August 20, 2025 • 13 mins
This recap episode unpacks an interview with musician Jesse Welles, known for his topical songs, particularly one criticising United Healthcare's practices. The discussion explores Wells's creative process, drawing parallels with stand-up comedy and highlighting his inspiration from folk artists like Woody Guthrie. The conversation then broadens to encompass various societal issues, including the profit-driven healthcare system, historical injustices such as scalp bounties in the American West, and the manipulative nature of news and entertainment, using examples like the Oklahoma City bombing and the Las Vegas shooting. Finally, the interview touches upon the impact of AI on music and the broader implications of technology and independence for artists.
---
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to the Joe Rogan recap. Good to be here.
Our mission today on the Deep Dive is to take a really
compelling reason conversation Joe had.
It was with the musician Jesse Wells.
Right, Jesse Wells, a fascinating guy.
Definitely we're going to pull out the most important insights,
maybe some surprising facts and you know, the deeper issues that
(00:20):
came. Up.
And it's more than just a recap,isn't it?
Exactly. This is a deep dive.
We're looking at the sort of underlying systems, the human
patterns it reveals. Stuff like how we deal with
healthcare, the quiet ways powerworks.
And even where art is heading, it's a great window, really.
A window, yeah. You get to see how art like
Wells is reflects what we're allanxious about.
(00:41):
And how these like historical patterns just keep repeating.
Struggle with big systems, powergames, it's all there.
It really makes you look past the, you know, the day-to-day
headline. See the bigger picture.
OK, so let's kick things off with Jesse Wells himself.
His artistic approach is well, it's pretty unique.
It really is. He doesn't just comment on
things. No, he like absorbs the current
(01:04):
events, the zeitgeist, right? These big cultural moments, he
turns them into these super catchy songs, rhyming often.
Rogan called them almost like punch lines.
Yeah, because he boils down these huge, complicated issues
into something instantly memorable.
It's sharp. Super sharp and it feels so
current, but you were saying it actually connects to a much
(01:25):
older tradition. Absolutely.
It's fascinating. He's really following in the
footsteps of people like Woody Guthrie.
Woody Guthrie? OK, yeah.
Who famously wanted to quote sing the news.
Just tell people what was happening directly.
And Wells actually mentioned Guthrie.
He did said he read Guthrie's biography during a tough time
when his father was ill. It really resonated, that
(01:47):
connection between art struggle and social commentary.
Well that makes sense and he definitely sings the news now.
That United Healthcare guy song is a perfect example.
Oh yeah, powerful stuff. And the trigger for that song
was pretty disturbing, wasn't it?
People online celebrating someone's death.
Yeah, Rogan was like, this is just bizarre and well, saw it as
(02:08):
a sign that, you know, somethingis up, something fundamental,
not even. Political, just human, like
people felt pushed too far by a system.
Exactly, And the song itself, it's just a straight up
indictment of the for profit healthcare system.
The. Lyrics are brutal.
They really are. Ain't no you in United Health.
That line, it's hard. And that statistic?
(02:28):
Only 2% win a dispute. That's chilling.
It is, and he calls it out directly.
Richard T Burke don't give in a fuck.
It's blunt. So the main criticisms are
pretty clear then? Crystal clear.
It's all about stockholder profit denying care. 0
consequences for the companies. And now they're using AI to deny
even more claims. Yep, driving those approval
(02:49):
numbers even lower than industrystandard.
It makes you ask when does it cross the line from business
into something predatory? Predatory, that's a strong word,
but looking at those numbers, yeah, it feels apartment.
So how does he actually write these things, these sharp punch
lines? Well.
He described it as basically a research project.
He starts by writing like 2000 words just to get his head
(03:12):
around the whole issue. 2000 words.
Wow. Yeah, then he has to boil all
that down, distill it to maybe 300 words for the final song.
Rhyming, catchy, often sounds kind of jolly, which is part of
the bunch. Like stand up comedy, he said,
finding that one killer line. Exactly that perfect punchline
that cuts right through. So what does this tell us then?
(03:34):
The fact that millions of peoplewatch that United Health song.
Over 6.7 million views. I mean, it screams that there's
a massive public hunger for thiskind of direct, honest
commentary, doesn't it? Especially on something like
healthcare that affects everyoneso deeply.
People want the raw truth unviltered.
Seems like it by passing the usual channels the curated news,
(03:55):
they want something authentic. And that public reaction, that
hunger, it led the conversation naturally into the bigger
healthcare debate. It did.
Joe Rogan brought up the counterargument about socialized
medicine. Yeah, his point about human
nature, he worried about losing that financial motivation.
Right, the whole Lakers doctor driving a Mercedes argument.
He said. You know, the reason that doctor
makes big money is why he's maybe the best.
(04:17):
Take away the money. You lose all the killers, as he
put it. The top talent won't stick
around. It's a common concern.
It is, but then the conversationtook a darker turn, connecting
this to historical issues in healthcare.
Yeah, it's chilling. When you look back, they brought
up lobotomies. God, yeah, The story of Rosemary
Kennedy. Just horrific.
Lobotomized at 23 November 1941 and.
(04:40):
The description of the tool likeabove her knife.
Used by Watson Freeman. They just kept going until she
became incoherent. And the reason?
Yeah, because nuns thought she was wild, worried about STD's or
pregnancy. It's unbelievable.
Just brutal control masked as medical treatment changed her
entire life permanently. Me.
(05:01):
She shudder. And then they asked, OK, what's
the modern equivalent of that kind of control?
That invasive, life altering thing.
And the conversation went straight to chemical lobotomies.
Benzodiazepines, Benzos. Exactly.
The worry is that these drugs, used widely, can kind of blunt
people, trap them in dependency,much like the old physical
lobotomies altered people fundamentally.
(05:22):
And the dangers are serious. That slingshot effect they
mentioned anxiety coming back even worse.
That plus the risk of death during withdrawal, just like
with alcohol and those awful gutissues.
Benzo belly. Grim stuff.
Really grim. Yeah.
So if the mainstream pharmaceutical route has these
massive downsides, what about alternatives?
(05:43):
Well, they discussed some natural options, Psilocybin,
magic mushrooms and particularlyibogaine.
Ibogaine. I've heard about that, what did
they say its effects were? Pretty remarkable.
Apparently it can stop physical addiction cold.
It helps rewire how the brain even sees addiction.
Plus, it's not addictive itself.Wow, and it's like a life
review. Yeah, a 24 hour experience
(06:04):
described as a deep review of your life to understand your own
patterns. Where is it legal?
Mexico, Costa Rica and there aresome religious exemption here in
the US for certain churches. Even former Governor Rick Perry,
a Republican, advocates for it. That's surprising.
It really highlights the contrast with the, you know, the
profit first model of many pharmaceuticals.
(06:25):
Big time. It pushes you to think about
systems designed for profit versus systems designed for
actual healing. Which leads perfectly into the
next big theme they explored. Yeah, rackets.
Right, these systems that seems set up to benefit just a select
few. They brought up that book War is
a Racket by Smedley Butler. Yeah, a highly decorated Marine
(06:45):
Corps Major General. Quite the source.
And his summary of war was just devastating.
The oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most
vicious racket, plain and simple, benefiting the very few
at the expense of the very many.And he didn't just theorize, he
confessed his own. Role.
Oh, absolutely chill and stuff. He called himself a gangster for
(07:06):
capitalism. Said he helped secure oil in
Mexico, banks in Haiti and Cuba.Raping Central American
republics for Wall Street. His words.
Even help Standard Oil in China.He laid it all out.
And then there's that business plot in 1933.
Yeah, this alleged plot by wealthy businessmen to actually
overthrow FDR and install Butlerthe general as a dictator?
(07:28):
Seriously. Seriously.
Congress even looked into it, found that attempts were
discussed and planned. But guess what?
Nobody was prosecuted. Bingo. 0 accountability at the
top. It's a pattern, isn't it?
A really disturbing pattern. And it wasn't just financial
rackets. They talked about outright
brutality, sanctioned brutality.Like the scalp bounty programs
in the Wild West. Just horrifying.
(07:49):
The amount $8200 for an Apache scalp, more than a gold
prospector could make. And it was government backed
explicit support for extermination of tribes and mass
murder men, women, children. They mentioned James Kirker
killed over 300 people himself. And the impact?
Wiping out nearly 90% of some tribal populations?
Just staggering. Violence and the fact that the
(08:10):
FBI seized an Apache scalp from an auction house in 2022.
That history isn't even fully buried.
Not at all. And this pattern, this
manipulation and manufactured chaos, it connects right up to
today, doesn't it? And so, well, think about bots
and AI online, used by bad stateactors, foreign countries,
things up. Exactly.
(08:31):
So instability destroy faith anddemocracy, which then leads to
calls for more control, more management laws against dissent.
It's a modern form of manipulation.
Creating chaos to justify control.
And that leads to some intense speculation about specific
events. These are alleged false flags.
Right, operations designed to look like someone else did them.
(08:53):
They talked about the Las Vegas shooting.
What were the theories there? All sorts a Saudi connection,
maybe a push for casino body scanners because government
people own stock and security companies.
Multiple shooters, 400 lbs of gear, lots of unanswered
questions for some people. Definitely.
And then Oklahoma City. Right, the question of whether a
simple fertilizer bomb could do that much damage.
Plus reports of other bombs found by the FBI initially,
(09:16):
though experts later denied it and the motive being tied to
Ruby Ridge and Waco. Two really polarizing events
involving government actions. It feeds the mistrust.
And what makes it even more unsettling is this recurring
theme of potential government infiltration or even entrapment.
Like that Michigan governor kidnapping plot?
Yeah, where most of the people involved were apparently
(09:37):
government agents. 12 out of 14 according to the discussion.
And trapping a 19 year old, giving him a fake bomb just to
charge him with terrorism, it raises serious questions about
who is creating the threat. Are they stopping crime or
manufacturing it? It's a heavy question, and
there's historical precedent foractual false flags being planned
(09:58):
or used to start wars. Like Nero burning Rome, blaming
the Christians. Or the Gulf of Tonkin incident,
which escalated Vietnam and Operation Northwoods.
That's terrifying. The plan to stage attacks on US
soil and blame Cuba. Proposed by the giant chiefs.
Thankfully, Kennedy vetoed it. But the fact they even conceived
it, it's sobering. So wrapping this segment up,
(10:19):
what's the take away about the information we get, the stories
we see? It forces you to be critical,
doesn't it? To think about how even
entertainment like movies. They mentioned Tom Hanks films,
Charlie Wilson's War, Saving Private Ryan.
Yeah, how these narratives can subtly shape our understanding,
our perceptions. Like WWI movies getting soldiers
(10:40):
to shoot when they were initially hesitant.
It's about looking for the intention behind this story,
perhaps. Absolutely.
Discernment is key. Which interestingly, brings us
back around to the artist. Right, the dependent artist like
Jesse Wells. In a world full of these
potentially manipulated narratives, his success is kind
of striking. Millions of views for songs like
(11:02):
United Health. No traditional gatekeepers
needed. Just an iPhone talent,
creativity. It shows the power shift,
doesn't it? It really does, and it shines A
harsh light on the old music industry model.
The labels as vampires. That was the term used, yeah.
Offering a little for a lot. Owning your master recordings,
taking tour money, giving endless notes.
(11:22):
Killing artistic freedom. There was that quote.
The music industry is a shallow money trench where good men die
like dogs. Pretty.
Bleak. And you contrast that with
someone like Oliver Anthony. Huge success completely outside
that System A. Total game changer.
But now there's a new disruptionlooming.
AI, artificial intelligence in music, Yeah.
(11:42):
And it's moving incredibly fast.They talked about AI creating a
totally plausible hit level pop song in seconds.
Seconds. That's hard to wrap your head.
Around it is and the core insight that came out was look,
everything that can be replaced will be replaced.
So if music is just formula. It's vulnerable, as someone
said, pop music was already AI in many ways.
(12:04):
But what can't AI replace? What's left?
Human experience real emotion the the soul that comes from
living an authentically difficult life.
AI can mimic, but it can originate that.
So the path forward for humans, for artists, is authenticity.
That seemed to be the message. If you can be 100% yourself all
(12:25):
the way to the end of the line, then that's your success.
Don't make the devil's bargain. Don't sell out.
They mentioned Robert Johnson, Hendrix, Van Halen, that idea of
chasing profit leading to bad art.
Right, because when you compromise that core
authenticity, you lose the magic.
Music isn't just notes and beats, it's emotion.
A drug. A mood capsule, they called it.
Yeah, think about how a song like Free Bird or Yesterday or
(12:46):
even Captain Jack can just hit you, change your whole state.
That's the human connection. Something AI can't fake.
And Wells going on tour, releasing a new album.
He's living that authentic path.Exactly continuing to create
from that real place despite everything changing around him.
So this whole deep dive, it really traced this line, didn't
(13:06):
it? This tension between our messy
human nature, these big controlling systems.
Whether it's healthcare, the military industrial complex,
media narratives. And then the power of just pure
authentic expression to cut through all that noise.
It leaves you with a question, doesn't it?
For you listening in this world of potential manipulation of
systems built for profit, not people, what's your unique art?
(13:29):
Art in the broadest sense, maybe.
What are you creating, or even just consuming that feels truly
real outside the racket? Something that speaks truth,
regardless of whether it's popular or profitable.
It really highlights the value of critical thinking, of
supporting genuine authenticity wherever you find it.
How do you define your own reality amidst it all?
Welcome to the Joe Rogan recap. Good to be here.
Our mission today on the Deep Dive is to take a really
compelling reason conversation Joe had.
It was with the musician Jesse Wells.
Right, Jesse Wells, a fascinating guy.
Definitely we're going to pull out the most important insights,
maybe some surprising facts and you know, the deeper issues that
(00:20):
came. Up.
And it's more than just a recap,isn't it?
Exactly. This is a deep dive.
We're looking at the sort of underlying systems, the human
patterns it reveals. Stuff like how we deal with
healthcare, the quiet ways powerworks.
And even where art is heading, it's a great window, really.
A window, yeah. You get to see how art like
Wells is reflects what we're allanxious about.
(00:41):
And how these like historical patterns just keep repeating.
Struggle with big systems, powergames, it's all there.
It really makes you look past the, you know, the day-to-day
headline. See the bigger picture.
OK, so let's kick things off with Jesse Wells himself.
His artistic approach is well, it's pretty unique.
It really is. He doesn't just comment on
things. No, he like absorbs the current
(01:04):
events, the zeitgeist, right? These big cultural moments, he
turns them into these super catchy songs, rhyming often.
Rogan called them almost like punch lines.
Yeah, because he boils down these huge, complicated issues
into something instantly memorable.
It's sharp. Super sharp and it feels so
current, but you were saying it actually connects to a much
(01:25):
older tradition. Absolutely.
It's fascinating. He's really following in the
footsteps of people like Woody Guthrie.
Woody Guthrie? OK, yeah.
Who famously wanted to quote sing the news.
Just tell people what was happening directly.
And Wells actually mentioned Guthrie.
He did said he read Guthrie's biography during a tough time
when his father was ill. It really resonated, that
(01:47):
connection between art struggle and social commentary.
Well that makes sense and he definitely sings the news now.
That United Healthcare guy song is a perfect example.
Oh yeah, powerful stuff. And the trigger for that song
was pretty disturbing, wasn't it?
People online celebrating someone's death.
Yeah, Rogan was like, this is just bizarre and well, saw it as
(02:08):
a sign that, you know, somethingis up, something fundamental,
not even. Political, just human, like
people felt pushed too far by a system.
Exactly, And the song itself, it's just a straight up
indictment of the for profit healthcare system.
The. Lyrics are brutal.
They really are. Ain't no you in United Health.
That line, it's hard. And that statistic?
(02:28):
Only 2% win a dispute. That's chilling.
It is, and he calls it out directly.
Richard T Burke don't give in a fuck.
It's blunt. So the main criticisms are
pretty clear then? Crystal clear.
It's all about stockholder profit denying care. 0
consequences for the companies. And now they're using AI to deny
even more claims. Yep, driving those approval
(02:49):
numbers even lower than industrystandard.
It makes you ask when does it cross the line from business
into something predatory? Predatory, that's a strong word,
but looking at those numbers, yeah, it feels apartment.
So how does he actually write these things, these sharp punch
lines? Well.
He described it as basically a research project.
He starts by writing like 2000 words just to get his head
(03:12):
around the whole issue. 2000 words.
Wow. Yeah, then he has to boil all
that down, distill it to maybe 300 words for the final song.
Rhyming, catchy, often sounds kind of jolly, which is part of
the bunch. Like stand up comedy, he said,
finding that one killer line. Exactly that perfect punchline
that cuts right through. So what does this tell us then?
(03:34):
The fact that millions of peoplewatch that United Health song.
Over 6.7 million views. I mean, it screams that there's
a massive public hunger for thiskind of direct, honest
commentary, doesn't it? Especially on something like
healthcare that affects everyoneso deeply.
People want the raw truth unviltered.
Seems like it by passing the usual channels the curated news,
(03:55):
they want something authentic. And that public reaction, that
hunger, it led the conversation naturally into the bigger
healthcare debate. It did.
Joe Rogan brought up the counterargument about socialized
medicine. Yeah, his point about human
nature, he worried about losing that financial motivation.
Right, the whole Lakers doctor driving a Mercedes argument.
He said. You know, the reason that doctor
makes big money is why he's maybe the best.
(04:17):
Take away the money. You lose all the killers, as he
put it. The top talent won't stick
around. It's a common concern.
It is, but then the conversationtook a darker turn, connecting
this to historical issues in healthcare.
Yeah, it's chilling. When you look back, they brought
up lobotomies. God, yeah, The story of Rosemary
Kennedy. Just horrific.
Lobotomized at 23 November 1941 and.
(04:40):
The description of the tool likeabove her knife.
Used by Watson Freeman. They just kept going until she
became incoherent. And the reason?
Yeah, because nuns thought she was wild, worried about STD's or
pregnancy. It's unbelievable.
Just brutal control masked as medical treatment changed her
entire life permanently. Me.
(05:01):
She shudder. And then they asked, OK, what's
the modern equivalent of that kind of control?
That invasive, life altering thing.
And the conversation went straight to chemical lobotomies.
Benzodiazepines, Benzos. Exactly.
The worry is that these drugs, used widely, can kind of blunt
people, trap them in dependency,much like the old physical
lobotomies altered people fundamentally.
(05:22):
And the dangers are serious. That slingshot effect they
mentioned anxiety coming back even worse.
That plus the risk of death during withdrawal, just like
with alcohol and those awful gutissues.
Benzo belly. Grim stuff.
Really grim. Yeah.
So if the mainstream pharmaceutical route has these
massive downsides, what about alternatives?
(05:43):
Well, they discussed some natural options, Psilocybin,
magic mushrooms and particularlyibogaine.
Ibogaine. I've heard about that, what did
they say its effects were? Pretty remarkable.
Apparently it can stop physical addiction cold.
It helps rewire how the brain even sees addiction.
Plus, it's not addictive itself.Wow, and it's like a life
review. Yeah, a 24 hour experience
(06:04):
described as a deep review of your life to understand your own
patterns. Where is it legal?
Mexico, Costa Rica and there aresome religious exemption here in
the US for certain churches. Even former Governor Rick Perry,
a Republican, advocates for it. That's surprising.
It really highlights the contrast with the, you know, the
profit first model of many pharmaceuticals.
(06:25):
Big time. It pushes you to think about
systems designed for profit versus systems designed for
actual healing. Which leads perfectly into the
next big theme they explored. Yeah, rackets.
Right, these systems that seems set up to benefit just a select
few. They brought up that book War is
a Racket by Smedley Butler. Yeah, a highly decorated Marine
(06:45):
Corps Major General. Quite the source.
And his summary of war was just devastating.
The oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most
vicious racket, plain and simple, benefiting the very few
at the expense of the very many.And he didn't just theorize, he
confessed his own. Role.
Oh, absolutely chill and stuff. He called himself a gangster for
(07:06):
capitalism. Said he helped secure oil in
Mexico, banks in Haiti and Cuba.Raping Central American
republics for Wall Street. His words.
Even help Standard Oil in China.He laid it all out.
And then there's that business plot in 1933.
Yeah, this alleged plot by wealthy businessmen to actually
overthrow FDR and install Butlerthe general as a dictator?
(07:28):
Seriously. Seriously.
Congress even looked into it, found that attempts were
discussed and planned. But guess what?
Nobody was prosecuted. Bingo. 0 accountability at the
top. It's a pattern, isn't it?
A really disturbing pattern. And it wasn't just financial
rackets. They talked about outright
brutality, sanctioned brutality.Like the scalp bounty programs
in the Wild West. Just horrifying.
(07:49):
The amount $8200 for an Apache scalp, more than a gold
prospector could make. And it was government backed
explicit support for extermination of tribes and mass
murder men, women, children. They mentioned James Kirker
killed over 300 people himself. And the impact?
Wiping out nearly 90% of some tribal populations?
Just staggering. Violence and the fact that the
(08:10):
FBI seized an Apache scalp from an auction house in 2022.
That history isn't even fully buried.
Not at all. And this pattern, this
manipulation and manufactured chaos, it connects right up to
today, doesn't it? And so, well, think about bots
and AI online, used by bad stateactors, foreign countries,
things up. Exactly.
(08:31):
So instability destroy faith anddemocracy, which then leads to
calls for more control, more management laws against dissent.
It's a modern form of manipulation.
Creating chaos to justify control.
And that leads to some intense speculation about specific
events. These are alleged false flags.
Right, operations designed to look like someone else did them.
(08:53):
They talked about the Las Vegas shooting.
What were the theories there? All sorts a Saudi connection,
maybe a push for casino body scanners because government
people own stock and security companies.
Multiple shooters, 400 lbs of gear, lots of unanswered
questions for some people. Definitely.
And then Oklahoma City. Right, the question of whether a
simple fertilizer bomb could do that much damage.
Plus reports of other bombs found by the FBI initially,
(09:16):
though experts later denied it and the motive being tied to
Ruby Ridge and Waco. Two really polarizing events
involving government actions. It feeds the mistrust.
And what makes it even more unsettling is this recurring
theme of potential government infiltration or even entrapment.
Like that Michigan governor kidnapping plot?
Yeah, where most of the people involved were apparently
(09:37):
government agents. 12 out of 14 according to the discussion.
And trapping a 19 year old, giving him a fake bomb just to
charge him with terrorism, it raises serious questions about
who is creating the threat. Are they stopping crime or
manufacturing it? It's a heavy question, and
there's historical precedent foractual false flags being planned
(09:58):
or used to start wars. Like Nero burning Rome, blaming
the Christians. Or the Gulf of Tonkin incident,
which escalated Vietnam and Operation Northwoods.
That's terrifying. The plan to stage attacks on US
soil and blame Cuba. Proposed by the giant chiefs.
Thankfully, Kennedy vetoed it. But the fact they even conceived
it, it's sobering. So wrapping this segment up,
(10:19):
what's the take away about the information we get, the stories
we see? It forces you to be critical,
doesn't it? To think about how even
entertainment like movies. They mentioned Tom Hanks films,
Charlie Wilson's War, Saving Private Ryan.
Yeah, how these narratives can subtly shape our understanding,
our perceptions. Like WWI movies getting soldiers
(10:40):
to shoot when they were initially hesitant.
It's about looking for the intention behind this story,
perhaps. Absolutely.
Discernment is key. Which interestingly, brings us
back around to the artist. Right, the dependent artist like
Jesse Wells. In a world full of these
potentially manipulated narratives, his success is kind
of striking. Millions of views for songs like
(11:02):
United Health. No traditional gatekeepers
needed. Just an iPhone talent,
creativity. It shows the power shift,
doesn't it? It really does, and it shines A
harsh light on the old music industry model.
The labels as vampires. That was the term used, yeah.
Offering a little for a lot. Owning your master recordings,
taking tour money, giving endless notes.
(11:22):
Killing artistic freedom. There was that quote.
The music industry is a shallow money trench where good men die
like dogs. Pretty.
Bleak. And you contrast that with
someone like Oliver Anthony. Huge success completely outside
that System A. Total game changer.
But now there's a new disruptionlooming.
AI, artificial intelligence in music, Yeah.
(11:42):
And it's moving incredibly fast.They talked about AI creating a
totally plausible hit level pop song in seconds.
Seconds. That's hard to wrap your head.
Around it is and the core insight that came out was look,
everything that can be replaced will be replaced.
So if music is just formula. It's vulnerable, as someone
said, pop music was already AI in many ways.
(12:04):
But what can't AI replace? What's left?
Human experience real emotion the the soul that comes from
living an authentically difficult life.
AI can mimic, but it can originate that.
So the path forward for humans, for artists, is authenticity.
That seemed to be the message. If you can be 100% yourself all
(12:25):
the way to the end of the line, then that's your success.
Don't make the devil's bargain. Don't sell out.
They mentioned Robert Johnson, Hendrix, Van Halen, that idea of
chasing profit leading to bad art.
Right, because when you compromise that core
authenticity, you lose the magic.
Music isn't just notes and beats, it's emotion.
A drug. A mood capsule, they called it.
Yeah, think about how a song like Free Bird or Yesterday or
(12:46):
even Captain Jack can just hit you, change your whole state.
That's the human connection. Something AI can't fake.
And Wells going on tour, releasing a new album.
He's living that authentic path.Exactly continuing to create
from that real place despite everything changing around him.
So this whole deep dive, it really traced this line, didn't
(13:06):
it? This tension between our messy
human nature, these big controlling systems.
Whether it's healthcare, the military industrial complex,
media narratives. And then the power of just pure
authentic expression to cut through all that noise.
It leaves you with a question, doesn't it?
For you listening in this world of potential manipulation of
systems built for profit, not people, what's your unique art?
(13:29):
Art in the broadest sense, maybe.
What are you creating, or even just consuming that feels truly
real outside the racket? Something that speaks truth,
regardless of whether it's popular or profitable.
It really highlights the value of critical thinking, of
supporting genuine authenticity wherever you find it.
How do you define your own reality amidst it all?
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