JRE was perfect for the guy who has an office job, a 30+ minute commute, and a gym routine. Long-form conversations, variety, and an easy-to-skip ad read at the beginning.
Back in the 2010s it was like 40% comedians/performers, 20% martial artists, 20% obscure experts (journalists, hunters, CEOs, hackers, physicians), 5% pure academia people (researchers, professors), and 15% internet personalities (youtubers, podcasters).
He started booking some of the Intellectual Dark Web guys like 2013-2014, but it wasn't really until the Trump administration that they started to get booked way more often. I stopped being a regular listener probably around the same time Trump took office, and every time I check back in he gets more and more unhinged. Covid, then moving to Austin, then the Spotify deal, now he's booking guys like Matt Walsh and Peter Thiel and running an incel mothership at the Ritz.
Fuck him.