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.
I’ve been a comedy fan my entire life, by and large nobody respected comedians outside of whether or not they make you laugh. I don’t understand how or know when the culture changed so much. These podcasters are comedians. Why is everyone comparing them to News broadcasting companies or any other industry that is supposed to have merit and accountability? At most/best, these podcasts are a long form version of Regis and Kelly or Ellen. You people taking these CLOWNS seriously, is the reason stupid kids and dumb men my age think they should be taken seriously. Joe Rogan is talked about on the news like he’s a fucking politician, why is anyone surprised his show effected politics after YEARS of the news talking about him and politics in the same breath?
Yes because insulting the voter base is the way to win their votes. This is why we keep fucking losing. Instead of adjusting we call the voters lonely and stupid. Sounds like a sure fire way to win on the fence voters.
This article is essentially saying anyone that listens to these shows is the problem.
They killed their chance with Sanders who had a better approval rate than Hillary and could have won that election. Thats when i realized the democratic party is GARBAGE.
Tbf, anyone listening to Joe Rogan is stupid.
This, many people who voted for Trump weren’t going to vote at all until Hillary called them deplorable.
This article is essentially saying anyone that listens to these shows is the problem.
Fascists are usually the problem, yea
Lol you aren’t ever going to win that voter base, the fact that you keep trying is why you keep losing.
Quit your bullshit. Dems have never gone after this segment and you know it. What the fuck is wrong with you?
Yeah this thinking right here is what won you that election.
You need to go to bed. You’re not making sense.
Rogansphere
Roganisphere
Rogaineosphere?
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
Broprah is a tool, in every definition of the word.
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.
Maybe that’s why the reds kept wanting companies to force a return to the office.
And commercial real estate.
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.
Plugging Behind the Bastards from coolzone media.
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
I did it when I saw all my money was going to Rogan and none to the musicians I listen to
Also worth mentioning that Harris declined to be on Rogan
Other way around
I’m not a Rogan fan and have only seen a couple of his “interviews” but the guy is really stupid. The ones I saw Rogan acted like the kid that didn’t read the book before attempting to interview the author for three hours about the book.
It is all good to have an open mind but maybe not so open your brains fall out. Anyway, the problem I have is that these are not serious people, Rogan is either unwilling or unable to do even the most basic amount of research into a topic before platforming a guest. What is impressive to me is that people eat this shit up. Rogan is like Fox News because they are both just sugary nonsense with no meat and potatoes.
The way I see it these casters are doing to politics what Ancient Aliens did to history.
I was annoyed with Kamala’s lack of appearances on podcasts. Podcasts are quickly replacing legacy media especially with young people, and especially during the last 4 years with a ton of people now working from home. Kamala went on Call Her Daddy, and it was way too short. I think like 45 minutes. She treated it like a CNBC interview imo and didn’t really seem to get the fact that a podcast should be a little less buttoned up. I don’t think she went on any other podcasts.
I listened to Trump on Theo Von, and if I was a young, dumb, uninformed, undecided voter, I could see him resonating with me. Being that I am informed, I could barely stand it, but trump definitely got some voters going on that show. I guarantee it. Bernie did Theo like a week later and I was wondering when Kamala would be on? Then Trump did Rogan, and I still waited for Kamala. I couldn’t force myself to sit through Trump’s Rogan interview because Rogan is a moron, but having said that, he has millions of followers, and neglecting to try to reach that audience was a major misstep. To my knowledge there are no articles saying either wouldn’t have had Kamala on, so I can only think they willfully stayed away from those shows because of the perception of their audience. They should be fighting to get their message to those people, and frankly anyone who will listen.
Removed by mod
Not young people, a specific brand of misinformed idiot of all ages. If you can’t read no good, and you don’t know what “Roberts rules of order” are or you think they have something to do with the McDonald’s drive thru, then Rogan and his type are your fox news - the dumbest person’s dumb news-style product
His influence is gigantic.
Yes, we need more attempts to “reason” with the horse paste people.
Oh, you still think ivermectin is only for horses?
We use it as medicine for our dog. And, if you have parasites, it’s good in human doses. I think it can also be given prophylactically. I haven’t seen any evidence it should be used to treat any virus, respiratory or other.
Oh, you still think it treats COVID?
The sad thing about Rogan is that I don’t think he’s a bad guy at heart. He’s a once pretty bright guy with an inquisitive mind that is utterly drug addled at this point.
He asks good questions. Curiosity killed the cat, though.
He’s just smart enough to ask a good question and have an engaging interview, he’s not smart enough to ever be informed by the answers.
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.
But they are not a coordinated cabal like Fox, which is the point I was trying to make.
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.
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?
No, but it sure was in the room when a lot of people got fired.
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.
Got a source on those policy positions to back that up? Any politicians that explicitly are running on encouraging 3rd trimester abortions?
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
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.
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.
The best thing one can do on YouTube (alas, I’m a Premium subscriber I must admit), is TURNING OFF VIEWING HISTORY.
I cannot emphasise this enough, please show your parents, your children or cousins how to turn it off. It makes your viewing experience so much better.
I keep getting youtube videos from folks with a thousand subscribers max, I think youtube just kinda imploded somewhat.
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
Congratulations you’ve pointed out the obvious they’re douchebags who lean further right than rogan, it doesn’t change the fact that algorithms have linked Rogan with these douchebags.
No need to act like you’re better than me for whatever reason. It sounds like you’re blaming Rogan instead of the algorithms. If that’s not good enough then shout at the sky because hacks like Tim Pool exist. You all are going out of your way to blame something else that isn’t even the problem to begin with.
You need to work on your reading comprehension. I am primarily pinning it on the algorithm but I’m also pointing out that Rogan’s podcast is leading people to right-wing commentators, partly because of the guests he has on and partly because the algorithms push people in that direction.
He has plenty of left wing guests on. I have no idea what the situation is with algorithms because I don’t get any right wing nonsense in my feed despite watching Rogan from time to time.
I will say that I checked my ChatGPT and it thinks I’m a right winger because I’m always fact checking my maga friend. What I’m saying is that if people are like me and have right wing friends they argue with, they may get flagged as right wing just from checking their links.
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.
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
But, I’ve been assured that the guy who moved to TX to avoid taxes, despite benefitting greatly from services that they provided in CA, routinely gives the far-right a megaphone, endorsed the orange guy, and is chummy with the Gov of TX, despite being an open drug user was a moderate centrist!!1
He only did that because the Left rejected him
