Perhaps the newest media avenue is podcasts, and none
are larger than The Joe Rogan Experience. Joe Rogan has not typically focused
his podcast content on political news topics, however, recently Rogan has
brought on political guests around the 2024 presidential election including now
President Trump. Joe Rogan started podcasting in 2009 and was one of the first
regular shows in podcasting, this early and consistent start is the main reason
The Joe Rogan Experience is as large as it is today.
Joe Rogan started with having his friends as guests on
his podcast and the conversation centered on topics such as MMA and
entertainment. The average episode of The Joe Rogan Experience runs for two and
a half hours with episodes regularly eclipsing three hours in length. Joe Rogan
is not averse to having political guests on his show and before 2024 he
regularly had on figures such as Ben Shapiro, Tucker Carlson, and Edward
Snowden among others. In and around the 2024 election Rogan became increasingly
focused on having Trump and Harris on his podcast in addition to other
political guests. Rogan’s reasoning for wanting both candidates on his show was
people deserved to listen to presidential nominees defend their stances in a
long form show where they could explain their positions thoroughly. Ultimately Trump
accepted the offer and Harris declined, according to many people close to
Harris this is now seen as a blunder since Trump saw such a massive boost from
the appearance.
Despite the unconventional nature of his podcast and
the content that is usually discussed there is no doubt Rogan had a massive
impact on the 2024 presidential election especially among young male voters. In
the future political candidates will likely have to sit for long form
interviews since it worked so well for Trump in 2024.
Podcasts have become a great platform for sharing and discussing current topics. People like Joe Rogan have already built up their audience and formed some sort of trust, which allows them to also introduce topics or people they think are important. I like the idea of allowing people running for office to come on and have a sit down talk, where they can say everything they want to share with the public in a more nonchalant setting. It allows these people to share their ideas and answer questions in a way that flows like a conversation. Podcasts had a big impact on the 2024 election, and I think they will continue to offer another viewpoint on news.
ReplyDeleteI do not really understand the appeal of podcasts given their length. I think Joe Rogan brings on interesting guests while also saying the most questionable things conceived by a human being. I wish there was some way to see how big of change there would be (or not) if Harris or even Walz went on the podcast. Unfortunately, we shall never know.
ReplyDeletePersonally I find their appeal to be in the length. They allow issues to be discussed at length which lets the complexity of issues come through and be explained in unique ways. At my job I often find myself listing to podcasts because they are easily accessible with headphones or earbuds, this again is the appeal at least to me personally.
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