Give Dudes a Chance

I've told as many people as will listen about the joys of podcasts. For those that don't know a podcast is a radio type show that you download from the Internet. There are literally thousands of these bad boys available and on any topic you can possibly think of.

My two favorite shows are the Adam Carolla Show and the Joe Rogan Experience. At first glance it may seem like these two guys would have almost nothing worth listening to. One used to host the Man Show with hot girls jumping  on trampolines and the other is a pot enthusiast who hosted Fear Factor and now works for the UFC.

"It's probably all about lusting after chicks and other dude-related riffs." You couldn't be more wrong.

Adam Carolla is actually a pretty inspiring figure. Born in Philadelphia his family moved to north Hollywood when he was young. Anyone that has been to LA understands that Hollywood is not the glamorous star-studded area you would expect. It's actually a low-income, and in some places, scary neighborhood. Coming from poverty with distant, ineffective parents he was forced to almost fend for himself and this gives him a really good perspective on life. 

In a world where being identified as a member of a group is critical, Adam refuses to be placed into a box. Fiscally conservative you would expect him to be a staunch Republican but his pro gay marriage and marijuana stances muddy that water. Although portraying himself as gruff and seemingly uncaring he often slips up and reveals his sweet nougaty centre. His side kick "Bald" Bryan Bishop was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor a number of years back and upon hearing this Adam became an inconsolable mess and did everything he could to make sure Bryan would be taken care of. 

The best part of the Adam Carolla Show is his willingness to say what he actually feels without fear of reprisal from advertisers or other interests. This has likely cost him some job opportunities on network television but he says, and I believe him, that he would rather not work than have to live under their stupid rules. 

Add to Adam the afore mentioned Bald Bryan and "news girl" Gina Grad and you have a dynamite comedy team that touch on everything from current events to delving into possible solutions for societal ills. 

The Adam Carolla show has the feel of your favorite morning radio show but in an uncensored format. 

The Joe Rogan Experience features long format interviews with influential people from various backgrounds. Like the Adam Carolla show Joe Rogan is completely uncensored. However, Joe Rogan's "interviews" are really more like conversations. Traditional radio has a limited amount of time to get the entire story out and the commercial breaks cause you to stop and restart the train of thought. 

Demonstrating his commitment to making his show as authentic as possible Joe has turned down bigger revenues by refusing to do commercials in the middle of the show because they break up the flow of the conversations. 

Because of their reach Joe and Adam get some very big names on their shows and it makes some great "pod" as they like to say. 

To date my absolute favorite interview was on the Joe Rogan Experience with Gad Saad. He's a professor from McGill in Montreal and he talks about how crazy sensitive society has become and that at universities, where things are meant to be questioned and challenged professors live in fear of their students complaining or making accusations of "triggering" feelings or making "micro aggression." He does an incredible job of explaining the environment at universities currently. 

To site one example of this lunacy, Law professors at Harvard are being told to avoid rape law because of the potential triggers. So just ignore it? 

So if you are tired of the boring normal radio shows I strongly encourage you to find a podcast or three that you love. You get to learn new things and on the topic YOU want, not whatever happens to be on. I'd love to hear from you in the comments about the podcasts you live too! 

Ánimo!