Don’t underestimate the Rogansphere. His mammoth ecosystem is Fox News for young people | Sam Wolfson
www.theguardian.com
Podcasts like Joe Rogan’s and Theo Von’s aren’t on the fringes. Their blend of off-the-cuff, Trump-leaning commentary blurs traditional lines between left and right – and offers listeners companionship

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.

  • kibiz0r@midwest.socialEnglish
    29·
    19 hours 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-Lemmygod@lemmy.worldEnglish
      41·
      17 hours 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.socialEnglish
        23·
        17 hours 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!

        • AA5B@lemmy.world
          3·
          16 hours 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
        9·
        17 hours 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.