opinions // no. 12 Aaron Rodgers and his medical consultant » Joe Rogan is good, but he isn't better than your doctor Matthew Fraser Editor in Chief here's a weird thing that happens when people are extraordinarily successful in one or more endeavours; the people around them will at times react as if they have wide-reaching and intimate knowledge on unrelated things. This is always a strange thing to see. Most people would never assume that their bookkeeper or accountant has specialized knowledge on cars; generally, we don’t assume that the neighbourhood handyman has excellent legal advice, most people wouldnt‘ rush to their doctor for stock advice either. Yet somehow, people jump to the conclusion that success in one arena translates to global competency and skill. This issue was on display when Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers admitted to consulting Joe Rogan for COVID-19 advice. Now, the context of the comment was quite simple, Rodgers had been invited on to the Pat McAfee Show to discuss his recent COVID diagnoses. While explaining his situation, Rodgers intimated that he had consulted his “good friend” Joe Rogan on how best to deal with COVID. As you can guess or already know, this went instantly and horribly array. To be fair, Rogan did himself get COVID and did recover quite quickly; as a result, you can argue that his experience could be in some manner effective for Rodgers. The problem is that Rogan is not a doctor and that COVID is more serious than acommon cold. Though it makes perfect sense to consult your grandma's chicken soup recipe and a bottle of Dayquil for your sniffles, COVID (at this point) requires a step above in care. And this is the root of Aaron Rodgers’ screw-up. Rogan is an entertaining podcaster and interviewer, and he often has interesting things to say, but the man is not a repository of great medical information. His realm of expertise includes bow hunting, combat sports and DMT; none of those things are Ph.D. studies. In a way, asking Rogan for health care advice is like asking Micheal Phelps about jiu-jitsu; success in one place does not guarantee success elsewhere. Rodgers should have hopefully known that he should take any and all of Rogan’s health care advice with a grain or several of salt. However, even if a certified doctor agreed with the podcast host, he definitely shouldn't have been announcing Rogan as his health consultant so openly. What soon followed was a plethora of memes and a rehashing of an earlier Australian comedy sketch where a dying man splutters “what does Joe Rogan say??” before succumbing to an allergic reaction. Though it's clearly hyperbolic that people refuse medicine that doesn't have the Joe Rogan stamp of approval, the point that everyone except for Aaron Rodgers instantly understood is that Rogan is not a medical Canadian succession » Rogers family dispute is like the Roy family’s hot mess Jerrison Oracion Senior Columnist It recent weeks, one of the major service providers and media empires in Canada had a dispute that went public and got everyone's attention. It began when Rogers Communications’ Edward Rogers attempted to fire the company’s current CEO, Joe Natale. Natale then told the company’s Board of Directors which included some of Rogers's family members and ended up removing him as the Chair of the Board. Last week, the BC Provincial Court ruled in favour of Edward that his decision to remove board members is legal and the company later decided to not appeal it. The main issue of the dispute is Edward Rogers removing five independent members on the board and replacing them with his allies. There was a clause in the Rogers Family Trust developed by his late father, Ted Rogers, that Edward has 6C the right to remove board members since he has a large share of the company. One CTV News reporter likened the dispute to watching the TV show Succession. The Emmy-winning show which is currently airing its third season has similarities to the Rogers family but also Rupert Murdoch and his family, which the show is loosely based on. In Succession, you have Logan Roy who is the CEO of Waystar/Royco. Despite him promising his oldest son, Kendall, that he will lead the company when he retires, he revises the rules of their family trust and deceives the people around him to try to keep power at the age of 80 despite having health issues. After Logan has a stroke, Kendall temporarily takes over the company and later finds out that the company has a lot of debt and that there might be more clauses. Even one of Kendall’s brothers who would also be his COO mentioned that while the company tries to recover from its losses and 6¢ theotherpress.ca Illustration by Udeshi Seneviratne Rogan is an entertaining podcaster and interviewer, and he often has interesting things to say, but the man is not a repository of great medical information. practitioner. His endorsement on some medical issues is immaterial. In Rodgers’ defence, he does claim to be allergic to one ingredient in the mRNA vaccines and that the league does not have a medical exemption in place for people with legitimate issues. However, Rodgers initially gave the misleading answer that he had been "immunized." Though he would apologize for this answer later, it seemed to just be a compounding problem of restructures in an evolving digital world, things would be hard. Back to Rogers, they have a two-class stock system. There are Class B stocks where company officials can only invest and Class A stocks where individuals can invest as well as have their say on company decisions and sharing their wealth. Rogers mainly has Class A stocks where Edward Rogers has most of those shares; conversely, many companies including Facebook (renamed Meta) and Alphabet (Google’s parent company) have more balanced shares. The Rogers family dispute also happened during the middle of a merger between them and Shaw where they would not only acquire their services but also Corus Entertainment which manages Global and its networks. This would help Rogers which manages Citytv, Sportsnet, and other publications. The federal government has yet to approve the merger which could be affected by the dispute. misleading answers and poor choices. Some doctors believe that COVID may never truly disappear, instead, subsiding into a flu-like annual reoccurrence where deaths are low but still an issue. Should that happen, then it probably will make more sense to consult friends and coworkers on how best to deal with COVID. Until then, we should probably leave the hardcore medical advice to the professionals. Going back to Succession, Waystar owns news media, publications, and amusement parks making them an old-fashioned company. In the first four episodes, Kendall and his team were able to acquire another company and that company’s CEO ends up getting a spot in Waystar’s Board of Directors. It is common today for companies to buy companies which can lead to less competition and possible rate increases. These uncanny similarities serve to make the comparison between the two situations more palpable. Both Kendall and his siblings and the Rogers family (including Edward’s mother) teamed up to prevent their patriarchs from having a lot of power, but the Rogers family was very open about their situation on social media. The family still fights for control of the company which could lead to a different landscape in Canadian business. However, when it comes to Succession and the Roy family’s hot mess so far, I think that Logan should retire. The Rogers family dispute occurs amid a merger between them and Shaw where they would not only acquire their services but also Corus Entertainment which manages Global and its networks.