A Conversation with Tim Robbins: Art, Activism, and the Battle Against Propaganda

In a wide-ranging conversation on The Joe Rogan Experience, actor Tim Robbins reflected on his career, his early opposition to the Iraq War, the propaganda machinery he sees operating in American life, and the prison rehabilitation program he has run for two decades. Robbins, who rose to fame with films including The Shawshank Redemption and Mystic River, spoke with the measured perspective of someone who has been on the receiving end of coordinated attacks for speaking out.

The Iraq War and the Price of Dissent

Robbins was one of a handful of public figures who came out against the Iraq War in 2003. He had been reading foreign press coverage that was openly skeptical of the weapons of mass destruction narrative, and he trusted sources who had been reliable in the past. The response was swift and organized. His scheduled appearance at the Baseball Hall of Fame for the fifteenth anniversary of Bull Durham was canceled. The New York Post printed a fabricated story about him making out with a woman at a club, which he says was aimed at damaging his marriage. He hired a crisis PR person for the first time in his career.