Joe Rogan Appeals to Normal People Because He’s Having Conversations the Way They Do
Critics of the Joe Rogan Experience should consider why his show is so popular.
Spotify podcaster and former Fear Factor host Joe Rogan is so hot right now. Every corner of the Internet seems to be debating the merits, or lack thereof, of The Joe Rogan Experience (JRE), the interview podcast that launched in 2009 with relative obscurity but has now become the most-listened to show in the United States.
The latest round of debate was touched off by musician Neil Young, who informed Spotify that he would be pulling his music in protest of Rogan’s presence on the same service. Joni Mitchell and Nils Lofgren (a member of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, in case you were wondering who he is) soon joined him.
All three took aim at Rogan for featuring guests on his show who voiced skepticism about the COVID-19 vaccines. In their view, the show is a platform for poorly informed cranks to air their views about vaccines and other COVID-19 mitigation measures. This misinformation has deadly consequences, and Spotify should not be sponsoring it by allowing Rogan’s show on their service.
Whatever one’s view about freedom of speech and open debate, it is certainly true that the news media should uphold the highest standards. The average American is stretched way too thin to investigate every topic for themselves; when a news network screws up a story, they are failing their audience by denying them access to the truth. We’ve seen the news media fall down on huge stories like Iraq and Russiagate as well as smaller stories like Covington Catholic. And if you think the bright minds of the news media are above whipping up fear about something completely unfounded, check out the Satanic Panic.
But the furor towards Rogan — which extends far beyond a handful of pandemic-related guests he’s featured recently — presupposes that the purpose of his project is to produce a professional news program.
Rogan’s goal isn’t to create an online version of Meet the Press or Fox News Sunday. Unlike the major networks, Rogan doesn’t have an armada of producers, fact-checkers, camera operators, and anchors who cut their teeth with decades of experience in newsgathering. He also isn’t trying to recreate The Dick Cavett Show or Firing Line of yesteryear that typically featured news-making politicians and celebrities being grilled about their views.
What Rogan’s doing is quite different, and it’s the key to his surprising success.
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