Joe Rogan, Randall Carlson and Malcolm Bendall: what was said

Plain definition

What the episode was

Episode #1897 of the Joe Rogan Experience lists two guests: Graham Hancock, an author, and Randall Carlson, a researcher. It was released on November 10, 2022, and runs 2 hours 53 minutes. Most of it is about ancient history.

Strike Foundation’s media page lists the episode and says Carlson introduces Malcolm Bendall and his technology in it. Strike Foundation’s home page gives the date as November 11, 2022.

Inventor claim

What Randall Carlson said

These are Carlson’s statements, relayed from Bendall’s side. Times are approximate, from a machine-made transcript of the episode.

About 1:20:42: he describes Bendall as “the man I’ve been talking to for the last seven years.”

About 1:21:23: he shows “a generator that has no moving parts” and says “it’s all based on geometry.”

About 1:21:58: he says he had been asked not to talk about it until patents and licensing were in place.

About 1:23:34: he says Mazda, the Japanese carmaker, “is getting ready to do a 25 million dollar testing” of prototypes meant to retrofit engines. We could not find any public statement from Mazda about this.

About 1:24:05: he says over 100 patents had been developed, and reads a description of plasmoids as working like an “atomic battery.”

About 1:25:08: he says the laboratory is in the Maldives.

Outside commentary

What a critic says about it

Brian Dunning of the Skeptoid podcast (December 16, 2025) writes that many people learned about the Thunderstorm Generator from Carlson’s appearance on the podcast in November 2022. He argues the device is an exhaust heat riser plus water injection, and that small gains are “probably true” as long as they are small.

Measured

What has been measured since

A 2026 master’s (M.S.) thesis at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University tested Thunderstorm Generator retrofit hardware. It measured a 9.67% lower fuel-use rate on a small generator and about 34% less carbon monoxide (CO) at idle, with no significant change in carbon dioxide (CO₂) or oxygen. A one-vehicle road test showed about 8.7% better economy, using hardware the manufacturer, Plasmoid Power, supplied.

The seller, Thunderstorm.tech, reports much larger results. Our page on those test results explains what they show and what is missing.

Plain definition

How to read the episode

The episode is a conversation, not a test. Patents, the Mazda testing and the laboratory location are claims a guest relayed on air. What can be checked today is the measured fuel and exhaust data, and that points to a real but modest effect.