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The Joe Rogan Experience

#2414 - Brian Simpson

with Bryan Simpson

Published November 19, 2025
Visit Podcast Website

About This Episode

Joe Rogan and comedian Bryan Simpson discuss recent UFC fights, Dagestani training culture, and why elite wrestlers and fighters develop such unusual levels of discipline and resilience. They dive into the realities of weight cutting, diet and self-discipline, the comedy industry's gatekeeping and diversity debates, and strange internet subcultures like furries and bronies. The conversation also covers government overreach in events such as Waco, Ruby Ridge, and the Tulsa massacre, as well as debates over Epstein files transparency, wealth taxes, political corruption, and how charities and institutions often mismanage funds.

Topics Covered

Mixed martial arts Stand-up comedy Wrestling Weight cutting Rhabdomyolysis Cult dynamics Tulsa race massacre Government secrecy Jeffrey Epstein scandal Wealth tax

Disclaimer: We provide independent summaries of podcasts and are not affiliated with or endorsed in any way by any podcast or creator. All podcast names and content are the property of their respective owners. The views and opinions expressed within the podcasts belong solely to the original hosts and guests and do not reflect the views or positions of Summapod.

Quick Takeaways

  • Dagestani fighters like Islam Makhachev come from an environment of extreme discipline, religious devotion, and relentless training, which Joe contrasts with more typical Western lifestyles.
  • Elite wrestling is described as uniquely brutal preparation for MMA because it demands learning to suffer, endure constant exhaustion, and cut weight from a young age.
  • Bryan's experiences with weight cutting, missing weight, and quitting wrestling highlight how harsh coaching cultures and home environments can collide.
  • Both agree that diet, not exercise, is the primary driver of weight loss, and that self-employment requires building an internal "boss" who enforces discipline.
  • David Goggins is used as an extreme example of mental toughness, having pushed himself into rhabdomyolysis and then returning to complete an ultra race despite serious health risks.
  • They argue that stand-up comedy is one of the few true meritocracies, while criticizing industry tastemakers and quota-driven diversity policies that ignore actual funniness.
  • Furry and brony communities, as well as viral phenomena like Baby Shark and collectible toys, are used to explore how subcultures form and how early experiences can shape adult kinks.
  • Joe and Bryan are highly critical of government overreach in cases like Waco and Ruby Ridge, emphasizing the human cost of bad intelligence and escalation.
  • The Tulsa massacre and Comanche history in Oklahoma are presented as examples of how violence and dispossession are baked into U.S. history and still shape communities today.
  • They question proposals for wealth taxes and highlight how political insiders and charities can profit from systems that they argue are nominally designed to serve the public.

Podcast Notes

Intro and recent UFC fight discussion

Islam Makhachev's dominance at a higher weight class

Joe describes Islam moving from 155 to 170 pounds and dominating every round of his fight against Jack, despite some viewers calling it boring[0:30]
• He emphasizes that to casual fans a shutout can look boring, but to knowledgeable viewers it is impressive control over every round
Leg kicks and game shutdown[0:42]
• Islam repeatedly low-kicked Jack's front leg early, leaving him limping within the first round after only three or four hard kicks
• Joe notes that Islam shut Jack's game down so effectively that Jack was unable to make meaningful adjustments

Comparing Islam Makhachev and Khabib Nurmagomedov

Khabib as grappler vs Islam as striker[1:07]
• Joe says Khabib is even better overall than Islam, but that Khabib's stand-up was mainly a way to set up grappling and ground-and-pound
• He contrasts this with Islam, who is knocking people out and head-kicking elite opponents like Volkanovski, calling it a different level of stand-up
Khabib's prediction about Islam[3:27]
• Joe recalls Khabib telling Islam he would be better than him, and frames the current success of Dagestani fighters as validation of that prediction

Dagestani training culture and discipline

Balal Muhammad's experience training in Dagestan

Balal thought he trained hard until he went to Dagestan[5:13]
• Joe says former welterweight champion Balal Muhammad went to Dagestan and realized his idea of hard training was nothing compared to what they do there

Austere lifestyle and religious structure

No partying, just prayer and training[6:27]
• Joe describes Dagestani fighters as living with no gambling, no drinking, no partying-only praying five times a day and training with "a bunch of animals"
Iron sharpens iron effect[6:42]
• He believes that constantly training and eating together with similarly dedicated teammates produces a room where everyone who emerges is "a killer"

Dagestanis and unforgiven disrespect

Dylan Danis altercation[7:15]
• Joe mentions Dagestani fighters recently beating up Dillon Danis in a crowd fight, saying they don't forget perceived disrespect
Conor McGregor and Khabib feud[7:47]
• Bryan asks if Conor could ever apologize and bury the hatchet with Khabib; Joe replies it would have to be in private and absolutely sincere for Khabib to consider it
• Joe stresses that Khabib does not play the "talking shit to sell a fight" game, especially when it involves his wife, his people, or his culture

Loyalty and rivalry in MMA friendships

DC's perspective on Conor vs Khabib[8:56]
• Joe recalls Daniel Cormier saying that having Conor on his show made Khabib question his loyalty, forcing DC to reevaluate how close he could be to both men
Limits of being neutral as a host[8:56]
• They note that a journalist or podcaster can't always remain neutral if someone is a sworn enemy of a close training partner, citing Khabib and Jon Jones as unlikely to ever "kick it" together
Ultra-competitive personalities[9:54]
• Joe and Bryan talk about rivalries like Jon Jones vs Daniel Cormier and agree that ultra-competitive people are different kinds of human beings whose drive never goes away

Wrestling, suffering, and weight cutting

Why wrestling is the best base for MMA

Unique exhaustion of wrestling training[10:56]
• Joe says wrestlers are the only combat athletes who train at the same intensity as Dagestani fighters, describing the exhaustion from hardcore wrestling as different from striking arts
Training to suffer[11:25]
• He explains that beyond technique, wrestling is about learning to suffer, being broken down every practice, and still showing up the next day

Health consequences of early weight cutting

Stunted growth from childhood cutting[12:28]
• Joe recalls a schoolmate who was 5'6" while his brothers were over 6 feet tall, and attributes it to years of childhood wrestling and weight cutting that essentially starved him and likely stunted his growth
Friend who lost his hunger cues[12:59]
• Bryan tells a story about his friend Jeffrey, a former wrestler, who now doesn't recognize hunger and sometimes forgets to eat because his connection to hunger signals has been disrupted
Post-career eating disorders[14:08]
• Joe notes that many wrestlers develop eating disorders in the opposite direction after years of cutting, binging and gaining huge amounts of weight once they stop competing

Bryan's breaking point in wrestling

Missing weight and being reprimanded[14:01]
• Bryan describes missing weight by about a pound at a tournament, getting placed into a side bracket, and later eating a Snickers after losing, which enraged his coach because he had just missed weight
Match against opponent with insulin pump[15:03]
• He wrestled a guy wearing what he later learned was an insulin pump and was afraid to hurt him, while the opponent fought normally and beat him badly
Quitting wrestling in defiance[16:14]
• After being scolded for eating the candy bar, Bryan-who describes himself as a defiant kid-told his coach off and never returned to the team

Calories, diet, and self-discipline

Reality of calorie burn vs intake

10,000 calorie experiment[10:30]
• Joe describes a man who ate an enormous, roughly 10,000-calorie meal of pancakes, pizza and other foods, then tried to burn it off by running while tracking the calories with an app
• It took about 10 hours and roughly 30 miles of running to burn through the meal, which Joe uses to show how disappointingly slow exercise-only weight loss is
Bryan's discouragement with exercise metrics[11:56]
• Bryan says his rowing machine's calorie readout was so discouragingly low compared to the effort that he turned the display off

Diet as the main lever for weight loss

Carnivore month and weight loss[11:23]
• Joe asks Bryan about a month-long carnivore diet; Bryan estimates he lost around 10 pounds during that period
Diet vs gym for losing weight[11:43]
• Joe says you don't really lose most of your weight in the gym; the gym improves health and conditioning, but diet is the main way to lose body fat
Discipline and being your own boss[13:41]
• Bryan jokes that it was easier to be disciplined when he was poor, and notes that as his own boss he also lets himself off the hook like a lenient employer
• Joe suggests creating a strict "general" in your own mind who simply gives orders that you follow without debate, to bypass internal negotiations

David Goggins, extreme training, and rhabdomyolysis

Living with a Navy SEAL and Goggins' methods

Jesse Itzler's month with Goggins[13:01]
• Joe recalls entrepreneur Jesse Itzler inviting Goggins to live with him for about 30 days under the agreement that Jesse would do whatever Goggins ordered in training
Risk of training beyond capacity[13:28]
• They note that someone unprepared could die trying to keep up with Goggins, and Bryan jokes that Goggins wouldn't care if you died during his regimen

Defining and explaining rhabdomyolysis

Using AI to get a precise medical definition[14:01]
• They query an AI tool for a definition of rhabdomyolysis, reading that it is muscle tissue breakdown from factors like excessive exercise, releasing myoglobin and enzymes into the blood and potentially causing acute kidney failure and brownish urine
Goggins' rhabdo story and finishing the race[15:05]
• Joe recounts that Goggins developed rhabdomyolysis during an ultra-endurance race, went to the hospital, then after recovering returned to the exact spot where he had stopped to finish the remaining distance
• He emphasizes Goggins' mentality by adding that Goggins did about 100 pushups at the finish line despite just having been hospitalized
Physical toll vs mental drive[16:05]
• Joe notes that Goggins has heart issues and no knee cartilage yet still runs, framing him as a different category of human when it comes to discipline

Russian combat Sambo and greatest heavyweight debates

Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov's coaching legacy

Record as a Sambo coach[16:46]
• They look up that Khabib's father, Abdulmanap, was named by a Russian records body as the most successful combat Sambo coach in the country and trained 18 world champions, including Khabib and Islam

What is combat Sambo?

Hybrid of judo and MMA[18:05]
• Joe describes combat Sambo as fighters wearing a judo-style jacket, shorts, wrestling shoes, and MMA gloves, with throws, ground-and-pound, and striking-"like judo mixed with MMA"
Fedor Emelianenko's dual dominance[19:13]
• He notes Fedor competed in combat Sambo for Russia while simultaneously being MMA world champion, and calls Fedor arguably the greatest heavyweight of all time

Heavyweight GOAT arguments

Names in the heavyweight GOAT conversation[22:46]
• Joe lists Fedor Emelianenko, Cain Velasquez, Francis Ngannou, Jon Jones, Fabricio Werdum, and Stipe Miocic as having strong cases for greatest heavyweight, with caveats about number and timing of their heavyweight fights
Fabricio Werdum's submission resume[23:02]
• Joe stresses that fans forget how good Werdum was in his prime, pointing out he submitted Fedor, Cain Velasquez, and Minotauro Nogueira-three all-time greats
Stipe Miocic's title-defense record[24:07]
• They confirm via AI that Stipe holds the record for most UFC heavyweight title defenses with four, including beating Ngannou in their first fight and regaining the belt from Cormier
• Joe recounts Stipe's body-shot strategy in his second Cormier fight, especially a beautiful left hook to the body that turned the tide

Altitude training and cardio adaptation

Mexico City altitude in Velasquez vs Werdum

Difference in preparation time[23:58]
• They note Mexico City sits over 7,000 feet above sea level and that Werdum arrived about two months early, training in mountains at around 12,000 feet, while Cain arrived roughly 10 days before the fight
Impact of altitude on heavyweights[24:21]
• Joe explains that heavyweights are especially taxed by thin, polluted air, and Werdum's extended camp at high altitude gave him a big cardio advantage

Sleep-high, train-low approach

Using altitude tents and mountain sleeping[26:19]
• They discuss earlier practices like BJ Penn sleeping inside an altitude tent that reduced oxygen to simulate high elevation around his bed
Modern view: train low, sleep high[26:41]
• Joe says current thinking is that it may be best to train at sea level for more reps and higher output, then sleep at altitude so the body adapts during recovery

Comedy industry, gatekeeping, and diversity debates

Old festival system and changing value

Just for Laughs and Aspen festivals[28:28]
• Joe recalls that festivals like Montreal and Aspen used to be career-changing because they could lead to development deals and sitcoms, but that these opportunities have largely dried up
Tastemakers following the crowd[28:31]
• Bryan says many showrunners and bookers wait to see who already has momentum instead of trusting their own taste, not wanting to be the first supporter or the last on board

Difference between business people and artists

Executives posing as creative experts[30:54]
• Joe argues that many people who decide what gets made in entertainment are business people pretending to be artists, licking their finger to see which way the wind blows and often misjudging who is truly talented
Adam Eget as an example of a real talent coordinator[32:04]
• They praise Adam Eget for being both an artist and a talent coordinator, with Joe noting that Adam quickly recognized Bryan's talent and started giving him regular spots at the Comedy Store

Pressure to diversify lineups and meritocracy

External pressure on club booking[34:00]
• Joe says Adam was pressured by people who complained that the lineups weren't diverse enough in terms of demographics, even though the club was already naturally very diverse
Critique of quota-based diversity[34:51]
• Bryan believes Hollywood often fills demographic quotas by choosing almost anyone from an underrepresented group instead of finding the funniest people, which he says is the wrong way to approach diversity
Comedy as one of the only true meritocracies[35:53]
• They agree that with stand-up you can't cheat the crowd; in the long run you either make people laugh and sustain a career or you don't, which makes it more merit-based than many other fields
You don't need to be good at everything[37:05]
• Joe cites Dave Attell as someone who focuses solely on stand-up, avoids social media, and is still considered by many comics as one of the best of all time, arguing you don't have to chase every medium

Virality, pop culture gaps, and strange subcultures

Missing major viral moments

Baby Shark phenomenon[44:13]
• Bryan says he completely missed the Baby Shark craze until he heard multiple comics joking about it, then learned it became the most-streamed YouTube video with billions of views
Overwhelming volume of online content[44:52]
• Joe notes that millions of people can watch your content and still many others will have never heard of you, because there are simply too many things competing for attention online

Collectible toy crazes

Mystery-box stuffed animals[47:36]
• They discuss a line of collectible stuffed animals sold in mystery boxes, where you don't know which one you'll get and some limited editions resell for much higher prices
• Joe jokes about the absurdity of life-sized stuffed animals selling for very large sums and imagines people having sex with them

Furries, bronies, and kinks

Trump shooter's alleged kinks[53:02]
• They read that the man who grazed Trump with a bullet reportedly had a "muscle mommy" fetish and may have been involved in furry-like online art communities, without kink-shaming him for it
Accidentally stumbling into a furry convention[54:01]
• Joe recounts arriving in Pittsburgh for a UFC event, seeing people in mascot costumes everywhere, and learning from a hotel clerk that it was a furry convention
• The clerk said some attendees requested food served in bowls on the floor and even asked for litter boxes, and explained that some furries have suits with hatches so they can have anonymous sex without seeing each other's real bodies
Brony gathering at a bar[56:07]
• Bryan recalls working at a pub that hosted a large group of My Little Pony fans (bronies) who filled the place and were very serious about their fandom and about not being teased
Not kink-shaming and being "lucky"[57:52]
• Bryan says he doesn't kink-shame because people don't choose what arouses them, and he feels lucky that the things that make him come are relatively normal and low-maintenance

4chan hoaxes, free bleeding, and blurred lines online

Free bleeding as a potential hoax-turned-trend

4chan's free bleeding campaign[1:07:07]
• Joe describes a claim that users on an online forum encouraged women to consider not using menstrual products as a feminist act, supposedly as a trolling campaign that some activists then adopted
Difficulty separating satire from reality[1:08:16]
• They read an article describing public examples of women running marathons while visibly bleeding and note how hard it is today to know which movements started as jokes and which are sincere

Extremist groups and government infiltration

FBI informants in Proud Boys and similar groups[1:09:49]
• Joe says he's sure groups like Antifa and the Proud Boys are infiltrated by federal agents, and they read that former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio had served as an informant years before leading the group

Epstein files, JFK documents, and government secrecy

House vote on Epstein documents and lone "no" vote

Clay Higgins' rationale[1:15:21]
• They read Congressman Clay Higgins' explanation that broad release of investigative files could harm innocent people mentioned in documents, which is why he voted against a disclosure bill
Balancing privacy with public trust[1:15:35]
• Bryan argues that decades of obfuscation around cases like Epstein and JFK have already eroded trust, and that continuing to withhold names undermines belief in institutions

JFK files and delayed release

Repeated postponements of document releases[1:18:41]
• They note that multiple presidents have delayed full release of JFK assassination documents, with Joe quoting Trump saying that if people saw what he saw they wouldn't want them released either
Speculating on what could be in the JFK files[1:19:46]
• Joe wonders if the files implicate a foreign government, U.S. agencies, organized crime, or some combination, and says it's crazy that something from 1963 is still too explosive to reveal fully

Epstein's network and potential fallout of full disclosure

Who might be on the list[1:21:27]
• Bryan expects that full release of Epstein-related documents would name royals, prime ministers, Supreme Court justices, former presidents, CEOs, and scientists among others
Differentiating degrees of involvement[1:22:37]
• Joe distinguishes between celebrities who simply had dinner at Epstein's house and people involved in criminal activities, pointing out that lists could unfairly taint some who were only social acquaintances
Blackmail and compromised officials[1:23:43]
• They discuss how providing powerful people with access to sex and secrecy can be a way to compromise them, and that such operations may be used to control political decisions

Waco, cults, and Ruby Ridge

David Koresh and cult control

Sexual control over followers[1:34:12]
• They read that Koresh annulled marriages and declared that only he could have sex, taking multiple spiritual wives and even girls, while ordering male followers to be celibate
Cult leaders sensing vulnerability[1:35:49]
• Bryan suggests such leaders are not particularly influential in a broad sense but are highly skilled at sensing who is broken in just the right way and stepping in as a father-figure

Waco siege and mass death

Escalation to tanks and fire[1:37:23]
• Joe describes federal agents surrounding the Branch Davidian compound, a failed initial raid, and eventual use of tanks and incendiary actions that resulted in the compound burning and many men, women, and children dying
Public ignorance until later documentaries[1:38:04]
• He notes that because this happened before the internet, most people only heard the official narrative and did not grasp the full scale until documentaries and footage became widely available years later

Ruby Ridge standoff and family tragedy

Summary of Ruby Ridge events[1:40:35]
• They use AI to recap that federal marshals went to arrest Randy Weaver over a missed court appearance on firearms charges, leading to the killing of the family dog, a shootout, the death of Weaver's 14-year-old son, and an FBI sniper killing his wife while she held their infant
Acquittals despite shootout[1:41:36]
• Joe is struck that Weaver and family friend Kevin Harris were acquitted of most serious charges, with Weaver only convicted for failing to appear in court, despite the violent confrontation with federal agents

SWAT raid on an innocent mayor and police killing dogs

Maryland mayor's house used in drug scheme

Package scheme involving a delivery worker[1:44:31]
• Joe looks up and explains a case where a FedEx worker and an accomplice were smuggling marijuana by having packages delivered to random homes, including a mayor's house, intending to retrieve them later
SWAT raid and killing of family dogs[1:45:31]
• Police, acting on bad intel, raided the mayor's home, zip-tied his family, and shot both of their Labrador dogs, including one described as being gunned down while running away, only to later realize the homeowners were innocent

Tulsa massacre and Oklahoma's violent history

Black Wall Street and Greenwood destruction

Overview of the Tulsa massacre[1:46:35]
• Bryan explains that the prosperous Black neighborhood of Greenwood in Tulsa, known as Black Wall Street, was destroyed in the early 20th century by white mobs, with estimates of up to around 300 people killed and 35 blocks burned
Delayed acknowledgment and teaching limits[1:47:54]
• He says Tulsa only formally acknowledged the massacre recently and that schools only very recently began teaching it, often without explicitly naming the racial groups or organizations like the Ku Klux Klan involved

Visiting the Tulsa museum

Immersive exhibits and personal impact[1:49:34]
• Bryan describes sitting in a barber chair with holographic barbers discussing events in Greenwood, and walking the museum feeling how ongoing underdevelopment in the neighborhood reflects that the community never fully recovered
Local guide and additional history[1:50:55]
• After his visit, a guide who recognized him from comedy walked him and a friend around for about an hour, offering additional context and pointing out that some details aren't fully included in the museum displays

Comanche history and empire of the summer moon

United States strategy against Comanches

Settlers as bait for raids[1:56:41]
• Joe explains that the U.S. government would give settlers land in Comanche territory, knowing they would likely be attacked, and then use the resulting violence as justification to send in the army

Cynthia Ann Parker and Quanah Parker

Kidnapping and assimilation[1:57:43]
• He tells the story of Cynthia Ann Parker, kidnapped by Comanches as a child and fully assimilated, who later married a chief and gave birth to Quanah Parker, the last chief of that tribe
Population challenges of horse-riding tribes[1:58:45]
• Joe notes that Comanche women often miscarried because they rode horses constantly, so the tribe sometimes spared children in raids and raised them as members to maintain numbers

Wealth tax proposals, California budget, and institutional mismanagement

Debating a California wealth tax

Scope of proposed wealth tax[1:58:00]
• They read that California has considered a one-time 5% tax on individuals with net worth over $1 billion, primarily aimed at a small number of ultra-wealthy residents to fund healthcare initiatives
Joe's objection to taxing previously taxed savings[1:59:27]
• Joe argues that taxing wealth held in savings or assets amounts to double taxation, since income had already been taxed, and sees it as government effectively stealing from people regardless of amount

California's surplus turning into a deficit

From $97.5 billion surplus to shortfall[2:02:16]
• Using AI, they read that California had a roughly $97.5 billion budget surplus in 2022 but later faced a significant deficit, partly due to overestimating revenues and increased spending commitments
Homeless spending with worsening outcomes[2:02:30]
• Joe says California spent around $24 billion on homelessness yet the crisis got worse, using this as an example of why he doesn't trust government to use additional tax revenue effectively

Charities, shelters, and perverse incentives

Homeless shelter as a business[2:06:59]
• Bryan describes living in a shelter where staff focused on paperwork and grant compliance while leadership drove luxury cars and treated it as a business, providing minimal real help to residents
High overhead and low direct aid[2:07:28]
• He says many programs emphasized residents signing forms about attending activities to justify funding, while actual services were sparse, illustrating how the homeless system can become a racket

Universities' bloated administration

Rising admin costs vs education[2:09:37]
• Joe notes that a large share of university budgets goes to administrative salaries rather than teaching, and as those costs rise, tuition must keep increasing to sustain the bureaucracy

Political stock trading and insider advantages

Tracking politicians' trades

Pelosi tracker phenomenon[2:12:37]
• They mention online tools that copy the stock trades of prominent politicians like Nancy Pelosi, with many people assuming following these trades leads to good returns
Calls to restrict trading by officials[2:14:10]
• Joe argues that members of Congress and senior federal officials should not be allowed to trade individual stocks because they have access to inside information about laws and contracts that affect companies

Term limits and post-office enrichment

Wealth growth in office[2:15:35]
• They point to politicians who enter office with modest salaries and leave worth tens or hundreds of millions, asserting that the math doesn't add up without exploiting insider advantages
Extreme term-limit joke[2:16:20]
• Joe jokes about a Judge Dredd-style system where officials serve a limited number of terms and then are stripped of possessions and exiled to the desert to prevent long-term entrenchment and corruption

Food, indulgence, and regional quality differences

Overeating on trips and favorite restaurants

New York Italian deli feasts[2:18:12]
• Joe recalls visiting an Italian deli in the Bronx where the owner provided a four-foot-long sandwich and other dishes, leading Joe to overeat so much that he felt physically distended the next day
Austin spots like Dai Due and sushi[2:19:06]
• Bryan talks about eating at Dai Due and a high-end sushi spot in Austin, praising the quality and noting he stacked rich meals on consecutive days

Chef excellence and sourcing

Local sourcing at Dai Due[2:20:38]
• They explain that Dai Due sources everything from Texas, down to beverages, and Joe calls chef Jesse Griffiths one of the best in the country
Jose Andres and charitable cooking[2:22:16]
• Joe praises chef José Andrés for going to disaster and war zones to cook for people for free, describing him as a genuine example of someone using culinary skill for real charity

Fast food quality differences by region

McDonald's and chains not tasting the same[2:23:51]
• Bryan claims that many national chains like McDonald's and some others taste worse in Austin than in other regions, suggesting distribution or sourcing differences affect consistency
Expectations of fast food consistency[2:24:41]
• He says people choose fast food like McDonald's not because it's the best, but because they know exactly what it will taste like, and becomes frustrated when that baseline expectation isn't met

Wrap-up and Bryan Simpson's projects

Specials, sets, and podcast

Netflix special and online sets[2:30:07]
• Bryan promotes his Netflix special "Live from the Mothership" and mentions a recent "Don't Tell" set on YouTube that has clips with millions of views
Tour dates and personal podcast[2:30:11]
• He directs listeners to his website for tour dates and plugs his podcast "BS with Bryan Simpson" available on YouTube and audio platforms

Lessons Learned

Actionable insights and wisdom you can apply to your business, career, and personal life.

1

Extreme performance in any field usually comes from an environment that normalizes suffering, discipline, and focus, not just from individual talent or short bursts of motivation.

Reflection Questions:

  • • What aspects of my environment currently make discipline easier or harder for me on a daily basis?
  • • How could I deliberately introduce small, sustainable practices that normalize short-term discomfort in service of long-term goals?
  • • Where in my life am I relying on bursts of motivation instead of building a culture or routine that quietly demands consistency?
2

Weight, health, and performance are driven far more by what you consistently eat and drink than by how hard you occasionally work out.

Reflection Questions:

  • • Which of my current eating habits are most out of alignment with the physical state I say I want?
  • • How might my results change if I treated my diet as the primary lever and exercise as a supportive tool rather than the main solution?
  • • What is one specific, realistic change to my daily intake that I could commit to for the next 30 days to test this principle?
3

In merit-based arenas like stand-up comedy, long-term success depends on continually delivering real value to the audience, regardless of industry gatekeepers or trends.

Reflection Questions:

  • • In my field, who is my true "audience" and how do I know when I'm actually delivering value to them rather than just impressing gatekeepers?
  • • How could I redesign my efforts so that more of my time is spent improving the core skill that ultimately matters to the people I serve?
  • • What metrics or feedback loops could I use to track whether I'm genuinely getting better over time instead of just getting more visible?
4

Large institutions-whether governments, universities, or charities-often mismanage resources and hide failures, so blind trust is dangerous; informed skepticism and demand for transparency are essential.

Reflection Questions:

  • • Where am I currently assuming that a large institution is "handling it" without ever looking into how effective they actually are?
  • • How could I become a more informed citizen or stakeholder about one issue that matters to me instead of relying solely on official narratives?
  • • What is one concrete action I could take this month to support transparency or accountability in a system I'm connected to?
5

Group pressure and the desire to belong can override individual judgment, making people accept behavior or authority that would seem obviously wrong from the outside.

Reflection Questions:

  • • When have I compromised my own judgment or values because I didn't want to rock the boat in a group I cared about?
  • • How can I create personal red lines in advance-behaviors or requests that I will never go along with, no matter how strong the group pressure?
  • • What signals could I watch for that a community I'm involved with is sliding from healthy belonging into unhealthy conformity or control?
6

You don't control what initially imprints on you-whether in taste, interests, or even kinks-but you do control how consciously and ethically you live with those tendencies.

Reflection Questions:

  • • What early experiences can I remember that clearly shaped some of my strongest likes or dislikes today?
  • • In what areas of my life do I feel pulled by impulses or preferences that I've never really examined or questioned?
  • • How might I manage my own quirks and drives in a way that is honest, safe, and respectful of both myself and others?

Episode Summary - Notes by Jamie

#2414 - Brian Simpson
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