“We’re Not Even Talking About Old Stuff”: Country Singer Jason Aldean Finds a Friend in Joe Rogan Amidst His ‘Try That in a Small Town’ Controversy

Joe Rogan is known to speak his mind. The 55-year-old podcaster has been in the crossfire of the culture wars in the past decade. Critics have accused the Boston native of using his platform irresponsibly, promoting conspiracy theories, and being a pipeline to more radical political spaces.

It does seem that his detractors tend to caricature the comedian and ascribe opinions to him that he does not hold, on occasion. But Rogan has repeatedly made clear that he sees himself as just a podcast host. And that viewers should not look to him for their political opinions and facts. Recently, Rogan waded into the murky waters of the culture wars once again when he made comments about the controversy surrounding the country song ‘Try That In a Small Town’ by  Jason Aldean with guest Gad Saad on his podcast.

Joe Rogan discusses country song controversy with Gad Saad

On episode 2012 of the JRE podcast, Rogan was joined by Canadian psychologist and academic Gad Saad. The Canadian has been a critic of ‘wokeness’ and its perceived negative effects on free speech. In the course of the podcast, Saad brought up the song and how a radio station had pulled it from rotation due to the song’s alleged racial undertones. He presented this as an example of the double standard that the other side has.

“The level of outrage — like, now, I’m not saying that’s the greatest song the world’s ever known, you know?” he continued. “But the level of outrage coming from people that are upset about that song is so strange when there are hundreds of rap songs out there that are infinitely worse — and also enjoyable. And no, no complaints at all. Misogynistic. Qualifying violence .”

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Rogan agreed that other genres of music, such as hip-hop and rock, had many songs that promoted violence and misogyny and dismissed any racial connotations.

“We’re not even talking about old stuff. There’s new stuff too. There’s, there’s, there’s hip hop, there’s wild rock songs, there’s a lot of wild s***. And to be focusing on that one — and it’s the racial aspect of it,” he said. “It was crazy because like the real Antifa problems that were happening during the BLM, I think it was a lot of white people doing that, wasn’t it?” he added.

As a comedian, Joe Rogan has always been upfront and vocal about his support for free speech even before his podcast. But, he does have a tendency to agree with his guests and not provide adequate pushback. That, however, does not stop him from taking a strong stand. What do you think about the controversy surrounding the song? Let us know in the comments section below. 

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