03-10-2026Price:

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CULTURE

The Empire That Erased You, Then Buried the Pirates

Tuesday, March 10, 2026 · from 1 podcast
The Joe Rogan Experience
  • Priyanka Chopra Jonas's new pirate film is built around a real, underexamined history: the East India Trading Company's use of indentured servants, wholesale identity erasure, and the deliberate vilification of the very pirates who helped build the empire.
  • The Company was one of the first publicly traded corporations before it became a colonial war machine, triggering a revolt so large that the British government had to nationalize it.
  • Chopra Jonas met people in the Cayman Islands during production who couldn't trace their family history beyond five generations, knowing only a country of origin but not a village, a culture, or a name.

One corporation ran a subcontinent, fought a war with China over opium, and helped invent the modern stock market. The East India Trading Company is the kind of history that sounds invented.

Joe Rogan went down that rabbit hole on The Joe Rogan Experience after watching Priyanka Chopra Jonas's new pirate film, and the conversation that followed was sharper than most historical documentaries. Rogan noted the Company was among the first publicly traded corporations before it spiraled into colonial conquest, the slave trade, and the opium wars. It grew so large it triggered a revolt, and the British government nationalized it.

Chopra Jonas connected the Company directly to her character's backstory. Young Indians were promised better wages and new opportunities, then shipped off as indentured servants and deposited across Caribbean islands. Her character's entire identity was stripped from her at age 12.

When Chopra Jonas visited the Cayman Islands during production, she met people who couldn't trace their family history beyond five generations. They knew a country of origin, Sri Lanka or India, but not the village, not the culture, not the roots. That specific kind of erasure, she argues, denies people the depth of who they are.

The piracy angle sharpens it further. The Company recruited pirates to seize new territories. Once colonization was secured and piracy officially abolished, those same pirates were hunted, arrested, and vilified. The empire built on their labor then buried them.

History doesn't disappear. It gets rebranded.

Priyanka Chopra Jonas, The Joe Rogan Experience:

- They utilized pirates in order to take over new lands, and then when piracy was abolished, they went after them and vilified the same people that helped them build their entire empire.

- The amount of pillaging that happened, millions and millions of lives.

East India CompanyColonial HistoryIdentity ErasurePriyanka Chopra JonasPiracy

Source Intelligence

What each podcast actually said

The Joe Rogan Experience
The Joe Rogan Experience

#2464 - Priyanka Chopra Jonas • Mar 5

Also from this episode:

Media (5)
  • Priyanka Chopra Jonas filmed three simultaneous action movies over a year, according to the podcast summary.
  • She trained with swords for months to be convincing in fight scenes opposite Karl Urban, who learned swordplay for Lord of the Rings.
  • Chopra Jonas's film character is an indentured servant whose identity was stripped from her at age 12 after being promised better opportunities.
  • The film was shot on practical sets, including built ships and real locations in the Cayman Islands, using period-accurate weapons.
  • Chopra Jonas approaches fight choreography like Bollywood dance sequences, learning the steps while focusing on telling the story with her face.
History (6)
  • Her pirate film is based on the real history of Indian indentured servants displaced to the Caribbean, where their cultural identities were erased.
  • Chopra Jonas stated that the East India Trading Company used pirates to conquer new territories, then criminalized them once they were no longer useful.
  • Joe Rogan noted the East India Company was among the first publicly traded corporations with shareholders.
  • Rogan said the company expanded into colonial conquest, the slave trade, and the Opium Wars with China.
  • The British government nationalized the East India Company after it grew so large it triggered a revolt.
  • She quoted, 'The amount of pillaging that happened — millions and millions of lives,' referencing the East India Company's actions.
Society (2)
  • While filming in the Cayman Islands, Chopra Jonas met people who could only trace their family history back five generations, knowing their country of origin but not their specific cultural roots.
  • Chopra Jonas argues this historical erasure denies people the depth of who they are.