#2395 - Mariana van Zeller

In this compelling three-part episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, Joe Rogan engages in a deep and wide-ranging conversation with journalist Mariana van Zeller, who recently recovered from an appendectomy and is abstaining from alcohol. Van Zeller, known for her investigative work on 'Trafficked,' discusses her new podcast, 'The Hidden Third,' which examines the 35% of the global economy operating in black and gray markets—ranging from drug trafficking to informal labor. She shares harrowing stories from her reporting, including a 16-year-old boy forced into cocaine smuggling due to poverty, the massive counterfeit currency operations in Peru, and the psychological drivers behind people entering illegal economies: desperation, ego, and a need for recognition. The conversation turns to the U.S. opioid crisis, exposing how Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family downplayed addiction risks while profiting from the epidemic, and how fake rehab centers and body brokering scams prey on Native American communities. Van Zeller also critiques the failures of the immigration system, highlighting the trauma of raids and deportations, and calls for compassion and systemic reform. In the second segment, she details the global reach of 'pig butchering' scams in Southeast Asia, where victims are emotionally manipulated and financially exploited in scam factories involving forced labor and torture. She underscores the moral bankruptcy of corporate actors and the revolving door between regulators and pharmaceutical companies, while advocating for empathy, truth, and leadership rooted in nonviolence. The final segment explores gambling addiction, drawing parallels to drug addiction through dopamine hijacking, and debates the consequences of legalizing sports betting without adequate recovery support. Van Zeller emphasizes the need for independent journalism and critical thinking to combat tribalism and rebuild shared human values in the face of existential challenges.