The Joe Rogan Experience is a curious affair, taking the form of long, discursive, often rambling conversations, in which the host sounds off about whatever seems to be crossing his mind – politics, religion, psychedelics, cage-fighting. He once described it as “escaping the net” and “swimming in open waters”. He is known for saying the unsayable – or at least that which is unsayable in more established broadcasting outlets.

What seems to have particularly excited Young’s ire is Rogan’s recent interviews with a doctor and a scientist, both prominent in the anti-vaxxing movement: cardiologist Dr Peter McCullough, who appeared on Rogan’s show in December, and Dr Robert Malone, who appeared earlier this month – both of whom have been accused of spreading misinformation about Covid treatment and the vaccine. In his appearance on Rogan’s show, Malone – an immunologist who has described himself as the “inventor” of mRNA and DNA vaccines on his LinkedIn profile – compared Covid-19 vaccination efforts in the United States with Germany in the Twenties and Thirties as the Nazi Party rose to power. Immediately prior to his appearance with Rogan, he had been banned from Twitter.

Rogan has frequently turned his attention to the pandemic, challenging conventional wisdom early on by raising the possibility that the pandemic originated with a leak from a Chinese laboratory.

Last August, he revealed that he had contracted Covid himself, which he had treated with ivermectin and monoclonal antibodies – laboratory-made proteins that mimic the immune system’s ability to fight off harmful pathogens such as viruses. (This week, the American Food and Drug Administration announced it was curbing the use of two out of three monoclonal antibody treatments available in the US, saying data shows they aren’t effective against the omicron variant.)

Two months later, in a three-hour interview with Dr Sanjay Gupta, CNN’s chief medical correspondent, Rogan admitted that he had almost been vaccinated some months previously but logistical issues had prevented him from taking the shot.

“You know what I think you should do?” said Rogan, who once described himself as a “f—— moron” on the subject, “I think you should get vaccinated and then get sick. This is why: because then you got the vaccine, which protects you from a bad infection, and then you get Covid, so then you get the robust immunity that’s imparted from having the actual disease itself.” He added: “Get vaccinated, let it wane and hang around with a bunch of dirty people.”