The teenage son of famed Ringer founder and Spotify podcast host Bill Simmons dipped his toes into the warm waters of nootropics recently based on the ringing endorsement of fellow Spotify podcaster Joe Rogan. As expected, a high school sophomore was not ready for the power that comes from brain vitamins, whether real or imagined.
In his regular Sunday Parent Corner segment on The Bill Simmons Podcast this week, Simmons explained how tuning into Rogan’s show for comedy interviews turned into a note home from his son Ben’s history teacher about his use of the nootropic pill Alpha Brain.
“My son, Ben Simmons, who has listened to the Joe Rogan podcast from time to time when he has comedians that Ben likes,” Simmons said. “I guess Joe Rogan pushes this thing called Alpha Brain; it’s something that helps with, like clarity, it’s a supplement, it might be a placebo, who knows.
“He takes it for a couple days and he’s telling us, ‘Alpha Brain, it’s been great, I really like it.’ My wife gets concerned; she googles everything for three hours, and it seems fine. The next day, we get an email from Ben’s history teacher.”
The note started out strong, with lots of praise for Simmons’ son. Then, things took a turn.
Apparently, Ben began to share the Alpha Brain with his classmates and was setting up something of a brain vitamin trap house at his desk in history.
“So now, my wife is furious; Ben’s like an Alpha Brain dealer,” Simmons joked. “We’re like, ‘You can’t hand out s*** in class, you moron!'”
Overall, brain vitamins are one of the lesser vices someone might be turned onto listening to Rogan. But the image of a rich kid in southern California dividing up a pill bottle of Alpha Brain to ace a history test would be a sight to behold.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.