Joe Rogan Experience #2406 - Russell Crowe

Joe Rogan podcast, check it out. The Joe. Rogan Experience. TRAIN BY DAY, JOE. ROGAN PODCAST BY NIGHT. All day. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. How. are you, sir? Good to see you. >> Rogan. Yeah, good to see you. Nice to. see you, man. Your movie's great. Thank. you very much. When does it come out? Uh. in the United States, comes out November. 7th. Okay. And then uh various dates. over the next month and a half or so.

around the rest of the world. >> heavy movie, man. Yeah. It's a heavy movie. Yeah. The um. the trial. that footage was that all real footage? The Holocaust footage? >> Real footage of the the Holocaust. footage? >> one of the reasons that that. inspired Jamie to go ahead that he was. given access to that footage, some of. which has never been seen since 1946. Ugh. Yeah. I It's a very interesting way. that. he makes the subject matter accessible.

because it's such a dry topic from the. outside, right? Here's a court case. Right. You know, here's yet another. courtroom drama Right. procedural or. whatever. So, I can imagine that people. would see that and go, "Well, that's. uh you know, might not be an exciting watch or. something.". But he sort of puts the audience in this. position where he allows them to start. to be amused by some of the things that. are going on and the interpersonal. relationships and. you know, when the commandant of the. um prison has to call up his two.

um top mental health experts and dress. them down for getting into a fistfight, you know, things like that. Kind of it's. There's a charm to it. And then he gets you into the courtroom. and he locks the door. Mhm. And he goes, "Now you're going to see what we're. talking about." So, I think it's a very. interesting film device. to disarm people before he starts giving. them the the real juice, you know? Yeah,

it's uh. it's also a fascinating psychological. tape from uh the psychiatrist, from. Kelly's perspective. You know, because. the way he's describing all human. beings, that all human beings are. capable of these horrific acts. >> Yeah. And that's the thing that was a very. unpopular take at the time, actually led. to his removal from the process. because he wasn't fulfilling what the. war department wanted him to say, which.

is, you know, all Nazis are crazy, you know, ruled by a madman, and uh this is a unique experience. But, that's not what he found in sitting down. talking to the 22. major Nazi sort of names that that he. was assigned to. post-war. He realized that every single one of. these people was, you know, was normal. Well, there was a couple.

that were pretty out there. But, you. know, for the most part, he was dealing. with. rational men. Yeah, that's what's scary. >> How the hell did they end up making this. series of decisions if they're rational. men? Well, it just seems like things just get. pushed slowly but surely into this. unbelievably horrific place. Right. Like. it starts off this just it's just a war. It starts off Hitler's in power and then. slowly but surely things get quickly.

Yes. >> And that's the thing that's, you know, difficult because. gigantic jumps. you we can all read. Right. But, little. incremental changes. >> Right. The boiling of the frog. Just. how, you know, you take away this. person's rights, that person's. personal power, you know, slowly. you know, you get to a point where. the average person then turns around and. goes, "How did we get to here?" Right. You know, I thought it was I thought it. was about something else. You know,

there's a smoke screen going up and I. thought we were doing that and. as it turns out it's very different. Yeah, that's the. one of the scariest aspects of human. beings is our ability to dehumanize. others. To turn others into something less than. us. >> Right. Non-human an other. Right. Humans with. families, with mothers and fathers and. children. >> It's one of the most dangerous things I. I see it going on everywhere at the. moment. That we're trying to say that.

you're either. you know, and for want of a better team. name, that you're either red or that. you're blue. Right. And. humans are a far more nuanced than that. They're not we're not that extreme. You know? And. that that idea that you can split all of. us into two camps. is kind of nuts. It's nuts. You know? Yeah, it's nuts. >> And it takes out all the room for. subtlety. in a discussion.

And therefore, it makes communicating. with each other. less and less. um available. Well, it's just in this. country in particular. I don't know. about Australian politics, but we only. have two parties and they're both. essentially financed by enormous. corporations. So, it's a it's a ruse. The whole thing's a ruse. And you have. different social issues on each side. that come up and and then it becomes. this you're with us or against us, right. versus left. But, it's It's going nowhere good.

>> Nowhere good. Yeah. And we have the same. sort of, you know, two principal party. system in Australia as well. Um. but we have a slight advantage in that. we're kind of. on the edge of the world in a lot of. ways, you know? So, what I've always said is when you're. growing up in Australia and New Zealand, you're growing you grow up looking out. Yes, you understand your own culture and. all that, but you grow up looking at. what else is happening in the rest of. the world. What's happening in Europe? What's happening in America, you know? But, by and large, Americans grow up.

looking in. Right. The principal sports are only played by. American teams. Uh American football, uh in some instances baseball, but. they're not the types of sports that we. play where the pinnacle of that sport is. international competition. Right. >> Rugby union, rugby league, cricket, Right. >> football, soccer, you know? Um so, we. we grow up with that as being.

the pinnacle of any particular sport if. you get to represent your country. And. that's only really relevant in an. American sense for in an Olympic period, you know? >> Right. That's it. Yeah, we never think. about other sports. We mock them. We think about you know, like, "What are. you doing playing cricket?". And it's a fascinating game. And any. anybody who loves baseball uh generally. I found baseball lovers are all about. the minutia. They're all about the stats. and what those stats mean, you know, there might be a certain score on the.

board, but you know, they're and their. team might be getting beaten, but they. see in the stats that there's, you know, a certain dominance in an area and so, they you know, they still have a hope. that the outcome of the game is. may come their way. And cricket fans are. are the same. as that. So, the the fact that the two. never seem to meet is odd to me It is. odd. because it's the same type of game. This is. cricket is larger worldwide, right? >> Mhm. Much larger. Yeah, well, you have.

India. >> India and Pakistan and uh Sri Lanka and. you know, countries like that with huge. populations playing the game. Do you Do you guys have home runs in. cricket? Like where someone really. cracks the ball and smashes it out of. the park? >> It's called a six. If you hit the ball. over the fence without it bouncing, you. get six runs. Oh, okay. >> And so, that's that's the um version of. a home run. >> In See, there's different forms of the. game. You have uh. um. T20, then you have one day. So,

this is going to be This is going to be. difficult. T20 means that each team gets to bowl 20. overs. An over is six balls. So, you. have 26-ball overs that you're bowling. to the batting team and they've got to. get try and get as many runs as they. can. And then you will have a go at. batting, right? So, you have that. version of the game, which is very. short. It can be It can happen in an. evening. Then you have a one-day game, which maybe, you know, starts in the. afternoon, finishes by 8:00 or 9:00 at. night. But, then you have.

the test match. And this is what I grew up with. It It's. sort of been dialed down a little bit. now cuz they brought in shorter forms of. the game. But, the test match is between. two countries and it's played over five. days. And the idea is that both teams have to. bat and bowl twice and the result will. be whatever it is at the end of five. days. Five days? >> Five days, man. Five full days. And they. start and then they have morning tea and. then they have another break. They have.

lunch. Afternoon tea. And if it's really hot, every now and then somebody will walk. out and give them drinks, you know? It's. very civilized. Yeah, my my cousin. Martin was a great cricket player. He. was the captain of New Zealand. My other. cousin Jeffrey was also captain of New. Zealand. So, I kind of grew up in a. cricketing family and it was one of the. pathways for me that was, you know, potentially play cricket, you know? But, when you've got two of your cousins. who are as good as they were, it's a. very crowded room. You know, so, how am I going to make any.

kind of statement here when one of the. Martin. uh at his peak, he was called by Sports. Illustrated, I believe, the Michael. Jordan of world cricket. Wow. >> He was a very dominant player in his. day. And um he used to call we used to. discuss test matches as the gentleman's. war. Cuz you have a defined space. You. have X amount of players and you've got. to stop that little ball in this. gigantic 180 m by 120 m oval. You got to.

stop that little red ball from going. between the players and therefore, you. know, preventing the batsman from. scoring runs. But that five-day game, the way that it ebbs and flows, once you're into it, it's the only way. you want to watch cricket. Cuz it's like, you know, at one moment. your team can be just so far ahead, you're like, just, you know, and then. it'll turn on a dime. And day two, things get really dark for your team. You know, day three, you got an edge. back again. Day four, it's fantastic,

man. And as a kid, I used to go and. attend. every day of a five-day game. >> Wow. Uh it was crazy. >> Yeah, there's nothing like that here. No. No. I mean, it really requires, um. I mean, just like you look at the, you. know, five five-day game, it's like five. news cycles, right? Yeah. We're not really set up for that sort of. patience and How is it broadcast? Is it. streamed? >> Television. Television. Yeah. >> Yeah. Yeah, I mean, you know, there's.

cables and companies and stuff have got. involved now, but it used to be national. network. And when cricket season was on, I mean, you know, back in the day, people would come from. overseas and into Australia the summer. and and ask the question, is there. anything else on television except. sport? Is it So, when when you're playing do. they take commercial breaks? Yep. Okay, they do. So, that's the problem with. soccer, right? Soccer in America, the. reason why it's very hard to sell is not. just that a lot of people don't play it,

>> Right. >> but it's just there's no commercial. breaks. They just keep going. >> a huge number of people who play. association football, soccer in this. country. >> Oh, for sure. Listen, they have a. professional team here. I've been to the. game, but it's nowhere near the. involvement that football has. American football. >> American football in this country. Yeah, for sure. >> close. Yeah. Well, see, all of our. sports that we like in Australia, apart. from cricket, uh tend to be quite. compact, you know? Uh I mean, a game, 90-minute game, um 10-minute half time, and it's part of.

your day. Mhm. It's not your whole day. Right. >> It's like we'll go to a football game. and then we'll go and, you know, have. dinner or go and do something else. Um. so, we have that same thing with the. action is so continuous that the idea of. stopping for a commercial break quite. gets quite tricky. Yeah, that makes. sense. The it's always been fascinating. to me that rugby never took off in. America. >> Yeah. Cuz it seems like kind of a more. savage version of football. Yeah. Well, the the way I think it sort of. plays out, you've got rugby union,

right? Which is, um. 15 men a side. Every time a player is tackled, you. re-compete for the ball. You have rocks, mauls, you have lineouts. Uh it's very different game, but there's. another version of rugby called rugby. league, which was played in the north of. England, and that has a defined period of offense. and defense, and I think that's where. American football comes from. I actually. own a team in Australia in uh the NRL, the National Rugby League, the South. Sydney Rabbitohs, the oldest team in the.

game. 1908 we were formed. Uh bought the. team in 2006. Uh and it's very easy to explain to. Americans. Have American friends come. down. I spend maybe 20 minutes talking. to them, and they get the game, and they. start to dig it. My girlfriend at the. moment, actually, uh Brittany, uh was. one of the reasons why I really started. being attracted to her because she. understood the game straight away. You. know, and then I find out that when she. was younger, she was. a a cheerleader for the. uh New Orleans Saints Oh, wow.

>> while she was studying electrical. engineering. So, it's Yeah, it's it's a. rugby league is a very easy game for. Americans to follow. Now, how it's. refereed becomes frustrating for the. American audience because it's there's. so much room for interpretation, referee. to referee, game to game, situation to. situation. So, it can get frustrating. I. think one of the greatest things about. American football from the outside or. from an objective point of view, it. seems that every single thing that the.

NFL try to do is based on an. across-the-board fairness. for everyone. Mhm. You know, so those, you know, the conversations about. between um the referees and and what. have you seem to be everybody's. on the same page. And sometimes, when. you're watching rugby league, something. that you saw somebody else get sent from. the field for the week before, and then nothing happens this week. But it's the same kind of hit or. whatever. I was like, what? You know, so.

I've had a few Americans get really. frustrated. No, I think. Yeah, I think it the game moves very. fast. Right. And uh you know, referees. don't have eyes on all sides of their. head, you know. But do you have referee. corruption over there because you have. gambling? We definitely have gambling. Yeah, I know you have gambling cuz I. read ads for them. Yeah. Ladbrokes? Uh. absolutely crazy the way gambling has. become such a significant player. I also. read the other day that uh. now turns out that 50% of ownership of.

all the major gambling things are uh. in the hands of sports teams. Oh, what's going. >> going on? Yeah, I think I think what we have, as opposed to corruption, is natural. bias. Because guys come out of the game. So, there's, you know, 17 clubs in the in. the NRL at the moment, and guys who are. in positions like referees or video refs. or whatever, They have a club. You know, they grew up associated to one. particular geographic area, and that's.

their club. So, it's very difficult for anyone to to. truly objectively see their own natural. bias. Mhm. But also, there's got to be some. corruption if there's gambling. If if it's so subjective that you can. make calls that you would that didn't. that someone got in trouble week before, and then this week nothing. Like that. kind of subjectivity where it's up to. the referee to make a decision, if I was. a corrupt person, a gambler, especially. if I was a mobster, I would reach out to that referee and.

say, you know, it's within our best. interests. to work together on this. >> Yes, let's let's make something happen. >> would hope uh in. all innocence. Yeah, well, you have to. say that. You own a team. Yeah, and and. you got to sort of uh. remain. a little impartial in in these things. Um what was that scandal in America, Jamie? The most recent one, the. basketball one. It had to do. >> ongoing. It's still ongoing. >> Yeah. Yeah. Um what did What are they.

accusing these guys of, though? I know. they're they rigged poker games, but. there's also. accusations about the basketball games. themselves. >> Uh most of it would have been like based. off of player props. So, like uh they're. they know that they're not going to take. themself out of the game, so they just. take the under on. I'm not going to score 20 points. I'm. only going to be there for 10 minutes. Mhm. >> Wink wink. Or like, you know, these. players aren't going to play in this. game. That. against us. That's sort of what it. >> This is players gambling, is it? One of. the coaches was doing it, too. Or like.

giving information. I mean, he was. Thing is is they would they would they. were tied to the poker game, too. Oh. And. >> So, it's just a full-on criminal. enterprise. >> of them I just saw on the news today. that the one player who's been tossed. around, uh he had a big IRS debt, and. all of this sort of started around the. same time, too. Oh, he's trying to pay. off his debt. So, he got corrupt. >> Who knows? But they weren't they ripping. off their friends in the poker games? That I don't know cuz I've Allegedly. clips. Yeah, I've seen clips of this. people knew about this a year or two ago.

on Instagram. They're like, I was at a. [ __ ] rigged game, and I know the. people involved and know that I should. not have, like, I'm not going there and. losing my money. How did they know it was rigged? >> The people involved, he said. He's like, someone else told me this it's all on. the up and up, and then he's like, I. know everybody in the game. It's. definitely not. What are you talking. about? How that guy knew I didn't he didn't. really. >> Well, they had crazy [ __ ] Like they. could read the cards. They had like a. X-ray machine. They had like cameras in the chip.

holders. They had all sort I don't know. who they were communicating to, though. There's a lot going on, but It was. happening in LA, Vegas, New York, all. over the place. God. This episode is brought to you by. ZipRecruiter. Have you ever lost your. keys and ended up tearing your house. apart trying to find them? What makes it. even worse is when it's the most. conspicuous, obvious place you could. have sworn you checked already. It'd be. nice if we had the ability to find. whatever we're looking for right away. And at least for hiring managers on the.

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>> Yeah, I had an experience when I was a. young fellow. Uh it was the first time I was in. America, actually. And I'd had all these intense meetings. and what have you, and it was I I had a. decision to make. I had. 10 different people wanting to be my. agent. So, I rented a car, and I went. for a drive, and I went up to. uh San Francisco along the coast and. then I turned inland. thinking, "You know, well. I've heard of Reno, so I'll go there, right?" So, so I went to Reno, Nevada.

And uh I had X amount of money, right? I. was a. very um. I wasn't. you know, I was doing well in my career, but I didn't have a lot of cash. So, I. had a couple hundred dollars in my. pocket, that's all, you know. So, I went and had a a beer and I. started playing. blackjack on a $5 table and. it was a single deck. This is how long. ago this was, uh '92 or something, right? So, I'm playing and I did pretty. well. I, you know, I amassed a few hundred dollars, feeling.

very cocky and confident about myself. and I probably just then had one beer. too many and I went for a walk down the. street and I saw a roulette table and I. think, "That'll be me, right? Sucker." And so, everything I won, I. lost. And by the time I sort of got my [ __ ]. back together, I had $25 in my pocket. I'm in Reno, I got a quarter tank of gas. and I got to get back to LA. I don't. have a credit card. Oh, boy. So, as it was, I'd paid for my hotel in. advance, so that that's all cool.

But I was like, "Okay, I got to sober up here." So, I go back. to the place I started, back to that. same $5 table and I just very carefully, right? When I got to like $190, which I knew was going to be enough to. get me back with petrol and food and all. that sort of I stopped. I go out into the car park of this. hotel. It's like 11:00, midnight, something. like that and I just started vibrating, man. My whole body was like shaking like. I was having some kind of fit, you know?

And it was just really weird. I I got. back to the hotel room and I called my. mom collect. in New Zealand. and I just So, I just put did this. I. went through this. She goes, "I No, darling. Um. something I've never told you, but your great-grandfather was a. professional gambler. And at one point in time, he gambled his house away. He had to go and get his daughters, wake. them up, get his wife and tell them this is where.

they no longer live. And that one act kept that family in, you know, relative terms, poor for another two. generations. Wow. >> That one impulsive act to gamble his. house. Yeah, so I know it's in me, so I don't go anywhere near it. That's. fascinating. So, you think it's genetic? >> a uh. a horse race in Australia called the. Melbourne Cup. and I will focus on that and if I happen.

to be at home and and I have uh the day. off kind of thing, I'll uh put a bit of. money on that. But that's it, you know, everything else that I do in my life is. gambling. Becoming an actor, massive. gamble, what are you talking about? It's. ridiculous, you know. Buying a football team, it's it it's all. a version of gambling. But the idea that. you're just giving money away to a. system that have where it's not fair, it's not going to benefit you and at the. end of the day in the longer term,

you're simply not going to win. It sort. of that drives me a little crazy. I. don't want to get involved in that. Yeah, the vibration thing, do you think. do you think gambling's genetic? Like. there's a thought that a lot of learn. there's there's certain behaviors that. are in people that are passed down from. their parents. There's certain thought. processes, there's certain inclinations. Right. that it's some genetic component. that we haven't clearly identified yet. That it's, you know, they used to think. that people are a blank slate. You're.

born, you're blank slate, you learn. everything from your environment. >> that's not real. >> It's not real. No, there's a [ __ ] ton. that you get from your genes. It's very. weird and I wonder if you got that. from your grandfather. It it it. really feels like it's in me and I have. to work against it. So, I thank god you. have discipline. that you could go back to the table. >> In one area. Well, that's a good area to have it in, though. But that's how desperate. the situation was. It's like I'm. standing there in Reno realizing I can't.

even get back to LA. Right. I've got a. rental car, so I had to I just took it. really, really slowly and I do this. thing. if I'm playing in a situation like that. because occasionally I will. go and play blackjack. at a casino if I'm in a group of people. Uh because if you're. all disciplined and if you hold every. seat on a table, you can turn the tide against the house.

very easily. Mhm. They hate you doing it. and they try to break it up and put. somebody in the middle of you or. whatever, but if you actually, funnily. enough, it was Tom Cruise taught me. this. Um. if you have it so the first chair and. the last chair make the calls and the. decisions and everybody else just sits. on 12 and above. and you watch the mathematics come your. way. Now, way, way back in the day, right? It. would have been. '95, '96, '97, something like that,

right? Tom calls me. He's married to Nicole. Kidman at the time. Calls me and he goes, you know, "Hey, bud, we've got this thing set up. Steve Wynn has put on a jet. He's going. to fly us to Vegas, right? We're allowed to play at Shadow Creek, we're allowed to play golf at Shadow. Creek. So, I'm not really a golfer, but sounded. good to me. Jumped on the plane, went. there. We're playing Shadow Creek, lightning storm comes up. Tom's like in the middle of the fairway. still trying to play and we're going, "Dude,

put the iron down. It's this lightning, you know." So, we we know we enjoyed. ourselves at the golf course. Then we go. back to the Wynn's hotel and they've. given us Michael Jackson's lanai to. change clothes in or whatever. We go and. get some Chinese food. The you know, the. jet's comped, the golf's comped, the. lanai's comped, the food's comped and. then we go and play. blackjack together. Tom explains what. the team's going to do and we take. $25,000 or more off the table. Wow. Go. back to the airport, get on the comp.

jet, fly back to um. LA, but we finished as a group. We then attacked the New York Times. crossword and we did the last word as we. were landing in Los Angeles. So, to me, it was like. that, I believe, was a perfect day. That's a team effort. >> Yeah. That sounds like a lot of fun. Yeah. It was it was a great day. Um but. that's sort of like that was one of the. early experiences where I go, "Okay, so. you can have fun with with these sort of. games as long as you don't take them too.

seriously." Like current girlfriend is a. massive poker player. She loves it and. she's really quite good at it. She's. played in a couple of uh. female-only tournaments and and things. like that, you know. So, I. I've. I watch them play, but I don't get. involved. I don't want to get involved. I don't want to activate. that Yeah, because I I am kind of, you. know, I do have a reckless streak. You know, I can imagine in the wrong. moment, if I'm, you know, tipsy? Uh well, not it wouldn't be.

tipsy. It would be more like drunk on a. some kind of ego power kind of thing. where yeah, I can I can turn the. universe. I can make it come my way. I'll bet my house. So, I just got to stay away from that. Oi, did you see Uncut Gems? No. Ho ho ho, that's the probably the best gambling. movie ever. Adam Sandler plays a degenerate gambling. junkie. Okay. It's not a not a comedy at. all. Amazing though. Amazing movie. I. love how he's. getting he just seems like he's getting.

uh some due respect these days. >> Yeah, why? People are really starting to. see how big his effect was and and what. he can do. Also, those movies are fun. All those Happy Gilmore and they're fun. movies. I love those movies. Right. They're innocent, enjoyable. entertainment and he's really good at. them. Yeah. Jack and Jill, they're. hilarious movies. >> Yeah, and that right these days cuz I've. got a project at the moment which on the. surface you would have to call a comedy. Nobody wants to discuss it. Nobody wants.

to talk about adult comedies. So, where. does that scared. >> Where does that mean we're. going to? If we're sort of reducing. comedy as a genre. It's only in the film. world. In the stand-up world, it's like. everybody's completely pushed back. against it and they're going the other. direction. They just they're going back to like. 1990 style comedy. Right. >> Which is say whatever the [ __ ] you think. is funny. Stop. It's not no one means. these things. You're saying things cuz. they're funny. That's it. You know, we're it's just like Bob Marley didn't. really shoot the sheriff. You get it?

>> Right. You know? It's like we're just. talking [ __ ] And I heard a funny story. about that, actually. Yeah? Just just in. passing. I can't remember who told me. Maybe uh. I won't even guess, but. um I think Clapton was living in. New York or London or somewhere and he. had a he had a a party at his house. and he cuz he just had that record come. out and it had gone number one. And he had it stuck on his fridge with a. magnet, you know, like the charts with a.

circle round it, you know, "I Shot the. Sheriff, number one, Eric Clapton." And. Bob Marley was at the party. And apparently, he found a pen and he. wrote onto Clapton's fridge, "No, Eric, I shot the sheriff, Bob. I shot him first, [ __ ]. That's hilarious. Uh but that Uncut Gems. film is uh it is it it it it is a. perfect movie in regards to like the way. it treats a degenerate gambler. Like. he's a jewelry broker. He's jewel-.

jewelry salesman and um he's just out of. his [ __ ] mind. It's always sports, it's always this, it's always there's. there's always a game that's going on, he's betting this and it you get so much. anxiety watching the movie like, "Oh. god, don't do do. >> Right. Don't do that. Don't Oh, Jesus. What are you doing? It's like the whole. movie, my palms are sweating. I'm moving. around in my chair because I as a kid. grew up in pool halls. Like from the. time Not I grew up in pool halls, but I. spent so much time between age 23 and.

you know, into my 30s. I was in pool. halls all the time. And I played a lot. of pool and I was around a lot of. addicted gamblers. And I never got it. It never hit me. But I was always just fascinated by the. grip that it had on people. It was like. they would their eyes would be going. back and forth. Their [ __ ] skin would. be pale. It gripped them like a drug. It. gripped them like crystal meth.

I I really dislike the way in Australia. we have normalized it. You know, they're doing the sports. reports on the news, the national news. And they'll tell you the odds. the odds. Well, we do that with the UFC. With the. UFC we'd give the odds. They they even I. don't know if they announce. round by round odds. But the I think they do. But the I don't. I try not to pay attention to it cuz I. don't vote I Excuse me, I don't.

gamble on the UFC. But I used to. So I. used to gamble on the UFC when I first. started working for them. And then I was. like, I don't think I should do this. anymore. I probably been. >> This is a long time ago though. So what. I started doing is giving my friend. Aubrey, who's my business partner, on. it. I started giving him tips. And he. was like 84%. Right. cuz I know the sport. And a lot. of these guys would be coming from Japan. or coming from Russia. And I'd be like, "Oh, this guy on from Brazil, Anderson. Silva, bet the [ __ ] house." I go,

"Bet the [ __ ] house." Cuz people do. >> Not my house though. Not my house. [Laughter]. But there's people that were coming. across from other organizations that I. was a giant fan of and the bookmakers. were woefully uneducated about. especially foreign fighters. And there's a thing like if you are. gambling on MMA and you don't know how. to fight, you're just guessing. You. don't really We're all just guessing. when we two guys get into the cage. together, but you're really guessing. Like you really don't You can't.

recognize like how fast a person is. You. can't recognize how good they are at. countering. You just know stats and you. know But you don't know how to do it. And if you don't know how to do it, you. can't really see it. You don't really. know. So at a certain point in time I stopped. um just on my own gambling cuz I was. like, I don't cuz I was people were. accusing me of being biased one way or. the other anyway, which maybe I was. You know, I got better at that. But I. wanted to make sure that no one thought. that. So I was like, I'm only gambling a.

couple hundred bucks or something like. that. I wasn't doing anything crazy. But the the [ __ ] people that I have. friends, like good friends, that are. just hooked. And when they start talking. about like fights that they're gambling. on or they put so much money on this and. money on that. I'm like, "Oh my god.". Guy I know guys that put millions of. dollars on a fight. I'm like, "Oh my. god. You're freaking me out. You're. [ __ ] freaking me out, man. I don't. care how wealthy you are. If you put a.

$3 million bet on a fight and you lose, like you're not going to sleep for a. week." Man, I just wouldn't be able to wake up with. myself the next day. And then if you win. >> foolish. If you win, it might be even. worse cuz now you're going to keep doing. it. Now you Now you get that you get the. sting. Yeah, the thing is with with what. we do in Australia like the newspapers. like. you know, network news services. we allow betting ads. It is so. all prevailing. Mhm. You know, I had an.

experience probably. a year or two ago. And I see my two boys are talking to a. mate of theirs and they've all got their. phones out. And I realized they were checking up on. their bets. Mhm. You know, so I had to have a big. conversation with my boys and say, "Look, every single dollar. that you have comes out of my pocket. And if I give you a dollar, that's not a. dollar to gamble with.". I had to have very serious conversation.

with them about it. So I don't care if. you think it's fun. You know, I don't. care You've got to actually see it for. what it is. Cuz what's $5 or $10 now is easily going. to turn into $400 in a minute, $1,000. You know, sooner or later you will allow. yourself to think. that this thing is you know, beyond fun. and it's a way for you to earn back your. losses or whatever. So I just had a had. to have a a chat with them and they were. um. probably looking at me going, "How old. is our father that he doesn't understand.

that everybody does this?" Yeah, but I. just had to let them know from my point. of view. I didn't appreciate them taking my. hard-earned dollars and wasting them. I. get it. But I also like that it exists. because I want the ability If I wasn't. working for the UFC and I could go to. the fights and gamble on the fights, I. would definitely do it because it's a. knowledge thing. Right. This episode is. brought to you by Uber Eats. Every. football season the same thing happens. The game somehow makes everyone really. hungry. Quarterback scrambles, clearly a.

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drinks, even last-minute grocery runs. You'll find savings on all your. favorites delivered straight to your. door. Order now on Uber Eats. I don't need it. If I'm into the sport. Yeah. >> I want to see the game. You know, I care. about what happens in the game. I get. it. Possibly because from the owner. point of view I don't. I wouldn't want any extra pressure. Of course. So I don't understand why. here's Here's this game.

It's like two teams of pristine athletes. who have busted their nuts to get in. this situation. And the competition that physical. competition between these two teams. isn't enough. You got to put something. else on the line. You know, I I don't I. don't It adds. It adds for some people. For some people, yeah. >> Yeah, they get that extra juice out of. the knowing The The thing is also as a. commentator. I am as unbiased as humanly possible. And it's a hard thing when friends fight. cuz there's some guys that fight that.

are my good friends. And I'm I'm like I. just hope they don't get hurt. I want. them to win, but I have to be excited. about the other guy winning, which is. kind of crazy. The other guy's beating. up your friend and you have to be. excited about it. So it's good that I. don't have any money riding on fights. cuz I don't have I'm not happy if one. person wins or loses. My my idea is. we're going to see who's the better. athlete, who's the better fighter. And. I can handle gambling. I've never had a. gambling problem because I'm I'm not a. risk-averse person, obviously. I like.

risks. But I'm also I'm I'm safe. Like I. know what I'm doing. Even though I do. dangerous things. You've had a look at it first. You've. examined it. But you do have you have. that. ability and inclination for examination. So You have to have that. And I feel. like that's the case with alcohol, that's the case with cigarettes. I'm in. favor of all those things being legal. But I know so many people that have a. problem with alcohol. Like cannot live. without alcohol. I know so many people that can't quit. smoking cigarettes. I feel like you.

should be able to do whatever you want. to do. And I want I want freedom. And. that comes with gambling. And I I think. gambling freedom, like the ability to. decide that you want to take a risk or. something, that should be available. But. we should educate people as to like what. is actually going on in your mind that's. allowing you to get captured by this. thing. And now you're chasing bad money. and you're in a downward spiral. Management. Like understanding, okay, this is a thrill, but this thrill could.

take over your whole life. if you are maybe genetically. susceptible, psychologically. susceptible. Like understand what it is. But I don't think we should take away. cars that can go over 60 miles an hour. because some people crash their cars and. die. You know what I mean? I feel like I. like that gambling exists and I always. wished that it existed back in the day. I was like, it'd be fun. Bet 100 bucks. on this or 100 bucks on that. But I. don't have the problem. Like. I could see if I came from a family that.

was torn apart by gambling, you'd go, you know, you don't understand. My dad. lost our house. Like, okay. But that was. a bad decision. You know, your dad could have died drinking and. driving and smashed into a tree. These. are bad decisions. You don't have to. make bad decisions just because. something is tempting you. It's an. interesting It's an interesting debate. Because do you nanny state the whole. world? Do you think gambling should be. illegal? You think you should have to go. to Vegas for it? That seems kind of.

crazy. I mean, it's certainly not a black or white. issue to me. There's a lot of gray area. involved in it. And I I know there's a. lot of people that push back on the idea. of of whether these gambling apps and. all these different things should be. >> legal and like. it's the normalization process that. bothers me the most. Mhm. That it's part. of the news service. With the apps? >> That that it's But it's just put in. front of you, whether you're interested. in it or not. You know, this team is playing that team and.

here's the odds. And I just don't. I don't think it's. healthy to have that as. much of you know, the the those stats as. much a part of the actual news report as. who's playing and what's on the line. The thing about it, though, is um it. does lead you to have debate about like. here's a perfect example. Canelo Alvarez. versus Terence Crawford.

Terence Terence Crawford was going up. two weight classes. In my mind, though, he's so skillful, I gave him a chance. I. was like, I favor him to win. But I. believe he was the underdog. What was. the find out what the odds were for the. Canelo Alvarez Terence Crawford fight? I. believe he was the underdog, even though. he was an undefeated multi-division. world champion, like one of the greatest. of all time for sure. But he was jumping. up from the 154-lb weight class where he. just won the belt. He was the 147-lb.

weight class all the way up to 168. That's a big leap, 14 lb. And everybody. thought Canelo's going to have too much. power, he's going to be too big. I'm. like, I don't think so. I don't think that's. correct. What was the odds? Did it say? Crawford was underdog. Yeah, Crawford. was the underdog. So not a huge. underdog. Um plus 135 versus plus 140. Somewhere around there. So it's not. huge. Not even two to one. Not even one. and a half to one. But enough where I.

was like, I think they're wrong. You. know, that's so it's like it fosters. debate. You know, even if you're not. gambling, and I didn't gamble on that. fight. But I did I was telling my. friends I got a long discussion with a. good buddy of mine who's a. real boxing connoisseur. He's like, Canelo's too big, he hits too hard. I'm. like, that guy doesn't get hit much. Like I don't think that's as big of a. factor as we're thinking. I think it's a. skill thing. They're not that different. in size. I'm like, I don't think so. And so that odds thing. is to me exciting. Like it it fosters.

debate. Like you get you start talking. about, you know, and if it's a game, you. start talking about players, like he. chokes in the outfield, he does this, he. does that. This guy's he's always. stealing bases, I'm factoring that in. And you know, the odds become a part of. the discussion. But yeah, it is. ultimately the problem is. first of all, kids are addicted to apps. as it is. They use them. They're always. on their damn phone. And they'll go from. Tik Tok to Instagram to to X to, you. know, they'll check this and then.

they'll check that and they'll check. their Snapchat and then they'll check. their gambling app. And then it's like. you're just addicted to this god damn. phone. So something on your phone that's. also addicting. It's like addiction on. top of addiction. Cuz you're already. getting your little dopamine rush just. by looking at your phone. And then if. you're also getting a gambling rush on. top of that, Yeah, we got to educate people. Yeah. But I think we got to educate people on. social media addiction, which I think a. a giant percentage of our population is. completely addicted to social.

>> Probably including me. I spend large. amount of every day scrolling through. Tik Tok for some reason. And what do you. what's your algorithm like? What kind of. stuff are you getting? Um. I'm getting a lot of dating apps at the. moment, which is really embarrassing. because I'm I'm not looking on any I'm. not on any dating apps. Um so I'm not sure that the algorithm is. fully truthful. I think there's certain. amount of things you just get fed. Right. You know, um For especially like. a dating app, because that's a.

promotion, you know? They're promoting. that. Yeah, there's a lot tends to be a. lot coming up. But that's the problem, isn't it? Because the way the algorithm. shapes it, you know, pretty much. everything that comes up on your phone, you have some form of interest in. Right. >> So that keeps you looking at. what you're looking at. Yeah. I've got to um probably got to. dial it down a little bit, but I'll be. in the bush in a minute. This has been. such a crazy year, man, you know? So.

you know, we finished Nuremberg last. year, and then I went on that big tour, which is when I was here um when I came. to see you the first time. But this year since between December and. August, I made five movies. Wow. And I. was on the set of the sixth. And so weary. And I had no juice. I I. still feel it a little bit actually, man. You know, I've had a little bit of. time off, but I've still had so many. responsibilities. I kind of feel like I. broke my brain or something in August. And I'm still trying to recover, and I. won't really recover till I get home the.

next time I as I was saying to you. before, cuz when I land at home now, I. won't know when I'm flying out again. And that is such a relief. Because when. you do know when you're flying out. again, every day is just counting down. Counting down. You might have 3 weeks, but it doesn't feel like 3 weeks. Because you 100% know when you're. leaving again. But this time, I'll get. home and I'll have. 3 months and I'll be in the bush and. I'll be waking up with the birds and, you know, hopefully.

all of those things that I emptied out. through the the earlier part of the year. will will fill up again. Cuz I was on. that set and that was the um. the set for the remake of Highlander. with Henry Cavill. So I'm playing Ramirez, which was the. Sean Connery character. Oh, wow. >> excited by it and really looking forward. to it. But there I was turning up to the. gym to do my katana sword and, you know, going to these meetings and everything, but I was empty. I was absolutely empty. And it was just. the point where I.

you know, I texted my agent and I'd. said, you know what? I maybe need to. talk to these guys cuz I'm not sure if I. I don't have any juice here. I don't know what I'm going to be. bringing, you know? I'm sitting in these. meetings and everybody's talking, but. it's all just bouncing off my face, you. know? I'm not really. taking anything in. And that same night, I get a phone call around 10:30, and. it's so unusual cuz I have everything. turned off on my phone, it never rings. But for whatever reason it did ring, and. it was the director saying, "Look, I'm. so sorry to tell you that Henry's uh.

injured himself. He's. he's uh ruptured his Achilles. So we're. going to have to push the film.". Now, I love Henry. I've known him for a. long time. I've known him since he was a. schoolboy. Oh, wow. >> And uh I'm I like I met him. at a place called Stowe School in. England. I was doing a scene in a movie called. Proof of Life. Talking to my son. in the movie, and in the background a. rugby game's going on. And you know, we're doing the scene and. everything, but I've got my eye on the. field, and there's one guy on the field. who is just displaying he's got a great.

brain for the game. And as it happens, we finish the scene. and they break up the the what's going. on behind us, and that one kid is. walking towards me, and he's the kid. that I've been watching. And he wants to have a a chat. He. introduces himself, and. you know, uh he's just asked me, "How do you get. into acting?" And so we had this very. very brief conversation, and we got. swamped by these other kids. Couple of days later, I was doing a. present for the kid from that school.

who'd played my son, who's a boy called. uh Merlin Hanbury Tennison is name's. And so I was doing a thing for him, and. then I had some other things left over, and I was like, "Oh, what was what was. that other kid's name? Uh Henry." So I. wrote on a photo of Gladiator of. Maximus, which was a movie that had not actually. been released yet, "To Henry, journey of a thousand miles begins with. a single step. Russell." Wow. He kept. that photograph with him. For wherever he lived, from place to.

place, and he kept his dream. alive and burning. The next time I see. Henry Cavill. is in a gym. in Illinois, the outskirts of Chicago. And I'm working one side of the gym, he's working on the other. And I'm. thinking to myself, "Well, I'm Superman's dad. I reckon that. must be Superman over there.". Kind of looks like it, you know? So. we've worked in the gym. a week or so more together before we. talk, you know? And finally one day he. comes over,

puts his hand out, and we start talking. And I just at one point I went, "Do I know you?". He goes, "Yes, sir, you do.". And he remind And I went, "Henry? That Henry is this Henry." It was crazy. That's wild. >> Absolutely wild, right? And so now we have this other situation. where, you know, he's. kind of in the position of of being the. Highlander, and they asked him.

who he wanted to be Ramirez, and he. said, "I've only got one option, and you. got to get him." And so uh you know, that's. fantastic. It'll be a lot of fun when we. do eventually get around to making it. >> that be for him to have been a kid and. met you and got you to sign that, and. then working with you when he's. Superman? Superman. Yeah, it was. >> Oh my god, that's amazing. What a great. story. >> And so now we've got, you know, we've. got the the third stage of our our.

connection. And um. when we get to do it, it's it's going to. be great. But I don't know this sounds. really weird because I love Henry, and. the. last thing I'd want is for him to be in. under any pressure or injured or. whatever. But it was an a prayer. answered. And I'm talking to the director. expressing that I'm so that's terrible, but I'm also shaking my girlfriend. going, "We get to go home.". Yeah. It it's as I said, it's been a big. year. I I have never done.

that many individual films in that space. of time. >> What causes you to say yes to that kind. of a schedule? Well, it but that's not. what you do, cuz most of these are. independent films. So for example, I. agreed to do Nuremberg in 2019. But we don't shoot it till 2024. Oh, wow. >> up and collapsed three different times. before we actually made it, because it's. a you know, there's a lot of variables in. independent film. So a bunch of these. things that I did, you know, I agreed to.

do 2 years ago, and then it never got. together, and then suddenly they all. just started landing one after the. other. So everybody's got to start. working like it's air traffic control. And I'm. like literally having a few days between. sets, flying from one place to the. other. And now it's you know, what I. always describe it as is like going to a. new school. Now you're going to meet you. know, hundreds of new people. And you know, all of the different. things that you got to answer in terms. of your costume and your makeup and blah. blah blah. Am I wearing a.

folk fake nose? Am I got if I got scars? What am I doing this time? And all of. those things you got to do. very very rapidly and and get onto the. set. And they're not that sort of string. of. movies was not um. they're not easy. You know, the first. one was called The Beast in Me. Which is an MMA movie. I think we talked. about that briefly. It was going to be a. UFC thing, but that we ended up doing a. deal with One Championship. Uh so, it's set in Australia and.

Thailand. And it's doing some like. little private screenings in Los Angeles. at the moment and getting a lot of. really positive reactions there. Kid. that's the one It's not a kid, but the. lead role in that Daniel MacPherson. has done an extremely good job by the. sounds of things. Uh I'm also attached. to that. I only play a very small role. Um. but I rewrote it for them just before. we started. And I've done a lot of. writing in my career, but it always goes. uncredited. But in this particular.

occasion, I I think I believe I'm going. to get my first actual writing credit. Oh, wow. That's cool. Um but I wrote the. character that I play specifically to. not be the character you think it's. going to be. To not be Burgess Meredith. You think this guy is going to be, you. know, the old coach who's sort of like, you know, comes back out of retirement and. everything, but I I know enough people. in the boxing world or you know, to know. that once an old bloke makes a decision. about you being a [ __ ] he's not. going to change his mind.

So, I wanted to play that guy. You know. Yeah. So, so I went from that set to then. a thing called Bear Country. where I play an Albanian money. launderer. And that's got a great cast. Teresa. Palmer, Luke Evans, Nina Dobrev, Aaron Paul, Danny Zovatto. And it's funny. It's really funny. That's with the same director that I did. Unhinged with, a guy called Derrick. Borte.

Uh and it's I mean, it's goofy and. dramatic, but it's just funny. When does. that come out? Um not sure when that. comes out. That's also I think they've. got like six or seven different offers. at the moment from different. distribution companies cuz everybody's. digging it and they they're looking at. it going, "That would be an hilarious. movie to follow up Nuremberg." Well, yeah, that would be. Yeah, cuz. Nuremberg's. >> So, then after that, I go back to. Budapest and I make a thing with the. young British director Amma Asante. called Billion Dollar Spy.

with a young English actor called Harry. Lawtey who is. the his the the he's the future of. British cinema. He's a very intelligent, classy actor. So, in that one I play a Russian selling. state secrets to the Americans, Russian. scientist. And then um. after I did Billion Dollar Spy, oh, I. did. I went to Montreal and made a. thing called Unabomber. where I play a Harvard professor. The man who taught Ted Kaczynski at.

Harvard. Who put him into this um. series of tests and and things that he. was doing. And some people say. that he very very much affected. Kaczynski's brain. But you know, he was a part of the. Harvard LSD studies. The guy I play was. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> So, that was a that was. >> was sort of associated He was there at. the time that that Leary also started. working at Harvard. But the study that.

my character was doing is. more based on sort of like intellectual. confrontation. Mhm. Um. and like stripping people of their. self-belief and stuff. So, there are. people who think that it was the. character I play's. uh. intellectual aggression towards. Kaczynski that turned Kaczynski the way. he turned. Mhm. Um so, there's that. And then I just did a movie. uh. in Germany.

It's set in Portland, but we shot it in Munich. Okay. Um How weird. >> With a a guy called Patrick McKinley who. I've done other projects with before, but he doesn't uh. doesn't always get the credit he he. should get. But he was he's the guy that. cut The Loudest Voice. um which made it as dynamic as it was. And he also cut a movie called Poker. Face for me. Um we're working together. on a music doco. But usually I work when I work with him.

as an editor. But this is him as a director. And. that's with Ethan Hawke. Again, that's that's a smaller role in. that one as well, but there was a very. strong vibe on that set. And Patrick's a. great filmmaker. So, I imagine that's. going to be a good movie, too. So, if. you're a film fan, That sounds like you're killing it. There's a few things to come out. >> That's very exciting. The comedy is very. exciting cuz there's just not a lot of. comedies anymore. It's It's It's hard. Yeah. to see a to find a really good. comedy. Yeah.

Yeah, and this is one of those ones. where. it's not it's not like a series of. jokes. It's just. certain types of characters put in. certain situations. And then you see how. that plays out. And Aaron Paul and Nina Dobrev just. hilarious. I I can't even begin to. explain what they do in the film because. you'll just go, "What the [ __ ] are you. talking about?" It just sounds so. stupid. And it is stupid, but it's also. very funny to experience. I can't wait. to see it. So, it it just sounds like.

all those things just sort of came. together. the coincidentally Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Like things that you might. things that you might have agreed to. years before or whatever and it just so. happened that they got their financing. and they just went one after the other. Do you take Do you do anything like IV. vitamin drips or anything when you're on. set? Um I haven't really done that. >> help you? Um well, potentially. But the. other the other thing is, man, you just. stay disciplined, you get to bed. Yeah, that too. >> I've actually going through a really.

weird time at the moment. Like for the. last month, doesn't matter where I am in. the world, if I'm in Spain, if I'm in. Australia, if I'm in America, I cannot. sleep between midnight and 5:00 a.m. It's just very odd. And I think it's. related to the feeling that I was. expressing before that somewhere in. August I broke my head. You know, I've. just done. too much. And I need to go home and I. need to be in that rhythm because. you know, I call the place I have in the. bush in my you know, it's it's not its.

official name, but I call it the. Panacea. It will fix all ills, but you have to. give over to its rhythm. You have to. wake before the birds. You have to sort. of put yourself in a situation where. you're going deep into the bush so. you're getting that kind of oxygen. You. know, just have to really give yourself. over to it, you know, and and spend your. days. just, you know, checking if the cows are. okay, having a look, you know, if the. new. trough system is working or what. Just. getting your sort of hands a little bit.

dirty and forgetting all the other. stuff. Yeah. And. you know, but will hopefully see me come charging. back out next year. >> charging, but that sounds like a perfect. balance to offset the charging. Yeah, well, that's that's. I I I always like I look back at my. 30-year-old self who made the decision. to take the little bit of money that I'd. earned at that point, 31, 32 I was, and buy 100 acres in the bush. because somehow I knew I would need that.

place. So, it's like, you know, I could have. bought a you know, an apartment in in. the city. I. you know, but I didn't. I bought 100. acres of basically blank bush. No fences, no and. the the fact that it's been in my life. since since January 20th, 1996, I paid for that first 100 acres. Wow. >> So, that's that's before L.A. Confidential. It was before I even shoot. L.A. Confidential. Wow. >> So, it was I don't I don't know where it.

came from, but I look at that. 32-year-old and go, "Mate, well done.". [Laughter]. You gave yourself a battery. Well, I. gave I gave myself an island. Yeah. You. know, I go through that gate and because. you know what it's like. People don't. just call you Joe, they call you Joe. Rogan. Call me Russ Crowe Russ Crowe. Russ Crowe. You know, so this this brand. name, this sort of stamp. And that's all. you hear, you know. Russ Crowe Russ. Crowe. And then I go beyond that gate. and I'm no longer that. I'm a son.

I'm a brother. I'm an uncle. I'm a dad. You know, all of those things. You know, I'm I'm the boss of the operation of the. farms and stuff and and all that as. well. But all of those things come into. play. And the whole brand thing drops. away. And you got to. prove yourself in a way different level. when you're at home. You got to exist in. a natural world. Yeah. As opposed to in. a world where you're the center of. attention constantly. People are at your. beck and call. People are Mr. Crowe. Mr. Crowe. Yeah. It's not good for you. But it's. also the amount of.

attention that you time you have to. spend when you're on that many sets in a. row. Five movies in a row. Like I. thought a lot of people are probably. like, "Oh, boohoo. You had to be in five. movies. Boohoo.". But that's And that's the brilliant. thing. Poor famous Russell Crowe. >> The big gap between people who are not. in the business is understanding of what. it really takes. And you know, the. realities that that you deal with. And. look, you know, I'm the last person I'm.

not winging about the job at all, but I. am just pointing out that I went a. little bit too hard and I burnt my brain. and I need a bit of a break, you know. Well, if Nuremberg is an indication or. if it's an example of what you did, the. the if it's on par with the rest of. them, it's going to be an awesome run. because. Nuremberg is great. It really is. It's. it's very disturbing and it's a. it's a. just to see the that footage this the.

footage in the trial was just. people should see that, you know, and. the fact that it's never been released. before, you know, that just to cement. into our heads. You know, that's the. thing it's like that war was. one of the first wars where we got. regular footage. You know, I mean, if you think about. people going into World War I, they're. going blind. They have no idea what to. expect, what they're going to see and. then by the time Vietnam comes and now. it's on television.

And. that. seeing horrific things at least cements. into your head like this is where this. all could go. This is where this all can. go. Yeah, well, just think about that. because. you know, in my lifetime. you know, I when I was a little boy and. I'm watching the news at night with my. parents. there's Vietnam footage. Um. you know, I see the Anzac Day which is. Australia Australia New Zealand version. of Memorial Day. I see those marches.

every year, the old soldiers getting. together. Um. that history is so fresh. I'm surrounded by older people who. fought in the war in World War I, you. know, and then there's another. generation of guys who still appear to. be young and they fought in World War II. and now I'm watching Australia at war. because we've been through Korea and now. Australia is at war in in Vietnam and. I'm seeing that on the nightly news. So, at the age of 6, 7, 8, I believe I'm. going to be a soldier.

Really? >> And everybody at school believes they're. going to be a soldier because that's. what we do. You know? Cuz the our parents' generation are. connected to the Second World War, our. grandparents' generation is connected to. the First World War and here it is we've. got now got this new war. >> Right. So. it it was very definitely. part of the. cultural opera I mean, I was in Army. Cadets in high school. So, you know, there was a couple of days. a week you dress up in an army uniform.

and you go to school instead of in your. school uniform in. um jungle greens, you know. >> Just get you ready. Just get you ready, man. You know, they're putting SLR's in. the hands in which is like it's. not an unusual thing for this country. But uh definitely is for Australia. Put. a self-loading rifle in the hands of a. 13-year-old and teach him how to use it. So. Wow. Jesus.

Um that was one of the things about the. Iraq War, too. The where they stopped. showing people coffins. They were. preventing. photographers from taking photographs of. coffins. Flag-draped coffins. Like. that's crazy. That that should not be legal. You. shouldn't be able to prevent someone. from documenting history. Is that's what that is and that's the. consequences of what's going on. You're. seeing American people coming home in. boxes and you're not even allowed to. take photographs of it. Kind of crazy. Yeah. Well, it's the thing where you know.

Anzac Day that I talked about is April. 25th. Anzac stands for Australia New. Zealand Army Corps. Cuz in both the First World War and the. Second World War World War Australia and. New Zealand combined their armed forces. Um. and in a lot of places. fought alongside each other. But, you know, we have that day as a. memorial day as you know, you have in this culture as well. But. we tend to forget that we have that day.

as a reminder that we should never do. this again. That's what it's there for, you know, to. respect the passing of the these, you. know, young people who died in battle. but to also remind ourselves of how. pointless that whole thing was. How. pointless the First World War was, how. pointless the Second World War. ultimately. It's just it's just death, you know, and the people that started. the war, the people who benefit from the. war. are not the ones generally standing at. the graveside mourning their dead.

because they will protect themselves. Their children don't have to go to war. Their children are not going to get. conscripted. So, it's like you know, every time this. stuff comes up and and we now have. almost constantly the words of war being. spoken as if it's just sort of an. offhand thing that we can you should. attack these people, invade these. people. It's like. this goes absolutely nowhere good. And we were talking earlier about the.

technology we can hold in our hands. We can get out our phones, we can. explore the entire world. There's no. piece of knowledge which is held back. from us. We can get it through this device that. we carry in our hands. So, here we are. all of these, you know, millennia later. as a species. we have that level of technology. available to us, but we still think that. war. is some form of solution. It just blows.

my mind. It's um. it's hard to imagine if you were living. in the past, if you could come up with. the circumstances that we live under. today like you just described, a device. in your pocket that provides you with. all the information you could ever want. We would say, oh, well, that would be. the solution most of what ails us. You. you think once we have that available? Yeah. It'll all sort itself out. >> each other clearly and understand, you. know, celebrate our differences. >> Yeah. That there's more that connects us.

than divides us, all those things. I. don't think they ever anticipated social. media and the divisive nature of that. cuz I think it accelerates. >> only divisive. because we let people pervert it. Right, with an algorithm. We just let. people actually take something. I. remember when I started on Twitter. I thought it was the stupidest thing. I've ever heard of. But when I started, which was about. 2009, 2010. and suddenly from you know, couple of.

decades. of having who I was. described by others. and pushed across to people. this breath of fresh air where I could. just express myself and people would. know exactly what my real opinion on. something was and how I felt about. something. It was fantastic. Didn't last. very long, though. People like, oh, well, we've got a whole. lot of truth going on here. We've got to. shut that [ __ ] down, you know, as soon. as individuals. started using that power to say, you. know what, I had an experience with this.

company or that company and it wasn't. very good. Right. And those companies. are like, man, we didn't spend millions. of dollars a year on advertising just. for this [ __ ] to tell the truth about. how [ __ ] we are. Yeah. >> they had to turn it around somehow. So, that's when you start, you know, look, quite frankly, if you run bots and. stuff like that, you should be put in. prison. Forget about it, man. That's not the way. it should be. No, it shouldn't be that. way. You shouldn't be You shouldn't be. perverting people's understanding of.

something. Yes. Cuz it benefits you. Yes. That's a great way to put it. Yeah, that should be illegal. It's kind. of amazing there's no laws because it's. essentially I mean, you could. propagate through bots a complete and. total lie and it catches traction, makes. its way through and there's zero. consequences. And then people get upset. about it and they're they're. fighting over the family dinner table. based on. pure misinformation. And I think a lot. of it. you know.

we can't trace who's doing it. That's. where it where it gets really weird. >> Well, cuz it's it's complicated, right? Like you can you can hide your IP, you. can do it through a virtual private. network so they don't know what country. you're in and you do it with AI. Like. they they busted China was using chat. GPT to run a a bunch of accounts. I. don't know how many accounts, but a huge. amount of accounts. And they were all. sorts of stuff that are that people are.

fighting about in America like. immigration, closing down US aid, those kind of. things and they were just involved with. these chatbots that they were running. and these things would argue specific. points and get everybody inflamed and. just start wars and call everybody. [ __ ] retards. >> there was there was a moment, you know, a a little while ago. where there just seemed to be all social. media was just flooded with violent. images. Flooded with people fighting, you know,

people getting, you know. knocked out or getting hit in a bar or. whatever and it was like, where is all. this coming from? It's just Instagram is loaded with it. I. see more violence on Instagram, more. accidents, more people falling off. balconies, more people climbing trees. and falling. It's like all over. Instagram. And I don't know if they can stop it. I. don't know if they can even recognize. what these things are until somebody. reports it. >> I I know I know it sort of speaks to the.

sort of a low level of intellect, but I. you know. I do like the occasional falling down a. hole kind of. I have to admit. >> Well, there's a reason why it's out. there. It's cuz a lot of people agree. with you. It's. it's I mean, I've watched a lot of. horrific accidents. I don't know why. You know, I don't know. want to watch anybody get run over by a. truck. >> Yeah, I I I. for me, that's not a thing. It's like. it's like the innocent sort of like pie.

in the face kind of thing is is what. amuses me, but if somebody really gets. hurt it's like. >> Yeah. it it doesn't uh. Well, it also very much desensitizes. people. Yeah. Which is a problem already. Yeah. You. know, we're already desensitized from. violent video games and violent films. and then then now you're seeing like. real violence and real like horrific. dismembering accidents. all day long. Right. And you're 13, you. know? That's that's the thing. It's all. about That that is the thing is we can. discuss it as adults and what sort of.

like what we can deal with and what we. can rationalize, but that's the same. thing I was talking about the gambling. My kids don't know. or didn't know that there was a negative. to that. They they see it, you know, all. the time so they think it's normal. Yeah. No, that makes sense. That makes. sense. And you know, I think like how. old do you have to be to sign up for. those sites? And is it possible to spoof. that? Like can Of course. It seems like. you could probably if you were a wizard. at 14. >> what's the security? Yeah.

>> Are you over 18? Press here. Like what is it? >> take a lot to. >> you enter in your driver's license? What. do they do? Yeah. Now, did you see that uh thing from. TikTok that I sent you with Jimmy? I don't have TikTok. >> Oh, you don't? No. >> Oh, so I sent it to you and you can't. watch it. >> watch it. >> What was it about? It was um. just him on stage. talking about a company that he and I. and. Ed Sheeran got involved in. I was in I was shooting The Pope's. Exorcist in Ireland, right?

And I got told this story. um. about this lady Laura Bonner. whose grandfather was. an Irish potato farmer, right? And wondering what he should do with his. leftover potatoes, you know, the un you. know, the unsightly shaped ones that. nobody wants in the supermarket. And he came up with the idea of making. this uh. Irish sort of moonshine called poteen. So every Friday.

his relatives and his friends and. everything would rock around to Phil's. house and they'd bring their old. medicine bottles and whatever and just. fill up from the still. So they had a a. weekend and when she was a little girl, she would see this party being created. every Friday and you know, Ireland men. so they're singing songs and they're. enjoying each other's company and. laughing uproariously and all that and. she said, "One day I'm going to. legitimize. what granddad does for fun and make it. into a business.". So around about her mid-20s or. something, she was a a lawyer. She got.

involved in this big deal. It went well. for her. So. she was sort of like faced with a. crossroads. Okay, now I've got money to. finance my idea or I can continue in the. job that I'm in. And so she decided to. back herself. She comes from. a little town in the north of Ireland. that is called Muff. It's uh actual town. It's across the. river from Derry. Um. and she formed a company called the Muff.

Liquor Company. And uh that amused me. I I called Jimmy Carr and said, "Does. this amuse you?" And he goes, "It. actually does." So then I called Ed. Sheeran and I said, uh "Does this amuse. you?" And he goes, "It does." So we formed a company called. the Muff Liquor Men. And we bought a big slice of uh. of the company. It's now I think we're. in about 40 states here in America now. Oh, that's awesome. Pretty sure you can. get it in Texas. >> We're a sucker for a good name. Yeah. So.

uh I've bought you a dozen. whiskey. >> Oh, boy. a dozen. potato based gin Oh, boy. >> and a dozen potato based vodka. Oh, boy. There it is. I might have to try with the bottle sort. of shape like an old medicine bottle. It. looks great. Yeah, it's cool. >> That's an awesome bottle. Yeah, it's. great to to hold actually. It's And that. whiskey is what I call like a cowboy. whiskey. It's Oh, it's peat smoked. Yeah, but it's very light. I like that. >> light. You'll you'll see when you have.

it. It's like that's not the sort of. whiskey where everybody ends up crying. in a corner remembering the things that. they did wrong in their lives. It's the. sort of whiskey that'll keep you. laughing all night, you know? So that's. why I call it a cowboy whiskey cuz you. can sit with it with your mates all. night and have a have a laugh. What do. you think is more addictive, alcohol or. gambling? Hmm. Well, the problem that we have with alcohol is. what's, you know, becoming the. burgeoning problem with gambling is that. we just accept it. It's everywhere. We. accept it completely as the thing that.

you do and as long as you're a certain. age, you can do it. We never look at the. damage that it causes. Now, I'm a big proponent for having a drink, you know? It's my cultural heritage. And uh as a working class man, it's my. goddamn right, you know? And you enjoy. it. And I do. I do. But as you get. older, you know, you there's certain. things that you start to learn about how. your capacities and stuff when you're a. younger fellow. And now that I'm an. older guy and I know that, you know, one night a week if I'm having fun is.

plenty. That's plenty, you know? Uh and. and I try to cut out the the. interstitial stuff, you know? I I might. if I decide I'm going to have an. a glass of wine with dinner, then it's. going to be a really nice wine. And it's. going to be an an an occasion. And uh I. just I try not to have the casual drinks. now. Just have a uh you know, a drink. for the sake of it, you know? Those add. up. Yeah. Yeah, there's there's there's definitely. a great social quality to drinking.

There's there's a thing to it that I. enjoy. I always enjoyed. And bonding, you know, you never really find out. about your mates. until you've had them on the piss and. you see who they really are, Yeah, some. people, yeah. Yeah. Alcohol is is weird because it's the. only drug that they offer you when you. sit down for dinner. Right. It's the uh we've agreed that this drug. goes really well with a good steak. That. everybody can have the the this drug is. fully available. And and like I say, we. never count the social costs. We don't.

count. you know, I mean. th- this is this would be true for. pretty much, you know, a lot of. countries that that have a a focus on. sport. But uh. you know, three to five of the worst nights of any. given year in Australia in terms of. domestic violence are 100% connected to. a sporting event. Really? Yeah. So sporting event. connected to alcohol. >> Mhm. Yeah. >> And then that drives the thing that, you. know, brings terror to wives and children. So.

it's uh. you know, it's the same thing with with. all of this stuff, you know? You like. you know, we always talk about that you. know, everything in moderation kind of. thing. Yeah. But you know, we always. have to remember that we. got to move at the pace of the slowest. member of our community. That's a great. way to put it cuz that's the real issue, right? It's not well, I can handle it. So everybody else can, too. That's not. it. It's like. why can some people handle it? And what. could have been done? Like if you just in school, you're going.

to have to accept that some kids are. going to try marijuana. Some kids are. going to try acid. Some kids are going. to try alcohol. They're going to. most kids are going to try alcohol. Like. why don't we have. education on the proper way to use these. things where you don't get in trouble? You know? Like at least at most people. I would I would imagine most kids are. not going to listen anyway, but if more. will than would if you didn't talk about. it at all. >> Right. If you don't talk about it at.

all, there's no information out there. At least they can talk. >> Listen, should be an ongoing process of. education, you know? And not just. education through. uh failure, you know? Right. And that's. what. >> Not just let me talk to you about it now. that you've crashed your car into a. tree. Or now that one of your friends. has done that, you know? There's a lot. of that. You see your friends doing. something horrible. >> So I'm I'm like you. I'm open to all of. this sort of stuff being available and. and freedom of choice being a paramount. But the responsibility to educate uh. it's got to start at a young age. Yeah,

I think so. Especially if you're if. you're using things that are on apps. You know, apps are just young people are. so accustomed to using apps. And most apps are giving you that same. jolt, that same dopamine rush. You know, it's just. I think you should be able to do. whatever you want to do, but you should. know what you're doing. And that's where. the problem is. You kind of have to. figure out what you're doing from your. knucklehead friends. Yeah. You know. I. was going to suggest that we had a. whiskey, but I know that's going to ruin.

my day if I do. Hmm. Cuz I'll get nothing else done. Yeah. Cuz. you know, some people have like such a. great time drinking during the day. It. just doesn't suit me, man. Yeah. You. know? It's like if I if I have a drink. at lunch, either I'm asleep by 5:00, right? Or. I'm raging at 5:00 a.m. So it's like I've learned over time that. don't don't drink during the day, you. know? Yeah, I stopped drinking entirely for.

about 7 months, something like that. And. then I decided to occasionally have a. drink. So I'll have like a glass of wine. at dinner or a margarita and I'm out. with my out with my wife, but that's it. I stopped there. I don't drink drink. anymore. Like let's go get drinks. I. haven't done that in a long time. And. the reason why is cuz I just felt like. [ __ ] cuz I was just doing it too many. nights a week. And then my workouts. would suffer in the morning and I'm. like, "Why am I doing this? I do. everything so healthy and this one. stupid thing that I do that Let me just.

try not doing it and see if I miss it.". >> notice as you got a little older that. the hangovers. they they don't go away after a couple. of hours. Sure. It's also one of the. most important things in my life is. energy. Like how much energy do I have. to do things? Like it's not just about. doing things, it's about doing them with. focus and enthusiasm. And when you don't. have energy, it's very difficult to. muster up that enthusiasm. I I I hate. that feeling that the follow that you. know, I've had a great time the night.

before, but the following day nothing. gets done because I had fun the night. before. You're foggy. I just yeah, I. just feel that this you know, such a. a waste. It is. We've only got x amount. of days, right? But just managing the. human mind and managing like what to do. and what not to do and when to do it. It's such an important part of being an. adult. And it's one of the things that's just. not explained to kids. They This it's. weird. I love that old Bill Hicks.

routine. where he asked the question, you know, the last time you're in a. social situation. uh yeah, where be a private party, uh a. concert, a sporting event and people. started fighting. Were they stoned or were they drunk? >> Right. Yeah. It's like Yeah. I I don't get why. people can be so. aggressively negative towards marijuana. Yet.

you know, half a dozen dozen drinks for. them socially is a of course. You know, it's easy it's like. these two things you know, have very. different outcomes. Yeah. You're not going to have the. you know, people aren't going to be. attacking the. the base camp when they're all stoned. But they may well have a go at it when. they're on the piss. Well, all that's. because of propaganda from the 1930s. That's all that is down to Harry. Anslinger and William Randolph Hearst.

They they didn't. >> it also connects. to the formation of the United Nations. Does it? >> Mhm. Um you take Thailand for example. A. country that's had hundreds of years of. a cultural marijuana use. But in order to join the United Nations, they had to accept an American attitude. towards drug laws. Uh just recently they've. taken those drug laws away. Um and now they're in a bit of panic cuz. they didn't plan it very well. Cuz like you know, reality.

break is I think you know, California. did it through Arnold Schwarzenegger. properly knowing exactly how you're. going to tax and where the money's going. to when you do tax. for the consumption. And so I think you. know, 140 or something or more shops. sprung up overnight in Bangkok. And. they're like, oh gee, that was that went. quicker than we thought it was going to. go. But. I I think it's actually great for. Thailand. It's a. you know, a drug that particularly suits.

the groove of that country, you know? >> Mhm. Yeah, for sure. >> food is so incredibly tasty and the. beaches and the sunshine and. and the heat and you know, so uh. yeah, it sort of it. but that's what I was told. I was told. that it comes down to. uh decision that they had to make in. order to join the global community. That. makes sense. That makes sense the United. States has pushed that on everybody. else. Uh in Texas, there's uh a lot of push. from the alcohol lobby Right.

>> to make marijuana even more illegal. >> Yeah, cuz people don't necessarily have. to drink that much. >> Yeah, that's that's what they're worried. about. They're worried about people. talking about alcohol. That's it's a. stupid I mean, the fact that it it works. is crazy that people are still with like. zero deaths ever. that they're still pushing. Right. You. know, to. take this one drug away when you've got. one drug that everybody uses. It's very. strange. But it all really goes back to. the 1930s. Right. You know, and it was.

really just about the commodity of hemp. more than it really was even about the. drug. Right. Do you know the history of. that? Yeah, well I know. a bit about the making of rope from. hemp. Yeah. Because of Master and. Commander and spending a lot of time on. tall sailing ships. >> The whole thing was about an invention. and it there was a new new invention. called the decorticator and it allowed. them to effectively process hemp fiber. hemp fiber with a machine. Right. Cuz. before that, it was very time intensive, very labor intensive to break it down. cuz they're very very strong fiber. Mhm.

So then Popular Science magazine has it. on the cover, hemp the new billion. dollar crop because of this machine. Right. And so then William Randolph. Hearst who also owned owned Hearst. publications, he also owned paper mills. Right. So paper mills and so he owned. forests where he'd make paper out of the. forest. All of a sudden there's this. competing commodity where they're going. to use hemp for paper. It's a far. superior paper. Hemp is getting it's way. quicker to grow. You can grow entire. fields of it in a year. You get a whole.

new crop. Like it's not like trees that. take years and years to grow before you. can chop them down and make paper out of. them. And so then they started printing these. stories about. Mexicans and and blacks that are raping. white women because they're on this new. drug called marijuana. >> Right, the jazz cigarette. >> Yeah, and so marijuana they was really. the term for a wild Mexican tobacco. It was didn't even apply to cannabis. So. they they made a new name for it. They. attached this new name and they got.

Congress to ban it and before they. didn't even understand it was hemp. Like. most people didn't know what was going. on. They thought there was this new drug. that was like running through the world. and they just pulled the wool over. everybody's eyes. >> Right. And they did it because of a. commodity. And then they made Reefer. Madness and all those crazy movies and. everybody's like, oh my goodness, if you. smoke reefer, you're going to die. You're going to jump out of buildings. And meanwhile people had been smoking it. for thousands of years. It was like. pretty amazing way of manipulating. public perception and using propaganda.

Mhm. And you know, William Randolph. Hearst obviously the subject of the. movie Rosebud. He he's a real piece of. [ __ ]. >> Citizen Kane, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, excuse. me. Citizen Kane. Um he was a real piece. of [ __ ] He's a real bad guy. You know, according to folkloric tales, he did. everything he could to. prevent Orson Welles from becoming the. filmmaker. that he should have become. Right, after he made that film. Yeah, and it seems like he was effective with. it cuz you know, Citizen Kane was so. good. And then years later he's doing.

wine commercials. Right. For money. Yeah. There's a funny thing. It's like a recording where he's trying. to do a voiceover for. Norwegian salmon or something. [Laughter]. He's getting more and more pissed off. with the young producer who's trying to. get him to Yeah. to read it in a certain. way. Yeah, it's kind of [ __ ] man, cuz. the guy was so good. Those little. footage bits of the um. um. who's the tilting at windmills fellow? Um Don Quixote. Yeah, he went went to Mexico somewhere.

um. and he sort of started shooting little. bits. and pieces for potentially a Don Quixote. movie. But it's just madness. It's like there's. nothing there's nothing in that that. could actually be in a film. He just. gone had gone crazy by then. >> a he's a bloke we'll get a bloke with a. donkey. We'll have him walking over. there. We'll shoot that, you know, it's. like but it it it's like. there's nothing cohesive in it that you. could make a movie from. I wonder if. that's just from the pressure of. essentially being like one of the first. guys to ever get canceled. He just. probably lost his mind.

Potentially, right? Absolutely. >> Cuz you would you would think that. Citizen Kane is your passport to a. lifetime of being financed for whatever. idea you want to put onto film. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, it's to this day a classic. film that people talk about. And then. also you're the same guy that did the. War of Worlds. >> Mhm. You read that on the radio and. freaked half the country out. >> Right. The same guy. And so I mean, he. was a wunderkind, right? He was a this. guy that like.

everybody thought was like a. once-in-a-lifetime talent and he snuffed. out. Yeah. And back then you have to. consider if you're William Randolph. Hearst, you you have Hearst. publications, you're essentially in. control of whatever narrative you want. to push forth and no one's going to get. in your way. So all he would have to do. is make some phone calls and that guy, [ __ ] him. He doesn't work again. Right. Crazy. It's a little bit. little bit. We got way too much power. in the hands of media moguls. Yeah. You.

know, as we go on, that reduction of. opinion just keeps happening, you know? One company swallows another, swallows. another. And I think we're in situation. now in America right when you know, 20. years ago there was two dozen major. media companies. or 30 years ago. And now it's. three. I know. >> Yeah. And. just like with. the share market and the biggest. companies in the world they end up. owning each other. Yeah.

>> So it's not three big companies. It's. really just one with three different. names. Yeah. And they decide what the. news is. It's nuts, but that's the one beautiful. thing about today is that independent. media takes up the slack and often gets. more views than. you know, air quote mainstream corporate. media. And so now corporate media is. forced to report on things eventually. Like the New York Times is forced to. report on certain things that are. inconvenient eventually.

>> Mhm. Where they would have just liked to. have ignored it. But it gets so big in. the zeitgeist that it has to become. something that's discussed. Yeah. And. that's that's fascinating cuz it's like. dragging them into the reality that the. internet lives in, which is a reality of. a free exchange of information. The. whole. whole horizon of television just so. dramatically. different now. So different. >> You know, I get to a hotel and I'll. scroll through 160 available channels.

There's nothing I'm interested in. watching. It's like. how is that even possible? Yeah. It's. also watching something that's already. going. Like it starts at 7:00. Why? Why doesn't it start whenever I sit. down? This is stupid. Like you have an. old model. This model's dumb. Right. It's like radio versus podcast. It's the. same kind of thing. It's like no one. wants to have to be listening sitting in. their car waiting for you to finish the. sentence. They want to hit pause, go do. whatever the [ __ ] they're doing, come. back, and play again. Right. This is a.

dumb way you're doing things. You're. doing things in a in on 8:00 p.m. it's. Mikey and the boys. And See, I never had. that life. You know, the the last time I. remember that being a thing is maybe in. high school, right? Where my mom and dad. Well, my mom particularly would like to. watch Dallas. Right. >> So, we would all get together. and watch Dallas at 8:00 or whatever on. a Tuesday or whatever. Yeah. And that. just doesn't uh. just doesn't happen in my life at all. anymore. The last time it happened, I.

think for me was The Sopranos on HBO. Right. Cuz it was on I I believe it was. on Sunday nights. Right. And everybody. knew what time it was on and you'd go. home and I had a TiVo back then. You. remember those? Right. Where you could. record shows and go back and watch them. later and pause them and stuff like. that. And it was like revolutionary. Before streaming. Oh my god, you could. record shows and watch them whenever you. want. Embarrassingly, I've only ever. seen maybe four or five Sopranos. episodes. >> Really? >> Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And every time I watch it, I go I cannot. believe. that I didn't get. the overtaken by this at the time. Cuz. Gandolfini was a mate. Oh. Yeah, he was a I met him like early. '90s or yeah, early '90s in in New York. He. him. and a friend of mine called Lenny Lofton. used to. rent a place together on 44th and 9th in. Hell's Kitchen. And you know, this is like a an. apartment on the. maybe the fourth floor of a building. And there were like a couple of windows. that didn't even have glass in. They had.

like plastic sheets. and a blanket nailed up against the. window. And that's that's what you know, the situation that Gandolfini was in. when I first met him. Wow. >> years later, he was obviously very. successful. But my youngest son, Tennyson, is like a. Sopranos expert. Like, you can you can say a lie to him. and he'll know what episode, what. season, and who said that. Wow. >> It's like he's so into it. And you know, when when I have started watching him.

very recently, actually. Some ducks landed on a pool on the farm. So, I took a photo. And there was like. thousands of comments whatever it was. straight away going It's like Tony. Soprano. I had no idea what people were. talking about. I had to discuss it with. my son because I had the sequence. So, I. watched that sequence with the ducks. Um. Yeah. But Gandolfini, man, what a great. actor he was. Oh, he was so. good on that show. He was so he was it was the first guy. who was essentially the hero of the show.

who was a murderer. Right. >> a terrible person, a mob boss. And you liked him. Right. It was insane. Like, that the fact that. he could pull that he had the depth to. pull off that where he's doing horrible. things to people and you're rooting for. him. Right. You're rooting for him. You're not hoping he gets shot. You want. Tony to live. Who's that guy that that. you have it on here every now and then? Joey Diaz? Yeah. Yeah, he's funny guy. Oh, he's the funniest guy that's ever.

lived. >> him tell that story one time about uh. the same week that Cinderella Cinderella. Man came out, I I went to the premiere of Longest. Yard. Uh cuz you know, Chris Rock was in that. and stuff and there's a few people in. that cast who uh I really like. And so, I went to the the movie. And um. I'm just remember him telling a story. about the lights come up and he didn't. realize he was sitting next to me or. whatever. I think it'd be a very dangerous room. for me and Joey Diaz to be in. I think.

we'd be having a good time. >> have a good time? >> Yeah, a little bit. >> Joey brings the party. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's the funniest guy I've ever met. >> Oh man, he's got some stories. Oh my. god, they never end. I've met I've known. him for [ __ ] 30 years. He's always. got a new story. He's just a maniac. And. you know, I mean, went to jail for armed. kidnapping. Kidnapped a drug dealer with. a machine gun. Yeah, he was out of his. mind on coke. Right. Yeah, he was. >> Oops. He was a wild fellow. He was a. wild fellow when he was young. When I. met him, he was like right out of jail. How did you meet Jimmy Carr? Uh I think.

I met Jimmy at the Comedy Store, I. believe. Pretty sure. You know, I'd already known. about him. Yeah. Right. Yeah, I'd. already known about him. Quite a [ __ ]. great guy. Yeah, man. And so funny. Oh. my god, he he performed at the. Mothership last time he was in town. We. were all in the balcony watching. Right. He's so good. So crisp. The punchlines. are so Oh, he's so good. Yeah. Such a pleasure. And he just keeps. educating himself. Yeah. >> You know, he's got this voracious mind.

Well, he's a brilliant guy, you know? And to see that brilliance applied to an. art form, you know, to comedy. It's like. He's just as funny in casual. conversation. >> Oh, yeah. You know, you sit down and. have a chat cuz we spend a little bit of. time together. And um. it it's funny cuz he's, you know, significantly younger than me. But he's teaching me stuff. You know, I've never been a vacation. person. For example, you know, there's work and. home. Mhm. Um but home isn't often.

fully restful because, you know, I've. got a football team. I've got other. businesses. I've got the farm to run, you know, cows to look after and all. that sort of stuff. So, but a couple of years ago, he just put. it in my mind like let's just say. we'll take these dates and I'll meet you. somewhere, you know? Um so, the first time we did it we met. up in Puglia in the. southern Italy. And earlier this year, we met up in. Marbella. But I've already booked a vacation for.

next year. I don't do that. It's but it's like that. thing of going somewhere which isn't. home and isn't work. Having no agenda. Sort of hanging out by the pool reading. a book, right? From beginning to end. Yeah. You know, without having to sort. of put it aside and come back to it a. week later and go, "What was the protagonist doing again?". You know, it's like. Yeah, it's uh very interesting. It's. very interesting that I should be.

um you know, I'm getting this late life. education from a British comedian. That. is funny that he's teaching you how. No wife taught you how to do that? Um it's uh I think it there's a reason. why people go on vacations. They're not. all stupid. You know, there's a benefit. to it. I think. But see, I didn't grow. up in that sort of family. We didn't. have the money for that sort of thing. Right. You know, we went on one big. family holiday in 1970 where we all. piled into my dad's station wagon and we. drove from Sydney up to northern. Queensland. But a a cyclone came through.

on the way. So, we had like four days of. sunshine and 26 days of rain. So, living in a caravan playing. Monopoly. So, it was not like I look back and go, "Oh, I remember the great vacations of. my childhood." So, it was like, you. know, my dad used to run pubs. So, you. don't get holiday. You you you know, you. You haven't learned it. Based on the the. licensing laws, you have to be the first. person there in the morning. You have to. be the last person there at night. So, we kind of lived that sort of life.

where everything was based on on. the running the pub. You know, so um but it's it's cool. It's. good time for me to. learn about it now. Well, don't you think like as a person. who does anything creative, you have to. have a bunch of different kinds of. experiences to draw from. Mhm. And if. you just stay in the same environment. all the time, it's probably. generally not good for you. Mhm. Like, you need to go see other people. You.

need to go different places. Not just to. refresh and relax, but also to take in. Like, there's different. >> I do so much traveling. for work. >> You know, for Yeah, for work. Oh, that's. what I was going to ask you. Why are. they doing a Portland film in Munich? Is it that cheap to go like how bad did. they [ __ ] up Portland that it's cheaper. to go to Munich to film? Is that what it You you have tax. incentives that have been, you know, offered various places. And that happens. a lot here. There'll be. you know, X amount of movies pretty much.

in every every state who can apply for. a tax incentive. And. some states are more competitive than. others. Louisiana, for example. Georgia. Um they California basically gives you. nothing. So, um. it's very hard to shoot in California. these days. >> [ __ ]. Well, the thing is it's such a busy. place in the studios there. The studios. would rather have. um a television show that's going to be. there for a. decade than a movie that's in and out in.

four months. You know, it's better for them, right? So, um. but it it's, you know, the world has. opened up hugely in the last 30 years in. terms of film production. And you know, you're taking advantage of homegrown. um film talent and then building on that. with international investment. Well, that's great. That's a great aspect. >> Australia has a big history, for. example, of making films. Mhm. Technically, arguably, the first.

full-length feature film, The True History of the Ned Kelly Gang, might have been. called that, was like 1906, 1908, something like that, was made in. Australia. Really? >> Yeah. Um. and you know, all the way through, but. you know, you takes till about the '70s. or whatever, then you have this sort of. new generation of Australian filmmakers. who are actually making stories that. reflect the current culture. And I think that's sort of happening. worldwide as well. >> Have you seen Talk to Me?

No. Talk to me is a fantastic horror movie. that these two young guys from I'm. saying the right name, right? They were on the podcast. I'm I'm pretty sure it's Talk to Me. It's about this dead hand that someone. found. What are What are the gentlemen's. names? Danny and Michael Philippou, I. think that's how you say it. How you say. Philippou. Philippou, yeah. Hilarious. guys. Just bundles of energy. They're. [ __ ] nuts. But, um this was like. their first real film that they made.

They put together this They did it all. themselves, and it's a horror movie, and. it's really good. It's like Where are. they from? They're from Australia. I. don't know what part. I guess you guys Jamie'll find out. Uh there they are. These two two. fellows. Okay. And they, you know, they. finish each other's sentences. They're. just nuts. And they're just They're like. they're on 10 all the time. Oh, cool. >> Does it say Adelaide? There you go. Right. So, they're 32. Um but that's a completely.

Australian-made movie that was a hit. worldwide um recently. >> Mhm. And obviously, Mad Max was a giant. Yeah, when you start going through it, you you. sort of do realize there's been you. know, probably a. uh. a much larger percentage than you would. expect given the population of the. country in terms of people in film, whether it's directors of photography or. or directors them- themselves. Or. actors. >> and the actors and all that. It's crazy. It's crazy, man. It's really bad. When I. was a young fellow making my first.

movies, you had uh Mel Gibson. and Judy Davis. But, Mel was born in America, so it. didn't really count. You know? Um there was other guys around. like, you know, Bryan Brown who had done. Cocktail and Gorillas in the Mist. Uh. prior to that, you have guys like Jack. Thompson. But, when you really look into. it, you know, then you have these other. guys. It goes all the way back to Errol. Flynn. There is a connection all the way.

through that, you know, there are. certain people working in the business, but. >> Errol Flynn was Australian? What's that? >> Errol Flynn was Australian? >> in Tasmania. Wow. >> Um and. either born in Tasmania or born in Papua. New Guinea and. grew up in either place, but I think he. was born in Tasmania. But, if you think. about it, since the early '90s, you know, Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchett, Hugh Jackman, Chris. Hemsworth, Crazy.

>> Margot Robbie, it's just outrageous. Yeah. >> Geoffrey Rush, you know, there's like. name after name after name of of people. who've made a you know, significant. contribution in cinema. Yeah, I mean, you consider the population size, which. is essentially. >> There's the population of the entire. country is basically LA, right? It's 25. mil, yeah. It's basically Southern. California. And it's gigantic, you know? But, but. it's hard to explain to people. You.

know, you show them where the major. cities are, and they go, "Oh, yeah, what. happens in the middle?" You go, "Not a. lot." Yeah. You don't want to be there. >> desert. It's like, you know, if you like. wide-open spaces, you're welcome. >> And a lot of things can kill you. A lot of things. A lot of things. Yeah. Just had a little sort of thing on the. farm, actually. My girlfriend's got a a. papillon dog, which is beautiful dog, but sort of. long-haired, and uh it got a paralysis.

tick. And they realized she realized that. between her and this other girl that. looks after the the puppy when we're not. there, they got their dates mixed up, and so it wasn't actually covered for. flea and tick, you know, stuff in its. bloodstream. Mhm. So, very dangerous. So, they had to shave the dog completely. and everything, and they they pulled off. another couple of ticks, but there was. only just the one paralysis tick, so. it's okay. But, if you leave that, and if you don't. deal with it, the dog's going to be dead. in a minute. >> tick? >> Yeah. Yeah, it gets into their into.

their body, and and it is. It affects them the way the name says on. the box. It paralyzes them. >> that's going on in America now um called. the called the um Well, what it what it. gives you it's it's uh lone star tick is. uh what what gives you this bite, and. this produces something called alpha. gal, and it makes you allergic to red. meat. What? Yeah, it's uh my friend, my. good friend Evan Hayfer got it, and he.

he was allergic to red meat for a good. solid year, and then eventually it went. away, and then it came back again. recently. It's It's a huge pain in the. ass. >> So, we we have ticks in Australia, but. we've never had to deal with Lyme. disease like you have here. >> Mhm. But, you know, in the last, you know, four or five decades, people started. raising. deer in Australia for for meat and what. have you, and a few of them get away, you know, there's there's no deer farms. around where I am, um which is north of Sydney by 600 Ks.

But, recently, a couple of the guys who. work for me on the farm said they've. seen deer going through the bush at the. back of my block, you know? So, that. means that there's some just animals. that have escaped, and they're most. likely. to have been in the Southern Highlands, which is south of Sydney, and somehow. they've got themselves all the way up to. where where I am. How many miles is. that? Or kilometers? >> Well, um we're probably talking about. 700 something kilometers. They just wandered?

>> Yeah. Wow. >> didn't get run over or didn't get, you. know? That's crazy. Absolutely crazy. >> probably bringing ticks. Probably, and the wrong kind of ticks. Yeah. In America, they have a problem. with that, too. Deer farms and this. disease called chronic wasting disease. Mhm. And it's spread throughout all the. large swaths of America have a giant. issue with this, where uh deer herds get. infected. My friend Doug Durrant, he has. a a farm out in Wisconsin, and they. they've had a significant problem with.

it to the point where they've started. issuing more tags and thinning the herd. They're trying to kill more deer to try. to lessen the spread of this stuff, cuz. chronic wasting disease, it get It's a. prion disease, so it's like um it it. gets on plants. It has It stays on them. for a long time. So, they start drooling. when they have it, and in that drool is. more chronic wasting disease. So, another deer will come along and graze. on the ground where they drooled, and. then they get it. Horrible, horrible.

disease. And a lot of it emanated from. these uh deer farms. When I first. uh bought the farm, which was 108 Ks to. start with, but it's now like 1,700. Um and it's attached to a state forest. as well. So, I can get up behind my. place and go for days. Oh, wow. >> just sort of like, you know, um which is. cool. But, back in the day, we used to have platypus in the creeks. We had wombats. Um now,

I see more foxes. than I see. uh native animals. Or I see an. equivalent amount of foxes as I see. wallabies. Are foxes invasive? Yeah. Yeah. Okay, there you go. And they're. absolute, you know? Cuz they eat. anything and everything. Yeah. I used to. have a big family of uh what we call. bush turkeys. living behind the house, and they're. still there, but they used to just proudly walk. around, you know? And and it was fun. You're going through the bush, and then. suddenly there's a road full of bush. turkeys. It's great, you know? But, uh.

now the population is right down, and. they're totally ninja now, you know? You don't see them very often. When you. do, they're like very suspiciously. checking you out, you know? They're. being hunted 24/7. >> man. Yeah. You also have a lot a large. feral cat problem, right? >> Gigantic. Yeah. Gigantic. The one and. only cat that I let my mother have at. the farm, this is way back, man. I was. training for Cinderella Man, and uh you know, they sent me this group. of boxers, Olympic guys and stuff like.

that. And every single one of them can. smash the piss out of me in the ring. So, I've got to smash the piss out of. them in other areas. So, I train them. till they drop, you know? Getting them. up bicycles and taking them to the bush, you know, things like that. Just to sort. of like keep the balance, Right. and um. this one particular day, and I had it in. my mind that I was just going to. absolutely smash them. I was going to. get into this situation, cuz there's a. one road, you know? And I was just going. to get so far in front of them, psychologically damage them, you know? Right. So, and I just.

I just. >> That's devious. Just had a conversation with my mom, and. she was like, "Oh, darling, you know, you know, I I'd really love to have a. cat." And I'm like, "Mom, we live in this privileged situation. We've got sulfur-crested cockatoos, rosellas, king parrots, all these. beautiful birds. And the worst thing. that we could do for them is put a cat. into that. So, you can't have a cat, you. know?". I'm riding through the bush. 25, 30 Ks in at this point, right?

I'm getting to the top of this hill. I'm. looking down. I'm seeing these boys struggling. Quite some distance, probably about a. kilometer and a half away from me, you know? And "Good. I'll just have a. little rest here.". And I just hear this little noise, and. I'm like, "What the hell is that?" So, I. just take three or four steps off the. road, you know? Probably about seven or. eight minutes ago, I was coming around this corner, and a. car was there on the road, which is kind. of unusual for the state forest in that.

particular area, right? So, I take these. three or four steps in, and there's a little kitten. sitting in the bush. And I'm. "What the hell?" So, I pick it up. It's. warm, you know? I can't leave it here, so I put it in my. backpack, right? And I complete the ride to get to the. top of this hill where this trig station. is, and everybody's standing around. They go, "Oh, I found a cat." You know, so I bring it. out. Everyone's all these big boxers go, "Oh.". You know, cute little kitten. So, I took. it home to my mom. I said, "Okay, here's.

your cat.". You know, and the way that I reasoned it. is like, this is me saying to my mother. you cannot have something that will make. you happy and then the universe goes. listen to your mother. So you had to go and know that cat hated. human beings for the rest of its life. You know, the only person it got on with. was my mum. And we used to have like four bells. around his neck so to give the birds. enough warning so. it didn't. cause too much damage. So was it feral.

cat then? I think. Or was it a tossed out of that. car? >> I think so. Yeah. It was too clean and. too warm for it to have been living but. that's what people do. They have a. problem, they have a cat that has a. litter, they don't know how to solve it, pet stores don't want it, their friends. don't want it. So they come up with the concept of just. chucking them into the bush. Well, didn't it start out with they. brought they introduced cats to try to. eliminate some other animal? We have.

such a history of stupidity in that. regard. Have you heard of the cane toad? Yes. Yes. >> so fantastic, right? So. you know, they're growing sugarcane in. Queensland and there's a particular. flying creature that they want to. control. So they start looking around. We always blame the British for this cuz. it's usually it's usually a naturalist. and British naturalist or scientist that. comes up with the concept. And so they. they look through all the islands. Can't. remember where they found it from. but they they found this toad who seemed.

to have this appetite for this. particular insect and they would feed. it. It ate it. They went great. So we'll. introduce the cane toad to get amongst. the sugarcane and lessen that creature. When they were checking if the cane toad. would eat the creature um. they were feeding it dead ones, right? Uh it's a flying creature. Toad doesn't. have a tongue like a frog. Can't catch this thing if it's flying. So.

it was of no use at all in trying to. lessen that coffee population. However, it became like a dominant species and. and it was in Queensland but now it's. starting to come in New South Wales so. they're basically marching south and. it's a problem, mate. It's it's like a. serious problem. They secrete poison so. if a dog gets interested and the toad. gets afraid, the dog can sort of like. sniff or lick its head then get poisoned. and that's the end of your dog, you. know? But there was a period of time. there.

where there's actually a documentary. from the 90s called cane toads. And it. sort of just points out how crazy people. were getting with it. You know, people. in the small country towns walking from. their house to the pub taking a cricket. bat and just smacking the cane toads off. the road as they went, you know? It's. like all these people becoming like you. know, crazed with the idea of of getting. rid of the cane toad population but it. hasn't affected them. They just keep. growing. How much is the population now? How big is it? So big and these things.

Jamie, can you do me a favor? Look up. the weight of the largest cane toad that. they found. Because it's it's always a surprise. Like these things grow and if they're in. the right environment and things that. they can eat and feed on, they just get. bigger and bigger. Look at this thing. Look at this thing, mate. Whoa, that's like an English bulldog. >> Howdy doody, it's bigger than my dog. >> Oh my god. Look at his head.

What is the weight on that [ __ ] What. does it say? That's crazy. Okay, wait there. Does it say how big? Look how fat that [ __ ] is. 2.7 kg. 5.8. lbs. Wow. >> That looks bigger than 5.8 lbs. It does.

but it might be a perspective thing. Either way I said that was the current. one. Oh, show the video. Scroll up so. you can see that video or make it. larger. Like where she's holding it. Yeah, it. looks like about 5 lbs. Boy, have you ever seen when they. there's a lot of horrible videos online. where they take toads and they put them. in a box with mice? Ever see what toads do to mice? No. You would never think that toads are. ferocious. You know, you'd never think. that toads are basically monsters. These.

just giant mouthed monsters that swallow. mice whole. But they do. They're super aggressive. It's crazy to watch. Jamie I know you're. going to get one. Is this a good one? Yeah. But there's there's ones where there's a. bunch of them in boxes. See this one is. kind of weird because he's not freaking. out yet.

Look at that head. Look at his head. I mean if that thing was giant like that. was hippopotamus shaped chasing after. you. Look how quick that is. How did how did. he get it? Must be closer than me. Look at that. >> He just swallowed them whole. Watch how quick he does it. >> bit here. Oh, it's just one step forward and back, yeah? Just snap. Yeah. Go see if you can find one of them video. He just inhales them. He like he.

literally inhaled them. Oh, he he. grabbed him with the tongue first. >> Right. He yanked him in. Oh god. See if you can find those videos where. there's a ton of them in a box. Live feedings. Either way. Giant African bullfrog, either way. Point is they eat mice.

They eat them whole. Right. And and how. many of them are now in Australia? How. many million? Oh, here we go. This guy is just going to go ham. Look at that. It starts. Oh. He's going to eat all of them? Look how gross those things are. They look so dumb. Just so mindless and. and gross. He hasn't gotten any of them. Why come. What's going on here?

Just gathering them in a corner. It's it's such a creepy animal. So and. so like what are the numbers? Like put that into perplexity. Yeah, how many cane toads? Ask our. sponsor. How many cane toads are in. Australia? What was the initial deposit? Like how. many they drop off? It was only a couple hundred and then. they bred like 60,000 in 1937 and the.

answer for now is. estimated at 200 million. MAN. AND THAT LITTLE FLY THAT eats the. sugarcane, it's still there. Oh my god. 200. million. But see look, if you see where those. that See that cluster of light blue. balls, right? They're basically in there. in the middle of that that cluster is. where they dropped them to start with. And look at how they've Well, they're.

going to make their way across the whole. country. >> you go. 40 49 so the white one is. actually where they put them to start. Wow. >> Everything else is migration. >> And by 2000 look how far they've gone. Wow. What's the plan to get rid of those. things? Um. I'm not sure that they have a cohesive. plan. There's no plan. Well, that's the. problem. If they have a plan, they're. going to bring in some lizard or. something. >> Yeah, and that's going to end up, you. know, doing something else. >> Yeah, it's going to kill everything. else. Every single time they've done. that. You know, like in New Zealand for.

example, they introduced the gorse bush. as a way to have hedging instead of. fences. But New Zealand's got a way higher. rainfall and sunshine hours than England. where it came from so now it's just. everywhere. You know, some beautiful. arable farmland is taken over by gorse. and when it grows in Australia in New. Zealand, it grows thicker and more. prickly and much harder to to deal with. We have the same thing in Australia with. plants like lantana. It's just. everywhere all through the bush. You. know, in my lifetime. So in '96 I used.

to be able to walk through certain areas. of my property. just under tall trees with, you know, subtropical ferns and vines on the. ground. Now there's many areas of my. property that are just. impossible. You cannot get through it anymore cuz. it's choked out with introduced weeds. What is that crazy plant down south that. we talked about once that has overrun. some of these forests? It's pretty. beautiful but it's also very creepy to. see what it's done. Just like taken over.

in all the trees. All the trees, all the. anything on the ground just covered. Wisteria? It's called kudzu. Kudzu. Yeah, that's it. Look at that. >> Right. Isn't that nuts? Yeah. Like that. image is creepy. Yeah, well that's the. back of my place, man. I used to have. waterfalls and creeks. Look at that. It's taking over that whole building. Everything. Yeah, just where did it come. from?

So that's in Fiji, yeah? Yeah, it's in the United States though. Um. So what was it How was it brought in? Oh, did people bring it in on purpose? >> That's where it's that's where it's. originated from, sorry. Right. History. of US introduction. Introduced from Japan in 1876. Oh, that's where I heard there's a lot. of it. Vine was widely marketed to the. southeast as an ornamental plant. And then it just took over.

Wow. It's it's funny when people try to do. that cuz they they never learn and yet. they still try the same thing. >> Over and over, yeah. There's so many times they've been. introduced invasive species. I have a. buddy of mine that's not necessarily an. invasive species, but I have a buddy of. mine who lives in Colorado. And uh they just reintroduced wolves to. this area where they have farms. And so. they took wolves from Washington state. where they'd been killing cows. And so.

they had to relocate them. So where did. they relocate them to? They relocated. them to a place with cows. >> Right. But in. >> of course these wolves start killing. cows again. >> they've shown though in one of the. national parks here. that um by supporting the apex predator. a whole bunch of other problems get. solved. That's that's the Yellowstone uh. reintroduction. And so that's called um. how wolves changed rivers, right? That. documentary. There's a lot of people that push back. against that. Um I think you definitely.

need predators because there was at one. point in time an overpopulation of elk. uh in Montana to the point where they. were having winter seasons, winter rifle. seasons, where they would issue a lot of. tags. So in the winter they're stuck in. deep snow and you just go pick them off. Right. You know, and it was because they. had so many that it was actually. detrimental to the herd itself, to the. health of the herd itself. >> Right. So they reintroduced wolves, the. population dropped by I think more than. 40%. It might have been more than that.

It might have been I I don't know. Look. see how much uh elk's population has. dropped since the introduction of wolves. into Montana. in the Yellowstone introduction. Um so. there's definitely a balance that needs. to be achieved. The problem is. that area where they're doing that, then. the elk are going to eat the deer going. to the wolves rather going to eat the. elk and occasionally they'll stray onto. cattle and then they've they're allowed. to issue depredation tags and you can.

get a problem wolf killed. But what they. did in Colorado is they brought them. right to where the cows are. They took. wolves that had a history of they know. how to kill cows. That's what they do. They know how to kill calves. They've. been doing it for their whole lives. And. they took them and they introduced them. to a place where there's no. no protection, no one's ready for it, no. one has guard set up, they don't have. dogs set up, they don't have anything. set up to stop wolves. So it. So let's see. Um.

When the reintroduction is 1995, the. winter count was approximately 17,000. elk. When wolf reintroduction began, it. fell to fell to 10,000 by 2003. By 2013, only 3,915. elk. Represents a drop of roughly 75%. from pre-reintroduction numbers. That's kind of crazy. But 19,000 is too. many. That's kind of nuts. That's that's. a That's an overpopulation that can lead.

to disease and famine and all kinds of. things. And you don't have a a good. stable ecosystem with both predators and. prey you get a situation like you have. in New Zealand where they have to gun. down stags sometimes. They have to. helicopter stags because they just get. overpopulated. >> Right. You know, like New Zealand is one. of those places where all these game. animals from Europe were introduced. specifically to set up New Zealand as a. beautiful hunting refuge. Well, they. would go there and hunt stag, but you.

know, the problem is. you have to have balance. Like. this whole You can't just enter into. like. human ideas, you know, like oh well, 1 +. 1 is 2, so we'll just add one now we got. No, it's not how it works. Like you have. to maintain the population of these. creatures that you've now dropped off. with no natural balance. We have a big. problem in certain areas of Australia. with wild horses. Yeah, they have that. in America too. >> Mustangs, we call them brumbies.

Um. you know. obviously the horse was really important. in Australia when it was being opened up. and and first colonized and populated. and what have you. And then, you know, first World War, we still had light. horse cavalry and what have you. So in. certain areas, but mainly in the area. where the mountains are in Australia, which crosses between New South Wales. into the state of Victoria. Um and you know, we we name things. pretty simply in Australia, you know. The uh the black snake with uh red on.

its stomach is the red-bellied black. snake. You know, we keep it pretty. simple for the tourists. And what's that. brown snake called? That's it's called a. brown snake, mate. Um so that area of. the country's called. the Snowy Mountains. And you know, we have this sort of. cultural connection to the brumbies, which is things like, you know, the man. from Snowy River. is based on. guys going out to to capture wild. horses. But the population of wild horses has.

got to a point where it's destroying. the ecosystem of that area. So now they. have to go and find a way of bringing. that population down. Yeah, they hunt. wild horses. >> very difficult for people, particularly. like somebody like me who I love I love. horses. But I have to put that love for horses. aside to what it's doing to the rest of. the native animals. And in Australia. we've like blessed with so many unusual. and fantastic creatures. But we haven't really been good um. husbands of the land, you know, and and.

we haven't really focused on what's good. for them. So Yeah, I have a good buddy of mine, Adam Greentree, who lives in Australia. And he tells me that people actually. hunt the wild horses. Mhm. Yeah. I don't think I could do that. >> it sounds rough, but you know. we got to do something because. the quite frankly, the wombats and the. platypus and the quokkas and the. kangaroos and the wallabies are a little. bit more important than the wild horses.

Yeah. It's um. it's a strange thing. You know, the the. balance of nature is a very strange. thing. It's a. it's very complex. There's so many. elements to it. That's That's what they. were trying to highlight in that um. wolves change river documentary. The. problem with that wolves change river. documentary is the guy who created that. is a proponent of rewilding. Right. Uh. to the point where I think he wants to. reintroduce like. dangerous predators to Europe. Mhm. Like.

he's he's got some crazy ideas about. rewilding. Right. >> Like going way back. Well, that kid that. I was talking to you about, Merlin. Hanbury-Tenison. Mhm. Um. came out of school, went in the army. uh did two or three tours. um. but now has found himself in a situation. where. he's taken over a block of land that his. his father bought in the '50s or '60s or. something. And he's turning that block of land back.

into temperate rainforest. And seeing all of these benefits. because of it. So instead of trying to. you know, run run sheep or run some. other. commercial. herd he's just letting. the country go back to what it should. be. And seeing incredible results because of. it. Like what kind of results? Well. it what he's shifted now and is using it. for now is like PTSD recovery. So.

former soldiers or whatever just go to. this place and. um. and. you know, find a new balance because. they're you know, in that sort of. natural environment. But just the. without certain creatures eating types. of trees and as as shoots and fresh. shoots, those trees are actually getting. um a hold. So. it should be. you know. oak trees for example, you know, and. there's only like, you know, was only just a few there. But by taking.

out the non-native animals, he's seeing. those trees increase. I mean, there's a. book, I forget it. If you could look it. up for me, Jamie. Merlin. Hanbury-Tenison. It really is. It's it's. it's unusual read. Like you're sort of. reading it and you think, okay, it's. like. the reestablishment of a temperate. rainforest, how can this be good? But. then when he ties it in to the life. journey of his father and his father's. like health problems and and stuff, it. it gets really emotional. And it's quite.

a beautiful read. I I. highly recommend it. Could you find it? I don't know. Our. Our Oaken Bones? Our Oaken Bones. Mhm. Yeah. It's really good read. Mhm. Yeah, nature in that form in its pure form is. like a vitamin, I think. It really is. >> Mhm. I think it's really it's an actual. good You know, like you go out in the. sun, the sun produces vitamin D. >> Mhm. I think there's something that we. haven't quantified yet that you're. producing that you get Yeah, they're. getting around to it though in things.

like what he's doing where you can. actually read the physical benefits of. people going in the bush. But that's. that's what I get when I go home. 100%. I get out into the bush and sometimes I. just you know, I might drive a machine. to a certain point and I just get off. and I walk. And I just listen, you know, and I go and visit trees that I like or. areas that I like. I'm actually going. through a you know, a long time ago I. planted. like 38,000 trees as a kind of an offset. a carbon offset, right? Uh now those.

some of those trees are 25 plus years. old. So I'm going through the process in. that 44 acres where I planted that. plantation of taking out all the. non-native undergrowth. And then the next stage is going to be. putting back into that area the trees. that were ripped out of there prior to. the first World War, red cedar and white. mahogany and all these things. So you. know, beautiful trees. And with the hope. that I put enough in the ground that. over time red cedar starts popping up. all through the valley, you know. But.

this is going to be stuff that happens. way after I'm dead. But. that process of stripping out the. non-native stuff, I'm starting to look. at that guy okay, well, I'm doing that. 44 acres there. I got another 200 acres. over here. I know there's waterfalls. I. know there's creeks. I want to take all. of that lantana and stuff out and revive. all that so you can walk through the. bush. You know, so. but these are processes that I hope that. uh. will excite my kids to carry on with. We'll see. Well, that's exciting. It's.

exciting to know that you have this. long-term thing that you're doing that's. actually beneficial to the land and. brings it back to the way it used to be. Yeah, not not like in a. sort of overbearing way, but like just. my that that little 44 acres uh. hopefully over time and we're already. seeing it now but we're sort of like cuz. we're clearing things out we're finding. lots of little tiny red cedars that are. already there cuz I put in 4 50 to start. with but my aim is to have, you know, within about the next probably 2 to 3.

years have 5,000 red cedars in the. ground in that area. So it's just amazing when you think. about the kind of impact that human. beings can have on landscape. It's just. humans what whatever we've done wherever. we go, we in ever inevitably alter. everything forever. Mhm. And if you could just take a little bit. of it put it back to the way it was and. then start contributing to these plants. regrowing again. Mhm. There's a balance. to that. It's very cool that you can.

achieve that. It's also exciting. It's. like it's a seems like a cool project. It thrills me. Yeah. But for a guy that has the kind of. pressures that you have and the work. that you have to do and the intensity. and the long hours on sets like how many. something like that is a godsend? Yeah. And your 32-year-old self whoever. it was. >> crazy. You nailed it. I. you know, I look back and I just how did. how did I know? Cuz at 32, you know, I. had a little bit of fame in Australia.

but it was nothing compared to what I. would have to deal with after that. So. having that sort of um. forethought is is just interesting. Yeah. Is there anything that you ever. always wanted to do like a type of film. you've always wanted to do that you. never got a chance to? Well, see I I'm. there are definitely guys in my business. that covet. You know, they go I want to do this kind. of role. I want to be perceived like. that, you know. But for me.

that's not what I pursue. I pursue. character. Uh. and I only you know, I'm very very. practical. I I I don't get to choose. from everything. I only get to choose. from what's sent to me. So from what. within what is sent to me, I always try. to look. for a fresh ground, you know. People. will ask me, why would you play that. kind of character? It's like the bottom. line is because I didn't do it before, you know. Why you want to play Hermann. Göring? Right. Cuz nobody's offered it. to me in the past and it's a fascinating. character. Yeah, it's a dangerous.

character and. there's, you know, a lot of stuff that. goes into being able to play a character. like that. But that danger is part of. the. excitement of the job. Yeah. And it's. not always going to be that way. Sometimes you playing a character that. doesn't really require a lot from you, but you've got to play the weight of the. character, you know, you can't just sort. of suddenly make. a New York detective act like a. superhero because you feel like being a.

superhero. [Laughter]. Right. So it's sort of like, you know, you just play the the weight of what's. required and then every now and then. you know, you play a character that that. sort of has a. a a a principal sort of role in the in. the in the the narrative or or is the. focus of the narrative. But the decision. to take on the weight of playing a. character like that's a Nazi, the second. in charge. Mhm. That's. What was that that's heavy, right? Yeah.

Yeah, but. that thrill comes from that thing of. saying this challenge is so big I don't. know if I can do this. And then so part of you goes, ah I I. should leave that aside. And then the. other voice goes, let's just have a go. Yeah. Let's have a go see what we can. do, you know. And uh see someone like Göring. it's you know, that that word nuance. coming up a lot today. Because we can look at him in the stark.

sort of. caricature version. that a lot of people. have in their minds of who he was. But that against the reality of his life. and how he grew up, how he was educated, what his experiences were, who he really. was as a man. um there's a lot more to Göring than. just looking at this guy all bad man. Nazi, you know. He uh. one of the thing I find fascinating when.

he was a kid at school, he was like one. of the dumbest students in his class at. a normal school. And because of his sort of. continuous failure as a punishment, he. got sent to military school. In military school. he was a top student. because it was stuff that interested. him. He comes out of school pretty much on. the dawn of the First World War. Has his. first military experience in the. infantry as a young officer, gets.

wounded. and realizes that. standing on the ground on a battlefield. is not really the right place for him. What's interesting him is what keeps. going on overhead. So he manufactures a. way to get himself assigned to. a fighter squadron. He's supposed to. turn back up for duty with his infantry. squadron but sort of. you know, manufactures a way to keep him. associated with the fighter squadron, learns how to become a pilot while he's. doing that. And at a certain point in. the war, they're losing more pilots than.

they train. So they go, he knows how to. fly, he can be a pilot. Finishes the. First World War with 22 kills, air-to-air kills. That's three times a fighting ace. And he's also. because he recently passed in battle at. the end of the First World War, he's in. charge of the Baron von von Richthofen, the Red Baron's squadron. Which is the pinnacle of the German Air. Force. So here he is as a young man, he's. finishing that first war experience.

And he is a fair dinkum, which means. true. He is an actual war hero. And so through the '20s, he's on. cigarette cards in Germany. You buy a. packet of cigarettes and there's a. picture of Hermann Göring, you know. Wow. So. and he goes into that political. environment, that post-Versailles. environment. with a. a very definite belief in his country as. being something special and he wants to. make a contribution. to bring lifting his country out of the.

mire that it's it's currently in. So he. starts looking for a political. connection. and ends up going upstairs in a coffee. house in uh Munich I think it was. uh and hearing a fellow called Adolf. Hitler talk. And you know, realizes that he has a lot. in common with this guy or he sees. things and knows that Hitler was a a. soldier. You know, it's a funny thing we put into. the movie at one point cuz there's a. speech about Rami that Rami Malek makes. about Hitler being a failed painter and.

a not very good soldier. And. I think the response I gave Göring at. the time, which isn't not in the film. but he talks through Hitler's actual. military record. And yeah, he didn't he. didn't rise above lance corporal but he. turned down promotion three different. times. He won an Iron Cross in 1914 and. then he won a second one in 1918. And. doing things that were. showing such extreme courage that he was.

awarded the Iron Cross. And he would he. delivered messages on the battlefield. He would take the messages from. headquarters and take it to the front. line troops and then bring their. response back, things like that. You. know, so at one point in time I had. Göring say, you know, you call him a. failed painter but maybe he got to a. certain point in his life where there. were more important things to address. than painting. Mhm. So you know, nuance. You know. I thought it was also. fascinating that. you guys delved into the fact that he. was an addict.

Yeah, we only touch on a little bit but. that's that is crazy. There's a really. good book um I don't remember the name. of it. >> Ohler. Blitzed, yes. Which gave me a. a lot of information cuz when Göring was. arrested, he had something like 40,000. pills on him. 40,000? >> In his car, right? He had a. a habit of 40 to 50 a day. Right? So you look at him and you can. you can see it. When you when you know. that fact and you start looking at. photographs, you can see him kind of.

leave the planet at a certain point. where he's just off his tits all the. time. You know, from about 42 onwards, he doesn't really have Adolf's ear. anymore. Goebbels, Himmler, Heydrich, they've all taken those positions. The. things that he promised he could do with. the Luftwaffe didn't actually come off, you know, as strongly they didn't know. it at the time but that's the Enigma. machine, everything the codes being. broken. So no matter what they did, they're always being second-guessed. So. you know, Hitler's trust of him was.

adjusted a little bit and I also sort of. liken it to. him knowing he's going to get stabbed. So he just doesn't bother going to the. place where he would get stabbed, you. know. So he does a whole bunch of other. stuff and he keeps his authority but. he's not at. in the center of things. anymore from that. >> Because of the pills. A big part of it. Big part of it. It's. personal safety cuz he thinks like he's. no longer has.

the definitive ear and trust of his. leader. The pills overtake his lifestyle and he. decides to, you know, interest himself. in in other things for the greater good. of Germany like the collection of great. works of art and things like that, you. know. But there's a. you know, a lot of things in this story. that um. that are just. bigger once you start looking at it and. examining them. They're way bigger than. what we know or what we commonly. understand and that's what I was looking. for to try and.

find a way to, you know, understand his. base motivations. And at the end of the. day, he, you know, in his own way, he's a pure patriot. It just so happens to be a sort of a a. set of beliefs or whatever that most of. us in the in the western world would. call a bastard. Wow. And. and you got to take into consideration. the drug aspect of the entire Nazi. movement. They all the troops were on.

meth. Hitler was on opiates. I mean, Norman Ohler, that book just I can't. recommend it enough. It's so eye-opening. cuz you're like, well, that makes sense. That's why they were so [ __ ]. psychotic. >> That's why they could march through the. nights, why they could push. >> in a row, yeah. through the the Belgian. forest. >> But it's very rarely taught. This is not. like when we grew up, we didn't grow up. thinking that they were just drugged. psychotic you know, animals that were on. meth, you know, in in tanks and the most.

the they gave the people the front line. the most meth. So they had different. dosages for different people depending. on what they were required to do and the. tank guys got the most meth. >> about Göring's position, he's the one ordering the drugs, right? How many pilots we got? How many planes? How many missions are we doing? How many. sorties? Right? Do that multiplication. Add 10% for me. It's a drug-fueled war. Like probably. the most drug-fueled war ever. I mean, the kamikazes were using meth.

And then the the Hitler thing was I. always thought that Hitler was meth as. well, but Norman was saying that he was. opiates as well. >> Right. So, just like Göring. Right. They. maybe it was how they dealt with what. they were doing. They all just stayed. blasted out of their [ __ ] head all. day long. Well, I mean, look, you're. surrounded by. guys that have a sort of a fanatical. mindset, you know, you're going to want to be. awake.

Yeah. >> You know, you don't want to fall asleep. at the wrong time if that's the group of. people that you've surrounded yourself. with. And that's the thing that I keep. saying, it's a it's an old cliche, but I. I think it's something that. uh he he really learned. You know, if. you lie down with dogs, you're going to. get fleas, Hermann. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. >> But I think. him cleaning up by being forced by being. in a prison environment, being forced by. the allies to go cold turkey nearly. killed him. He had sort of heart. problems because he went from 40 or 50 a.

day to nothing. Um. so, but that clarity of thought that he. had. um. after being clean for six or nine months. when the trial starts, that became dangerous. because now he's sort of got his. faculties back and he's intent on. breaking down this whole idea of. international law as as being. ridiculous. That, you know, he's a man. who served his country. He's still in a.

uniform. He's still like a. a military guy. So he's {quote}. {unquote} following orders. Yeah. >> And you know, they were a democ-. democratically elected government. who then step by step dismantled. democracy once they were in power. And the fascinating thing about this. character and the way you play him is in. the beginning he seems like a guy on. opiates cuz he's like so. relaxed about everything. >> Mhm. You know, it's like he doesn't seem.

to be carrying the weight of what's. happened to him. Right. And for you to and then there's dark. moments particularly like during the. trial where you're like, whoa. There's a lot of range to this guy. And. that's got to be a weird place to be to. for you to try to put yourself in the. mind of what ultimately became one of. the most horrific figures in modern. history. >> Yeah, it's not comfortable. It's not comfortable. But that that. pain's part of the gig, you know? Yeah.

>> It really is and there's. you you sort of learn to accept it. And. I say this to people quite a lot. cuz they, you know, the big question is how do you turn off, you know, when you've been a Nazi for a. day? What do you do to relax? Definitely. don't do method. Yeah, but the. you know, you ask anybody and and you would be the. same. Just because in a little while. the podcast is over for the day doesn't.

mean that that's the end of your job. Doesn't mean you're just going to turn. off and never think about it again till. you're going to obviously, you know, anybody has a passion for the thing that. they do is going to continue the. process. 5:00 might be when the office. closes, but you're going to go home, you're going to have dinner, you're. going to think about the deal that. you're currently doing, the presentation. that's ahead of you or whatever it. happens to be. You're going to keep. processing. And that's what happens when. you you're playing a character cuz you. might have delivered X amount of. dialogue today, but you got X amount. tomorrow, too. So you got to keep that. process going. So.

>> So you're just thinking about a Nazi. >> 24/7 all the time. There's no it's. relentless. One one description of of. making a movie is that it's a train. journey. It's not like a car, you know, where you. can pull over and have a wee on the. side of the road. It's a train journey. Once you get on that train, you're. staying there until it gets to its. destination. And you've just got to. accept that. I mean, and that there's, you know, good and bad and that. there's a. um. a saying that goes with this, you know,

the the best thing and the worst thing. about the job that I do is that one day. it's going to finish. Mhm. Always finishes. You be can be. having the worst time of your life, but. it's going to finish. But you can be. having the greatest time. You have an. incredible relationship with the crew. and the cast and the director, but it's. going to finish. Mhm. And you have to. get used to that. You have to understand. that. When how much time did you prepare. and how much time did you film for? So. like how much time were you actually in. the head of this Nazi? Well,

I I signed on in 2019. So you start. thinking about it then? >> I was going straight from Loudest Voice. which finished shooting around April or. something like that. And I thought by. the end of that year we'd be doing, you. know, we would have shot that film. So. that's when you started researching it? Yeah. And then as it turns out, we got. set up and collapsed three different. times. And so I had five years. Five years of, you know, scratching around trying to find little. bits of information to humanize him in.

my mind, but also for me to try and. understand him and understand the, you. know, what he going to cuz on. it doesn't make a lot of sense when you. read about his history and stuff of. where he gets to doesn't make a lot of. sense. He was a mountain climber. Really? >> Right? When he was a young man, there. are traverses. in the Austrian Alps. that Hermann Göring was the first person. to do that traverse of that peak. You think about the mentality.

required of a mountaineer. to stand at the base of a big-ass rock. and look up and say, I'm going to keep. going till I reach that summit. That says a lot about who Hermann Göring. really was. And um you know, he's Bavarian, right? So from southern Germany. And once I cuz I didn't know he was a. mountain climber, once I knew that, then I started looking around for what. does that mean to be a mountain climber, you know, prior to the First World War.

What kind of equipment would you have? And it's very basic, man. It's nothing. You know, you got to you're relying on. your wits and your strength just. completely. And. >> Yeah, they didn't even have nylon ropes. Probably not. No. Probably not then. Just old stretchy. hemp. Oh, Jesus. >> It's going to be behave completely. differently once it gets wet. You know, um. but it gave me some real insight to him. But and it also ended up giving me this.

great way of connecting to the other. German guys who are playing the other. Nazis, you know? Because I just knew from the first day. when they all arrived and they were. sitting together in a group, I could see that they were already. feeling the punishment. of playing. that kind of character. So, um. I just brought them together and I asked. them cuz now you know, these guys some. of them are German, some of them are. Hungarian. And uh I said, look, you know, there's.

this song that I found. and I'd like to learn the song together. And they all, you know, most of them. knew the song, but that's what we would. do every day as a group. We'd get. together, we'd sing that song and then. we'd walk into court together feeling. connected as a unit, you know? What kind. of song was it? It's called Muss i denn. Is it a German. song? >> It's a German song. And what I didn't realize when I first. came across the song, it's a Bavarian. mountain song. Right? So he definitely. knew that song. It's actually the melody.

that Elvis Presley uses for the song. Wooden Heart in the movie GI Blues. Yeah. Muss i denn, Muss i denn, so städtelein. Haus, städtelein Haus. You You that's. but I don't have a wooden hut. [Music].

That's what we'd be singing together. >> So you guys would. sing this to get into character. And if you. be the calm. Yeah, so this is just a little thing. just to remind that particular group of. guys that we we just actors, we're just. playing roles. and you know, this will finish. There's a lot of people that don't want. to show a human side of a monster. Mhm. And which I think is very dangerous and. quite stupid, you know, because it gives. you a complete misunderstanding of what. a monster is.

You know, that yes, okay, here's. somebody with you know, horrific expert. as the joke used to be even Hitler, you. know, he used to love dogs. Okay, so. that's the joke, right? You know, and. and that's but there's some real truth. in understanding the human process. in that. That's somebody who makes the. absolute worst decision in the world. can still be a loving father. Mhm. You know, can still have. a group of friends.

But on you know, particular in a. particular moment, that is the same. person who's made this horrific decision. that will have terrible effect on. a generation of people. Yeah, I mean. it's it's really the same kind of thing. we were talking about with Tony Soprano. Right. Like that this this person is. terrible person, but yet. loves his kids, loves his friends. >> Yeah, well charm is one of the greatest. weapons of evil. Yeah. >> You know, it's it's a really you know, it's a it's a fun thing for us we see.

somebody you know, who can tell a story, tell a joke, hold attention in the room. You go it's cool, but when that. process of charm. goes to this other place which becomes. about life and death or the taking away. of people's rights, the dehumanizing of. people as we were discussing earlier. You know, and there's. you know, I I don't want to get into. politics cuz I have this my my boys have. this rule, if you're going to talk to. Joe, you're not allowed to discuss. politics. Cuz they know once I start.

>> Your boys? My my my two sons, yeah. Cuz. my youngest boy I think I told you he he. became obsessed with you. and and listening to your stuff for a. while and you became one of his sort of. points of education. And um. you know, so that's why I started. listening to you cuz I wanted to know. what he was hearing, you know? And I got. after listening a few times I was like, you know what, man? It's cool. And cuz again we'll use that that word, you do actually have the allowance for. nuance and that's the greatest thing. about this situation. We sit down to.

talk, we're going to be talking for a. couple of hours. So I don't have to. reduce everything I want to talk to you. about to make it pop in 3 minutes. Right. And worry about things being. taken out of context in a sound bite. >> Right. Yeah, that that that that this is. the issue with discussing any positive. attribute to a Nazi. You know what I mean? Like you you you. open up that door. Oh my god, Russell. Crowe's a Nazi sympathizer. Yeah, but. the people that don't like you are just. going to take that. Yeah, and here's what Joe Rogan's. discussing. >> Yeah. Yeah. But it's I think what you're. saying is absolutely true that it is.

stupid to think that way because it. because. that's a human being and a very [ __ ]. up evil human being that did horrific. things, but. know that that is a path that people can. go down even if they think they're doing. the right thing. >> So we are taught for example to regard. Gaddafi in a certain way. Okay? But if you look into. what happened in his country while he. was the leader.

You look into the fact that every person. is given a house at a certain age. You look at the fact that everybody's. education and health care is free. You look at if somebody showed a. particular talent for something, they. required further education overseas. All of the costs of that were paid for. by the government. Now, these are all things put in place. by the same. country's leader that we're told.

is evil and corrupt. Yeah. So it doesn't quite. balance. Well, there's also US. government interference. That's a that's. a. that is one that we definitely monkeyed. with. I mean. he ran a foul of the United States. government, you know, Well, what he was. trying to do as far as I understand the. situation. is he was trying to unite Africa. Mhm. And.

a united Africa. is going to be a problem. Well. either it's going to be fantastic, it's. going to be amazing. A problem for the. people that want to run things. >> Yeah. Yeah, if all of a sudden there's a. new superpower. >> Well, we've got a whole bunch of. countries that that you know, have a. connection with a with a certain African. nation or whatever that. suck their you know, minerals out of the. ground or whatever, don't pay them. properly for it, you know, and and. greatly benefit financially and that's. pretty much every European country's got. some kind of African connection in that.

regard. And including China. Well, China's now coming in Yeah. because it's able to offer a slightly. better deal than they've been used to. You know, but. people have to understand you you the. population of Africa is enormous. Yeah. Enormous. You've got multiple countries. that hundreds of millions of people. Well, you when you see the continent of. Africa and you see all these other. countries, how many would fit inside of. it? You're like, oh boy. Cuz that's the.

weird thing about maps and globes is you. get a distortion of the actual true. size. >> a distortion, right? >> Yeah. Whatever that's called which shows. America at the center and being. physically a larger landmass than it. actually is in relative terms. >> a little bitty bit is the size of. Australia. 100,000 square miles. continental. USA is 100,000 square miles larger than. the island of Australia. That's not. much. Not much. That's not much, especially when you think that you guys.

have 20 what? 25. 25? And we have. probably 325 plus. I don't think we know. really how many people we have, but we. have at least 320. million. That's a lot of folks. A lot of. people, man. >> Yeah. It's a hell of a lot of people. >> So we'd like to think we're a lot bigger. than we are. But then you look at where. we fit in Africa, you're like, oh. It's. like it's a little tiny little tiny. thing. >> like 55 countries or something in. Africa. Uh I don't know. It's probably. Yeah. I mean it's also.

Egypt. That's the other thing, you know, it's also like the most advanced. civilization possibly that ever existed. before today. And they were there, too. It's like it's. a wild place. Like from top to bottom, it's a very and it's the origin possibly. of. >> a lot more desert I think than than. people realize. You know, you have the. Sahara as we all know that, but then. there's these other gigantic areas. like that um. what would that be? The west coast?

Have you seen those roads in like. Namibia or whatever which just it's like. a sand dune. is 40, 50 m high. drops down to the ocean and there's one. little flat bit. that there's a road and that's possible. you know, at certain times or whatever. if the tides are not doing this and. that, but that's the road. Jeez. It's. like a mountain of sand and an ocean and. a one little ribbon. Jeez. It's you know, United States is one of. the weird things about us is that we're.

we're a country that thinks mostly of. ourselves and hardly ever leaves. You know, some people leave, but. >> Yeah. I bet there's a solid percentage of. people that never leave the United. States and maybe never even leave their. city. Right. And your version of the. world. you're relying on other people to give. you the story of what the world is until. you go somewhere. Till you go to. Thailand, till you go somewhere where. you're like, wow, this is a totally. different way of living out here. Yeah, I've even had people, you know,

come down to. help me with movies or whatever like. guys that are coming down to train me in. some weapon or other or whatever and. they do a lot of traveling, but it's all. within the continental USA. Yeah. >> And they come to Australia and. they don't realize that other people. have opinions. You're not going to find a heck of a lot. of agreement to you know, some very. basic tenets if you're sitting in an. Australian bar. You'll find a whole. bunch of people go, that's [ __ ].

stupid, mate. Yeah. You know, but like. it's still to me it's the. the greatest country in the world is the. United States of America. Absolutely. Greatest potentials. are all here. But how it's founded on balance and. fairness and opportunity. that's how it remains great. Not because you start taking opportunity. away from people. Right. >> Because you are affording them. opportunity. And you know, just let's just keep that.

in mind, ladies and gentlemen. Yes. Cuz. it uh. nothing's finished, nothing's done, we're just in the process and it can all. get better for sure. Yeah. And it's the rare country that is almost. entirely founded. by people moving here. over time. Yeah. It's all immigration. Yeah. Yeah. Which. is. the strength and also.

you know, the the problem with the last 4 years. was that they were just letting anybody. in. And they weren't vetting people and they. were inviting people in. And the problem now is they're grabbing. people whether they're productive. citizens and they're grabbing them and. taking them out cuz they don't have the. right paperwork. Yeah. So neither one is. a good solution. Mhm. And both of them cause huge problems. Yeah. And. one of the scary things But you do have. to be aware too though, a lot of the. information that we know about that. is coming to us from a motivation that.

we don't necessarily read. Right. They. want us to think of things in negative. terms. Sure. Both sides. On both sides of the issue. Yeah, 100%. Yeah, we're we're constantly being. manipulated. I had Representative Luna on the podcast. and one of the things that she said that. that that I kind of knew was probably. true, but I didn't want to believe it. She was like, there's a lot of problems. they never solve on purpose so that they. could campaign against them. Mhm. And.

that's why they they keep these things. in play. That. resolutions could have been reached, problems could have been solved, but. these politicians are so self-serving. that they don't ever want that to take. place. These people that run these two. individual parties want to keep that. that banter back and forth. They want to. keep the argument going. You see how. absolute they are. If, you know, somebody with that color hat is trying. to promote something, you know, the person with the other. color hat says that's that's absolutely. ridiculous. Then it changes, an election.

happens. Now the person with the. different colored hat, they're in charge. and they're going to put in place. exactly what they said. the other person was doing that was. wrong Yeah. is now part of their policy. platform. What is wrong with the way Australia is. run? Well, we're a little bit lucky at the. moment. We have a Prime Minister who's. very much. motivated by trying to. um help everybody. You know, which should be the job of a. politician, right? Should improve the.

lives of the people that they represent. And. he's kind of inherited. um. you know, uh. a conga line of stupidity that was going. on, you know, and he's trying to fix. things. But of course. just the way things are reported, whatever, you know, there's there's. haters on every corner. Um but he's a good man. and he's doing his very best and he's,

you know, um. working extremely hard. But you know, like he arrives off plane the other day. He's just come back home from some very. successful international meetings where. he's established various trade things. and and opportunities and situations for. Australia. Gets off the plane wearing a Joy. Division T-shirt. All right? Big band from his youth. And he's just a. relaxed character, you know? He's been. wearing a suit and tie for weeks on the. road. He's just walking off Australia's.

version of Air Force One in a Joy. Division T-shirt. So the member of the opposition wanted. to point out and did so in Parliament. that Joy Division is a Nazi term and. comes from a section of a particular. camp where the women were prostituted. and that's why it was called the Joy. Division. And it's like. Okay. What's the point of that? Right? We all. know it's a band name. We know it's it's a band name. Right?

And it just cuz you like the Rolling. Stones doesn't mean that you want rocks. to be falling on people. What are you. [ __ ] talking about, you know? This. whole stupidity. And that's what you're. facing all the time. Picking up some. pointless piece of minutiae and, you. know, lighting it on fire and making a. smoke screen to cover up the reality of. the fact that that Prime Minister. just worked his ass off on behalf of the. country and. successfully achieved a bunch of things. and should be patted on the back, you. know, not pushed down the stairs. Yeah.

Well, we have a lot of that here, too. That's uh. But there is a timidity to a timidity, I. think is probably the thing in terms of. how uh Australia is run. Um. things like the the gambling ads and. stuff like that. Common sense would tell. you. this is not a good thing to allow. You know, put the timing of these ads. back so kids are asleep or whatever. Don't let them read out the odds on the. news. That you could fix that. pretty quick. But that. gambling.

section of the community. is worth a lot of money. and people in positions of power cuz. it's not necessarily, you know, it's. it's not the guy that's going to spend. his whole wages gambling through an app. that that gets to have a say in this, you know? It's the guy who's. family money allows him to run a string. of 18, you know, racehorses and he. enjoys going to the races on the weekend. and, you know, gambling for him is not. such a big deal because he's got, you. know, an income from other things.

Blah blah blah, you know? So it's the. uh the wrong perspective on a problem. sometimes is the actual problem. Mhm. And the fact that this is a fairly. new thing. and that young people growing up with. this, there's not a history of people. abusing gambling apps. Right? It's not it's not something their. parents had to deal with. Right. Yeah. Generationally, it's not something that. I can oh I, you know, from my experience. I can tell you this. So I had to have a, you know, when I had that conversation.

with my boys, it was a broader. conversation. uh about gambling and about, you know, what it takes to earn a dollar. Yeah, the I think the accessibility. issue is something that people have. problem with. The fact that it's on a. phone versus going to a place. Like you. choose to you're going to get your. buddies together, you're going to go. play poker in a casino. That's a. different decision. Right. Yeah. sitting. at home. Yeah. You know, than just. constantly. frittering away your money. Well, this. is the thing. It's just we're. there's always some sort of point of.

attack. There's always an attack vector. for people getting your attention or. getting your money and trying to and. then we have to decide as a society like. do we is this good to just allow? Like. we want freedom, but do we want to like. you can't advertise cigarettes on TV. anymore, right? They decided at one. point in time, this is crazy. Cigarettes. are bad for you. >> alcohol. You still can. Yeah. Yeah, which is weird. >> of day. Yeah, it's weird. It's weird. Cuz alcohol probably kills more people.

than cigarettes. Well, that funny thing that we have that. was fed to us that, you know, cigarettes. uh this incredible burden on our health. health care system. In reality, if you look at it, it's a. burden, but, you know, there's a lot of. people dying of lung cancer who never. had a cigarette. So we haven't really. solved. that. We don't really know. where that's coming from. But in reality, the burden on our health. care system is obesity and all the. problems that come from obesity. That's.

the biggest. Yeah, we allow food. production systems that we know to be. extremely unhealthy and very bad. We. just allow them to. continue on. You know, we've got. items of quote-unquote food that have. been tested and turns out there's no. actual food in this. It's just, you know, a manufactured. product. I think the the famous one here. was the the Twinkie thing, right? When they actually got around to looking. at what was in a Twinkie, they realized. that every single part of it was.

completely unhealthy. Yeah, it's just. mostly sugar. Right. Yeah. Yeah, but Twinkies are delicious and I. think you should be able to buy. Twinkies. You know what I mean? So I'm on both. sides of it. I'm a healthy person. I eat. 99% of my food is very healthy. Mhm. But. I think you should be able to do. whatever the [ __ ] you want. It's just. education is the most important thing. You know, letting people know what. they're And then teaching people some. discipline and how to be able to. exercise. some control over yourself. So I was.

126 kilos. when I finished your book. Mhm. I'm 100.9 right now. >> That's amazing. Congratulations. Well, a. lot of that You look great by the way. You really do. A lot of that is because. you introduced me to your mate Brigham. From Ways to Well. Yeah. Yeah. And so. I've probably connected with them about. five times since that first time we met. And. the real benefit that I'm getting that I. think, right? Because I'm not not. completely over the science uh.

but. it seems to be. with these um injections that I've been. getting into my shoulders and into my. knees, but also IVs. that it's calmed down my body's. inflammation. Mhm. You know, I think we. talked before about just how many old. injuries I carry, you know, and how. like the injuries in my shoulders have a. deeply arthritic. But we can now see in an ultrasound. over time.

a year ago and like big thick bands of. of arthritis now it's just lessened, you. know? >> Mhm. Probably by about 70%. Mhm. And one. area in my right shoulder. uh probably about 90%. So my range of. motion, if we'd done this last year, would have been about there, right? But now. it's [ __ ] rock and roll, son. Isn't that great? >> going good, you know? And and like just. feeling like the musculature starting to. build and everything. I'm taking it.

really slowly and that was one of the. things I was worried about with. Highlander because. jumping into that role. with the shooting date coming, it was. like, man, I got to do I got to do three. workouts a day. I got to, you know, and that for me is a bad recipe. Because yeah, I can I can do that for X. amount of time, but once I stop. I'm going to stop completely, you know? And what I want to do is I want to make. all these changes. and make it a long-term situation.

So I think the Ways to Well was a great. call for me because it's calmed down a. bunch of stuff. It's taken a bunch of. pain away. You know, so I can go and. work out and not have to suffer for two. or three hours afterwards, you know? Um you know, I'm still picking up. injuries because I've got to face the. fact I'm 61. You know, like the other. day I'm doing my katana sword trying to. get this freaking move going on. I. freaking tore. the tendon here on the ulna. Uh. So, that's going to be bad for sword. fighting.

But, I'm trying to fix that without. having to have a a surgical. >> How bad is it torn? It's only a little bit, really. You. know? Okay. You just got to make sure. you don't overuse it before while it's. healing. Can you brace it? >> the the problem I've got is I've got X. amount of time to claim the skill. Mhm. And either way, right? If I do the rehab. exercises without doing surgery, if it fails, I'm now falling right on. production and you know, I've re-torn or.

something, right? >> But, I can help you with that. It just. do the skill slowly. Yeah. Here's the. thing about skills. Uh skills that you learn slowly, you can. translate into high speed quickly. because you develop a neural pathway. So, instead of using an actual sword, use a foam sword. Use like one of those. little [ __ ] noodle things that people. put in the pool. Use that. So, you're. just just develop the When I was. teaching martial arts, one of the things. that I always tell people is don't try. to do it quickly. When I show you something, I want you to.

do it slowly. >> It's exactly what I did. I'm in a car. park and we were talking about the speed. of something and I went, "Oh yes." He. goes, "Shh." And I went, "Ah, fuck." And. you had torn it. But, I just put my. sword away. and I kept the conversation going, didn't mention it. But, I got home and I. was like, "Ah, fuck." Uh. you rushed. You didn't warm up. >> Yeah. Well, the thing is we were warm, but it was a thing that I just just in. that split second, I thought, "I wonder. what it's like to go full speed." Oh. >> And I did it and I and I just like, "No,

way too early." But, you're absolutely. right. Pace is deceptive. Yeah. If you. learn something, I mean you that's it. like that old-fashioned sort of stuff. with with with the karate I first did. when I was a kid, you know, they aim for. you to do 10,000 of something before you. you have to use it in an actual. competitive fight, you know? Yeah. People who train people with guns have a. saying, "Slow is smooth, smooth is. fast.". >> Right. Yeah. Yeah. You don't want herky-jerky. movements and with martial arts and.

specifically sword fighting, it's. there's very specific movements that. you're learning. And if you learn those. movements slow, as you speed up, you'll. be going along the right pathway. Mhm. And when I would teach people kicks in. particular because it's a weird thing to. learn how to kick something. Like you've. got to do it slowly cuz if you try to. muscle it, you're going to develop a bad. habit that's going to keep you from. achieving full power because you want to. proper technique. >> you have to process where your balance. is. Yeah. >> what you.

how you pushing your force and but how. you retain, you know, the ability to. reset. Yeah. Yeah. Jiu-jitsu as well. You you people that learn by drilling, they get way better, way quicker by. doing it. flowing and doing it more easy and play. like the Gracies always say keep it. playful. Yeah. Like that's. >> Well, the thing is I know all this. stuff, but I was in such a point of weariness. that I was just trying to please people. Oh. And so. I knocked myself up and you know, but.

I've got a bit of time now for it to. heal and for me to start and actually. do like I like to do. Have you visited. Brigham while you're here? Yeah, yeah. I. just saw him yesterday. Okay, great. Yeah, he's looking great. Yeah, he looks. great, right? >> He's looking good. The new the new place. Now, here's the. thing when we talk about this and. your listeners are probably, you know, it's expensive. No two ways about it. So, it's possibly. not at everybody's grasp what the sort. of things that I'm doing. But, I think.

I'm not sure if this is absolutely. right, but I think, you know, one of his. sort of fervent ambitions Brigham is to. make it more available. Yes. You know, cuz this should be this is cutting edge. medicine. Yes. >> You know, if we can sort of write things. in our bodies with an injection as. opposed to an operation. You know, the. the problem I had in my left shoulder, I. go and see my shoulder surgeon who fixed. it while I was doing Cinderella Man. Um. and. uh. so, I did two operations with this guy. One in 2001 and the second one in 2004.

Um. but it's always had a sort of problem. and and he did say at the time after the. second operation that he had to cut a. few corners and it would probably cause. me problems later on in life. So, I probably went to see him about. five six years ago. and he said, "Okay, so your this. shoulder is at a point of arthritis now. What we have to do is we have to cut. through the muscle by we have to pop out. the humeral head. of your um arm bone. We have to shave.

off the top of the humeral head and then. we have to put a carbon fiber cap and. then we have to put it back in, sew. everything back up. You've got about 12. months of rehab, right?". Just sounds wrong. You know, it just. sounds wrong. It's like, you know, so. this process that I've been going. through with Brigham with basically. having the effect of layering. So, I can now see that if the arthritis. was that deep, it's now this deep. Mhm.

You know, it's still there. I haven't. solved it yet, but I'm giving my body. what it needs to make it better. Also, there's new breakthroughs almost every. week. Right. And these new breakthroughs. that they're they're able to achieve uh. the the. they're they're growing actual cartilage. on people that were bone on bone. So, they're they're developing new methods. to regenerate tissue that's the. cushioning in between your your knees. and your elbows and all these things.

that were and shoulders that were. requiring people to get those horrific. things or. >> Yeah. putting an artificial joint in. place cuz everything is so arthritic. That's one of the things that does. trouble me greatly in for this country. Health. Um. medical. uh. systems. to benefit everybody. Something has perverted here Mhm. where, you know, the drug that I might need.

that I can buy for $50 for a month. supply in Australia is $2,500 for a. month here. Yeah. Come on, man. I know. >> What's going on? It's crazy. You know? And and where's See, you've got all. these elected representatives here and. this country's got, you know, a lot, you know? Um. that's what you should be working on, man. Yeah, but they can't. Cuz everybody's got their hands tied. behind their back. >> Yeah, they're all got their including. the media. That's the crazy thing. It's. the amount of money they spend on.

advertising for the media that really. just serves the purpose of now the media. can't criticize the pharmaceutical drug. companies. >> Right. Yeah, it's interesting cuz you know, I. get back here as you know, you know, my. girlfriend's from New Orleans. and you know, we're sitting and watching. TV here and she's now seeing America. from the outside cuz she spends most of. the time traveling with me and we don't. spend that much time in within America. You know, we live in Australia, but. we've been I've been working mainly in.

in Europe the last few years. So, she's. now coming back to her country, but. she's got fresh eyes. And she's sitting. there the other night, she was watching. something. She came out, she said, "I've. just watched like 12 ads for drugs.". I just one after the other after the. other after the other, you know? What. What's this tiny little problem that you. might have or you if I can say it in a. certain way to make you think that. you've got it, bang I got a drug for it. Bang, bang, you know? And. yeah, I mean. 600,000 plus people. in this country in the next 12 months.

will go bankrupt because of their. medical bills. You know how many people will go. bankrupt in Australia because of their. medical bills in the next 12 months? Zero. Zero. Yeah. Yeah, it's the one of. the biggest problems we have. You know? And the idea that you would let. that happen and not do anything about it. because you're bought and paid for by. these enormous companies is kind of. insane. It's insane and they're trying they're. trying to do something about that, you. know, and RFK Jr.'s fighting an uphill.

battle. trying to. do something about that, but it's a. captured industry. Yeah. Yeah. And you know, the fact the fact that the largest. Western economy. is. punishing its citizens in that way Yeah. just beggars belief. That's crazy that health care isn't a. principal thing cuz if if if we're not. looking after ourselves and aiming for.

the longest life, what's the point of. the human existence kind of thing, you. know? So, that should be a principle. Everybody's health should be a principal. focus of our elected representatives. Well said. Russell Crowe, you're the [ __ ] man. Thank you for being here. Joseph, Joseph, Joseph. It's been a pleasure. It's always great to talk to you. Uh continued success and enjoy your. vacation. Cheers, mate. All right, brother. Bye, everybody. And see. Nuremberg, it's amazing. And all the. other films when they come out.

Bye, everybody. [Music]. [Applause]. [Music].