I’ve only seen a couple of his talks, mostly seen his interviews, both friendly and non-friendly (Newman, GQ), but he’s a different presence on-stage...solo, with free reign to go where ever his mind will take him. I felt like he was opening different windows directly into his mind as he spoke: you couldn’t see the whole interior, but you could see where the thought could lead.
So to begin, announcer came over the loudspeaker, “Alright ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage.....the host of The Rubin Report, Dave Rubin!” Collective uproar from the crowd, and on walks Rubin. Great surprise, cracked a couple of jokes, and re-affirmed his optimism that a change is happening in society completely unlike the Antifas and madness on college campuses that the media would have you believe, then he introduces Peterson, adorned in lei.
He took the first couple of minutes to explain how he got into the spotlight/crosshairs while searching for a good topic, then he ultimately landed on “Be grateful in spite of suffering.” He then broke the phrase into their deep fundamental elements, but the gross over generalization would be gratitude requires courage, especially in a lifetime that is almost completely suffering.
For me, the most fascinating thing about his talki was the thought maps he created throughout the lecture. As one point became fleshed out, he’d tie into another point about the human condition and then tie it back either directly or indirectly to “Be grateful in spite of suffering,” you’d then see a collective nod or ‘ahhh’ from the audience. It’s like a spider web growing from the center, and you intimately understand the existence of each thread and how they intertwine with each other.
I’ve had his book for about a year now, and only now am inspired to read it. You could probably learn just as much from watching his YouTube videos or interviews, but I do believe his best content comes forth when he’s given the mic and allowed to just explore. The feeling of knowing that you understand what’s going on, and you know the person next to you understands what’s going on, and the person next to you knows you understand what’s going on, and that person knows you know he/she knows what’s going on is uplifting.
Sadly, I think the theatre was at best 2/3 full - the cheap seats in the back were almost empty, couldn’t tell if the balcony was any better. I’d pay to watch him again or any other IDW members in Hawaii, if anything just to bolster the demand-side and give them incentive to come down, lord knows we need all the non far-Left allies we can get.