
via Imago
Credits: YT

via Imago
Credits: YT
19.5 million. That’s how many people are currently subscribed to the Joe Rogan Experience podcast on YouTube—half of what California’s population was in 2023. 11 million. That’s how many listeners the show enjoys per episode as per a report this month making it the most popular podcast in the country—over 5 million more than the second-ranked Crime Junkie podcast. Known for its unusually long episodes, ranging from somewhere between two to four hours, JRE is not just a listening medium anymore. It’s a cultural phenomenon capable of influencing popular opinions. However, not everything works. And, looks like Joe Rogan has been caught in the crossfire for inviting a certain guest…
But first, let’s get you familiarized with who we’re talking about. On Episode #2291, the UFC color commentator brought back a familiar face: Bert Kreischer. Notably, the comic is known for his over-the-top personality, bare-chested comic shows, and humor that not everyone enjoys. In fact, the hate is so widespread that you’d probably find multiple articles that note (point by point) everything that’s wrong with Kreischer. “This egotistical self-deception is the essence of what’s made him into the most obnoxious comedian currently working,” noted a critic. However, his antics aren’t new.
The 52-year-old first gained national attention as a sixth-year Florida State University in 1997, when Rolling Stone designated him as the Top Partyer in the nation; his student life (barely) covered in a 500+ word article called “The Undergraduate,” thanks to his excessive boozing habits, and affinity for public nudity. Since then, Kreischer has always been a man who had many eyes on him—good and mostly, bad. But instead of cowering in a corner, he’s instead capitalized on it, and pulled off a career many wish wouldn’t have existed. And that’s exactly what happened on March 18, when the Instagram account @thejrecompanion shared the news of the comedian’s appearance on the newest episode of the JRE.
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There were three slides in the post. Two of which were stills from the episode, and the last one showed the description of the JRE guest. The description pointed out that Kreischer was not just a stand-up comic, but also a podcaster and actor. He’s the host of ‘The Bertcast’ podcast, and co-hosts ‘2 Bears, 1 Cave’ podcast with Tom Segura. Kreischer is also the host of the YouTube cooking show ‘Something’s Burning’.
But being a comedian, Kreischer can seldom step down from making jokes. And this time, he decided to release a special on Netflix, titled ‘Lucky’. Of course, the JRE description gave the audience a shout-out on that. But little did the beloved UFC color commentator know that his decision to bring in Bert Kreischer once again isn’t something that the audience were looking forward to.
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As soon as @thejrecompanion shared the details of the new JRE episode on Instagram, the netizens swooped in to reveal their thoughts. Let’s take a look at what the JRE fans had to say, shall we?
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Top Comment by
It doesn’t matter what Joe does on his show, this website will spread hate about it. Jealous of his viewership...more
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Fans are furious
Having the same guest on multiple episodes certainly drops the entertainment level of the interaction. And with Kreischer making his 37th appearance, the JRE fans couldn’t help but express their disappointment. Some of the fans even considered unsubscribing from the JRE community. A fan wrote, “Finally unsubscribing from the JRE pod. Bye!” Meanwhile, many others openly declared that they would skip episode #2291. One of the fans commented, “Well I won’t be charging my airpods today, big skip.” Another fan wrote, “Will be avoiding this one for sure.” One fan decided to take a sarcastic approach and wrote, “I can’t wait to not listen to this episode.”
Some of the fans believed that Rogan must have stumbled upon a hurdle that forced him to bring in Kreischer. A comment read, “He must have had a guest cancel at the last minute.” But having listened to the 57-year-old podcaster and Kreischer on so many instances, the fans began to predict the proceedings of the episode. One fan commented that the episode would be “3 hours of high pitch wheezing and interrupting joe.”
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Another fan claimed, “We have to listen to Joe tell us just how funny Bert’s special is.” Yes, on most occasions, Rogan tried to amplify his guests’ specials and podcasts. And with Kreischer’s new Netflix special out, the fans seemed to think it would happen once again. But the audience wasn’t happy with that either. A netizen claimed, “I just saw his special and I tried to like it but I only made it 14 minutes in.”
But what are your thoughts on Kreischer’s special? Have you tuned in to JRE episode #2291 yet? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.
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Is Joe Rogan's podcast losing its edge with Bert Kreischer's 37th appearance?