On the eve of the 2024 election, Joe Rogan — host of “The Joe Rogan Experience,” the No. 1 podcast on Spotify — endorsed Donald Trump, officially placing Rogan on the right side of the political spectrum. While some may have always considered Rogan a centerpiece of bro-friendly conservative media, for long-time fans, this endorsement may have come as a surprise. 

Before 2024, Rogan had always voted for the Democrats. In 2020, he endorsed Bernie Sanders for president. He has previously expressed left-leaning stances on issues ranging from same-sex marriage to health care. 

Joe Rogan talks to his guests for hours, often going off tangents and goofing around, with many conversations unavoidably culminating in comically deep philosophizing about psychedelic drugs, aliens, mixed martial arts or how much better game tastes when hunted with a bow.

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The format reflects an authenticity that has become a defining factor of 2020s internet culture, exemplifying how Gen Z’s values have shaped the zeitgeist. Love him or hate him, the world’s most popular podcaster is not inauthentic. His approach humanizes guests, and he certainly humanized Donald Trump who appeared on the podcast before the election. 

Over time, Rogan found himself at the center of a growing network of conservative-leaning edgy media platforms most recently rebranded by the left as the “manosphere.” There are strong arguments to be made about it being a mistake to platform these individuals to millions. But the political landscape has shifted so much that these arguments have come to ring eerily similar to Republicans’ historic attempts at censorship around the turn of the century.

In a political climate where people get called out and face consequences over text messages, tweets or jokes made years ago, long-form conversations are bound to generate ammunition for callouts. 

Now, imagine yourself from Rogan’s point of view. You’ve openly attempted to spread left-leaning views and endorsed someone like Sanders. You try to prioritize curiosity and engaging conversations with guests whose views may differ from your own. 

For every Robert Malone, who criticized COVID-19 vaccines on the show leading to massive media backlash, you’ve hosted multiple prominent pro-vaccines figures such as Peter Hotez and Michael Osterholm. For every Jordan Peterson, you’ve exposed your audience to a Cenk Uygur; for every Ben Shapiro, a Sanders; and so on. 

Despite this, you get berated by the left. Consistently.

What did Democrats think would happen, except Rogan shifting away from the left? Why should he remain nuanced and balanced on both sides when his extremely open, laissez-faire podcast has not been assessed with balance or good faith?

The manosphere narrative keeps getting pushed, and the idea that young men are radicalized by Rogan and his right-leaning guests is becoming a dogmatic truth for those on the left. 

But this line of argumentation is similar to blaming school shootings on video games or gang violence on rap lyrics — lines of argumentation historically found on the right side of the aisle, now morphing into a cornerstone of the left-leaning narrative regarding the radicalization of young men and how we ought to shape our media landscape. 

This confused narrative relies on infantilizing audiences and generalizing many hours of nuanced content. It also completely ignores the fact that Rogan has hosted many prominent left-wing figures, effectively mitigating any radicalization happening. 

Rogan shouldn’t be considered awful solely based on who he associates with. Millions of his listeners — of whom, as we know, four out of five skew male — may listen to these episodes for entertainment purposes because of how outrageous guests’ claims are. Maybe many of them simply enjoy Rogan as a host and enjoy his conversations with their guests. Whatever the reason is, listening does not automatically imply radicalization or a fuelling of certain political beliefs.

If people on the left are unwilling to analyze the manosphere with the granularity it deserves, considering its influence, they shouldn’t expect the manosphere to critically assess its media with any good faith.

“You can’t build Joe Rogan if you’re a political person because the whole point of what is meaningful about him is fundamentally that he’s not for people interested in politics,” said New York Times journalist Ezra Klein.

For some, everything is political. This is one of the reasons the Democratic Party lost many ordinary Americans who were more concerned with the economy than socially conscious issues, costing them this election. It will probably take them another loss before they can create their own Joe Rogan or win back the original one.