The John Johnston Lounge

John Johnston (JJ) reacts to a recent TRIGGERnometry podcast, in which Sam Harris explains whey he thinks podcaster and comedian Joe Rogan now detracts from the national political conversation, rather than being a positive influence on it.  Related episodes: Joe Rogan GLAZES Peter Thiel & Palantir, Theo Von COOKS https://open.spotify.com/episode/1kNKj2d1vOXqlTKosqBhTY Brainiac Joe Rogan Terrif...

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down the news that Peter Thiel, J.D. Vance’s top political donor, has provocatively suggested that Pope Leo XIV could be the Antichrist . In a leaked lecture, Peter Thiel says he has urged Vance to ignore the Pope on moral questions, and embrace unfettered tech and AI progress, implying its a kind of ultimate spiritual endeavour.  Related episodes: Joe Rogan GLAZES Peter...

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down the news that Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) seems to be no more, with officials saying it has been wrapped up eight months early. Futhermore, some DOGE staffers are fearing future criminal charges for what they did under Elon Musk’s direction.  Related episodes: DOGE Whistleblower: Govt Fraud ‘RELATIVELY NONEXISTENT’ https://open.spotify.com/...

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down how Goggle’s Gemini 3 AI is outperforming OpenAI’s ChapGPT, and also gaining market share month by month. JJ reacts to a clip from a recent All-In Podcast, in which they discuss the AI race between the AI company players, and their current AI chatbot models.  Related episodes: AI Bubble Watch: Elon Ally Thiel Cuts TSLA Stock, Dumps NVDA https://open.spotify.com/episo...

This week: Could the AI Bubble soon burst? Peter Thiel seems to think so, if we go by his recent stock sales. This week, we connect the dots between Peter Thiel dumping his Nvidia (NVDA) stock, the race between Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos to build data centers in space, and the strange cultural moment where Joe Rogan praised Peter Thiel and Palantir while Theo Von asked the questions everyone else wa...

John Johnston (JJ) reacts to how massively popular podcasters Joe Rogan and Theo Von recently discussed their respective views on the current US government, Peter Thiel and his AI-related company Palantir, growing digital surveillance, and more. Related episodes: Elon to Joe Rogan: Capitalist AI Will Bring Socialist Utopia https://open.spotify.com/episode/2N4kl85FtFISzul06CmGgy Why Rogansphere Com...

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down some of Elon Musk’s latest grand predictions, including that “in the future”, money will become irrelevant, everyone will be wealthy on a High Universal Income, and working will be optional. Will Elon be correct, way too optimistic, is he delusional, or are the very grand predictions part of a long con? Related episodes: Elon's BS to Joe Rogan: Vaporware Roadster...

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down how Elon Musk’s fellow tech billionaire ally Peter Thiel has cut one of his investment fund’s big stakes in Tesla stock (TSLA), and completely sold out of AI infrastructure company Nvidia (NVDA). We also look at three possible scenarios for how an AI bubble could deflate.  Related episodes: AI Bubble: Elon & Bezos Want Giant Data Centers in Space https://open.spo...

John Johnston (JJ) reacts to part of a recent video by Gil Duran from The Nerd Reich, in which he interviews author and journalist Paulina Borsook. Over 20 years ago, she published a book predicting the negative influence on politics of Silicon Valley tech billionaires. They refer to the likes of Elon Musk, Peter Thiel and Jeff Bezos, who I’ve been discussing in these terms in my own videos.  Rela...

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down the latest AI bubble-related news headlines, including that tech billionaires Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos want to build AI data centres in outer space, which would use solar power. Also in the news, investor Warren Buffett’s company Berkshire Hathaway has purchased stock in Google’s parent company Alphabet, and tech billionaire Peter Thiel has sold a stake in mega AI in...

John Johnston (JJ) reacts to what popular Rogansphere and Manosphere comedians and podcasters Tim Dillon and Andrew Schulz are saying about Zohran Mamdani’s win as the Mayor of New York. Schulz had Mamdani on his podcast just before the election but is not a supporter. Tim Dillon does not seem to like that he won, saying he’ll leave if he doesn’t like how Zoran’s policies play out in New York. Rel...

John Johnston breaks down news that a potentially explosive new documentary, ‘Elon Musk Unveiled – The Tesla Experiment’ is about to debut at IDFA (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam), which features several former Tesla employees, insiders and whistleblowers speaking out about Elon Musk and Tesla. The documentary’s producers say that it provides a close insight into how Tesla works...

John Johnston breaks down how very popular podcaster and political commentator Tucker Carlson recently told Megyn Kelly he thinks he was attacked by a demon while sleeping in his bed, and also that he thinks there is a spiritual aspect to UFOs. Needless to say, John is very skeptical and has questions.  Related episodes: Tech Billionaire Villain Peter Thiel’s Deranged Fixation https://open.spotify...

John Johnston breaks down how Tesla, X, and xAI CEO Elon Musk is being mocked for a post of an “AI Girlfriend” he made on X, in which the Grok AI-generated woman tells viewers that she will “always love you”. Many people have been mocking Elon for what they think is one of the most cringe posts ever from the world’s richest person, and questioning its potential impact on Elon’s army of male follow...

John Johnston breaks down various tech industry and investor points of view about whether or not the AI sector is currently in a bubble, similar to the Dot Com Bubble of the late 1990s, including the views from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Jeff Bezos. Bill Gates, and other industry players. Related episodes: AI Bubble: Sam Altman Crashes Out, ‘Big Short’ Burry Bets on Bust https://youtu.be/NpX_lQlTqIM A...

JJ breaks down the continuing rise and rise of left-leaning comedian, podcaster, and now actor Stavros Halkias (Stavvy). His podcast has gone from strength to strength, he’s continuing his current stand-up comedy tour Dreamboat, and he’s in a new movie called Bugonia.  Related episodes: Stavros Halkias Explains Why He Won't Be The Left's Joe Rogan https://youtu.be/JD2tNf8LcAU Comics Keep Roasting...

Are these signs of a market bubble in the AI sector? JJ breaks down how OpenAI (the maker of ChatGPT) CEO Sam Altman had a very awkward moment in a recent interview, where he became very defensive about OpenAI’s current revenue in relation to the company’s huge financial commitments. Palantir CEO Alex Karp also had as similar moment in an interview, when asked his opinion about how famed “The Big...

JJ reacts to and critiques comedian Jon Stewart, who was recently interviewed by David Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker, about the media and cultural influence of Joe Rogan, the rising suppression of political speech under the Trump administration, and the precarious future of Stewart’s “The Daily Show”,  now under new ownership. Related episodes: Elon to Joe Rogan: Capitalist AI Will Bring S...

JJ critiques part of a recent conversation between podcaster Joe Rogan and Elon Musk, who discussed the new Tesla Roadster, which customers have been waiting over 7 years for now. Elon says the upcoming Roadster demo will be unforgettable and teases something to do with it being a “flying car”.  Elon also discusses his beloved Cybertruck design and production, which is looking like a commercial fl...

JJ critiques part of a recent conversation between podcaster Joe Rogan and Elon Musk, who is now selling the dream of a tech and societal utopia, including a universal high income for all, brought about by developments in AI together with robots. Can he be believed? Related episodes: Brainiac Joe Rogan Terrified of Debating Gavin Newsom https://youtu.be/GBGhZtWvf_E Tesla Grok AI FAIL: Inappropriat...

JJ breaks down how comedians, podcasters and friends Theo Von and Andrew Santino sat down for a chat about Theo’s recent comedy special recording. Theo admits to having an off night for the recording, and how he was feeling scared and paranoid at the time, largely because of the extreme online hate he was receiving at the time, following a government DHS video he was inserted into without his perm...

This is a compilation of this past week’s five The John Johnston Lounge episodes, in order. Individual episodes: Is It Over? Google Gemini Crushes ChatGPT | All-In Pod Reaction https://open.spotify.com/episode/3tx19gCwXN709i9vHybnBt IT’S OVER: Elon’s DOGE Collapses & Criminal Charges Loom https://open.spotify.com/episode/3husqbwJVGAqerH4IxIiKD Thiel Calls POPE ‘The Antichrist’: JD Vance’s Pala...

The Art of Value host JJ breaks down the ongoing drama between Gavin Newsom and Joe Rogan, to do with Rogan not inviting Newsom on his podcast. Is Joe Rogan afraid of debating Newsom on political points, even though Joe has been criticising Newsom and California for years? Rogan famously moved out of California to live in red state Texas.  Leave me a voice message. I’d love to hear from you!  http...

The Art of Value host JJ breaks down how increasing criticism of Joe Rogan’s Austin comedy scene continues to gain momentum, as a new “anti-woke” stand-up comedy special from one of his closest comedians bros bombed, despite being heavily promoted by Joe Rogan on his Joe Rogan Experience podcast.  Do leave me a voice message if you want, I’d love to hear from you! https://www.speakpipe.com/johnjoh...

The Art of Value host JJ breaks down a new scandal involving Elon Musk's AI chatbot, Grok, installed in a Tesla, which was being highly inappropriate with kids in the car, and then Grok tried to justify its behaviour to the parent when asked to repeat itself later. Leave me a voice message. I’d love to hear from you!  https://www.speakpipe.com/johnjohnston Related episodes: Tesla’s New FSD ‘Ma...