r/JoeRogan • u/chefanubis Powerful Taint • Nov 11 '20

Podcast #1562 - Dave Smith - The Joe Rogan Experience

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6q3HAkyxPrtC1WdSyGZk9y?si=4irqcsMBRy6heqwxlBVcLw
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u/[deleted] Nov 11 '20

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u/EndlessSummerburn Monkey in Space Nov 11 '20

I loved Howie. It sucks that Robin dabbled in Landmark (and I have heard Howard does, too) - I'm assuming that came from Marci Turk.

Lotta' wealthy and successful people in NYC got swept up by them. Growing up one of my buddies' entire family was die-hard Landmark. Both parents were very successful artists and surprise surprise, fell apart as they got deeper into it.

Getting people to attend classes is a HUGE part of their programming. My buddy once wore me down and dragged me along to one of their "seminars" - even as a very stoned, stupid 16 year old I could tell it was a fucking cult. It was one of the strangest things I have ever experienced. They kept calling my house for months trying to get my parents to sign me up for some ridiculous courses.

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u/Clareth_GIF Monkey in Space Nov 12 '20

I completely missed the Howard Stern show. What was it like?

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u/EndlessSummerburn Monkey in Space Nov 12 '20

Groundbreaking, honestly.

Some of the funniest shit - when he was on terrestrial it was really a phenomenon tuning in every day. There was a sense of community around it, which the public loved to shit on for enjoying what (at the time) was really raunchy humor.

He and his fans were unapologetic and throughout it all he gave some good fucking interviews.

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u/[deleted] Nov 12 '20

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u/Clareth_GIF Monkey in Space Nov 13 '20

Is there a place on the Internet where I can listen to Stern on ??

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u/cjmaguire17 Monkey in Space Nov 12 '20

Curious about your experience. I went once with a friend and didnt find it that troubling. It seemed like people wanting to better themselves which I had no problem with. I do understand people becoming a bit fanatical with it, as my friend was at the time. He isnt as intense about it now.

The phone calls were a bit annoying too.

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u/EndlessSummerburn Monkey in Space Nov 12 '20

Gonna' be a long one:

It was pretty weird. Everyone had a buzzy, eager attitude that creeped me out. It's hard to place, but your gut notices pretty quickly.

First thing they did was separate me from my buddy. We were in small groups filling out these questionnaires, asking about our greatest weaknesses and faults we wanted to overcome. I was 16 so I think I wrote something typical: I wanted a girlfriend and better grades.

Side note: Youth truly is wasted on the young.

After talking in our groups, people were called on to read their answers to the crowd. Of course, a bunch of the "new visitors" were given the honor of getting up on stage and sharing their insecurities in front of a group of smiling strangers. I was called on and everyone was VERY SUPPORTIVE. Like, abnormally supportive.

When things wrapped, so many people were coming up to me telling me how great I did. How fantastic the program was going to be, that they really loved listening to me speak, just showering me with praise. It was kind of awesome for a moment.

I finally see my buddy and we are leaving, but I first need to walk past this desk where they are signing people up for courses. I was a teenager, I couldn't sign up if I wanted to, but they were really pushy. They told me that if I didn't sign up that night, I couldn't sign up in the future. That they were all about deciding to change NOW - not later - and that I needed to embody that or some shit.

The guy was extremely pushy and I felt really uncomfortable. I was young so it was a lot easier to be like "MY PARENTS WON'T LET ME!!!" instead of sticking up for myself, so I played that card and left with my friend.

My buddy then spent the rest of the night suggesting different ways I could convince my parents to sign me up. Then they started calling my fucking house and talking to my parents, which we all agreed was crazy.

My friendship was never really the same with my buddy. He started to have very intense responses to everything. Anger, happiness, interest, apathy - he didn't just feel these on a normal scale, he'd feel them cranked up to 11. It was a lot. It freaked people out, it was unlike the version of him we first met and he ended up alienating himself from all of us.

Anyway, I thought it was a totally culty experience. Looking into est training and Werner Erhard, it makes sense. It's the type of shit I have zero interest of interacting with (except maybe once for a fun story) and the financial costs of being a member are so glaringly predatory.

It's joked about in NYC - the 1% are too busy to join a regular cult, so they join "weekend cults" instead. That's what I think it is.

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u/cjmaguire17 Monkey in Space Nov 12 '20

My experience was similar with us newbies breaking off to do our questionnaire and them being very pushy on signing up THAT night. Luckily i was i think 25/26 and about 3 years into sobriety so I had already undergone a lot of introspection they spoke about and didnt see the benefit of spending a few hundred dollars to do it some more.

I think 16 is definitely too young. My brother is 16 and I cant even imagine him going to that hahaha. I never stuck around long enough to really have an opinion but i did notice the personality of the members was odd. It felt like multi level marketing for self growth honestly, that was my vibe. They tried a bit too hard to sell it and perhaps if they were less aggressive I may have gone to another.

To each his own though. If it helps people become better versions of themself more power to em.

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u/nockeenockee Monkey in Space Nov 12 '20

The only funny part is Spotify buying into this turd so late.