12 Most Controversial Joe Rogan Experience Guests
4. Bret Weinstein
Bret Weinstein is a biologist and evolutionary theorist once working as a professor of biology at Evergreen State College in Washington.
One of the college’s traditions was the annual ‘Day of Absence,’ where students and staff members from ethnic minorities would voluntarily stay at home to highlight the impact they had on the college. In 2017, Evergreen had decided to reverse this tradition and encourage people from ethnic majorities to be absent for the day instead.
Weinstein wrote a letter to college faculty taking a stance against the new version of the tradition, stating that voluntary absenteeism forced a ‘call to consciousness,’ however by telling people to stay at home is a ‘show of force.’ Weinstein was then accused of demonstrating racism and intolerance.
On the day of absence, Weinstein held his lesson in a public park and resigned from the school in the following weeks.
In his first appearance on the podcast, Weinstein went into great detail about the incident and discussed the need to open debates on free speech in college campuses, and criticised a lackadaisical approach in management regarding the handling of the event.
Since 2017, Bret Weinstein has been on JRE three more times, including a debate with Jordan Peterson regarding Naziism, Marxism and The American Dream.