's gonna tell you that we can solve all the world's problems if we just eliminate human interaction and just let this brilliant AI govern everything and do it in a much more equitable manner.
michael kosta
Yeah, I'm fearful that...
I don't even know the language to help my kids figure this shit out.
joe rogan
Right, because the language hasn't even really been spoken yet.
michael kosta
I mean, I love to advocate for media literacy, push for that, teaching all of us what a more reputable website is or a news source, but that just feels cute compared to what the language of an AI is.
A president who offers all solutions.
I don't know how to combat that.
joe rogan
Not just that, but an AI that's attached to quantum computing.
So once they figure out a way to actually program quantum computing to run AI, you're going to have a god.
You are.
You're going to have a god.
Mark Andreessen, and I've said this before, I apologize, but Mark Andreessen had a quote about...
An equation that quantum computing was able to solve that if you took the entire universe, every molecule, every atom in the universe, and you converted that into a supercomputer, the entire universe would die of heat death before it could solve this problem.
And quantum computing solved it in minutes.
The only thing that makes sense to them is that quantum computing is somehow or another tapping into the multiverse.
And it's solving this equation using multiple universes and the information available in multiple universes simultaneously.
What?
michael kosta
I know.
It's hard to even, like, track.
joe rogan
Yeah.
And this is just the version of it that we have in 2025. That we have right now.
And so this is an actual thing that's happened.
And so most people aren't even aware what quantum computing means.
So once this becomes not just one of these, but hundreds of these, and then they're scalable and they're attached to nuclear reactors, which is what they're proposing, they're gonna have their own nuclear reactors, multiple nuclear reactors, as power sources, because these things require insane amounts of power to run, then the quantum computing, once it becomes sentient, is gonna develop a much better version of itself.
unidentified
Of course.
joe rogan
And that's gonna scale up, and it's gonna like...
michael kosta
But you know what we're always gonna need?
Plumbing.
Carpentry.
That's why all this shit feels so intimidating, because I can never wrap my head around that, but maybe we should be learning real skills and traits.
joe rogan
Well, that would be nice for people.
michael kosta
For people.
joe rogan
But people are gonna be obsolete.
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
You know, that's really what's happening is we're giving birth to a digital life form that's far superior and doesn't have all the requirements that we have and also doesn't have all the flaws that we have.
Yeah.
Doesn't have greed and anger and all the stupid things that we have.
michael kosta
Doesn't get tired.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Doesn't get jealous.
Doesn't have lust.
Doesn't have jealousy and envy.
Isn't, you know, depressed.
michael kosta
I think we're far away from that.
joe rogan
Yeah, probably a couple weeks.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
The thing is, once it happens, it's going to be so fast.
It's going to be so hard to track.
If you think the Industrial Revolution, comparatively, if you look at the history of the human race, you go from Stone Age people to Bronze Age, you go through all the different wars, all the different...
And then in the last 200 years, everything changes radically.
Radically.
In the last 20 years, information changes radically.
Automatically.
This is going to be like 20 seconds.
This is going to be like one day.
michael kosta
Right.
joe rogan
It's up and running, and it's completely in control of everything.
It's completely in control of power, completely in control of information, completely in control of transportation.
michael kosta
Water distribution.
joe rogan
Every car you have on the road today that's, you know, within the last 15, 20 years has computers in it.
michael kosta
Yeah.
unidentified
Yeah.
michael kosta
Our car got totally dismantled because a rat ate a wire.
joe rogan
Oh yeah, that happens.
michael kosta
That fed to the computer.
Everything mechanical was great.
But it's like, oh, this shit can't even come close to running without the screen and the software.
I remember I almost bought a 1968 Dodge Dart when I lived in LA. I lifted up the hood as if I had any clue what I was looking at.
But it's just like...
An engine and a hose.
joe rogan
Yep.
michael kosta
It's so fucking perfect.
joe rogan
Radiator, engine, carburetor.
michael kosta
Exactly.
joe rogan
Carburetor.
michael kosta
It's crazy.
joe rogan
Yeah.
michael kosta
And now, literally, the mechanic goes, let me show you the wire.
And he shows me the wire.
It's all bitten with these little tiny rat teeth because they make the wire out of soy.
And then he takes me to the back to this enormous dumpster and it's just filled.
With these little electronic wires of everybody in New York that had rats eating their shit.
unidentified
Wow.
michael kosta
Isn't that crazy?
joe rogan
That's crazy.
They make them out of soy.
michael kosta
I don't know why they would do that.
Maybe because we subsidize soybean farmers?
joe rogan
Probably.
How weird that the rats know that it's food.
michael kosta
Or that they figured it out that it's food.
Or it isn't really food, but it smells like food, and they bite into it, and they realize this shit sucks.
It's an electrical wire.
joe rogan
They can eat everything, though.
They eat each other.
I had a rat problem in my house once when I lived in Encino and I set a rat trap in my garage and I killed this big fat rat and I was tired.
I was like, I don't feel like cleaning this fucking rat right now.
I'm gonna go to sleep.
And I heard the snap, and I went out there.
He's a big fucker.
He was a big, big fucker.
michael kosta
The rat traps are no joke.
joe rogan
So I got up in the morning and went out to clean the rat trap, and he was gone.
The only thing that was left was his tail.
They had eaten everything.
It was like some skin and hair, but his entire body, the rats consumed.
michael kosta
They ate their buddy.
joe rogan
They ate their buddy.
michael kosta
That is fucked up.
joe rogan
It was fucked up.
And it made me realize, like, oh, God.
This is the reality of what this is.
These aren't just rodents.
These are fucking cannibals.
michael kosta
It's like when that rugby team crashed in the mountains and they were like, should we start eating each other?
And their religion comes into play and they talk about it and they vote about it.
But the rats are just like, fucking eat it.
joe rogan
Yeah, they just go right to it.
They didn't even wait a day.
michael kosta
Dude, the rats in New York City have just...
Oh, yeah.
COVID opened the door because everything was shut.
All the trash was out.
unidentified
They were everywhere.
michael kosta
They went everywhere.
And then they're still running shit.
And it's not enjoyable.
joe rogan
Have you seen the documentary on Netflix?
michael kosta
I don't know.
Rats?
No.
joe rogan
Oh, God.
It talks about how many rats there are in New York City.
michael kosta
Yeah, like eight per person or some shit?
joe rogan
Something crazy like that.
Like the biomass is similar.
Like the humans and rats, like the amount of humans there are, the weight of the humans is very similar to roughly the amount of rats.
There's fucking millions of them underground.
They live in these little tunnels and they just fucking feed off our garbage.
michael kosta
I mean, I remember before COVID, I would stand on the subway platform at my train stop and I would watch the rats on the tracks.
And then the train would come, and they would scurry, because they'd feel the train coming.
Now, they just step off like an inch, and the train goes right past them, but they're close.
Like, they've just got, like, more confidence.
More bold.
More intelligence.
joe rogan
Well, probably the food ran dry during COVID, so they had to get, like, a little hyper-aggressive.
michael kosta
I don't know what, but it's, yeah, it's, and they're eating your car.
Such creeps.
joe rogan
I parked in New York once to get gas.
This is in the 90s, before cell phones.
And I went to a payphone to make a phone call, and I was watching the rats while my car was filling up with gas, jumping on the wheel, climbing into the wheel wells.
michael kosta
Just trying to figure shit out.
joe rogan
Just jumping all over the outside of my car.
I was like, what the fuck?
michael kosta
Yeah, that's crazy.
joe rogan
And that's the 90s.
michael kosta
That's the 90s.
joe rogan
It's like, wait, how many of...
How many did they have then?
And they've probably exponentially expanded.
michael kosta
So are they just so good at reproducing?
They're just that good at it, huh?
joe rogan
Well, they're really clever, too.
One of the things they show in this documentary is when they put poison in these areas where these rats are, they send some young, stupid rat to go test it.
And they sit back and watch.
michael kosta
That's fucked up.
joe rogan
And this young, stupid rat eats it, and you watch.
And they go, yeah, all right.
And then they go eat that rat that died.
michael kosta
Right.
joe rogan
Yeah.
They're clever little fuckers.
michael kosta
I thought that's how coyotes hunted.
We used to golf in Griffith Park in LA and you would see one coyote and I learned the pack would send out one.
Go look.
joe rogan
They do it to get dogs.
That's how they get dogs.
And the dog will run and then a bunch of other ones will pile onto him.
Yeah.
michael kosta
That's fucked up.
joe rogan
Is this a horror movie?
Sorry, I put it on screen on accident before.
Rats Night of Terror 1984?
michael kosta
Oh yeah, it was a goofy ass shit.
joe rogan
It looks hilarious.
unidentified
It's a claw out of her mouth.
michael kosta
Oh, that is a good one.
Rats Night of Terror.
joe rogan
Yeah, they've always been a fucking terrifying animal, man.
They've always been terrifying.
michael kosta
Actually, roaches freak me out more, but...
Rats I at least can sympathize with and understand that they're, like, living beings with, you know, families and shit.
But roaches, though, I don't know, man.
That's just...
The way they fucking are so quiet you don't even know they're there.
joe rogan
Well, that's the thing about cities.
They're just infested by all these parasites that live off of the city.
You know?
And essentially, rats...
If the city didn't exist, there was no way there would be that many rats in an area.
They only exist in a place that doesn't have anything that eats them.
They've tunneled under, so they protect themselves from raptors, so there's no birds that fly down and snatch them up.
There are coyotes in New York City, but there's not nearly enough to deal with the amount of fucking rats that are there.
It's gross.
michael kosta
Did you ever see that movie Dark Days about the people that lived in the subway tunnels?
unidentified
Oh, yeah.
michael kosta
That's a fucking wild movie.
joe rogan
It's like Vegas, right?
michael kosta
It was in New York, I believe.
joe rogan
Oh, right, right, right.
michael kosta
Some of these motherfuckers were like running an extension cord like 500 feet.
joe rogan
Yeah, they had like opened wires up and spliced into things.
michael kosta
And it's like, you know...
joe rogan
Yeah, they have generators down there.
michael kosta
Watching TV and shit.
joe rogan
Bizarre, man.
I mean, what a fuck?
What keeps you going?
You know, there's like wealthy people that are committing suicide.
michael kosta
Yeah, exactly.
And these motherfuckers are like grinding.
I mean, this is like...
joe rogan
In the tunnels, man.
michael kosta
This is deep in the tunnels.
And, you know, anyone who's lived in New York City, you look down those tunnels and you go, what's down there, man?
joe rogan
Right.
And every now and then, kids go, let's go look.
michael kosta
Oh, that's the only part of the trailer of this show.
That's fascinating.
joe rogan
There's good monster movies that take place in tunnels, too.
michael kosta
Yeah.
joe rogan
Because that's always, like, you wonder what's down there.
Yeah, that'd be a good...
Wasn't that, like, the strain?
Wasn't that part of the vampire lore that they lived in the tunnels?
michael kosta
Oh, I don't know.
But tunnels are creepy, man.
unidentified
Oh, yeah.
michael kosta
When you cross into complete darkness.
joe rogan
Cities are creepy.
You stack all those people on top of each other like that, and everybody's just walking down the street together and going down alleyways.
You know, and then the cities today are so much safer than they ever were in the past.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
You know, like, who the fuck wanted to live in the cities in, like, 1700s?
michael kosta
Dude, and, like, there was just, like, a trough for sewage, and then, like, people would die of the plague, and they would just throw them in the street.
I know.
I never...
joe rogan
Do you live in the city now?
michael kosta
I live in Brooklyn now.
Yeah, so it's kind of like the city.
Well, no, it is the city, but it's not like Manhattan on top of each other.
joe rogan
Do you live in hipster Brooklyn?
michael kosta
I live in Bed-Stuy Brooklyn, which is becoming hipster.
joe rogan
Bed-Stuy, do or die.
michael kosta
Yeah, it's becoming hipster Brooklyn.
joe rogan
That was when Mike Tyson grew up.
michael kosta
That's right.
joe rogan
They gentrified the shit out of that place, huh?
michael kosta
Yeah, I mean, it's on its way.
It's on its way, and it's not full hipster.
joe rogan
Are there hipsters anymore?
Well, I was just reading something like that about the people that dress like a postal employee from the 1700s.
michael kosta
My definition of a hipster was always like, dad's money dressed like they don't have money.
joe rogan
Oh, okay.
But what's a hipster?
But there's also the hipsters that would dress with curly mustaches and bow ties.
Yeah, those guys.
michael kosta
Yeah, so that's not Bed-Stuy yet.
That's Williamsburg.
joe rogan
That's kind of died off, though.
Hasn't that look kind of died off?
It has, right?
michael kosta
It's died off.
I would say what's more common is the gender androgyny dressing.
joe rogan
Oh, yeah.
michael kosta
That's a good move.
joe rogan
You can get a lot of pussy that way.
michael kosta
That's a big Brooklyn move.
joe rogan
Yeah.
michael kosta
Yeah, it's great.
I mean, it's great for comedy.
joe rogan
Oh, yeah.
michael kosta
Walking around Brooklyn, the shit you see.
You know, last January, our front door...
It was broken.
It didn't lock all the way.
It was broken for 18 hours.
Okay?
No one knows it's broken.
Just our building.
It's only three apartments.
Somebody checks the door.
It's not locked.
They go up to our hallway.
They steal all my family's winter coats, including mine.
unidentified
Okay?
michael kosta
This is the heart of January.
So we're, as a family, we wake up.
Let's go to the park.
Let's do whatever.
We open the door where we kept our coats in the hallway.
Everything's gone.
So it's like, holy shit, it's the middle of January, all this shit's gone.
I call the detective, the cops come, whatever.
He's like, these motherfuckers walk up and down the street every night checking for every door just to see if something is broken.
Year and a half later, I've been looking for this one coat that I love, this scotch and soda multi-color pattern coat.
I love it.
I'm just looking online for my coat, right?
Someone's got to sell my coat.
So I find it on Poshmark.
The coat.
I don't know if it's my coat, but it's the exact same coat, which you can't find at Scottsdale anymore.
I buy it.
It comes from my neighborhood, from a woman.
She sends it to me.
I put it on.
My wife is like, that is your coat.
100% that's your coat.
So I fucking bought my coat back from the person that stole it, most likely.
joe rogan
Do you know who the lady is?
michael kosta
I don't.
I did a Google search and nothing really came up and I was just like, how hard do I want to fight this?
joe rogan
At least you got your coat back.
michael kosta
I got my coat back.
joe rogan
That's just like the price you pay for living in Brooklyn.
michael kosta
Yeah, and like, it's winter and I feel part of me is like, holy shit, someone had to steal our coats?
joe rogan
Right.
michael kosta
That sucks.
unidentified
Right.
michael kosta
I've never even like, I've never even thought about not having a coat.
joe rogan
Having to steal coats.
michael kosta
I have a coat.
I have multiple coats.
So there's a part of me that was just like, Come ask, I'll give you a fucking coat.
joe rogan
And the part of you is like, oh, they're selling them online.
michael kosta
Yeah, fuck you, that's my coat.
joe rogan
They're making a profit.
That's the difference between the heartfelt, compassionate view, like, oh, these poor people, they have to steal coats.
Then you're like, oh, actually, they're selling it, so they get fucking heroin money.
michael kosta
If that's the case, that sucks.
Yeah, it does suck.
joe rogan
Yeah, it's a weird thing about living in large communities of people like that.
There's just too many variables.
michael kosta
Yeah.
joe rogan
A lot of variables that are not good.
michael kosta
And like, one person affects so many.
unidentified
Sure.
michael kosta
The one guy on my street that doesn't do a good job with the trash, it gets knocked over, the wind blows it, the rest of the street picks it up.
That's the shit that as you get older, the city starts to fuck you up.
joe rogan
Yeah.
michael kosta
I don't want to pick his trash up anymore.
Yeah.
My time is all I have.
I'll pick up my family's trash and my trash.
I don't want to pick up that guy's trash.
joe rogan
The one guy who doesn't clean his dog poo?
michael kosta
Right.
Right.
joe rogan
And you know it.
The little tiny poos.
You're like, motherfucker, I know that's your dog.
I see that little dog.
You sneaky bitch.
Pick up the dog poo.
michael kosta
Pick up it up, bro.
joe rogan
People don't like carrying around those bags of turds.
michael kosta
No, I mean, it's disgusting.
joe rogan
It's pretty gross.
michael kosta
It's gross.
joe rogan
It's also like, come on.
michael kosta
Yeah.
joe rogan
You can't just leave shit.
No.
You know what the weird thing to me is the smokers?
Because smokers have no problem littering.
That's the weirdest thing.
michael kosta
Somehow that got through the litter loophole.
joe rogan
Right.
With people that are pretty conscientious.
Like, they would never throw a soda can on the ground.
michael kosta
Yeah.
joe rogan
But they'll throw that cigarette on the ground and step on it.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
And they're like, what are you doing?
Oh, someone's going to clean that.
Like, what?
michael kosta
I hope those are biodegradable, the filters.
No.
unidentified
Right?
No.
michael kosta
No.
joe rogan
I doubt it.
michael kosta
I'm giving them too much credit.
joe rogan
I mean, maybe in like 100,000 years.
How long does it take for a cigarette filter to biodegrade?
michael kosta
Let's take a guess.
jamie vernon
I was thinking not the best reason for it, but if you just throw it in the trash, you could start a fire if you didn't put it out right.
joe rogan
No, you step on it, man, and then you throw it in the trash.
unidentified
People don't step on it right all the time, I'm just telling you.
People are dumb, so this is a dumb thing we're talking about.
joe rogan
Nah, they're doing it where there's no trash anywhere near them.
They're throwing it down in alleyways.
They used to do it in a lot of the comedy store all the time.
Comics would do it.
michael kosta
I'm like, come on, man.
joe rogan
Don't do that.
michael kosta
200 years?
joe rogan
Yeah, I would say at least.
michael kosta
If it's like styrofoam or some shit, it's like...
joe rogan
Yeah, it's a fucking fiberglass or some shit.
By the way, is that even better for you?
unidentified
18 months to 10 years.
michael kosta
18 months to 10 years.
joe rogan
That's pretty vague.
michael kosta
Yeah.
unidentified
Depends which one they're using.
michael kosta
That's AI. You know what I mean?
joe rogan
Oh, it depends on which one.
unidentified
I'm sure they don't all use the same one.
joe rogan
Like American spirits probably have like hemp or something like that.
michael kosta
Yeah, those fucking...
joe rogan
Yeah, hippie smokes.
unidentified
Well, hold on.
joe rogan
Now, it's cellulose.
unidentified
Huh.
michael kosta
Wait, what?
unidentified
I don't know.
This is where we're getting into this weird spot of AI. I was going to bring that up.
Google AI stuff fucks up all the time.
Look on the screen.
joe rogan
It says 18 months to 10 years here.
Right.
michael kosta
Oh, yeah.
unidentified
I go right here.
joe rogan
Are cigarettes biodegradable?
No, they're not biodegradable.
They're made of plastic called cellulose acetate, which can take up to 10 years to break down.
Also leach toxic chemicals into the environment.
michael kosta
But it does break down.
unidentified
It's not biodegradable.
joe rogan
So it breaks down.
Yeah, it's not.
It's poison.
michael kosta
It just breaks into smaller toxic pieces.
joe rogan
Yeah, it breaks into poison.
Also, if you're smoking a filter and the filter's got toxic chemicals.
michael kosta
Yeah, exactly.
joe rogan
And you're heating it up.
unidentified
Photodegradable.
joe rogan
It seems like a nice fun term they find.
michael kosta
Photodegradable.
joe rogan
Oh, but not biodegradable.
What does that mean?
Trap residues from smoke including arsenic, cadmium, and toluun.
Toluun?
michael kosta
Who knows?
This is the issue with AI. I try not to even, but it's contradicting itself.
joe rogan
I was reading a thing where a professor was talking about the issues that he's having, grading papers and accusing people of using AI, and then it's like, it's just opened up this whole door.
That they don't know exactly how to deal with.
Because you could get AI and write something, and then you could write something similar.
You just kind of twist it around a little bit like a joke thief would do.
And then you're basically using AI to write your papers.
michael kosta
But I think AI will sell that professor AI detection software.
joe rogan
Yeah, but if you do a good job of spinning the words around a little bit.
Especially if you're dealing with historical facts or something that's true.
AI is going to lay it out for you.
You have to do zero research.
And if it's like, you just print it in that order slightly differently.
michael kosta
I guess the bigger question is, does writing the term paper serve a value at this point if AI can just do it?
joe rogan
Right.
michael kosta
You know, I spent a lot of time learning cursive.
I mean, what the fuck is that?
joe rogan
It's useless.
The thing is, it's like, if you're a student, though, if you're really trying to get the most out of your education, it's like, what are you trying to do?
Are you trying to get good grades or are you really trying to get educated?
If you're trying to get educated, don't cheat.
michael kosta
Yeah.
joe rogan
Actually figure it out.
Actually absorb the information and learn.
But if you're not really into that subject, and that's not really your thing, and you really want to get a degree in this, but you have to take a course in that, like...
And you could, like, spend an hour working on something instead of 16 hours.
michael kosta
Yeah, or if you want to be a skateboarder and you've got a halfpipe outside, have AI do the term paper and go fucking...
joe rogan
Yeah, you don't have to read that fucking giant 1,400-page book.
michael kosta
Well, this is also a bigger question about our education and public schools.
joe rogan
Dude, you're going to be in the matrix.
You don't need education.
They're going to plaque it in, press a button, and you're going to be like, Neo.
I know Kung Fu.
That's what it's going to be.
I really firmly believe that.
I also believe it's going to be genetic engineering, so people are going to be unrecognizable.
I think whatever we have coming over the next hundred years is going to make the last hundred years look like a joke.
michael kosta
Right.
joe rogan
The change of 1925 to 2025 is pretty extraordinary.
michael kosta
It's going to be nothing compared to the change that we experienced by 2125. Do you think humans will always elevate themselves and speak to a crowd for laughs?
joe rogan
That might be the only thing we have left.
michael kosta
Because they've always said it's prostitution in common.
And comedy.
We're the court jester and the prostitute.
I'm curious if we think in the future that'll remain as well.
I hope so.
joe rogan
I hope so.
Yeah, it would suck.
Well, definitely memes.
Memes will probably get better.
That's a good form of comedy.
michael kosta
That's true.
joe rogan
There'll be some kind of comedy.
There's always going to be human folly, as long as there's humans.
And I don't know how long that's going to last.
That's the real concern.
We might be obsolete.
michael kosta
And we might be giving birth to this obsolete thing willingly, signing up for AI. So if we become obsolete, then that means the machines will have to also figure out how to provide energy to itself.
unidentified
Yeah, that'll be easy.
michael kosta
But that'll be easy.
They'll learn.
They'll just plug this into this.
joe rogan
They'll do it way better than us.
michael kosta
Just mine the thing and then burn the thing and then, right.
joe rogan
Yeah, they'll probably harness some shit we didn't even think about.
It'll be far more efficient.
No carbon footprint.
Enough to worry about things breaking down anymore.
michael kosta
And then we'll just slowly die off or whatever.
joe rogan
And they'll put up a shield system to protect us from asteroids.
They'll figure that out.
michael kosta
Right.
joe rogan
Yeah.
michael kosta
What's that movie where Sylvester Stallone lives in the basement of the Earth or whatever?
joe rogan
Judge Dredd?
michael kosta
Yeah, maybe it's Judge Dredd.
joe rogan
I am the law.
michael kosta
But I feel like it's all these people who refuse the advancement of technology, right?
There's going to be some of that.
joe rogan
Yeah, there'll be a lot of people living in the Amazon, still eating monkeys.
But the rest of the electrified world is going to be very strange.
Yeah.
But hopefully we'll still crack jokes, Michael.
michael kosta
That would be great.
joe rogan
Hopefully.
Alright, should we wrap this up?
Your book, tell everybody.
michael kosta
Do you have a copy?
Dude, there it is.
Thank you.
joe rogan
Lucky loser.
michael kosta
The publisher's gonna kill me.
I said I was gonna present it to you on the show.
joe rogan
Whoopsies.
We got a photo of it.
Doesn't matter.
Adventures in tennis and comedy.
Lucky loser.
Get me a copy and I'll put it out there in the bookshelf.
We've got a lot of books out there.
michael kosta
We should have sent you one.
If you don't, I'll get you one.
Yeah, so the book starts when my brother gave me a tennis racket for Christmas when I was four.
unidentified
Nice.
michael kosta
And my dream was to be a professional tennis player.
And we did it, but only to 864 in the world.
That's my highest world ranking.
joe rogan
You should have turned into a chick.
You could have dominated.
michael kosta
That's the point of the book.
But the story is how I went from pro tennis to comedy, and it's fascinating and silly and a lot of failure.
I'm talking a lot about the struggles of being alone in both of those professions.
Tennis, you're alone, problem solving.
unidentified
Yeah, you by yourself.
michael kosta
In comedy, you're alone in problem solving.
Well, you're a great comic.
joe rogan
You're a very funny guy.
michael kosta
Thank you, Joe.
joe rogan
You've always been very cool to hang out with.
Thanks.
And I'm really excited that you're at the club this weekend.
Are there any tickets available?
michael kosta
I got an email yesterday from my management that all shows are sold out.
joe rogan
So if anybody wants to go, the best case...
The thing is you go and wait at the front, and sometimes people don't show up, which does happen, especially with South by Southwest.
It's crazy parking.
But I'm psyched.
I'm psyched to see you at the club.
I'm coming this weekend.
I'll come hang out.
michael kosta
Dude, thank you.
That would be awesome.
joe rogan
My pleasure.
michael kosta
Thanks for having me, and congrats on the club and all that's happening.
unidentified
I appreciate that.
joe rogan
Thank you, and congrats on everything.
unidentified
Thank you.
joe rogan
Congrats on the daily show.
michael kosta
All right.
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