Academy award-winning actor Russell Crowe didn’t hold back during his recent appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, delivering sharp criticism of America’s political landscape and warning about the dangers of dehumanization in modern society.
While discussing his new film Nuremberg, the conversation took a pointed turn toward contemporary politics, with Crowe expressing deep concerns about divisive rhetoric and the limitations of the two-party system.
The discussion emerged organically from the film’s exploration of N*zi psychology and how ordinary people became complicit in horrific acts. Crowe drew a direct parallel to today’s political climate, highlighting what he sees as dangerous tendencies toward dehumanization.
“It’s one of the most dangerous things. I see it going on everywhere at the moment that we’re trying to say that you’re either, you know, and for one or of a better term, that you’re either red or that you’re blue,” Crowe observed. “And humans are far more nuanced than that. They’re not… we’re not that extreme, you know. And that the idea that you can split all of us into two camps is kind of nuts.”
When Joe Rogan agreed with the assessment, calling it “nuts,” Crowe pressed further, noting how binary political thinking eliminates the possibility of meaningful dialogue. “It takes out all the room for subtlety in a discussion and therefore it makes communicating with each other less and less available,” he said.
Rogan then offered his own critique of American politics, specifically targeting the structural foundations of the two-party system. “Well, it’s just in this country in particular, I don’t know about Australian politics, but we only have two parties and they’re both essentially financed by enormous corporations,” Rogan stated. “So, it’s a ruse. The whole thing’s a ruse. And you have different social issues on each side that come up and then it becomes this you’re with us or against us, right versus left.”
Crowe acknowledged that Australia faces similar challenges with its own two-party system but suggested that geographical positioning provides some advantage. He explained that Australians grow up looking outward at the world, while Americans tend to focus inward, largely due to sports culture and other factors that create an insular perspective.
The actor’s comments reflect growing frustration with political polarization that has intensified in recent years. His emphasis on nuance and complexity stands in stark contrast to the simplistic narratives that dominate political discourse.
The conversation also touched on how incremental changes can normalize dangerous thinking, a theme central to understanding how N*zi Germany descended into atrocity. “Gigantic jumps we can all read,” Crowe noted during the discussion of the film.
“But little incremental changes, the boiling of the frog, just how, you know, you take away this person’s rights, that person’s personal power, you know, and slowly, you know, you get to a point where the average person then turns around and goes, ‘How did we get to here?'”
While promoting Nuremberg, which examines the post-war trials of N*zi leaders, Crowe used the platform to challenge listeners to resist simplistic thinking and recognize the full humanity in others—even those with whom they disagree.