#1226 - Mike Baker

Joe Rogan (0:03)

Four, three, two, one. Mr. Baker, how are you?

Mike Baker (0:09)

Mr. Rogan, I'm doing well, thanks very much.

Joe Rogan (0:11)

What's going on, man? What are you doing in town?

Mike Baker (0:14)

I just was in town doing some work on a sizzle reel for a show, a new show.

Joe Rogan (0:19)

Can you talk about that? Can you tell people what it is?

Mike Baker (0:21)

Well, there's actually two of them. One, I can talk about, I can tease it a little bit. The marketing department, I guess, has to approve everything that's said.

It started out, it's going to be on the Discovery Network, I think a science channel. And we're starting the main filming in February, and we should be finished by the end of March. So you know, stand by. But it's started with a discussion about hidden budgets in the Defense Department.

Joe Rogan (0:45)

Like dark art stuff?

Mike Baker (0:47)

Yeah, the show's going to be called Black Files.

Joe Rogan (0:50)

Like UFO type shit?

Mike Baker (0:52)

Well, there's going to be some of that. Some. But from a, you know, not from a, you know, did they land, did they not? It's, we're really actually kind of tearing into some of the programs that were funded by, you know, hidden money in the Defense Department.

Joe Rogan (1:08)

How do they do that?

Mike Baker (1:09)

Well, I mean, if you take, like the CIA, for example, the agency's budget is hidden inside, it's not hidden, but it's placed inside the Defense Department. And it's a classified piece of information, obviously, because a lot of, you know.

Joe Rogan (1:20)

Defense Department gets a certain budget, the CIA gets a piece of that, but nobody's allowed to know how much or where it's spent.

Mike Baker (1:26)

Right. Because obviously, you know, the Russians, the Chinese, whomever would like to know, you know, how much money is sent over to the agency so that they can get a sense of size, resources, capabilities, that sort of thing.

So that's where the show concept started. You know, what is that money spent on, both in the old days and now? So it kind of spans, you know, historical operations and events and activities and special units, and it comes up to the present time and says, you know, where is money being devoted now for new technology or new programs, new operations, new intelligence gathering efforts, whatever it might be. So it's, you know, I think it's got a lot of promise, you know, hopefully people tune in and find it interesting.

Joe Rogan (2:08)

Well, people are always curious about where the money goes.

Mike Baker (2:10)

Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan (2:11)

And, you know, I am. Like, who oversees it, who gets to decide, like, what gets spent on what and how much money goes where and who gets to know?

Mike Baker (2:22)

I do, actually. That's my job.

It's a good question. You know, that's, I think a lot of people would be surprised at the amount that we're talking about. And it's not just, it's not the intelligence community. It's also the military, obviously.

Joe Rogan (2:34)

Can you discuss the actual numbers? Or could you discuss the numbers that they used to have?

Mike Baker (2:39)

We'll be able to discuss the numbers that went into past operations. But anything that's currently classified, obviously, we're not going to touch on. But we've been working hard, and the producers have been working very hard, to get excellent access, you know, where possible, and get cooperation where possible.

It's going to be a fairly immersive effort.

Joe Rogan (2:57)

What's the benefit of the CIA even divulging any of this information? Like, why would they cooperate? Why wouldn't they say, hey, shut the fuck up?

Mike Baker (3:04)

Yeah, well, and frankly, they should. And they have, and they will.

But not necessarily with the agency, but with other departments, and certainly within the military, there's, you know, some information out there that's accessible.

There's some ability to get them to cooperate on certain, again, declassified operations that just haven't come to light. A lot of shit's been declassified over the years that's just never been looked at or talked about. You know, somebody maybe gets a wild hair up their ass and they say, I'm going to look into this program, and then they start, you know, peeling it back. It's not that it's classified, it's just nobody's ever bothered to dig into that information once it is declassified. So, you know, it's going to be a lot of fun, a lot of travel, some great people working on the program. But, you know, apparently I have to keep it pretty much at that until the marketing department says, okay, here's what you can say.