#2508 - Joe Eszterhas

Episode of The Joe Rogan Experience · June 3, 2026 · 2 h 18 min

Screenwriter Joe Eszterhas tells Joe Rogan about writing Basic Instinct, his friendship with Hunter S. Thompson, his Christian faith, the Shroud of Turin, ICE and encounters with music legends.

Summary

Screenwriter and former journalist Joe Eszterhas joined Joe Rogan for a wide-ranging conversation about his life and career. Eszterhas described how Basic Instinct grew out of a college affair with an older faculty member's wife and a police friend involved in shootings, and said he wrote the script in 13 days in Hawaii before it sold for a record $3 million. He recounted his years as a police reporter in Dayton and Cleveland, including witnessing the Glenville uprising, and said nearly all his scripts drew on personal experience. He also mentioned a new deal for Basic Instinct 3, which he titled Basic Instinct Jezebel.

Eszterhas discussed his return to Christianity after surviving stage four throat cancer, his reservations about the Catholic Church as an institution, and his view of Jesus as a flesh-and-blood Jewish freedom fighter whom films have sanitized. He and Rogan discussed The Passion of the Christ, The Last Temptation of Christ, and the Shroud of Turin; Eszterhas said the evidence points to a medieval origin but that the image moves him regardless, while Rogan said he was agnostic and fascinated that no one can explain or recreate the image.

Eszterhas credited Hunter S. Thompson with launching his career at Rolling Stone and in Hollywood, sharing anecdotes about their friendship and praising Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72. The two discussed Donald Trump, whom Eszterhas said spoke directly to working-class people, and ICE enforcement, with Rogan warning that masked, briefly trained federal agents set a dangerous precedent for militarized policing and Eszterhas comparing the rhetoric to that preceding the Kent State shootings.

Later topics included Mark Twain as a proto-stand-up comedian, Sam Kinison dedicating an album to Eszterhas after his public letter to Michael Ovitz, a morning Eszterhas spent with Jimi Hendrix at a Hungarian restaurant in Cleveland, the 27 Club, and Eszterhas's reflections on alcohol, cocaine, nicotine and writing, his sobriety, his wife Naomi's debut novel, and communal worship.

Chapters

0:03
The Dogon cane and Zelensky's favorite film
Rogan and Eszterhas discuss his Dogon-carved cane and a report that Volodymyr Zelensky and his wife watched Basic Instinct at least 15 times, leading into Eszterhas's 'twisted little man' muse and Basic Instinct 3.
5:14
The origins of Basic Instinct
Eszterhas traces the script to a college affair and a trigger-happy cop friend, and describes writing it in 13 days in Hawaii before its record $3 million sale.
Linked moment · 11:13Skip to 11:13 using a listen link in the info box.
11:13
Police reporting and real-life inspirations
Eszterhas recounts crime scenes, the Glenville uprising, witnessing a stabbing as a child, the personal roots of his films, and his last interview with Otis Redding.
25:17
Christian films and the historical Jesus
Eszterhas explains why his Christian scripts went unmade and discusses The Passion of the Christ, The Last Temptation of Christ, Mary Magdalene and the Gospels.
37:03
The Shroud of Turin
The two examine carbon dating, image-formation theories and the shroud's history, with Eszterhas saying its authenticity matters less to him than its effect on him.
49:59
Cancer and conversion
Eszterhas describes surviving stage four throat cancer, returning to faith, his issues with the Catholic Church, and his love of Black spiritual worship.
56:47
Civil rights and Rolling Stone
Eszterhas recalls lunch with Martin Luther King Jr., his civil rights reporting, and the freewheeling culture at Rolling Stone in the 1970s.
1:02:19
Hunter S. Thompson
Eszterhas credits Thompson with launching his career and shares anecdotes about their friendship, Thompson's decline, and his writing legacy.
1:17:04
Trump and ICE enforcement
Eszterhas says Trump speaks directly to working people, and the two voice concern about masked ICE agents, militarized policing and the treatment of migrants, recalling Kent State.
1:29:57
Mark Twain and Sam Kinison
They discuss Twain as the original stand-up comedian, Eszterhas's idea for a Twain project, and Kinison dedicating an album to Eszterhas after his letter to Michael Ovitz.
1:44:13
Jimi Hendrix in Cleveland
Eszterhas tells of taking Hendrix and his bandmates to a Hungarian restaurant after interviewing him, and the two discuss the 27 Club.
1:53:37
Sobriety, writing and faith
Eszterhas reflects on surviving his excesses, his wife's novel, why writers drink, the role of cocaine and nicotine, and the power of communal worship.

Key points

What was said, by whom, with the exact words. Timestamps jump to the moment.

Joe Eszterhas
Eszterhas said his title for the planned third Basic Instinct film is Basic Instinct Jezebel.
“But this would be 3, and my title for it is Basic Instinct Jezebel”
Listen from 4:21 · Basic Instinct
Joe Eszterhas
Eszterhas said he wrote Basic Instinct alone in Hawaii while using cocaine.
“I wrote it in Hawaii. I went off to Hawaii by myself. I let the sun beat me up. I snorted some Coke”
Listen from 6:41 · Basic Instinct
Joe Eszterhas
Eszterhas said the Basic Instinct script drew bids from everyone and sold for a record $3 million.
“Everybody bid on it. It wound up selling for a record $3 million”
Listen from 7:53 · Basic Instinct
Joe Eszterhas
Eszterhas said critic Camille Paglia came around to calling Basic Instinct a post-feminist classic.
“It's a post-feminist classic, she says, and it's about women who don't have to hide their sexuality”
Listen from 9:59 · Basic Instinct
Joe Eszterhas
Eszterhas argued that his Christian scripts went unfinanced because they were too gritty for Christian backers and too religious for secular ones.
“I was just writing it for my heart, and that was too gritty. to get Christian kind of financing”
Listen from 27:00 · Christianity
Joe Eszterhas
Eszterhas characterized Jesus as a Jewish zealot and freedom fighter executed by Rome.
“He was a Jewish zealot, a freedom fighter against the Roman Empire. He was crucified by the Romans”
Listen from 29:42 · Christianity
Joe Eszterhas
Eszterhas argued that there is no historical basis for portraying Mary Magdalene as a prostitute.
“There's nothing that says that Mary Magdalene was a hooker of any kind. There's no proof for that in any way”
Listen from 31:32 · The Last Temptation of Christ
Joe Eszterhas
Eszterhas said the available evidence suggests the Shroud of Turin dates from the 1300s.
“But the evidence, what there is, seems to indicate that it comes from the 1300s”
Listen from 38:04 · Shroud of Turin
Joe Rogan
Rogan said he is agnostic about the shroud's authenticity but fascinated that its image formation remains unexplained.
“I'm agnostic on it. I have no idea whether it's real or not real. But I find it fascinating that they have no real explanation as to how it was created”
Listen from 39:01 · Shroud of Turin
Joe Eszterhas
Eszterhas attributed his survival of stage four throat cancer to his prayer life.
“And I felt afterwards that the reason I was able to beat a stage four cancer had to do with my prayer life”
Listen from 52:31 · Christianity
Joe Eszterhas
Eszterhas credited Hunter S. Thompson with the chain of events that led to his screenwriting success.
“All of that, which led to my success in screenplays and in the cinema, was thanks to Hunter”
Listen from 1:04:37 · Hunter S. Thompson
Joe Eszterhas
Eszterhas called Thompson's 1972 campaign book the best political commentary ever written, surpassing Theodore White's books.
“the 72 campaign book, which in my mind, is the best political commentary, including all of Teddy White's books”
Listen from 1:15:43 · Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72
Joe Eszterhas
Eszterhas suggested, contrary to liberal assumptions, that Thompson might have liked Donald Trump.
“But there's also a part of me that says he would have liked Trump”
Listen from 1:17:14 · Hunter S. Thompson
Joe Eszterhas
Eszterhas said Trump is the first president to speak directly rather than condescendingly to working-class people.
“he's the first president that didn't talk down but talked directly to us”
Listen from 1:18:15
Joe Rogan
Rogan warned that a briefly trained, unidentified militarized ICE force sets a precedent that a future ruler could misuse, such as for gun confiscation.
“That militarized police force could be going door to door and confiscating guns”
Listen from 1:19:47 · U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Joe Rogan
Rogan argued that many migrants now being pursued by ICE were encouraged to come to the United States under previous policies.
“many of these people were encouraged to come here. That's what's so fucked”
Listen from 1:21:32 · U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Joe Eszterhas
Eszterhas said masked ICE agents trouble him as resembling the Gestapo.
“Yeah, I'm bothered by the mask too. It's too Gestapo-like to me”
Listen from 1:26:55 · U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Joe Eszterhas
Eszterhas, who covered Kent State, blamed the rhetoric of Ohio's governor and National Guard chief for creating the atmosphere behind the shooting.
“the rhetoric that was coming from James Rhodes, the governor at the time, and from Sylvester Del Corso, who was the head of the National Guard”
Listen from 1:29:14 · Kent State shootings
Joe Rogan
Rogan described Mark Twain as essentially the original stand-up comedian.
“Yeah, I mean, he was essentially the original stand-up comedian”
Listen from 1:30:28 · Mark Twain
Joe Eszterhas
Eszterhas said Michael Ovitz threatened him when he announced he was leaving CAA.
“if you leave the agency, then my foot soldiers who go up and down Wilshire Boulevard will put you under the ground”
Listen from 1:36:46
Joe Rogan
Rogan argued that Sam Kinison was, for a two-to-three-year peak, the most revolutionary stand-up comic ever.
“for like a period of two years, two or three years, he was the most profound and revolutionary stand-up comic ever”
Listen from 1:38:05 · Sam Kinison
Joe Rogan
Rogan lamented that today's media landscape lacks a single great writer who encapsulates the era as Thompson did.
“There's not a lot of, like, great writing that encapsulates things where there's, like, one figure that we turn to to read their stuff on things”
Listen from 1:58:37 · Hunter S. Thompson
Joe Eszterhas
Eszterhas said he drank to silence the imaginary world of his scripts so he could function in daily life.
“And the booze makes it stop so that you can continue your normal familial daily obligations and schedules without having this stuff in your head”
Listen from 2:00:42 · Addiction and recovery
Joe Eszterhas
Eszterhas said cocaine was enjoyable but never inspired his writing.
“But I never felt that the Coke was inspirational. It was enjoyable”
Listen from 2:06:47 · Addiction and recovery

People

In the conversation

Joe RoganAmerican comedian and host of The Joe Rogan Experience
Joe EszterhasHungarian-American screenwriter, author and former Rolling Stone journalist known for Basic Instinct, Showgirls and Flashdance

Discussed

Hunter S. ThompsonAmerican journalist and founder of gonzo journalism
Mark TwainAmerican author and humorist
Volodymyr ZelenskyPresident of Ukraine
Camille PagliaAmerican feminist cultural critic
Otis ReddingAmerican soul singer who died in a 1967 plane crash
Martin Luther King Jr.American civil rights leader who nominated Thich Nhat Hanh for the Nobel Peace Prize
Jimi HendrixAmerican rock guitarist
Sam KinisonComedian attached to A Took
Michael OvitzTalent agent and co-founder of Creative Artists Agency
Jan WennerCo-founder and longtime editor of Rolling Stone
Donald TrumpPresident of the United States whose conduct of the Iran war is the episode's main subject
Pope John Paul IILate pope who signed the 450 facsimiles of Codex Vaticanus and received the shroud from the Savoy family
Martin ScorseseAmerican director of The Wolf of Wall Street, cameoed in Hill's Outcome
Guy McElwaineHollywood agent and former Columbia Pictures executive, Eszterhas's longtime agent
Naomi EszterhasJoe Eszterhas's wife and author of the novel Dark Church
Fred Ahmed EvansBlack nationalist leader involved in the 1968 Glenville shootout in Cleveland
Ernest HemingwayAmerican novelist

Topics

#293 Jeremiah Johnston - Codex Vaticanus, Book of Enoch and the Resurrection of Jesus
The Shawn Ryan Show · Apr 2, 2026 · 2 h 54 min
New Testament scholar Jeremiah Johnston shows Shawn Ryan artifacts and argues the Shroud of Turin and other finds evidence Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection.

From the publisher

Joe Eszterhas is an author, former journalist for “Rolling Stone,” and screenwriter known for films such as “Basic Instinct,” “Sliver,” “Showgirls,” and “Flashdance.”www.imdb.com/name/nm0000390/ Perplexity: Download the app or ask Perplexity anything at https://pplx.ai/rogan. Use code ROGAN at https://BlueChew.com to get 10% OFF + Free Overnight Shipping on your first order. Open an account in minutes at https://Chime.com/Rogan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Summary, chapters and key points were generated from the episode transcript on September 28, 2026. Quotes are checked word for word against the transcript.

Categories: Film Interviews·Christianity·Books