“Severance is a fantastic show,” wrote Joe Rogan in a post on social media. “Completely original and totally unpredictable.” Perhaps even more unpredictable has been the frenzied response that his endorsement of Apple’s sci-fi drama hit has since stirred up.
“Amazing writing, directing and acting,” the comedian and host of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast continued, adding he had recently finished watching the series’ first season. “Just a totally unique show.”
But instead of a discussion about the artistic merits of Severance, Rogan’s comments have kicked off a heated political discourse — and drawn criticism towards some of the recent guests he’s had on his podcast, which boasts nearly 19.5 million subscribers and over 5.8 billion views on YouTube alone.
“This man has glazed a parasitic billionaire tech CEO on his podcast every single week for the last few months,” said Twitch streamer and political commentator Hasan Piker in reaction to Rogan’s post. Piker’s comment has amassed over 32,000 likes and 1,200 reposts.
The political streamer, who has over 7 million followers across platforms, didn’t specify who he was alluding to. But at least a handful of prominent tech moguls have appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience since last August, including Palantir chairman Peter Thiel, former Facebook exec Chamath Palihapitiya, venture capitalist and a16z co-founder Marc Andreessen, Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg and Tesla chief Elon Musk, who’s also been moonlighting as an enforcer in President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency as of recent.
“If Lumon were a real company you’d bring Kier Eagan on your podcast to lick his boots and talk about how the ‘woke’ left is ‘communist’ for being against corporations severing people,” said host of The Humanist Report Mike Figueredo, drawing a parallel to Severance’s shadowy antagonist.
Other posters replied by mocking Rogan for his association with Musk, who’s appeared on his podcast multiple times.
(I’ve reached out to Rogan for comment and will update this piece accordingly if I hear back.)
Joe Rogan’s Chats With Tech Moguls
Rogan, known for his sprawling interests and wide array of guests, has often been criticized for his lackadaisical interviewing style and tendency to rarely push back on questionable claims.
In an appearance on Rogan’s podcast last November, Andreessen alleged that the Biden administration had engaged in censorship and discrimination, pressuring banks into unfairly “debanking” Silicon Valley founders and crypto entrepreneurs for their political views. The venture capitalist further critiqued the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for “terrorizing anybody who tries to do anything new in financial services.”
“Delete CFPB,” later posted Musk on X, backing the a16z co-founder.
Though Andreessen’s debanking charges have since been countered, The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform revealed on January 25, 2025 that it has launched an investigation into the matter, citing Andreessen’s claims on The Joe Rogan Experience.
Speaking to Rogan in January, Zuckerberg backed Andreessen’s criticism of the CFPB, adding that he wondered whether there was “a quiet consensus” among regulators to punish the tech industry. He also claimed the Biden administration hectored Facebook into suppressing discussions around Covid-19 vaccines and enforcing draconian, biased content moderation policies. The Meta head then compared the government’s actions to “something out of 1984,” referring to George Orwell’s dystopian novel.
