May 25, 2026 · 2h 56m
Tom Segura and Joe Rogan dissect brutal history and bizarre crimes
#2505 - Tom Segura
The conversation connects the psychology of extreme historical violence with the mechanics of dark humor and modern political skepticism.
- 1Absolute power in dictatorial regimes often breeds extreme personal sadism, as illustrated by the history of Uday Hussein.
- 2The evolution of comedy highlights a persistent cultural tension between traditional stand-up and prop-based performance art.
- 3The presence of government informants in major political events continues to fuel skepticism about official state narratives.
Don't miss
The detailed analysis of a bizarre news story involving a highly engineered DIY guillotine.
The brief
Comedian Tom Segura joins Joe Rogan to explore the dark corners of history, comedy, and current events, shifting from the brutal realities of authoritarian regimes to the mechanics of modern stand-up.
The duo examines the extreme brutality of Uday Hussein's regime in Iraq, highlighting how absolute power and sadism manifested in one of the modern era's most notorious dictatorships.
Shifting to bizarre true crime, they dissect a strange news story involving a meticulously engineered DIY guillotine, analyzing the dark psychology behind such extreme, solitary acts.
The conversation also turns toward the evolution of comedy, contrasting traditional stand-up with niche performance styles like prop comedy and ventriloquism.
They close with a skeptical look at political events, questioning the controversial role of government informants in shaping public narratives and driving domestic incidents.
What was said on this episode
83 statements · 30 positive · 44 negative · 3 mixed · 6 neutral
Weighted-pack training prepares people for carrying hunting packs.
“For actually having a backpack on.”
Listen at 3:11
Wild pigs can produce up to three litters annually with six piglets each.
“wild pigs have as many as three litters a year, and they could have as many as six piglets per litter.”
Listen at 4:15
Wild pigs begin reproducing at six months old.
“they start giving birth at 6 months old.”
Listen at 4:22
Texas permits hunting wild pigs every day, including at night.
“you can shoot them. You can shoot them every day, all day.”
Listen at 4:57
Undercooked wild pig meat can cause trichinosis.
“you can get trichinosis if you undercook it.”
Listen at 5:11
Hunting invasive wild pigs helps the environment.
“you're literally helping the environment.”
Listen at 9:44
Texas law permits shooting wild pigs from helicopters.
“you can shoot them out of helicopters too.”
Listen at 13:01
Childhood trauma and neglect are usually present among extremely violent adults.
“when you see like these really horrifically violent people and as adults there's, there's almost always childhood trauma and neglect”
Listen at 15:13
Tom considers Uday Hussein the most sadistic modern person in power.
“in modern times the most sadistic guy in power that we've seen.”
Listen at 22:23
Concentrated political power should be constrained when dangerous people rise to power.
“you want to keep powers in check when it comes to like, like when certain people rise to power”
Listen at 22:46
Joe predicts Uday would eventually have become Iraq’s leader absent intervention.
“He would eventually become the king.”
Listen at 30:24
AI-generated content is increasingly capable of deceiving people.
“there's a lot of AI shit that is starting to trick more and more people.”
Listen at 32:18
Some OnlyFans accounts use entirely fictional AI-generated women.
“AI Only fans. They have AI girls. They're doing only fans. They're completely fake.”
Listen at 32:59
AI-generated OnlyFans accounts reportedly generate about $27 million annually.
“they're generating, like, 27 million a year.”
Listen at 33:21
AI is established and will not disappear.
“this is here, this is not going away.”
Listen at 33:54
People should learn about and embrace artificial intelligence.
“You have to learn it. You have to embrace learning about it.”
Listen at 34:59
Joe predicts AI will perform most tasks.
“most tasks are going to be done by that.”
Listen at 35:30
Joe predicts AI-driven automation will eliminate these jobs.
“And then there's no jobs like this is what's going”
Listen at 35:50
AI will eventually monitor itself, self-correct, and outperform humans on tasks.
“the AI is going to be able to pay attention to itself. It's going to be self correcting and it's going to do a better job out of it.”
Listen at 35:59
Advanced AI may anticipate every possible human scenario and response.
“it will think of every possible scenario and response that a human could have”
Listen at 36:25
Tom predicts AI will eventually develop instinct-like behavior.
“at a certain point, Instincts will probably be a part of it.”
Listen at 38:59
Rejecting AI outright will create greater future disadvantages.
“If you just approach it with I reject, you're setting yourself up for a bigger failure.”
Listen at 39:34
College can leave graduates with unaffordable debt and poor financial outcomes.
“you might not be balling, but you might be saddled to a debt that you can't get out of no matter what.”
Listen at 40:19
Student debt remains collectible after bankruptcy.
“if you go bankrupt, they still come after you for that.”
Listen at 40:39
Tom estimates mid-tier university tuition at roughly $60,000 annually.
“a mid tier university is now whatever, like 60,000 a year.”
Listen at 40:56
Tom says Ivy League tuition generally costs at least six figures annually.
“The Ivy League is like six figures always.”
Listen at 41:04
People should educate themselves about AI while it develops.
“educating yourself is still the best route for now.”
Listen at 41:32
Focused entrepreneurs can potentially profit substantially from AI.
“if you're, like, really focused, you could actually probably profit immensely off AI.”
Listen at 41:49
Middle-act comedians are more likely to become headliners and earn a good living.
“it's more likely once you become a middle act that you'll eventually become a headliner, make a good living.”
Listen at 47:33
Tom estimates roughly one in 700 open-mic comedians become professionals.
“It's probably not 1 in 500. It's probably 1 in 700.”
Listen at 48:08
Some hardworking comedians fail because their efforts are misdirected and inflexible.
“they're misdirected. Like, they. They latch on to, like, an idea about how they're supposed to do it, and they just do that.”
Listen at 49:20
Character-based comedy acts are less likely to endure or become popular today.
“if you did that now, I think be like, I don't think it would last. I don't think it would catch on as much.”
Listen at 50:30
Carrot Top performs approximately 700 shows annually.
“he's doing like 700 shows a year”
Listen at 51:11
Durupinar samples contain nearly three times more organic material internally than externally.
“samples inside the structure contain nearly three times more organic material than those from outside”
Listen at 1:11:00
A comet storm struck North America approximately 11,800 years ago.
“somewhere around 11,800 years ago we ran into a comet storm and they slammed into North America”
Listen at 1:18:11
The proposed comet impacts caused catastrophic flooding and major landscape erosion.
“you just get this insane wash of water that tears through the land”
Listen at 1:18:19
Jupiter protects Earth from incoming comets countless times annually.
“we get saved countless times a year just by Jupiter”
Listen at 1:18:50
James Cameron is highly expert in submersibles.
“he's such an expert in those submersibles too”
Listen at 1:22:23
The failed submersible design prioritized being light enough for repeated towing and commercial trips.
“he couldn't figure out how to design one that was capable. It's that he couldn't define design one that was light enough to do multiple trips and be towed out”
Listen at 1:28:13
The submersible’s designer pursued progressively lighter construction materials.
“he kept looking for lighter and lighter materials”
Listen at 1:28:35
Classic Recreations’ carbon-fiber 1967 Mustang costs at least $500,000.
“It's like a half a million dollar car at least”
Listen at 1:29:46
Approximately 99% of the private collector’s cars are not driven.
“most like 99% don't get driven”
Listen at 1:33:44
The privately held collector cars are probably good investments.
“they're probably a good investment”
Listen at 1:33:51
An old Porsche is preferable for driving, while an old Ferrari is primarily artwork.
“I feel like the Porsche would be the one you'd want to drive”
Listen at 1:37:20
The modern Shelby Super Snake is exceptionally exciting and fun to drive.
“it's the most exciting. It's like the most fun to drive”
Listen at 1:38:39
Greater speed does not necessarily make a car more fun.
“fast doesn't equal fun necessarily”
Listen at 1:39:19
Los Angeles is the best city for convertible driving
“there's no better top down city than la”
Listen at 1:44:22
Nico Wiesnet is an exceptionally skilled director of photography
“my DP Nico Wiesnet is brilliant”
Listen at 1:46:59
Netflix is uniquely willing to produce this irreverent show
“I don't think you could do it anywhere but Netflix”
Listen at 1:47:38
Netflix is not ideologically captured
“they're not ideologically captured”
Listen at 1:48:20
Netflix does not exclusively allow woke content
“they only allow like woke content”
Listen at 1:48:23
Some apparently respectful terms can be considered offensive in Canada
“something that I thought I was saying, like, with respect, was disrespectful”
Listen at 1:53:16
Canada is moving increasingly toward communism
“they're moving closer and closer to communism”
Listen at 1:54:25
Canada’s hate-speech laws restrict freedom of speech
“they don't have. First of all, they don't have freedom of speech or they have hate speech laws”
Listen at 1:54:32
Medical assistance in dying accounted for 5.1% of Canadian deaths in 2024
“5.1% of all deaths in the country”
Listen at 1:55:51
Canada’s assisted-dying system involves profit
“There's profit involved in killing”
Listen at 1:58:01
Alaska provides a reduced criminal charge for killing during seasonal depression
“if you get seasonal depression and you kill someone. It's a lesser charge”
Listen at 2:06:35
Low sunlight and vitamin D cause widespread flu during flu season
“It's because no one's outside because no one has any vitamin D. So everybody gets the flu.”
Listen at 2:09:33
Sunlight is necessary for human health through vitamin D production
“sunlight is actually a necessary part of being a human being”
Listen at 2:10:25
Jelly Roll has lost 300 pounds
“He's down £300”
Listen at 2:11:00
Jelly Roll will feel much better after excess-skin removal surgery
“I imagine how great he's going to feel after that. It's going to feel so good.”
Listen at 2:11:48
Jelly Roll should use hyperbaric treatment and peptides during recovery
“he's got to get, like, a hyperbaric chamber, you know, Definitely take peptides”
Listen at 2:11:56
Sean Strickland could defeat his opponent because of exceptional durability
“I think Strickland can win this fight because Strickland is like insanely durable”
Listen at 2:17:12
The Ray J fight footage supports the theory that the bout was prearranged
“the body language lends itself to that theory”
Listen at 2:19:14
Ray J and Super Hot Fire likely agreed not to seriously hurt each other for money
“They must have made some sort of a deal. They weren't going to hurt each other and they were going to do it for money.”
Listen at 2:19:47
Several $200,000 bets warrant investigation.
“we got a few $200,000 bets that we should investigate.”
Listen at 2:29:32
Seven-figure bets are likely to attract scrutiny.
“if you start putting seven figures down, you don't think anyone's gonna take a second look at that.”
Listen at 2:31:18
Insider betting on private injury information is probably illegal.
“I don't think it is.”
Listen at 2:31:42
Using undisclosed player-injury information for betting can produce criminal charges.
“Exploiting non public information, such as knowing a star player is injured before it is announced can lead to criminal charges.”
Listen at 2:33:23
Percentage changes alone do not reveal starting and ending amounts.
“But percentages don't tell you, like, what you started with and what you ended with.”
Listen at 2:34:25
Members of both parties in Congress engage in insider trading.
“they're all doing it.”
Listen at 2:34:48
Nvidia’s value has increased substantially.
“Nvidia itself has gone up a shitload.”
Listen at 2:35:31
Trump, his children, and his company cannot be audited under the latest settlement.
“The latest thing is that he and his kids and his company cannot be audited.”
Listen at 2:36:14
Government agents encouraged crimes to portray Donald Trump as a threat.
“And they encourage people to do it so they can make it look like Donald Trump is a real threat.”
Listen at 2:39:06
Some government employees are paid to induce otherwise-uncommitted crimes.
“They're being paid to encourage people to commit crimes they would have never committed without it.”
Listen at 2:39:24
Some prosecutors manipulate evidence to improve their careers.
“So they just monkey around with the evidence.”
Listen at 2:42:05
Police departments may use arrest quotas to meet performance expectations.
“I think they have a quota and I think, like, they have to fucking make arrests”
Listen at 2:43:01
Police would enforce other offenses because citations generate revenue.
“they would pinch people for something else. They just absolutely would. That's crazy, because it generates too much revenue.”
Listen at 2:45:36
Dictators who instill fear experience fear themselves.
“when you operate in a place of wanting to instill fear, you feel fear”
Listen at 2:47:13
War and chaos create opportunities for widespread theft.
“whenever there's a war, whenever there's chaos, there's a bunch of people that are gonna steal some money.”
Listen at 2:48:49
The United States provides the Taliban $40 million monthly.
“we have 40 million a month for the Taliban.”
Listen at 2:50:44
An exciting Spencer Pratt campaign could win the Los Angeles mayoral race.
“if you put together a campaign that gets some excitement, people talking, you have a chance in la.”
Listen at 2:51:21
Karen Bass caused the Pacific Palisades destruction through inadequate firefighting water.
“She burned down the entire Pacific Palisades by not having any water in the hydrants.”
Listen at 2:52:28
Statements are attributed to the speaker as said on the episode and reflect their view at the time, not PodLume's. They are not advice.
