The Joe Rogan of the left, right, and center is just … Joe Rogan

Following the 2024 U.S. presidential election, many commentators credited podcasts with contributing to Donald Trump’s victory. On election night, the Trump campaign openly thanked a handful of podcast hosts, including the Nelk Boys, Theo Von, Bussin’ with the Boys, and Joe Rogan, for helping to shape voter sentiment. This acknowledgment and Trump’s success at the polls have crystallized a view of podcasts as crucial venues for political persuasion. To many observers, the big question after last year’s election was whether Democrats could replicate a similar media strategy by finding a “Joe Rogan of the left.”

As it turns out, that might be easier to do than anyone thought. Our analysis shows that discussions on Joe Rogan’s podcasts spanned a wide range of ideological views. These podcasts were surprisingly balanced across the political spectrum, with roughly as many left-leaning as right-leaning episodes as measured by the content of the discussions. Our findings challenge popular media portrayals of these podcasts as being exclusively MAGA (Make American Great Again) aligned. In fact, we argue that Joe Rogan himself is not just “Joe Rogan of the right.” The strength of Trump’s campaign strategy may not have been his appearances on podcasts that featured exclusively conservative content, but rather going on podcasts that featured a variety of viewpoints.