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Joe Rogan · 2026-01-29 · 2h 47m

Joe Rogan Experience #2445 - Bert Kreischer

Joe Rogan and Bert Kreischer riff on lucid dreaming, COVID and the media, the comedy grind, and a deep dive into Helen Keller and Stevie Wonder conspiracy theories.

Joe Rogan Experience #2445 - Bert Kreischer
The guest

Bert Kreischer — Stand-up comedian, podcaster (Bertcast, 2 Bears 1 Cave), and longtime Rogan friend known for the 'Machine' story. He recently released a scripted Netflix series about his family and is recovering from a blood clot that forced him to stop drinking.

The gist

Joe and Bert open on red light therapy, AI, and Bert's recent embarrassing habit of agreeing to a false 'lost everything and made it back' narrative on Shannon Sharpe's show. The conversation moves through lucid dreaming (and Joe's vivid non-human 'encounter' dream), Rasputin, and a long Tucker-Carlson-fueled theory that Watergate was a deep-state setup that framed Nixon. They spend extended time on COVID, vitamins, and Joe's distrust of mainstream/corporate media, with Joe describing how he paid to send IV vitamins and monoclonal antibodies to roughly 100 people. The back half is about comedy: how viral moments make careers, why awards are meaningless (Joe refused to submit for a Golden Globe), surrounding yourself with great people, the value of physical struggle, and a long comedic rabbit hole questioning whether Helen Keller and Stevie Wonder were really blind.

Big reveals

  • Bert admits he falsely agreed on Shannon Sharpe's show that he 'lost everything and built it back' — it never happened, he just went along with it.
  • Bert reveals he got the COVID vaccine/boosters four separate times (early in LA, in Serbia, at home, and once more) to keep working on film/TV.
  • They read a press release claiming scientists achieved two-way communication between people while lucid dreaming via earbuds.
  • Joe describes an intensely realistic dream of encountering tall, thin non-human beings that felt like a real encounter, which a UFO-researcher friend told him may have been real.
  • Joe argues Watergate was a deep-state coup that framed Nixon, citing Bob Woodward's naval-intelligence background and Tucker Carlson.
  • Joe says he paid thousands of dollars to send IV vitamins and monoclonal antibodies to about 100 people during COVID, many of them strangers.
  • Joe reveals he declined to submit for the Golden Globe podcast award because it cost $500 and he's been number one for six years.
  • Bert recounts his ongoing real-life claim that he confuses Helen Keller and Anne Frank, sparking a long bit that Helen Keller and Stevie Wonder may not be truly blind.

Things worth remembering

  • Bert's theory of comic 'pop' moments: his Machine story, Bill Burr's Philly rant, Jim Jefferies getting punched, and Tom Segura being one of only two comics (with Burr) on early Netflix.
  • Rasputin was a healer for the Tsar's hemophiliac son Alexei — he helped by removing the aspirin (a blood thinner) the doctors were giving the boy.
  • Joe explains CTE comes from repeated subconcussive trauma — you can get it from jet skis, roller coasters, even football hits to the chest.
  • Bill Murray told Joe that Woodward's book 'Wired' wildly exaggerated John Belushi as a constant drug user; Murray said Belushi was actually a lightweight.
  • Joe's virus argument: pathogens evolve to become more transmissible but less potent over time, which is why later COVID variants were milder.
  • Joe sleeps with a mouthpiece plus mouth tape (Hostage Tape) and says he feels better on five hours than eight hours without it.
  • Joe's go-to immune stack: vitamin D3 with K2 and magnesium, plus zinc taken with quercetin (an ionophore that aids zinc absorption).
  • 'Happy People: A Year in the Taiga' shows Siberian subsistence trappers who, despite hardship, are happy with almost no mental illness — illustrating that struggle creates satisfaction.
  • Bert's mantra for self-improvement: surround yourself with great people — 'if you hang out with enough great white sharks, people think you're a great white shark.'
  • On Lance Armstrong: Joe notes that to find a clean rider in Armstrong's Tour de France wins you'd have to go to 18th place because nearly everyone doped.

Recommended in this episode

Books, products and media the guest or host genuinely endorsed here — with the buy link.

Affiliate link — we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Guest’s ownProduct

Alpha Brain

Onnit

“Oh, if you take it before bed, it definitely helps with lucid dreaming.” — Joe Rogan 00:40:19
Find it on Amazon
RecommendedProduct

Hostage Tape

Hostage Tape

“I put a mouthpiece in and then I put the hostage tape over my mouth. I feel so much better when I wake up.” — Joe Rogan 01:45:40
Find it on Amazon
RecommendedProduct

Vitamin D3 + K2 (with magnesium)

various (inferred)

“Take vitamin D supplements. Take it with K2, which makes it absorb better. And I take it also again with magnesium.” — Joe Rogan 01:50:53
Find it on Amazon
RecommendedMedia

Game of Thrones

HBO (inferred)

“You know what I'm watching again? Game of Thrones. Started it all from the beginning. Fucking amazing.” — Bert Kreischer 00:55:23
Find it on Amazon
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NewsRadio

Paul Simms (inferred)

“I can say for people that haven't watched it, I would say binge that show. It was such an amazing piece of art.” — Joe Rogan 01:55:34
Find it on Amazon
RecommendedMedia

Slow Horses

Apple TV+ (inferred)

“We're watching every fucking episode until it's over right now. We're not moving. We're going to watch all of them.” — Bert Kreischer 02:01:44
Find it on Amazon
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Black Doves

Netflix (inferred)

“Black Doss is great, too. Great, dude. Black Doss.” — Bert Kreischer 02:02:45
Find it on Amazon
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Tires

Shane Gillis (inferred)

“I texted Shane when I saw Tires cuz it was fucking it was game changer. This is fucking incredible.” — Bert Kreischer 02:04:48
Find it on Amazon
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American Movie

Chris Smith (inferred)

“Joe, this movie is so good. it's like one of those movies where someone says to you you have to see this.” — Bert Kreischer 02:05:49
Find it on Amazon
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Vernon, Florida

Errol Morris

“It's a documentary by Werner Herzog... he just made the bizarrest documentary. This thing Joe is like something you start watching and you go like I can't turn it off.” — Bert Kreischer 02:07:22
Find it on Amazon
RecommendedMedia

Happy People: A Year in the Taiga

Werner Herzog

“It's called Happy People Life in the Taiga. It's a great documentary... it's really interesting.” — Joe Rogan 02:08:23
Find it on Amazon
Guest’s ownMedia

Freebird (The Bert Kreischer show / The Kreischers)

Bert Kreischer

“I should tell everyone to watch Freebird on Netflix. I should say that.” — Bert Kreischer 01:20:17
Find it on Amazon