John DeVore, writing at his Medium site, destroys Joe Rogan and his continued use of the R-word.

During a recent episode of his hit podcast, Joe Rogan dropped the R-word and declared that it’s back — a “great cultural victory.” I shrugged at his giddy claim, then reluctantly proceeded to listen to a comedian with intellectual aspirations bicker with a prickly, war-horny historian about Nazis and current events for almost three hours. It sounded like a high school debate between angry virgins who hate their mothers, and the podcast passed through me like Pepto-Bismol.

But I kept returning to the pride in Rogan’s voice about his “cultural victory,” as if he were a conquering general recounting a fabled campaign, or an immortal Viking spinning a valiant myth.

He was impressed by his own splendid influence, and many joined him. I did not. I don’t influence anyone, which is probably for the best.

I rather liked this bit.

The rise of the R-word slur worries disability advocates who rightly fear its comeback will result in the spread of prejudice towards people with disabilities. Their concern is justified.

I think it sucks because it is, for lack of a spicier word, boring. Dropping the R-word must feel like freedom to those inconvenienced by empathy, and that’s just a boring way to live. A man’s life should be an epic poem, not a foul little fart.

“A foul little fart” is poetry. He ends it thusly:

So use the R-word if you want, but be honest with yourself: your love of the R-word comes from a sad, dark hole inside of you, and at the bottom of that hole sits your eternal soul, Gollum-like, a naked, hairless creature whose deeds and words will never be remembered.

I’ll ask nicely… stop using the R-word. You sound like an asshole.