April 13, 2022

Bill Maher has a podcast. Watch him talk with Bella Thorne about sex.

 

My favorite thing about this discussion — the reason I'm blogging it — is the disconnect on the question whether music is a key component of a sexual encounter. Bill: "No music?? NO MUSIC?!!??" Bella doesn't want the distraction, the sense of fucking to this song. And Bill seems as though he can't conceive of sex without music — it would be "dry" — and how can you not have "a soundtrack." The overall vibe here is weirdly fake — the decor, the lighting, the we're getting high together ....

Meanwhile, Bill was on Joe Rogan's show. That's where I found out about Bill's new podcast. And you can tell that Bill and his people are trying to create a similar aura of intimacy, but there's a big difference. What Joe has isn't easy to copy. There's something that's missing in Bill Maher's setup. It's hard to figure out exactly what!

58 comments:

Rollo said...

Having to think about sex with Bill Maher is not a good way to start the day.

tim maguire said...

Maher looks like an old man desperately trying to seem hip. Sad.

David Begley said...

I’m with her.

Danno said...

I had never heard of her before I DDG'ed her for this post. Just another celebrity libtard I guess. A boring Maher segment if you ask me.

tim in vermont said...

Maher is too opinionated to make something like Rogan's show. Dale Carnegie, you know, the guy who was Scott Adams before Scott Adams on 'persuasion,' said that "in order to be persuasive, people have to believe that you are persuadable." Nobody believes that Maher is persuadable.

Birches said...

I don't listen to Joe Rogan, but someone had a clip of Gilbert Gottfried yesterday and I listened. What struck me was how earnest he is when he's listening to a story. It doesn't seem easy to fake. Bill Maher could never pull it off so he shouldn't even try.

Old and slow said...

I think I"d rather not...

Curious George said...

"What Joe has isn't easy to copy. There's something that's missing in Bill Maher's setup. It's hard to figure out exactly what!"

No, it's easy. It's missing Joe Rogan.

exhelodrvr1 said...

Rogan is completely open to reality, or at least his on-air persona is. Maher can't let go of most of his anti-conservstive bigotry. That's the difference.

MikeR said...

I didn't hear past the end, so I didn't get to hear if Rogan pushed back a little on Trump. Maher, like all liberals, got so freaked out by Trump that he probably can't acknowledge the obvious: Trump was in many ways unfit to be President, but... all Presidents in my memory have been manifestly unfit to be President, just in different ways. And unlike them, Trump was enough out of the box to get some important things done, at least somewhat.

MikeR said...

"Watch him talk about sex with Bella Thorne." I don't have to do that.

Will Cate said...

Joe has the je ne sais quoi that Bill does not because Joe grew his podcast up from nothing, and that DIY flair of his still exists. That sort of thing can't be bottled & sold.

Michael said...

Shouln't your headline be: "...talk with Bella Thorne about sex" rather than "...talk about sex with Bella Thorne"? It is perhaps, well, ambiguous as is.

Caroline said...

Sex with Bill Maher is something you could only get me to listen to with a gun to my head.

Iman said...

With a face like that…

Iman said...

Maher is tedious. Rogan is not.

Bob Boyd said...

There's something that's missing in Bill Maher's setup.

Joe Rogan.

Leland said...

Watch him talk about sex with Bella Thorne.

At least with bad porn, there isn’t much talking. Although I’m a bit curious why she would want to have sex with him, but that she did suggests she’s not worth the time. Superfluous to say I didn’t watch.

Jake said...

The weird lighting. It's like what Seinfeld would have expected at an orgy.

Wince said...

Rogan has a humble demeanor, while Maher gives off an air of personal superiority...

Well, here's an example.

Ann Althouse said...

"Shouln't your headline be: "...talk with Bella Thorne about sex" rather than "...talk about sex with Bella Thorne"? It is perhaps, well, ambiguous as is."

What are the 2 possible meanings? I don't see it.

Ann Althouse said...

Oh, wait, I see it.

Yeah, that's a problem

Ann Althouse said...

I edited the post title. Thanks, Michael.

Howard said...

Maybe compare Maher's pudcast to the early JRE shows featuring dildo sponsors and sidekick Brian Redban.

rcocean said...

Bill maher has a face for podcasting. As for him talking about sex, lets see someone sell a Bill Maher celebrity sex tape. Maybe if they sold copies for 25 cents and labeled it "Horror" someone would watch it.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

If find celebrity culture's obsession with sex and that funny feeling = boring.

up next, these same jerks lecture us on how prude we all are. I just want to tell them to STFU.

Dude1394 said...

I expect that it is not what is MISSING. It is what is there, his elitism and snobbery. Very typical of leftists. Joe Rogan doesn't have either of those.

Joe Rogan interviewing the same person probably wouldn't try to convince the guest that he was right and she was wrong.

Iman said...

Howard the Sponsor.

Joe Smith said...

When Maher sounds sane, you know the left has gone off the deep end.

Is it just me, or is he looking more and more like Larry King every day?

Quaestor said...

It's hard to figure out exactly what!

How about this: Rogan asks questions. Maher asks rhetorical questions and answers them himself.

Joe Rogan is an instinctive journalist, the kind who built the great newspapers a century and more ago, the newspapers academically trained are busily destroying. Bill Maher is a performer, his deep thoughts are carefully crafted props for his schtick. Don't be fooled into thinking Maher is some sort of leftist resistance figure. He's a product created by a team of writers and trend researchers.

Tom said...

Joe is really interested in what other people have to say. Maher is interested in making a point.

Joe seeks first to understand. Maher seeks first to be understood.

Imagine the show where Bill Maher is Joe Rogen’ guest. Now imagine the show where Joe Rogen is Bill Maher’s guest. Which show would you enjoy more? Which show would you learn more?

Farmer said...

"What Joe has isn't easy to copy. There's something that's missing in Bill Maher's setup. It's hard to figure out exactly what!"

Joe Rogan is likable. Bill Maher isn't. You get the feeling Rogan is pretty much the same guy off air as on. Maher has a "screaming-at-underlings-when-the-camera's-off" vibe, like a slightly less insane Jerry Lewis.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Bill has had a studio audience to interact with for all his shows, going back to his days on network television. It has probably shaped his interview style permanently. Whereas Rogan has been doing the podcast one on one for decades.

Curious George said...

"Lem said...
Bill has had a studio audience to interact with for all his shows, going back to his days on network television. It has probably shaped his interview style permanently. Whereas Rogan has been doing the podcast one on one for decades."

True, but not decades for JRE.

Godot said...

Those awful chairs.
The sickly lighting.
The staged set dressings
The guest. The host. The subject.

And to quote Nicholas Kristof after a third glass of Pinot...

The raison d'être

Bob Boyd said...

Maher is kinda drunk and kinda creepy in that video with Bella Thorne. Never seen Rogan being creepy.

Laslo Spatula said...

Bill Maher, talking sex with a woman he desperately wants to have sex with.

Her, talking sex with a man with whom she probably would never have sex.

Depending on the Daddy Issues, of course; it IS Hollywood.

One step closer to Bill Maher at the schoolyard, asking young girls if they want to be on a "podcast".

I am Laslo.

MB said...

Maher always looks like he just thought of a snarky koke about you that he can't wait to tell his friends, once your back is turned.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Rogan didn’t call it the JRE.

Another old lawyer said...

Tom at 10:30 AM has it right.

Rogan gives the impression of someone searching for info and working toward understanding and answers. Maher has already reached conclusions and wants to support and defend them, not reconsider them.

Rollo said...

In my day, all we had was Bella Abzog.

Nobody wanted to talk about sex with her, or even think about it

Aggie said...

I think Joe Rogan has a genuine interest in people of any stripe, from any background, because he grew up lower middle class in South Boston and his journey has brought him here. Maher on the other hand, holds others in contempt - even his audience, as one can see from his interactions during his broadcasts. He passes it off as if he's making smartass jokes at a frat party, but you'll notice his humor is always at the expense of others, whereas Joe's is often self-deprecating. Joe is humble; Maher is arrogant.

Earnest Prole said...

I listened to Maher’s interview Quinten Tarantino and had the same reaction: something is missing. I think the problem is that Maher feels the need to be a performer at all times and is incapable of receding into the background like Joe Rogan. Many times Maher talked over Tarantino at the very moment he was saying something really interesting, and then it was lost. Rogan rarely does that.

Earnest Prole said...

I listened to Maher interview Quinten Tarantino and had the same reaction: something is missing. I think the problem is that Maher feels the need to be a performer at all times and is incapable of receding into the background like Joe Rogan. Many times Maher talked over Tarantino at the very moment he was saying something really interesting, and then it was lost. Rogan rarely does that.

Earnest Prole said...

Maher gave off a dirty old man vibe even in his thirties.

Joe Smith said...

'Her, talking sex with a man with whom she probably would never have sex.

Depending on the Daddy Issues, of course; it IS Hollywood.'

Or whether or not he can hook her up with a good role.

Good to see Laslo again...

stunned said...

Sex, Bill Maher & Pinot Noir alcoholism.

Scott Patton said...

Aggie at 12:52: "Maher is arrogant."
...
of The Comedy Team of Smug and Arrogant
(couldn't find a proper clip)

iowan2 said...

"Somethings missing"

Sincerity. Once you can fake that....

Rogen is seeking to learn

Mahr is seeking to teach.

Chris Lopes said...

"Maher on the other hand, holds others in contempt - even his audience, as one can see from his interactions during his broadcasts."

That should be "especially his audience", as his contempt for them is quite palpable. It's almost a self awareness thing, where he knows he's a total bullshit artist and actually hates anyone stupid enough to fall for his bullshit. Weird.

FleetUSA said...

Best music for sex is "Un Bel Di" from Madame Buttefly. A certain pounding effect.

wildswan said...

Maher doesn't listen and respond to what he hears. He's got a joke ready or an attitude and he's gonna get it out there. It's about himself.

farmgirl said...

Kinda TMI: don’t think I’ve ever had sex w/music. Ambiance is being w/the one I love.

Who is Duncan Trussell? When I’m doing housework I listen to different podcasts: Peterson <3, Bishop Baron, Russell Brand, Joe Rogan. Today it was Rogan and this guy Trussell. 2020. I sincerely wish, hope and pray they do another now. It would be cool to see how they feel about where they were from the perspective of here and now. I’m not finished yet and they were both drinking and stoned- so, maybe they didn’t finish either lol

Narr said...

I stopped after Maher's opening self-description as "common-sensical." While I give him credit for swimming against the current in some very limited areas he has staked out, his weltanschauung is 99% leftard sprinkled with a few faux-edgy contrarianisms. (As for contempt for his audience, I'm with him there.)

I've never found music to have much romantic or aphrodisiacal effects per se. It distracts more than it helps IMHE.

Except for my man Barry White, of course.

Bunkypotatohead said...

All I ever think when I see Maher is smug prick.
It's been that way for 30 years.

Howard said...

I stopped watching the podcast when it got boring. Ten minutes maybe

veni vidi vici said...

A guy who's not completely and utterly transparently inauthentic and crassly opportunistic is what's missing from Maher's podcast. What it's left with is unfortunately Maher himself, who despite obviously knowing better has been caught in so many latter-day "changes of heart" that are really admissions without admitting anything, very dishonestly and uncharitably towards those who saw these same things months or years before he arrived there, that he probably has lost the ability to even fathom what authenticity means in the sense of being someone who people can break past the superficial with.
He comes off like a guy who's always acting and will say anything, and has the weird need to maintain his "schtick" at all costs, and this is why his podcast will never obtain the je ne c'est quoi to which Althouse alludes.

Joe Bar said...

I have listened to Maher's podcasts, and I have found them interesting and entertaining. You are, of course, correct in that he is not Rogan. I might skip this one, thoug, as I have cannot think of what Bella Thorne might have to say that would interest me.