Joe Rogan Experience #2402 - Miranda Lambert

The discussion also ventures into the sensory challenges involved in creative professions, highlighting hearing loss in musicians. Miranda admits to struggles with hearing, sharing anecdotes about water in her ears and longtime use of in-ear monitors, devices she still finds difficult to get accustomed to. Joe and Miranda exchange stories about hearing protection, detailing how friends and family have suffered hearing damage due to occupations or hobbies involving loud noises, such as shooting or playing music loudly onstage. These real-life examples underscore the importance of protecting one's hearing while acknowledging that many creatives and performers contend with auditory challenges as part of their careers.

Mounted Shooting

A remarkable portion of the podcast centers on Miranda's involvement in cowboy mounted shooting—a sport combining horsemanship and firearms in a fast-paced, competitive environment. She explains how she began riding horses at age 30 and only recently started shooting revolvers from horseback, specifically during mounted shooting events where the firearms use black powder instead of live bullets, making it safer for horses and spectators. The sport involves popping balloons with accurate gunfire while riding a course, a challenge requiring intense focus, balance, and coordination. Miranda describes her initial fear, exhilaration, and rapid addiction to this unique adrenaline rush, which is partly a mental break from the constant pressures of the music industry.

Joe expresses fascination with the sport's history and training value, relating it to ancient warrior techniques like those of the Comanche or Mongols, and marvels at the ability to control a horse while managing weaponry. Miranda recounts being inspired by her friend Kenda Lesain, a ten-time world champion, who encouraged her to give it a try. They also discuss the mental clarity that comes from engaging in such focused physical activities. Both Joe and Miranda relate it to their pursuits—Joe's archery and pool games and Miranda's mounted shooting—emphasizing how the concentration required helps push aside other worries and promotes mental rejuvenation.

The Importance of Taking Breaks

Miranda and Joe delve into how taking time away from their respective crafts is essential for maintaining creativity and mental health. Miranda talks about deliberately carving out time for rest and recreation, particularly during the winter months, which contrasts with the relentless pace of touring and performing from spring through winter. She emphasizes the value of finding hobbies that require full engagement physically and mentally, to act as a reset button and avoid burnout. This approach is mirrored in Joe's advice to comedians and artists to pursue outside interests, whether golf, fishing, or pool, to avoid obsessive fixation on show business.

The conversation emphasizes that structured breaks help protect the creative "battery" and reason why she's fully committed to hobbies like mounted shooting and golfing, even if she's not world-class at them. Joe acknowledges the challenge for driven people to insist on downtime but frames it as a necessity. Miranda's mindset of embracing new activities later in life also reflects a healthy attitude toward growth and adaptation, reinforcing that nourishing the creative spirit often requires fresh experiences and sometimes, embracing "the try new things" era of life.

Hearing Loss

The interview touches repeatedly on hearing loss as a widespread occupational hazard for performers and those involved in firearms or loud environments. Miranda shares personal insights about her gradual hearing challenges, stemming from years of performing and being around amplified sound. Joe draws parallels from his background in music and martial arts, noting how protective devices like in-ear monitors and earplugs are critical to preserving auditory health despite their drawbacks, such as losing the "energy" of a live room.

They discuss generational shifts in awareness, questioning when society began to understand the damaging impact of loud music and gunfire on hearing. Both reflect on their social circles, where many older friends suffer from significant hearing impairment, and relate anecdotes about family members who've suffered hearing loss through occupational exposure, often compounded by neglect or dismissive attitudes toward aids and protection. The dialogue highlights the delicate balance performers face—protecting one's ears while staying connected to the intensity of live performance.

Acting on Passion

Miranda reflects on her journey into music starting as a teenager with no backup plan but a natural talent and passion that guided her career path. She admits to struggling academically but feeling a clear calling to music, viewing it as the only thing she excelled at. This led her to forgo traditional options like college and instead focus wholly on her singing and songwriting. Joe expresses respect for this singular focus and the fire it fuels, while also acknowledging that such an approach isn't advisable for everyone due to the inherent risks.

The concept of fate plays a key role in their understanding of success, with both agreeing that despite the rational mind's doubts, the serendipitous chain of events that shaped Miranda's life feels like destiny. Whether meeting supportive mentors or aligning with opportunities, Miranda sees her career as a product of fate and circumstance—both an acknowledgement of luck and dedication. Joe adds that people like them who have "made it" often can't deny this sense of fate because their lives reflect a convergence of talent, timing, and perseverance.

Social Media

The podcast addresses the complex role of social media in shaping modern careers, especially for artists and comedians. Miranda expresses ambivalence about platforms like TikTok, recognizing their power to catapult new talent to fame but also admitting a reluctance to fully immerse herself in them. She describes social media as a "raging river" of information, overwhelming and relentless, requiring constant vigilance and management. Joe and Miranda discuss using teams and assistants to curate content for them, allowing them to avoid addiction to scrolling or being drawn into social media's pitfalls while still benefiting from its promotional power.

They touch on younger generations growing up with social media, noting that no previous group of children faced this challenge. The conversation critiques performative social media breaks and the compulsive need some people have to announce their abstinence publicly. Miranda also highlights how her family uses apps to monitor and limit social media time, aiming to protect mental health and productivity. Both agree that while social media offers great opportunities, it demands careful navigation to avoid distraction, comparison traps, and anxiety.

ADHD, Focus, and Cognitive Enhancers

Investigating personal experiences and societal issues around focus and attention, Miranda and Joe discuss their own struggles with ADHD-like symptoms, calling it a "superpower" when harnessed properly. They critique traditional education for stifling natural variation in learning styles and the widespread medicalization of attention problems, especially among children who are expected to conform to narrow behavioral norms. Both express skepticism toward over-reliance on medications but acknowledge that stimulants like Adderall can have benefits, especially for productivity and creative work.

The conversation broadens to the booming number of ADHD diagnoses and prescriptions, with Joe noting that about 45 million prescriptions were written recently in the U.S. They explore alternative cognitive enhancers such as nicotine gum and "nootropics" like Alpha Brain, which some artists use to enhance focus. Miranda describes experimenting with nicotine products and making conscious decisions to avoid addiction, while also expressing interest in safer ways to optimize mental performance without resorting to powerful stimulants or addictive substances.

The Mut Nation Foundation

Miranda shares a deeply personal connection with animals, especially dogs, dating back to her rural upbringing. She co-founded the Mut Nation Foundation with her mother, a charity dedicated to animal rescue, advocacy for shelters, and promoting spaying and neutering. The organization raises millions of dollars to support shelters across the country by issuing grants, largely with a focus on "adopt don't shop." Miranda's passion for animals emerges as not just a hobby but a heartfelt mission, intertwined with her upbringing and sense of responsibility as a public figure.

Their discussion illustrates the complexity of animal rescue, addressing misconceptions about "good" and "bad" dog breeds, especially pitbulls, and the challenges faced by shelters inundated with dogs surrendered due to mismatched expectations. Miranda emphasizes the importance of educating potential pet owners about different breeds' requirements, the surrender crisis, and fostering empathy toward rescue animals. She describes her own household's mix of dogs—including seniors and those with special needs—and her insight into the transformation of wild animals into beloved pets through human care.

The Art of Performance

The parallels between music and comedy are a recurring theme in the conversation. Both Miranda and Joe discuss the unique challenges involved in performing live, emphasizing that while comedians face particular nerve-wracking moments, musicians also undergo intense vulnerability on stage. Miranda recounts her own early experiences singing in bars and contests, learning to open up her personality beyond the music—a process aided by a supportive speech teacher in high school who helped her overcome shyness.

Joe conversely describes starting comedy with severe fear despite his physical courage in martial arts, recognizing the emotional nakedness required to present jokes to strangers. Both value the energy and camaraderie found in creative collaboration, whether co-writing songs or riffing in green rooms, and are inspired by working with talents younger than themselves. This shared respect for the discipline of live performance underscores how both crafts require continual development, vulnerability, and connection to audiences.

Horses, Riding, and Animal Behavior

Horses and horseback riding form an essential backdrop to Miranda's current interests. She describes the learning curve of starting riding at age 30 and the contrast between "English" riding lessons that focus on structured technique and "Western" riding's looser style. Although she's fallen multiple times, Miranda tells of working with trainers who emphasized Pilates and core strength for stability and control on horseback, making clear how physically demanding and technical equestrian pursuits can be.

Miranda also discusses the nature of horses, their sensitivity, and protective instincts. She relates personal stories, such as how horses wear earplugs during shooting events and the importance of trusting one's own abilities alongside the animal's cooperation. Joe shares fascination with the athleticism and instincts of different working dog and horse breeds, relating them to the evolutionary lineage of wolves and ancient horse trainers. The conversation reflects a shared reverence for the deep bond between humans and animals trained for cooperation and sport.

Pool, Focus, and Mental Discipline

Joe Rogan elaborates on his long-time passion for pool, explaining the nuanced mental and physical demands of the game. He describes how pool requires total concentration, hand-eye coordination, and mental calculation, including spins, angles, and "English" to control balls precisely on the table. Joe notes that mastering pool is an ongoing quest involving a rare "in stroke" sensation—a flow state where everything aligns perfectly, driving players to return again and again despite the frustrations.

The conversation touches on how some players use stimulants to achieve this heightened mental state, demonstrating the psychological hold the game can have. Joe shares stories of professional players whose addiction to reaching their peak performance leads to dependencies on drugs—a stark example of how concentration-heavy activities intersect with mental health challenges. Miranda relates, appreciating this idea, tying it back to her own need for active, engaging hobbies to maintain focus and clear-headedness.

Substance Use in Show Business

Finally, the podcast addresses the role of substances like alcohol and nicotine within creative and performance communities. Miranda is candid about her past drinking habits and her decision to reduce alcohol consumption for health reasons, recognizing the toll it took on her energy and recovery. Joe and Miranda discuss substance use culturally associated with performers—the way alcohol lowers inhibitions and brings people together as part of the party, but also how it can spiral into unhealthy patterns.

They overlay this with a nuanced view of nicotine, discussing various delivery methods such as gum, lozenges, patches, and vapes, weighing their cognitive benefits against addiction risks. Joe explains nicotine's neuroprotective and nootropic properties, while both agree that traditional smoking and vaping deliver harmful chemicals that diminish overall health. The conversation adds perspective on stimulants like Adderall, their proliferation, and their double-edged potential for focus versus addiction, weaving a broader narrative about managing oneself amid the pressures and temptations endemic to creative professions.