Crazy evening ahead? Elon Musk goes on Joe Rogan’s podcast tonight

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It’s been a wacky August for Elon Musk, what with the tweets about taking Tesla private and then not taking Tesla private and the public apologies to analysts for bad conference-call behavior and the share-price roller coaster and the emotional tell-all with the New York Times.

Looks like September could be just as wild.

The controversial, always-outspoken guy behind Tesla, Space X and the Boring Company’s Not-A-Flamethrower is about to make a bit of podcasting history when he goes onto The Joe Rogan Experience at 9:30 p.m. Pacific time, which is also about three-and-a-half hours into what could prove to be one crazy evening. (Watch it here.)

Musk’s appearance on the show was first announced by Rogan back in June, and the Reddit switchboard lit up: Musk is nuts to expose himself to the world this way, said some. Brilliant move, said others. No surprise there, said fans of the guy who in between incendiary tweets is sending rockets into space and drilling tunnels to carry people in pods beneath the streets of Los Angeles.

That debate continues to flare, more so now after the Tesla chief’s Late Summer of Memorable Moments like this:

And, of course, this:

The audience tonight could be huge – since launching the podcast in 2009, Rogan has assembled a cavalcade of provocative guests slicing and dicing current events for an estimated audience in the double-digit millions, pushing the free show to the Top 100 podcasts on iTunes and getting it picked up by SiriusXM Satellite Radio.

So, brilliant move on Musk’s part or bum idea? By sitting down with a popular podcast host, the Tesla CEO will gain an immediate audience of millions, though probably not the 22.5 million he already has following him on Twitter. But unlike tweeting, a live chat with Rogan affords Musk a formal and global platform where he’s not limited by a character count and can, perhaps, wax eloquently on all sorts of things.

Maybe he’ll walk us all through his let’s-take-Tesla-private tweet and share his thoughts on whether he maybe violated securities laws when he hit the send button.

Or perhaps he’ll enlighten us on why he’s so obsessed with that British diver in Thailand, a guy who Musk claims, without offering evidence, was a “child rapist” in an email to a reporter.

And, who knows, Musk could use his appearance tonight to provide more details on how his Boring Company plans to get all those fans so quickly and so effortlessly to a Dodgers game.

Either way, the world apparently can’t wait to hear from Musk:

Say “djjazzyjeff1232” on YouTube: “I feel like people going on Rogan is literally more prestigious than going on the Tonight Show or Ellen or any other talk show at this point. What a time to be alive.”

Says “Arthur:” “Please host Elon on the Show! Would be incredible to see his views on other subjects than what he is normally asked about.”

Says “Thomas King:” “An Elon Musk episode would break the internet.”

And, writes a guy name “Gam,” Musk’s podcast could produce major headlines: “I bet Elon makes an announcement on your show… He has something big in the works that he hasn’t fully announce yet.”

But whether the internet gets broken or not, Musk faces some hefty challenges this evening, at least according to the hoi polloi on Reddit. Users there have put in an inordinate amount of time thinking about the interview, how it should be conducted, what Musk should be asked, and more.

“LadyMountbatten” offers “some questions to consider.” They include:

What inspired him to read TS Eliot, and how does he see himself in the Wasteland?

What are the 3 most important things to him in his life?

What would he like his children to accomplish as adults?

Which aspects of his own self does he wish to improve?

There’s been speculation about his ambien usage, is he planning to give that up soon?

If his future self is giving him advice now, what would he tell himself?

Which city/town in America would he love to give a SolarCity makeover?

In our solar system, there is a missing planet between Mars and Jupiter aside from Ceres, which has been considered a dwarf planet. Does he have a hypothesis of what happened to that missing planet and why there is an asteroid belt there?

Finally, for a taste of what Rogan thinks about his upcoming guest, check this out:

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