lacking courage about sums him up imho ...

he used to talk about EVERYTHING on his show ... it really was a no topic off-limits show

Brian Redban days ... when it really felt like it was a show to shoot the shit with his FRIENDS

and then politics got a little more heated, more and more as things heated up he became "responsible" - as HE HIMSELF put it for moderating the "truth" of what was talked about on his show

he stopped having his friends on and randos that seemed interesting

he started only inviting "vetted" guests and CELEBRITIES and then he stopped booking the guests himself entirely and let his handler pick them

he's always said the show wasn't about fame or numbers or making money...

but it's interesting how he lost the courage to get things wrong more and more and more as the show has gotten more popular

most notable marker of that shift is Brian Redban leaving the show and later by the absence of Joey Diaz, Aubrey Marcus, and Duncan Trussell who went from staple guests to people Joe never talks about unless he's dropping drama

I think his wife's got him cucked and he'll be in the major doghouse if he says too much shit she doesn't like or questions anything she wants to teach to her two daughters

I just can't watch Joe anymore ... It's not that he's not a genuine person or is a grifter, not at all. It's just he used to be so much more genuine and self-consistent that it's almost impossible to watch him now without feeling gross and pity-ing him for seeing him be so much less than he was...

Philosophically retarded is about right, though I'd argue he used to be philosophically curious - but eventually made a choice to betray his friends for keeping the IMAGE of being philosophically smart - and RELYING on his reputation instead of treading new water - and therefore corrupted whatever smartness he had.