Summary
The āRogansphere,ā 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 āFox News for the young.ā
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 audienceāparticularly 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.
Iāve been a comedy fan my entire life, by and large nobody respected comedians outside of whether or not they make you laugh. I donāt 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 heās 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?
Ignoring him wonāt make him go away. The reason he affects politics is because culture affects politics. Everything is politics.
If someone gets on an elevator with 6 people all facing the back wall, even if they donāt understand, they will awkwardly turn to face the back wall like everyone else. If someone sees a bunch of people they respect (read: āhe seems like a down to Earth guyā) show their support for Trump, guess what that person is likely to do.
This is the reason celebrity endorsementsāoh yay, Swift endorses Kamalaāmake the news. Itās not because people think Swift is a politician, itās because they think sheās likeable and not stupid or cruel enough to actually hurt them.
And also, bystander effect, itās much easier to take a stand when you have a leader. To some, Swift is the jumper-cable spark they need to get involved.
The bottom line is Rogan, podcasts, Tik Tok, Youtubeāthis is the new media. Democrats canāt keep pretending the only thing people respect is high-brow interviews on 60 minutes.
Iām young enough. You know what Iāve never seen? A single CNN interview. At best, I watch people on Twitch cover them.
News outlets are the reason Rogan is taken seriously. Everything you said isnāt wrong, but itās ignoring the differences between how āthe mediaā treats Joe Rogan and how it treated other ācomedicā figures before him. CNN and just about everyone else, except (maybe) PBS, talked about that bald clown like he was a force to be reconned with.
It doesnāt matter if people actually watched those news segments. People heard about it because, even though they donāt get views, the major news networks still hold more weight than independent media.
Would you know who Joe Rogan is if you werenāt already listening to his podcast and he never came up in the news? 5 years before COVID, he was just āthe guy from fear factorā for me.
Iām not suggesting anyone ignore him, Iām suggesting people stop talking about him the way they are. There should be articles about fact checking him without attacking, so his viewers can go to it without feeling bad about watching/listening, not about how important his podcast is. If they werenāt attacking him and instead just fact corrected him in a sort of āby the wayā kind of way, this election and COVID would have been a lot different. Itās still possible to do that now.
Edit: fixed an autocorrect I noticed