Summary
The “Rogansphere,” a sprawling ecosystem of podcasts and online shows led by figures like Joe Rogan, has become a powerful cultural force for younger audiences, functioning as a “Fox News for the young.”
With its mix of anti-establishment rhetoric, distrust of Democrats, and casual conversations blending left-leaning and conservative ideas, it normalizes figures like Donald Trump for a disillusioned, lonely audience—particularly young men.
Democrats risk underestimating its influence, as this ecosystem fosters deep listener loyalty and has contributed to a significant shift in young male voters toward Trump.
Unlike fox News though Rogan isn’t outright hostile to liberals. If you go on fox News as a liberal you’ll maybe be able to get half your point across before the host calls you an un-american communist. On rogan you could probably get through a 10 minute Marxist diatribe, as long as you dont use any scary or long words like proletariat, and he’d probably be to dumb to see what your doing and nod and agreee.
For better or worse the democrats seem to have abandoned the identity politics that angered this group so much so it wouldn’t be too hard to bring this crowd over if the messaging is right.
joe rogan, fox news. cult of idiocracy. cult of idiocracy. cult. of. idiocraccccyyyyyy…
Like these young Trump voters. TikTok is where they get their news and Rogan is who they listen to: https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/18/politics/video/ufc-trump-fans-digvid
I like Galloway’s analysis here: https://www.profgalloway.com/the-podcast-election/
I am going on AC360/MSNBC/Smerconish to discuss the male vote — this election gave us the opposite of the expected referendum on bodily autonomy; it was the Testosterone Election. The only thing I’m (fairly) certain of is what medium played a pivotal role, for the first time, in young people’s decision to violently pivot to Trump: podcasts.
Almost half of adult Americans, 136 million people, listen to at least one podcast a month. The global audience is now 505 million, a quarter of the internet’s reach.
Rogan has 16 million Spotify subscribers and can reach many more people across a variety of other platforms: In just three days after the live podcast, his three-hour-long conversation with Trump was viewed 40 million times on YouTube.
By comparison, when Trump appeared on Fox News’ Gutfeld!, which averages about 3 million viewers, he reached 5 million people, and the full episode has been viewed 2.3 million times on YouTube.
Among Fox’s 3.5 million regular viewers, 70% are 50 and over and 45% are women. The No. 2 cable network, MSNBC, reaches 1.5 million viewers most days; its median viewer is a 70-year-old woman. So: a big audience of young men vs. a small audience of older women. People listen to pods to learn; they watch cable TV to sanctify what they already believe. The former is (much) more appealing to candidates and advertisers.
Rogan’s demographic is 80% male, 93% under 54, and 56% under 34. Men under 34 are the Great White Rhinos of advertising, the most valuable beast in the consumer jungle, and they’re increasingly difficult to find.
He also mentioned in a CNN interview: “Look at the top 10 podcasts. 8 of them lean right, and Trump went on 6 of them.”
Don’t a lot of people who listen to podcasts do so while driving? If so, this is eerily similar to how conservative AM radio brainwashed people who drove a lot, especially in remote areas where FM radio with music wasn’t available.
Also similar: Spotify puts podcasts and music side-by-side the same way the radio dial used to. Sick of that top 10 hit? Check out what the worst people in the world are thinking today!
It’s really annoying, plus the algorithm seems really locked down. Between cutting the screen space in half for podcasts and audiobooks, and the narrower algorithm, I never see anything new to listen to anymore until I take extra steps to search for it.
Makes me glad I never subscribed to Spotify
And the people bankrolling these podcasts, or at least sponsoring them to push a slant to the right, are fully aware of the similarities. It’s why they do it, they already did the math.
Also worth mentioning that Harris declined to be on Rogan
Personally, i don’t like joe rogan. He does a horrible job at making sure he isn’t spreading misinformation and he is indeed contributing to influencing people in a bad way
That being said, i think acually challanging and approaching these mindset is valuable to show that the left is present in politics, not just the one we agree with all the time. If we dont open up discource on platforms that the right accually watches, more left wing discource, ideas and topics gets lost in the echo chamber of “we don’t want to talk to anyone on the right”. We cannot think people on the right and people alienated by the democrats will suddenly start consuming leftist idea if we wont bring that to their turf. I think a lot of people supporting the right are accually in agreement with the left such as economic reform etc , just that the right have much better platforms and charismatic people that accually adress their concerns.
Im not saying we should consider rasist, misogynistic and hatefull speech to be okay at all, and we are not part of the problem if we are present on platforms trying to challenge them. But we need to show that we are here for everyone, not just ourselves. The people we disagree with don’t vanish because we dont want to talk with them, because they will find other people who want to talk, and they might be encouraging their already damaging viewpoints.
I came across this video a few days ago and i was intrigued, i reccomend watching, it gave me an idea on why we are stuggeling to reach more people:
This… comment… its not a meme or a trope. I feel… l dont know what to feel or what to say. Can you please convert this to an image with text or at least make your comment seem like you are 100% certain about who needs to die??
His influence is gigantic.
I find this frustrating. Yes, many of those podcasters are conservative and have participated in spreading misinformation, but there is a huge difference between a private cable news company that is designed to manipulate the electorate, and a bunch of loosely connected yahoos on YouTube who share similar opinions.
Trump gained ground with nearly every demographic out there. They weren’t all watching Kill Tony. Working class people, comedians who rely on unrestricted speech, and a whole lot of other demographics have legitimate grievances that the Democrats have either ignored or shamed them for. They either need to lean how to address these people’s needs, or they will continue to suffer the consequences.
And when you aren’t trying to form a political opinion about it, Kill Tony is actually a pretty funny show. That is why it is the number one comedy podcast, not because of Tony’s political opinions.
loosely connected yahoos
This particular yahoo has a $100 million deal with Spotify.
He may not have the multi-billion dollar revenue of Fox News Media. But he does only have a fraction of their staff and operating expenses. That is certainly no pittance.
The rest of the yahoos are emulating him. Together they have a huge impact.
I agree with everything you said, except Kill Tony being funny. I have not heard anything from him that made me laugh.
I am genuinely still waiting.
Kill Tony is the name of a show that has featured hundreds of comedians—that is what I was endorsing as funny, and that is what most viewers come to see. Tony Hinchcliffe is a person, and he serves primarily as a judge on the show, not a featured entertainer.
This exact misunderstanding—that enjoying the product is an endorsement of the political opinions of the creator—is a good example of what I’m talking about. If Democrats want that audience to watch a Democratic comedian’s show, then all they have to do is make a better comedy podcast than he did.
I saw him on tour earlier this year (or maybe last year, I can’t keep up with time anymore). Had never heard of him but we had free tickets. There were 3 or 4 openers, all people part of the Kill Tony family or whatever. His openers were hilarious, he was…very not funny.
We are being downvoted for this but it’s funny to me that they are calling him Fox News for young people. The show really isn’t all that political. Instead of whining about Rogan, democrats need someone who occupies a similar space as Rogan that young people want to watch.
When I was younger we had Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. Times have changed and right leaning comedians are edging out left leaning comedy, for whatever reason. Maybe the left is too PC? I don’t know.
The problem is that Rogan is the beginning of algorithmic rabbit holes that relatively quickly draw people into further right-wing political commentary, pundits like Ben Shapiro or Matt Walsh or Tim Pool start popping up more and more on recommended pages, for whatever criteria the almighty algorithm had decided Joe Rogan and right-wing pundits have in common.
He might not seem very political, but he has politically engaged figures on his show quite often.
Even on my own YouTube, I actively curate the recommendations and channels that get suggested to me and tend to cut out the extreme right wing and I still get suggestions for anti-woke conservative videos.
Rogan is an inflection point that leads many people to right wingers.
Those other guys you mentioned are certified douchebags. Joe Rogan is way more moderate than those clowns.
If Tim pool appeals to young people, then we have to ask ourselves why. It’s not because they may like Joe Rogan. I have a maga buddy who is a huge pool fan but doesn’t like Rogan
People often think propaganda is done by hiding something or lying. More often they don’t need to do either of those things. Once you have a pulpit it’s more about who you choose to elevate and amplify.
Even on my own YouTube, I actively curate the recommendations and channels that get suggested to me and tend to cut out the extreme right wing and I still get suggestions for anti-woke conservative videos.
For reasons I cannot explain sufficiently, YouTube seem to be in full we-have-no-ideas panic mode and spitting out lots of right wing crap regardless of what your algorithms used to be.
I’m sure I trust someone with the username “ThirdWorldOrder” telling me Joe Rogan isn’t al that political. It’s just a joke, bro!
I’ve had this username since StarCraft 1… so a long time ago. What does ThirdWorldOrder mean to you? lol
democrats need someone who occupies a similar space as Rogan that young people want to watch.
I’ve said it before and I’ll probably say it another hundred times but that.cannot.happen. It’s not possible. It’s like saying “democrats should fight an armed conflict with water balloons and paste” - it is not a possible thing to do.
There are some really interesting reasons why that is, but the TL;DR of it is right-wing conservative bullshit does not translate. So what we’d get is a left-wing liberal papier-mâché version that wore thin quickly.
All I’m saying is don’t bother going down this road. It’ll eat up lots of time and have no results that will help. The answer to Fox News Limbaugh Rogan Chudville Station is not the opposite sameness. It’s entirely different media.
Don’t fight against them, expose the sources of funding they get and go after the money. Almost immediately after Tenet was found out to be a Russian front paying for and delivering talking points to Podcaster like Tim Pool, Lauren Southern, etc and was shut down. All these shows suddenly started dropping what they could do because they lost a significant source of funding and content.
Well, good luck finding something that appeals to young men then.
I mean, that’s easy. It just doesn’t have any politics in it.
Edit: overt politics
In my opinion, the heavy policing of language during the 2010’s made the Democratic Party a hostile environment for improvisational artists. The whole style of their art is to make an omelette on the fly while definitely breaking a few eggs along the way. It is fundamentally necessary for them to be able to make a mistake and move on, and that is something that the “cancel culture” was progressively trying to deny.
It has gotten a little better, but this latest round of blaming comedians and podcasters for Trump isn’t going to help. The Democratic Party needs to realize that when they point the finger at others, there are three fingers pointing back at them.
The whole style of their art is to make an omelette on the fly while definitely breaking a few eggs along the way. It is fundamentally necessary for them to be able to make a mistake and move on, and that is something that the “cancel culture” was progressively trying to deny.
Is this cancel culture in the room with us now?
A lot of Democrat spaces have been in purity spirals for closing in on a decade. It’s not enough to just be pro choice anymore, you have to support free home delivery of abortion meds via text message, elective abortion into the third trimester…
you have to support free home delivery of abortion meds via text message, elective abortion into the third trimester…
Where in any Democrat aligned policy us this the case? The only people getting late term abortions are people who’ve had something catastrophic happen during their pregnancy. No person is going through 6+ months of all the challenges and difficulties associated with pregnancy just to decide they don’t want a baby at the very end.
Don’t just parrot what you hear off of Fox News or Breitbart or Daily Wire, look shit up and verify what they’re saying is true.
Top line policy and allowed opinions in various groups are different. I don’t think you understand a purity spiral, it’s not realistic or logical, it’s about signalling increasingly extreme adherence to a belief. Whether that is third trimester abortion, or anyone not worshiping X god in exactly the right way or you burn in hell, it’s the same root problem.
Rogansphere
Roganisphere
Rogaineosphere?
and casual conversations blending left-leaning and conservative ideas
Oh shit, it’s almost as if there are more dimensions to politics than just the single axis the Democratic Party is willing to acknowledge.
And then they wonder why they lose.
You know what other sorts of figures that sort of conversation could “normalize” for “for a disillusioned, lonely audience—particularly young men?” Left-wing populists!
But the Democrats would rather have Trump.
Oh shit, it’s almost as if there are more dimensions to politics than just the single axis the Democratic Party is willing to acknowledge.
Shit leftie go on and tell us what that single axis is. Make sure to use “libs” a lot.
I’m a 42 year old Democrat and I don’t mind his show at all. You really don’t have to agree with things you disagree with. AMA
Ya’ll are going to downvote which is fine. You can make the choice to live in your own echo chamber. Turned out well this election cycle.
As someone whose only information about the man is secondhand, what does he even talk about?
Literally every topic you could think of
Everything, weed, psychedelics, hunting, wrestling. He’s had Bernie Sanders on, Elon Musk smoked weed on his show etc.
And endorsed a fascist don’t forget that.
Welcome to .world where everything is black or white and there are only two opinions - one of which is wrong. I’m not sure they (well, some of them) can even spell nuance.
It’s crazy to me how honesty and truth are downvoted here. It truly is just reddit 2.0. I’m not a loyal Rogan watcher but from what I have watched he seems like a true middle of the road kinda guy. Talks about the benifits of weed and psychodelics and then also talks about hunting and other things. Sure he’s had crazy conspiracy folks on. But he’s always seemed to just let people talk.
>“true middle of the road kinda guy”
>endorsed a fascist for POTUS
lmfao okay
I get what both of y’all are saying. I’ve seen his show a couple times, he takes an hour or so with someone on the edge of mainstream from either side and asks basic questions that pop into his head. That’s the gist of it, and by itself, in a vacuum (or in the privacy of one’s home, say) it’s fine. I wanted to hear what his guests had to say on occasion.
That said, there’s a lot of identification with power and dominance symbolism that happen all throughout it, and endorsing trump is unconscionable. I appreciate he’s expanded his mind with DMT or whatever but seriously, whatever supplements he’s on have suppressed some serious judgement pathways. I don’t eat Subway 'cause they’re still in ruzzia and I won’t listen to Rogan for any reason now.
Yeah I’ve only seen less than 20 of his videos, usually when it’s a guest he has on that I like (rob zombie, bill burr etc). One episode I watched he was even calling out Trump and saying he didn’t want him on the show.
You are exactly right, he lets people talk and he is great at keeping the interview feel organic and moving.
People downvoting because they prob never even listened to him and are just doing the echo chamber nonsense.
