Latest / The Joe Rogan Recap / Andrew Schulz (2025) - Riyadh Comedy Festival

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Andrew Schulz (2025) - Riyadh Comedy Festival · The Joe Rogan Recap

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  Welcome to the Joe Rogan recap. And welcome to the Deep dive.
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  Today we're doing the heavy lifting for you.
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  We've waded through a really wide-ranging discussion, covered
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  everything from like digital culture to the psychology of
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  winning and losing. A lot of there.
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  A ton. And we've pulled out what we
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  think are the most valuable takeaways so you get the
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  essence, you know, without needing hours to listen.
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  Right, And we're kicking off somewhere, well, pretty
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  unexpected. Feels almost like the digital
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  Wild West these days. Uh huh. 2 facts to get us
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  started. First, this crazy rise of AI
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  music. Yeah, really good AI music being
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  made with just like 5 word prompts.
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  Wild. And 2nd, how that connects,
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  maybe surprisingly, to this really sharp analysis of how
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  Internet algorithms are messing with our sense of identity.
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  Twisting it. That AI music part, it really
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  did stop me in my tracks. We're not talking about, you
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  know, clunky robot. Sounds no way at all.
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  They played actual examples, AI taking songs we know and just
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  flipping the genre completely and doing it well.
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  They use $0.50 right? Like mini man or what?
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  Or gangster. Exactly those tracks and the AI
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  turned them into this like super smooth 1950s southern soul vibe.
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  OK, but here's the bit that really got me.
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  One of the hosts said he actually thought the Many Men
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  lyrics sounded better that way. Yeah.
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  He said that more soulful, almost heavier, maybe in that
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  old school style. That's something else.
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  It's not just copying, it's reinterpreting in a potentially
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  powerful way. And the ease of it, That was a
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  Jamie's point, right? Sometimes literally. 5 words. 5
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  words for a polished track like that.
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  Think about that. The power to remix reality, or
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  art anyway, almost instantly. Which actually leads perfectly
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  into the next bit, doesn't it? This idea of digital ease and
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  how it affects, well, how we see each other online, yeah, the.
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  Connection they drew was from easy creation to easy judgement.
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  Maybe talk to the algorithm flattening people.
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  Exactly that, flattening us into A2 dimensional person because
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  nuance complexity that doesn't really get clicks, does it?
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  No, it wants the simple version, the easy to digest hero or
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  villain. Right.
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  The algorithm finds what confirms your biases, your
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  fears. So you end up with these two
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  completely different, totally dehumanized versions of public
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  figures. One for the left, one for the
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  right. Like cartoon character.
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  And neither is real, but they feel real to the people
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  consuming them because it feeds that outrage or that admiration
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  cycle. Andrew Schultz talked about this
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  happening to him personally, didn't he?
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  He did, yeah. He realized that the Internet
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  and he even said like maybe his own Co host sometimes had built
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  up this this archetype of him. Like a caricature.
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  Pretty much simplified, loud, maybe controversial, stripped
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  of, you know, his actual humanity, all driven by
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  headlines, clips taken way out of context.
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  Because that's what gets attention.
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  It brings us to that core problem they identified.
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  The Internet just doesn't reward nuance.
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  Or reasonableness. Yeah, anything thoughtful or
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  measured. It just dies online, doesn't get
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  shared, doesn't create engagement.
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  So people get pushed into these boxes, these predictable, often
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  explosive archetypes. Because why wouldn't you, right?
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  If the system rewards the simple fiery take, why risk complexity?
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  It's it's a worrying trend. Especially when you think about
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  trying to solve actual complex real world problems.
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  If we're all thinking in 2 dimensions online.
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  How do you tackle 3D problems offline?
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  Yeah. OK, perfect pivot then, because
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  the conversation took a hard turn into those real world
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  problems. Chaos, bureaucracy.
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  The cost of it all. Specifically California and the
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  film industry this was. Genuinely shocking film
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  producers saying it's basically impossible to make movies in
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  Hollywood anymore. Yeah, Hollywood not even in the
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  top ten global spots for filming now because taxes are sky high.
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  Regulations are intense. Meanwhile, well, you've got
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  places like Australia apparently rolling out the red carpet
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  offering. Was it 60% tax break 60?
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  Percent, yeah, it's a massive difference.
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  And they were clear this isn't just about some abstract loss
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  for California. This hits working people hard.
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  Oh absolutely. The cruise right lighting,
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  transport, set builders, all those jobs, they're either
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  constantly traveling, chasing the work, or having to relocate
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  entirely because the industry is just gone elsewhere.
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  And then they dropped that that sociological comparison between
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  LA and New York kind of brutal. It was sharp, wasn't it?
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  The idea that LA's motivation is seeking attention to make up for
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  a shitty childhood versus New York's motivation seeking money
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  to make up for a shitty childhood.
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  Wow. It's cynical, maybe, but it
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  rings kind of true, doesn't it? Different kinds of ambition may
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  be driven by similar underlying deficits.
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  Seems to be the implication. New York build empires, finance
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  tangible stuff. LA builds fame, recognition, the
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  attention economy. Leads to very different cities,
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  very different priorities. And maybe different kinds of
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  dysfunction too. Which brings us back to
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  bureaucracy hitting disaster. Right the fires.
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  Malibu, The Palisades and the time it takes to rebuild.
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  The official estimate because of all the permits and red tape, 16
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  to 18 months for people to rebuild their homes. 16 to 18
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  months, OK, now hold that number because they contrasted it with
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  that bridge collapse in Pennsylvania years back.
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  Yeah, I remember that. They basically had to rebuild it
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  immediately. And how long did it take once
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  they, like, temporarily cut through all the usual
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  legislative nonsense? Three weeks. 3 weeks.
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  The difference is just staggering, isn't it?
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  It shows you it can be done quickly when the will is there.
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  And that's why people get so unbelievably frustrated.
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  You see proof that the system can work fast, but usually
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  doesn't because it's clogged up. Exactly.
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  It feels self-inflicted, which leads straight into political
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  accountability or the lack of. It Yeah, they singled out
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  California Governor Gavin Newsom.
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  The critique was about him trying to deflect criticism by
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  calling it California Derangement Syndrome.
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  Right, Trying to sort of gaslight people about the
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  problems they're actually experiencing.
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  Which, as they pointed out, doesn't really work when people
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  are literally leaving the state because of things like property
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  taxes or, you know, just the difficulty of getting things
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  done. It ties back that idea that
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  voters are looking for someone who seems ready to genuinely
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  shake things up. The.
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  Candidate of rebellion, whether it's Trump or Mayor Adams in New
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  York, they mentioned someone who channels that frustration.
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  Yeah, someone who seems like they might actually breakthrough
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  the inertia rather than to manage the decline.
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  Maybe people want action. OK, so we've gone from the
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  digital world where everything's kind of fuzzy and manipulated.
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  Yeah, the flattened archetypes. To the messy, bureaucratic real
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  world, now a shift to a place where truth is, well, absolute
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  unforgiving. The world of high stakes
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  competition. They used pool hustling as this
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  amazing analogy. Which sounds shady, but they
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  framed it almost like a an accepted part of that specific
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  world. Kind of, yeah.
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  It has its own different set of rules, and the hustle only
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  really works if the other person, the mark, is either
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  naive or just not skilled enough to see it coming.
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  And the technique is classic, right?
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  Let them win a bit first. Totally.
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  Let them win. Act a little nervous, maybe
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  complain about bad luck. Build their confidence way up.
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  Get their ego involved. Exactly.
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  And then you put the real money on the table.
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  Thousands of dollars, maybe because you know you've been
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  holding back sandbagging and you can run the table when it
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  counts. They mentioned specific hustlers
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  who used aliases right before Google made everyone instantly
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  searchable. Yeah, guys like Efron Reyes
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  going by Cesar Morales or Wade Crane traveling as Billy
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  Johnson. It was a whole strategy to stay
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  anonymous on the circuit. Professional deception, but
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  aimed at those who or maybe a bit too cocky.
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  And they talked about giving weight.
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  What exactly is that? Again?
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  Like a handicap. Precisely.
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  You give your opponent an obvious advantage, like in nine
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  ball. Maybe you let them take the 8
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  ball when they only need the 9 to win.
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  Why would? You do that.
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  Because you're so confident, your actual skill level is way
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  higher. Even with that handicap, that
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  weight, you know you can still beat them.
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  It just makes the bets seem more attractive to the mark.
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  They think they have a real shot.
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  OK, got it. But the deeper point wasn't just
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  the hustle itself, it was connecting that kind of high
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  stakes skill based world to. To things where there's absolute
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  truth, like archery, like jiu jitsu, like professional pool.
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  Like no room for excuses or spin.
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  None. The arrow hits or it doesn't.
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  The ball drops or it doesn't. Your charisma, your fame, your
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  excuses, they mean nothing in that moment.
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  It's pure outcome based on skill and execution.
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  No algorithm to blame, no red tape, just.
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  Reality. And they really highlighted Jiu
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  jitsu as maybe the ultimate example of that, the ultimate
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  humbling activity. Because it forces submission,
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  you literally have to tap out verbally or physically or risk
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  getting hurt. Yeah.
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  And the point was, if you don't have something like that in your
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  life, something that forces you to confront failure so directly,
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  yeah, you can develop this aversion to losing.
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  Which sounds good, but they said it's actually dangerous.
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  Really dangerous for long term success, yeah.
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  Especially for people who maybe had it easy early on.
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  Princess, childhood stars, whatever.
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  People who never had to really struggle or fail anonymously.
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  Because losing, honestly, tapping out, missing the shot,
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  that's where the learning is. That's how you build resilience.
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  Without it, you become brittle. You can't handle it when you
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  finally do run into that wall of nonnegotiable reality.
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  And MMA fighting fits right in here too.
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  That quote from Paul Hughes. Oh yeah, that was dark.
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  Fighters are always injured in training camp.
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  It's just the baseline reality. Brutal physical honesty
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  constantly. And you see the impact.
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  They use Alex Pereira as an example, the difference between
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  him fighting while sick versus fighting when fully in shape and
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  healthy. Night and day, right?
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  The knockout win over Uncle Ayo showed what he could do when his
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  body wasn't compromised. You just, you can't talk your
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  way out of physical limitations. The result is absolute.
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  What a contrast we started in that digital space.
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  Algorithms distorting everything, flattening identity.
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  All headlines and archetypes. And we ended up here in these
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  pursuits where the truth is just undeniable, physical, absolute.
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  And maybe the thread connecting it all is about filtering
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  information, right? About discernment.
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  How so? Well, if you're just passively
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  consuming what the algorithm feeds you, you need to recognize
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  it for what it is. They compared it to like a
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  digital Big Mac. OK, indulgent but not
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  nutritious. Exactly.
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  Gives you that quick hit, maybe confirms your biases, feels
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  satisfying, but it's not real substance.
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  It's not the complex truth. And if you don't have those
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  reality checks, those humbling pursuits we talked about, you're
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  way more vulnerable to just becoming a pawn in that system.
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  Yeah, becoming a sucker, as they put it.
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  Just endlessly farmed for outraged cliques, reinforcing
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  whatever tribe you belong to online.
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  Which brings us to that final concept they mentioned.
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  Really fascinating the Lakota idea of the Hayoka.
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  The sacred clown, right, Whose job it was to basically mock
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  everyone, even the chief. To keep people humble.
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  To stress test the social norms. Exactly a necessary truth
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  teller. Even if the truth was
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  uncomfortable or offensive, it's served a vital community
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  function, bringing humility. OK, so here's the final thought
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  to leave you with. Building on that, think about
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  the contrast that traditional Hayoka they risked real
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  consequences, social ostracism, maybe even physical harm for
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  speaking uncomfortable truths for the good of the whole group.
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  Real skin in the game, real risk.
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  Now, how does that compare to the modern Internet critic, the
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  online truth teller? Often where they're risking
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  maybe getting ratioed, maybe getting more clicks from their
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  own outraged tribe, The risk seems virtual.
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  The reward is often just more engagement within their bubble.
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  So the question becomes, where does our modern society find
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  it's necessary? Humbling Hiyoka, who provides
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  that uncomfortable, necessary truth when the loudest voices
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  often risk so little and mainly serve to confirm existing biases
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  rather than challenge them for the collective good?
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  Something to think about. Definitely something to chew on.
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  We'll catch you on the next deep dive.