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 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.
I was particularly interested in this as well and Rogan has stated that he would have “done it for free” and he was given opportunities to do interviews at specific times and places but the kamala team didn’t want to go sit down with him in Texas, for whatever reason. So he ultimately didn’t do it because she wouldn’t come down - just like Trump did - and talk for a few hours on his podcast.
I think it was a huge mistake to not go on it and echo your sentiment that they should get their message out to anyone who would listen. But when it comes down to it, it was both parties who had some type of predisposition to how the interview was going to shake out, which caused it to fall apart.