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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.

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[-] kibiz0r@midwest.social 37 points 1 week ago

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."

[-] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 52 points 1 week ago

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.

[-] kibiz0r@midwest.social 33 points 1 week ago

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!

[-] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 13 points 1 week ago

Makes me glad I never subscribed to Spotify

[-] blazeknave@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago

I did it when I saw all my money was going to Rogan and none to the musicians I listen to

[-] AA5B@lemmy.world 7 points 1 week ago

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.

[-] Curiousfur@lemmy.world 12 points 1 week ago

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.

[-] PugJesus@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

Goddammit I don't want another round of right-radicalization like the 90s. Fuck's sake. Wasn't living through one round enough?

Goddammit.

[-] AngryRobot@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago

Maybe that's why the reds kept wanting companies to force a return to the office.

[-] jaggedrobotpubes@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

And commercial real estate.

[-] ThirdWorldOrder@lemm.ee 10 points 1 week ago

Also worth mentioning that Harris declined to be on Rogan

[-] CaptnNMorgan@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago
[-] ThirdWorldOrder@lemm.ee 4 points 1 week ago
[-] CaptnNMorgan@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago
[-] ThirdWorldOrder@lemm.ee 4 points 1 week ago

Okay… that doesn’t mean I’m wrong lol. The point is she had an opportunity to come on to the show. Her schedule was busy and they couldn’t make it work. I don’t see why he should have to fly to her and only do an hour instead of the usual three. It’s not like Rogan flew out to Trump.

[-] CaptnNMorgan@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

Well, if her people asked for her to be on his show but they had to fly him out and it had to be an hour, and he said no, that she had to go there, like trump, then they declined. That isn't, in any way the same as her declining to be on his show. Or are you saying you think rogan is lying? If that's the case I have no argument but I'd question your reasons.

[-] ThirdWorldOrder@lemm.ee 1 points 6 days ago

You’re saying Joe Rogan refused to have Kamala Harris on, remember?

https://x.com/joerogan/status/1851118464447971595

I don’t know what to tell you, but Kamala didn’t want to go to Austin and also didn’t want to do the normal three hour show. You can argue with me all you want but all the information is available so you’re just wasting your time.

[-] CaptnNMorgan@lemmy.world 1 points 6 days ago

So you're telling me she asked to be on? And then what happened?

[-] ThirdWorldOrder@lemm.ee 1 points 6 days ago

I’m done with this pointless conversation. Have a good one.

this post was submitted on 20 Nov 2024
445 points (100.0% liked)

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