this is "nightline." >> tonight, joe rogan, the spotify star using his instagram to answer his critics. >> the podcast has been accused of spreading dangerous misinformation. >> the uproar over his controversial and wildly successful show. >> it's a huge profit center for them. >> why musicians are joining rocker neil young and leaving the platform. >> a lot of times on joe's show, they encourage the wrong thing, and we felt like we had no choice, but to stand with neil. >> plus, the great quit. >> i started doing comedy as a way to take a break from work. >> millions of americans leaving their jobs and steady paychecks behind in search of something new. >> of course i love what i did. but this is a different type of

love. this is more of a passion. >> americans shifting from living to work to working to live. >> there is highs and lows to pursuing your passion. and there is no substitute for joy in your life. >> why now is th back. did you know that your fabrics trap more than just odors? they also trap bacteria. better get febreze fabric antimicrobial. its water-based formula penetrates fabrics to kill 99.9% of bacteria and it eliminates odors. spray it on your furniture, your rugs, your clothes wherever bacteria and odors hide. you can even sanitize your car seats! for a deeper clean and a freshness you'll love. try febreze fabric antimicrobial.

thank you so much for joining us. i'm gio benitez. joe rogan is taking to social media to answer his critics. the spotify star whoa has come under increasing fire for his controversial show. well, is he now trying to make amends? here is "nightline's" ashan singh. >> the podcast has been accused of spreading dangerous misinformation. >> reporter: joe rogan, one of the world's most successful podcasters is finally addressing his latest controversy. >> hello, friends. >> reporter: responding in this nearly ten-minute-long video posted to instagram. >> i'm not trying to promote misinformation. i'm note trying to be controversial. i never tried to do anything with this podcast other than just talk to people and have interesting conversations. >> reporter: the reason? ♪ because i'm still in love with you ♪ >> reporter: 76-year-old harvest moon singer neil young. ♪ harvest moon ♪

>> reporter: holding rogan and his employer's spotify feet to the fire for allowing him and his hosts to spread what young says is rampant misinformation about covid and the vaccine. the rocker threatening it's me or him, eventually pulling his music from the platform. young's protest echoing the detailed objections made by 270 experts in an open letter to spotify, published in early january. >> neil young is one of the all-time iconic singer/songwriters in rock history. >> he was known for protest music. >> yeah, yeah. and he is very principled. he is almost the definition of an iconoclast. but his protest history, his history of speaking out goes all the way back to the '60s. in 1970, after the kent state massacre, i'll call it that, where students were shot by national guardsmen, students who were peacefully protesting. he wrote a song about that called ohio, four days in ohio.

♪ what if you knew her and found her dead on the ground ♪ >> so, yes, he has a long history of stanza. >> reporter: but rogan's popularity cannot be understated. his flippant attitude and irreverent curiosity have earned a cult-lime following with an estimated 11 million listeners per episode. in may 2020, he landed an pexclusive deal with spotify worth more than 100 million, one of the first of its kind for the medium, catapulting his show to the number one podcast in the world. even attracting celebrity fans like aaron rodgers, who says he consulted rogan about alternative covid treatments during an appearance on the pat mcafee show. >> i've been doing a lot of this stuff that he recommended in his podcasts, and, you know, on the phone to me. >> reporter: rodgers is one of te several highly influential athletes accused of sidestepping the world's health efforts in combatting the coronavirus. he remains unvaccinated.

now musicians, medical professionals, and podcasters alike are standing by young, saying the tech company should bear some responsibility for its content. spotify responding to the criticism. in an open letter, ceo daniel ecke writing in part it is important to me that we don't take on the position of being content censor, while also making sure there are rules in place and consequences for those who violate them. >> the joe rogan experience. >> reporter: rogan is also known for promoting the drug ivermectin on his show "the joe rogan experience." despite the fda warning it has not been shown to help with covid-19 in many rigorous studies and may be dangerous. >> i think specifically a lot of times on joe's show, they encourage the wrong thing, and it's disingenuous, and dangerous at times. and we felt like we had no choice but to stand with neil. >> reporter: guitarist nils

lofgren pulling nearly 27 years of his work off the site. >> i hope there will be a dozen or so huge artists, young and old that join us. >> reporter: young's long-time friend joni mitchell also pulling her music from spotify, saying irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives. harry and meghan, who themselves landed a multimillion-dollar deal with the platform also expressing concerns. spotify announcing they're now working to add a content advisory to any podcast episode that includes a discussion about covid-19. >> these companies are businesses. spotify is probably doing the least risky thing possible by saying we're going to keep joe rogan, but we'll certainly provide warnings or avenues where people can gather more information if they want to get it. >> reporter: spotify now joining other online platforms like facebook and twitter who have

made changes in response to the growing wave of misinformation. >> companies don't have to do this. there are three reasons that companies might want to do this. number one, they would say it so they can do the right thing. number two is because they're getting a lot of pressure to do it. and number three is i think a lot of these companies are concerned that if they don't do more that they could end up getting regulated more by the government. >> reporter: while spotify's market value dropped by more than $2 billion over the weekend. >> i'm sorry. >> reporter: following rogan's apology today, the company's share price actually rebounded. >> i think people were looking at the long-term damage, the potential for long-term damage because when neil young removed his music, people were just like oh my god, is everybody going to follow him? well, so far there doesn't seem to be a big rush for the exit. >> reporter: do users, do listeners on spotify have any power here, holding spotify's

feet to the fire? >> the only way listeners can vote to protest is to leave. and i don't know that they've released numbers of how people have canceled subscription, but that is all listeners can do except make noise on social media, and boy are they doing that. >> our thanks to ash. up next here, the people ditching their nine to five jobs for an all new adventure. (man 1 vo) i'm living with cll and thanks to imbruvica (man 2 vo) i'm living longer. (vo) imbruvica is a prescription medicine for adults with cll or chronic lymphocytic leukemia. imbruvica is not chemotherapy- it's the #1 prescribed oral therapy for cll, proven to help people live longer. imbruvica can cause serious side effects, which may lead to death. bleeding problems are common and may increase with blood thinners. serious infections with symptoms like fevers, chills, weakness or confusion and severe decrease in blood counts can happen. heart rhythm problems and heart failure may occur especially in people with increased risk of heart disease,

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deciding that now is the right time to pursue their dreams. tonight we hear their stories in a new series we're calling "the great shake-up." here is "nightline" co-anchor byron pitts. >> i quit my nine to five job, and today was my last day at work. >> reporter: it's a phenomenon being called the great quit. >> a record number revealed today involving the number of americans walking away from their jobs. >> many workers feel this is the time to look for a better job with greater pay and more benefits. >> reporter: a mass exodus of millions of fed up and uninspired americans from their jobs. >> money right there, fast food sucks. >> decided pay wasn't important. >> i don't want to say burnout, but i was kind of burned out. >> these are not normal times. and as a result, workers really do have the upper hand. >> reporter: many of them searching for greener pastures. >> it feels good to be my own boss. and it feels good to have the interaction. >> reporter: juby george,

44-year-old father of three quit his job a few months ago to open smell the curry just outside philadelphia. >> now i get to be in the market, talk to people, find out what they like and introduce them to indian food and things like that. >> reporter: i'm hungry. so give me something that's going to satisfy me right now. >> i would say maybe shrimp curry, jumbo prawn curry. and i would say with that, maybe like a chicken stew, chicken stew with potato with the coconut milk, egg curry, lamb curries. lamb curry is good, with boneless lamb. >> reporter: george spent two decades as a computer program. in the back of his mind was a dream. you enjoyed the work. >> i loved it. >> reporter: so why walk away from it? >> i had a passion for food. my dad had passion for cooking and feeding the masses. and i followed his footsteps i feel like. he passed away last year. and i feel like that was

something that was in my heart. >> a lot of the activity in the great reservation is actually coming from lower wage workers that historically have not had the best working conditions. additionally, there are of course middle and upper income americans who because of covid-19 have been reevaluating their life priorities. >> reporter: last november, george was one of a record 4.5 million americans who left their jobs during that month alone. for all of 2021, the number skyrockets to more than 43 million americans who quit the workforce. >> the pandemic created a unique set of circumstances where lower wage workers actually for the first time in many years had a lot more options at their disposal due to the federal stimulus funds that they were receiving, but also beefed up unemployment benefits. it's also child tax credits. it also was the moratorium on

student loan payments. >> reporter: as the owner of a new restaurant, george also part of a record-breaking surge in entrepreneurs who started their own businesses. if your love has been cooking and curry, why not do that? what took you so long? >> have i small children, i have a family, three boys, 12, 10, and 7. i was waiting for the right time. and during the pandemic, i felt like it was good. >> reporter: how do you feel being a part of this growing trend of millions of people across the country in the past year are doing exactly what you're doing, walking away from that career job, that corporate job to do their own thing? >> of course i love what i did. but this is a different type of love. this is more of a passion. don't get me wrong. pharmaceutical training is amazing. but having indian food is more amazing than having pharmaceutical training. >> reporter: starting his own business did not come without concerns. what were your reservations going in?

>> what concerned me, i think it was more of the unknown. am i making the right decision? am i giving up my career of 21 years to chase this dream? is it going to work out? are people going like my food. >> reporter: and for juby's wife, a dose of caution as well. >> he comes back and says i don't think i'm going to wait until the new year. i think i'm going to do this now. >> reporter: and you thought? >> i think i just started sweating and i just got really nervous. i think it was that initial fear of the unknown, of course. a huge life change for not just him but myself and our children. >> reporter: like juby, many who are shaking up their lives consider the great quit more like the great upgrade. >> many people even in white collar professions now may have very different goals about what work means to them. and perhaps adopt much more of a work to live rather than live to work philosophy.

>> one year ago i was in a dark place. i was going through a depression and feeling stuck in my life in san francisco. i knew i had to make a change. >> reporter: severe burnout let joanna lai to quit her job as a marketing director in silicon valley. >> so there is that part of i'm leaving security, and then there was the other part of what are other people going to think of me. my pierce, family and friends and more. it was scary, but i also knew it was time to move on, because i was getting a lot of anxiety. >> i'm going quit my nine to five job today. >> reporter: she documented the whole thing with this new viral video on tiktok. >> i just sensed god leading me into a season of rest, and then building my own coaching business. as such, i want to resign as director of marketing. >> reporter: lai relocated to hawaii. >> good to be around greenery, fresh air, forest. >> reporter: and says she has no regrets. >> there is highs and lows to pursuing your passion and being a entrepreneur. i will say this. there is no replacement to

knowing you're doing what you're supposed to do, and you're walking in purpose. there is no substitute for joy in your life. >> i have that video idea. and then the other video idea i'm thinking about -- >> reporter: making people laugh has always given 30-year-old alexis gaye a sense of fulfillment. >> i started doing comedy as a way to take a break from work. and when the pandemic hit and i wasn't able to perform live anymore which was soul-crushing, i turned to making really short videos and writing as many jobes as possible online, that i started to enjoy it more than any job. >> reporter: working as a senior manager at patriot, a tech company that supports artists, gaye had a side job creating comedy that were sometimes inspired by her industry. >> if numbers tell one story, i'd like to tell you another. >> reporter: or influenced by everyday situations at home, like helping one's parents with the internet. >> how would i know your parent. try the dog's name. try the other dog's name. >> reporter: several of her

videos in 2020 going vieshlral. >> it could be worse. it could be worse. it could be worse. >> let's see what we got going on here. >> reporter: it was then she decided to take a leap of faith to pursue comedy full time. >> from the untrained eye from 30,000 feet, it looks like comedy is easy. but i take it ain't easy. >> i wanted it to feel easy for the viewer for, audience member. >> oh, i'm over it. i'm over it. >> i want it to feel like a magic trick. you shouldn't have to see the work that goes into it as the viewer. i'll work about that. you enjoy. >> reporter: was it challenging giving up a steady paycheck? >> man, buying things is great. i'll tell you. >> it don't suck. >> it doesn't suck. giving up a paycheck to me means giving up stability. because i was putting myself in a position to be the only thing that supported myself. >> reporter: do you think the great quit is the proper term? because we've talked to a number of people who aren't running away from something.

>> yes. >> reporter: they're running to something. they're not quitting something, they're embracing something new. >> i love that point because quitting has this negative connotation, like you gave up. and that's certainly not how i felt leaving tech. >> i have a good feeling, but i'm also very scared. >> reporter: despite the laughs, gaye says cracking jokes can be as stressful as her corporate job. but it is more rewarding. >> you know what i think? i think i left a stressful job to have a stressful job. truly. >> reporter: so what i hear you say is i used to work my ass off. now i work my ass off doing something i'm clearly passionate about. >> yes. and i have to pay for my own health insurance. i'd love some positive feedback. >> jimmy: perhaps so many people could relate to during the pandemic. >> now i'm enjoying the hammock life while overlooking the ocean. >> reporter: one's passion could be infinite. but time is certainly not. >> i think it's a wonderful thing that people are really just going out for what they

want, what they're passionate about. now is not the right time, when is it going to be the right time. >> reporter: if you can do it, do it now. >> you never know. tomorrow is not promised. >> and our thanks to byron for that. up next, the surprise delivery at 30,000 feet. mother and baby with a story to tell. there's a different way to treat hiv. it's once-monthly injectable cabenuva. cabenuva is the only once-a-month, complete hiv treatment for adults who are undetectable. cabenuva helps keep me undetectable. it's two injections, given by a healthcare provider once a month. hiv pills aren't on my mind. i love being able to pick up and go. don't receive cabenuva if you're allergic to its ingredients or taking certain medicines, which may interact with cabenuva. serious side effects include allergic reactions post-injection reactions, liver problems,...and depression. if you have a rash and other allergic reaction symptoms, stop cabenuva and get medical help right away. llour doctor iyohave liver problems or mental health concerns, and if you are pregnant,

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and finally here tonight, a baby boy delivered on a transatlantic flight 30,000 feet in the air. >> we are so happy for the beautiful baby boy. >> the mother going into labor halfway across the atlantic ocean between ghana and washington dulles. a doctor, a dermatology resident in michign who happened to be aboard the flight helped to deliver the healthy baby with the assistance of one of the flight attendants, a former nurse. and a card that said "on behalf of the united team at washington dulles, congratulations on your new baby ♪ . mom and baby are doing well, and that is some luck. you can watch all of our

episodes right now on hulu. we'll see you right back here at the same time tomorrow. good night.