There is no “liberal Joe Rogan” because Joe Rogan is not a political commentator. His political leanings are a SYMPTOM, not a cause.
Really, I bet Rogan himself can be won back. I don’t know if people get how non-ideological that meathead really is. (He might be too “audience captured” at this point though, I dunno.)
What we need is for Rogan to piss off Trump somehow so that Trump goes off on him. That’s the kind of thing that moves guys like Rogan, many of whom did, genuinely, start voting Republican for no reason except a liberal being mean to them.
I will say that to whatever extent there could be a “liberal Joe Rogan” it’s Jimmy Kimmel. Rogan even took over for Kimmel when he left “The Man Show” on Comedy Central.
Kimmel doesn’t seem to move the needle much. Being stuck on a dead medium might be the problem. His ABC show has been on over 20 years, maybe it’s time for him to retire, start reading some squarespace ads, and maybe make more impact than he does now.
Anybody who replaces Rogan has to be a comedian FIRST.
The liberal Joe Rogan has to be someone who also is not be a political commentator. That's the whole appeal. You need someone that when people call him a liberal, other people will say "well he's not really a _liberal_, he's just a guy who doesn't agree with a lot of what Republicans are doing", but will gently and consistently promote and talk about stuff that encourages people to hear our Democrat-friendly arguments, and to and to think Republicans are lame.
Restricting things like doing your job or conducting your business in order to take an experimental medicine that was only mandated because it was sold as something it didn’t do (prevent the disease) is a little more than “being mean”. & when the government starts weighing on social media companies to restrict speech in a new & rapidly developing situation, that does tend to turn some people away from your overall cause too.
Well, semantics I guess. I don’t think you can take anybody over the age of 12 or so completely seriously when they describe somebody as “being mean.”
Anyway - you are implying that Rogan’s transition has more to do with Covid restrictions than “wokeness.” That’s not the impression I’ve gotten, but I’m not a listener. Would you say that was his prime motivator?
Yeah, fairly avid listener (& I’m one of those registered independents) since ‘11 or so…the woke thing played a part, for sure. But that was the self-inflicted wound the left performed on themselves in going after him: he’s pro-LGBTQ, not a racist, & not a misogynist. So you’ve got this macho kind-hearted guy & you excommunicate him from polite society because he wasn’t down 150% with fairly extreme & pretty new progressive viewpoints. Turns out he represented more of America than not on all that, why when presented with a binary choice & Kamala cast her lot with “‘hate speech’ isn’t free speech”, he being a Lenny Bruce/George Carlin free-speech absolutist felt he needed to take a chance on the rebel.
Yeah - I think Covid restrictions are a complicated thing, because while I understand how people felt imposed upon the restricts saved tens of thousands of lives (at least).
Remember that there were also people strongly in favor of restrictions who were just as frustrated by people who couldn't follow them, who they saw as worsening or extending the pandemic. Really, a lot of anger about how this or that group of people handled the pandemic is just an artifact of sadness that the pandemic happened at all. There was no winning for any of us there.
But I think your overall read of Rogan makes sense. It might actually be good for Democrats if they have their "white male" problem so well-represented by an individual who talks in a pretty unfiltered and nonpartisan way for 3-4 hours a week. We just need some people in the party to notice.
I think what "we need a liberal Rogan!" takes show, first and foremost, is that the person making the suggestion has never listened to Rogan. Brian makes the key point here which is that "liberal Rogan" is not a political host, he's somebody entertaining, non-judgmental and relatable to a large swathe of men, who talks about shit men like, 95% of which is not politics.
People who have established niches, like Bill Simmons with basketball, could be effective micro-messengers within those communities. But there's no alt-Pod-Save-Bros that are going to appeal to your average man on the street, it's gotta be something totally different.
Agreed! Quickly on the Covid thing, the majority of society Rogan (& Trump) included were on board about most of the restrictions at the beginning (especially during the worst variant). It was when the vaccine was sold as a panacea (& Rogan heard not only cases were still getting through, but some of his friends started having heart/circulation problems post-vaccine) was when he started being the “pariah” of the “we can vax our way out of it” crowd, which at that point even during a weaker strain the government & media were on the side of.
That was another self-own by the “liberal left”…Joe Rogan wasn’t anti-vax, he still said take it if you were old or vulnerable. But what he was really doing was kinda fighting for blue-collar workers (including truckers, police, & medical personnel) who were being thrown out of work & seen as poxes on society. So the powers that be decided he had to be brought down (I’m not conspiracy-minded but it was creepy). But they missed he’d become “the purple podcast”, the reasonable middle. So Elon convincing him about Trump meant that endorsement was a big deal (doesn’t make him a Republican, it makes him powerful enough to hold Trump accountable. Even Elon bent the knee).
It's worth remembering that the two worst variants were fully post-vaccine, and are the reason that the vaccine wasn't as sterilizing as was initially hoped.
Joe Rogan is heterodox. He has views that comport with either party identity, and has specifically been favorably disposed towards Bernie Sanders, Andrew Yang, and (gulp) Tulsi G when she was a "Democrat." He has said negative things about Trump over the years, including being critical of tariffs and antagonism of Canada.
I think this post also mischaracterizes the thrust of the effort to build up Democratic influence. I have met directly with organizers of these efforts. They are specifically *not* trying to create "the next Joe Rogan." They are trying to 1) empower existing voices popular with the base (the Brian T Cohen's you cite)), 2) identify influencers across various tech platforms and cultural areas (sports, food, health, etc.), 3) understand better what political "content" works best in these diffuse channels. Of those 3, the first one is the least important and smallest amount of funding.
I know this sounds elitist as fuck, but it’s the truth.
Joe Rogan appeals to young men who have yet to step up to maturity. There’s no Democratic equivalent because a certain degree of critical thinking is required to see the benefits of Democratic policies plus a willingness to sacrifice for the greater good. They haven’t developed that yet, and until they do, gimme-gimme Rogan appeals to them far more than “think of the children!”
Dems are chasing fireflies here. There’s never going to be a liberal Joe Rogan. That’s not how we access information.
It sounds less "elitist as fuck" than "lacking self-awareness about own-arrogance, blindness"
Snobbery and snide looking down the nose by the professional class at the working classes is quite old, and generally in broad Democracies, Political Death.
So while you doubtless feel quite Virtuous about your 'better' critical thinking etc. you show rather ... only a different form of lack of maturity, a more elite form.
Joe Rogan’s appeal stems, in large part, from the fact that he says and thinks what he wants. Heterodox, as others have said. He is his own man, mentally, physically, financially. Men may not always agree with Rogan but they respect him. He fits within the right wing galaxy presently because the right is really just a coalition of groups staunchly opposed to the progressive cultural and political project.
The discourse in the left is constantly subject to shifting trends and dogmas; what will move the project furthest at this juncture? It’s all about being attuned to your fellow travelers and not making a faux pas. You can’t be in good standing on the left if you publicly disagree with or even question certain elements. That sort of fealty/people-pleasing, borne out of a fear of being banished, does not appeal to many men.
The closest thing to Rogan on the left is Bill Maher, but most Democrats don’t want to hear that, because Maher won’t toe the line.
The problem is that most people with big followings (social media or otherwise) - people like musicians, actors/actresses and athletes - are already outspoken lefties and don't move the needle much at all (indeed, I think a lot of the celebrity endorsements are negatives for Democrats).
Simmons, BTW, is already a pretty outspoken Democrat. He's not going to persuade many people by becoming more outspoken.
As I said once before, all this reminds me of the search for "The Next Elvis"--didn't happen, never will.
This is a complete waste of money and energy.
It is, in its own way, a lazy and feckless response to real problems like the Democratic Party refusal to do the hard work to develop a COHERENT, positive and humane immigration and border policy instead of constantly reacting weakly to awful Republican initiatives. (This does not mean 'open borders" or the like!)
All this money would be much better spent building up state parties and backing state legislature and court candidates who are authentic and not burdened with the reputations that might turn off low info voters.
DNC types and their consultants have ignored the imporance of state legislative politics for decades. It was a big flow of Obama and his crew.
Meanwhile the Republicans through groups like ALEC took over state after state, gerrymandered state and federal districts, packed state courts and otherwise built from the ground up much of the foundation for MAGA success (and excesses).
I’m afraid it’s not the podcaster, it’s the ideas. Democrats simply need to give up on trans men fighting women or permitting looting and drug use on the streets of LA. Give up on reparations for slavery and white shaming. These are the ideas that drive away so many people. Democrats need to stick to talking about money, healthcare, taxes, law, process, etc…I feel like it’s the ideological progressive push that people cannot accept.
What a goofy column. Rogan STILL promotes many liberal causes on his show. The fact you think the modern Republican Party is bizarre & contradictory is because it’s some Republicans but some Dems & some independents. I.e., the modern Dems represent 30% of the populace. & it’s weird you think a guy discussing the most interesting topics in-depth with actual experts for hours at a time is “anti-thought”. The only one that description applies to here is you and your read on JR.
Dave Portnoy? Voted for Trump but doesn’t like him, supports abortion rights, seems like he easily could be won back by the Dems if they were a bit more chill on culture war issues.
Not really? The meta-point the writer I’m not even sure is addressing is the hard left is ready to cancel anyone out of line still…& Israel for that youth vote is still a no-no. If the point is “we’re looking for dudes who don’t care about that shit”, the dudes who hear Dave thinks every offensive joke is fine except the Jewish ones, & hey maybe another foreign war is fine too: he’s not attracting any young guy with that. Dave’s had a podcast for a while, it’s gone nowhere. He even got in a boxing argument with Rogan on the show & showed he was out of his depth there too 🤷♂️
The goal of the article was to identify someone who is a) generally non-political in their content and b) has an audience of people who turned at least somewhat against the Dems in 2024 but c) has at least some Dem-leaning views that they might be able to layer into their content now and then to help influence the group in (b).
My contention is that Portnoy fits. The stuff you're saying about him potentially getting canceled is totally unrelated -- the point is that the left won't like this person but that's ok.
Locally up here in New Hampshire we have a Democratic strategist, Steve Marchand. He started up an organization called Move the Goalposts. His goal is to help local Democrats create a better, lasting BRAND to compete with the Republicans who control state government. He recently started a pod cast with political leanings but has also mentioned he planned on doing a sports pod as well as that is one of his other passions. Who knows, it may take off in New England and then you never know where it could go.
Meidas+ Network - Political and Legal reporting - they are the anti-Fox but with real facts and figures - which is why MAGA is trying to shut them down.
The trick is to find someone to reach the young men in our country who are struggling with their identity and purpose. That's who Joe Rogan and his ilk were able to reach in this past election cycle.
There is no “liberal Joe Rogan” because Joe Rogan is not a political commentator. His political leanings are a SYMPTOM, not a cause.
Really, I bet Rogan himself can be won back. I don’t know if people get how non-ideological that meathead really is. (He might be too “audience captured” at this point though, I dunno.)
What we need is for Rogan to piss off Trump somehow so that Trump goes off on him. That’s the kind of thing that moves guys like Rogan, many of whom did, genuinely, start voting Republican for no reason except a liberal being mean to them.
I will say that to whatever extent there could be a “liberal Joe Rogan” it’s Jimmy Kimmel. Rogan even took over for Kimmel when he left “The Man Show” on Comedy Central.
Kimmel doesn’t seem to move the needle much. Being stuck on a dead medium might be the problem. His ABC show has been on over 20 years, maybe it’s time for him to retire, start reading some squarespace ads, and maybe make more impact than he does now.
Anybody who replaces Rogan has to be a comedian FIRST.
The liberal Joe Rogan has to be someone who also is not be a political commentator. That's the whole appeal. You need someone that when people call him a liberal, other people will say "well he's not really a _liberal_, he's just a guy who doesn't agree with a lot of what Republicans are doing", but will gently and consistently promote and talk about stuff that encourages people to hear our Democrat-friendly arguments, and to and to think Republicans are lame.
Well put.
Restricting things like doing your job or conducting your business in order to take an experimental medicine that was only mandated because it was sold as something it didn’t do (prevent the disease) is a little more than “being mean”. & when the government starts weighing on social media companies to restrict speech in a new & rapidly developing situation, that does tend to turn some people away from your overall cause too.
Well, semantics I guess. I don’t think you can take anybody over the age of 12 or so completely seriously when they describe somebody as “being mean.”
Anyway - you are implying that Rogan’s transition has more to do with Covid restrictions than “wokeness.” That’s not the impression I’ve gotten, but I’m not a listener. Would you say that was his prime motivator?
Yeah, fairly avid listener (& I’m one of those registered independents) since ‘11 or so…the woke thing played a part, for sure. But that was the self-inflicted wound the left performed on themselves in going after him: he’s pro-LGBTQ, not a racist, & not a misogynist. So you’ve got this macho kind-hearted guy & you excommunicate him from polite society because he wasn’t down 150% with fairly extreme & pretty new progressive viewpoints. Turns out he represented more of America than not on all that, why when presented with a binary choice & Kamala cast her lot with “‘hate speech’ isn’t free speech”, he being a Lenny Bruce/George Carlin free-speech absolutist felt he needed to take a chance on the rebel.
Yeah - I think Covid restrictions are a complicated thing, because while I understand how people felt imposed upon the restricts saved tens of thousands of lives (at least).
Remember that there were also people strongly in favor of restrictions who were just as frustrated by people who couldn't follow them, who they saw as worsening or extending the pandemic. Really, a lot of anger about how this or that group of people handled the pandemic is just an artifact of sadness that the pandemic happened at all. There was no winning for any of us there.
But I think your overall read of Rogan makes sense. It might actually be good for Democrats if they have their "white male" problem so well-represented by an individual who talks in a pretty unfiltered and nonpartisan way for 3-4 hours a week. We just need some people in the party to notice.
I think what "we need a liberal Rogan!" takes show, first and foremost, is that the person making the suggestion has never listened to Rogan. Brian makes the key point here which is that "liberal Rogan" is not a political host, he's somebody entertaining, non-judgmental and relatable to a large swathe of men, who talks about shit men like, 95% of which is not politics.
People who have established niches, like Bill Simmons with basketball, could be effective micro-messengers within those communities. But there's no alt-Pod-Save-Bros that are going to appeal to your average man on the street, it's gotta be something totally different.
Agreed! Quickly on the Covid thing, the majority of society Rogan (& Trump) included were on board about most of the restrictions at the beginning (especially during the worst variant). It was when the vaccine was sold as a panacea (& Rogan heard not only cases were still getting through, but some of his friends started having heart/circulation problems post-vaccine) was when he started being the “pariah” of the “we can vax our way out of it” crowd, which at that point even during a weaker strain the government & media were on the side of.
That was another self-own by the “liberal left”…Joe Rogan wasn’t anti-vax, he still said take it if you were old or vulnerable. But what he was really doing was kinda fighting for blue-collar workers (including truckers, police, & medical personnel) who were being thrown out of work & seen as poxes on society. So the powers that be decided he had to be brought down (I’m not conspiracy-minded but it was creepy). But they missed he’d become “the purple podcast”, the reasonable middle. So Elon convincing him about Trump meant that endorsement was a big deal (doesn’t make him a Republican, it makes him powerful enough to hold Trump accountable. Even Elon bent the knee).
It's worth remembering that the two worst variants were fully post-vaccine, and are the reason that the vaccine wasn't as sterilizing as was initially hoped.
The best liberal Joe Rogan is Joe Rogan.
Joe Rogan is heterodox. He has views that comport with either party identity, and has specifically been favorably disposed towards Bernie Sanders, Andrew Yang, and (gulp) Tulsi G when she was a "Democrat." He has said negative things about Trump over the years, including being critical of tariffs and antagonism of Canada.
I think this post also mischaracterizes the thrust of the effort to build up Democratic influence. I have met directly with organizers of these efforts. They are specifically *not* trying to create "the next Joe Rogan." They are trying to 1) empower existing voices popular with the base (the Brian T Cohen's you cite)), 2) identify influencers across various tech platforms and cultural areas (sports, food, health, etc.), 3) understand better what political "content" works best in these diffuse channels. Of those 3, the first one is the least important and smallest amount of funding.
I know this sounds elitist as fuck, but it’s the truth.
Joe Rogan appeals to young men who have yet to step up to maturity. There’s no Democratic equivalent because a certain degree of critical thinking is required to see the benefits of Democratic policies plus a willingness to sacrifice for the greater good. They haven’t developed that yet, and until they do, gimme-gimme Rogan appeals to them far more than “think of the children!”
Dems are chasing fireflies here. There’s never going to be a liberal Joe Rogan. That’s not how we access information.
It sounds less "elitist as fuck" than "lacking self-awareness about own-arrogance, blindness"
Snobbery and snide looking down the nose by the professional class at the working classes is quite old, and generally in broad Democracies, Political Death.
So while you doubtless feel quite Virtuous about your 'better' critical thinking etc. you show rather ... only a different form of lack of maturity, a more elite form.
What makes you think I'm not working class, shithead? I'm the kid from the trailer park, and you're cordially invited to suck my dick.
Joe Rogan’s appeal stems, in large part, from the fact that he says and thinks what he wants. Heterodox, as others have said. He is his own man, mentally, physically, financially. Men may not always agree with Rogan but they respect him. He fits within the right wing galaxy presently because the right is really just a coalition of groups staunchly opposed to the progressive cultural and political project.
The discourse in the left is constantly subject to shifting trends and dogmas; what will move the project furthest at this juncture? It’s all about being attuned to your fellow travelers and not making a faux pas. You can’t be in good standing on the left if you publicly disagree with or even question certain elements. That sort of fealty/people-pleasing, borne out of a fear of being banished, does not appeal to many men.
The closest thing to Rogan on the left is Bill Maher, but most Democrats don’t want to hear that, because Maher won’t toe the line.
100% agree.
You seem to have left off Bill Burr for some reason, which could have saved you the time of writing the rest of the list
Mr. Beast? Mark Rober? Kelce bros?
The problem is that most people with big followings (social media or otherwise) - people like musicians, actors/actresses and athletes - are already outspoken lefties and don't move the needle much at all (indeed, I think a lot of the celebrity endorsements are negatives for Democrats).
Simmons, BTW, is already a pretty outspoken Democrat. He's not going to persuade many people by becoming more outspoken.
As I said once before, all this reminds me of the search for "The Next Elvis"--didn't happen, never will.
This is a complete waste of money and energy.
It is, in its own way, a lazy and feckless response to real problems like the Democratic Party refusal to do the hard work to develop a COHERENT, positive and humane immigration and border policy instead of constantly reacting weakly to awful Republican initiatives. (This does not mean 'open borders" or the like!)
All this money would be much better spent building up state parties and backing state legislature and court candidates who are authentic and not burdened with the reputations that might turn off low info voters.
DNC types and their consultants have ignored the imporance of state legislative politics for decades. It was a big flow of Obama and his crew.
Meanwhile the Republicans through groups like ALEC took over state after state, gerrymandered state and federal districts, packed state courts and otherwise built from the ground up much of the foundation for MAGA success (and excesses).
Time to wake up.
When your policy preferences are indistinguishable from open borders, just saying that you don't want open borders remains unpersuasive.
I’m afraid it’s not the podcaster, it’s the ideas. Democrats simply need to give up on trans men fighting women or permitting looting and drug use on the streets of LA. Give up on reparations for slavery and white shaming. These are the ideas that drive away so many people. Democrats need to stick to talking about money, healthcare, taxes, law, process, etc…I feel like it’s the ideological progressive push that people cannot accept.
What a goofy column. Rogan STILL promotes many liberal causes on his show. The fact you think the modern Republican Party is bizarre & contradictory is because it’s some Republicans but some Dems & some independents. I.e., the modern Dems represent 30% of the populace. & it’s weird you think a guy discussing the most interesting topics in-depth with actual experts for hours at a time is “anti-thought”. The only one that description applies to here is you and your read on JR.
Dave Portnoy? Voted for Trump but doesn’t like him, supports abortion rights, seems like he easily could be won back by the Dems if they were a bit more chill on culture war issues.
Yet defends Israel to the death & has a million foibles in his past, 2 things for which he’d be canceled for after the first show.
I think you're missing the point.
Not really? The meta-point the writer I’m not even sure is addressing is the hard left is ready to cancel anyone out of line still…& Israel for that youth vote is still a no-no. If the point is “we’re looking for dudes who don’t care about that shit”, the dudes who hear Dave thinks every offensive joke is fine except the Jewish ones, & hey maybe another foreign war is fine too: he’s not attracting any young guy with that. Dave’s had a podcast for a while, it’s gone nowhere. He even got in a boxing argument with Rogan on the show & showed he was out of his depth there too 🤷♂️
The goal of the article was to identify someone who is a) generally non-political in their content and b) has an audience of people who turned at least somewhat against the Dems in 2024 but c) has at least some Dem-leaning views that they might be able to layer into their content now and then to help influence the group in (b).
My contention is that Portnoy fits. The stuff you're saying about him potentially getting canceled is totally unrelated -- the point is that the left won't like this person but that's ok.
His name was Christopher Hitchens and we lost him much too soon.
Locally up here in New Hampshire we have a Democratic strategist, Steve Marchand. He started up an organization called Move the Goalposts. His goal is to help local Democrats create a better, lasting BRAND to compete with the Republicans who control state government. He recently started a pod cast with political leanings but has also mentioned he planned on doing a sports pod as well as that is one of his other passions. Who knows, it may take off in New England and then you never know where it could go.
Meidas+ Network - Political and Legal reporting - they are the anti-Fox but with real facts and figures - which is why MAGA is trying to shut them down.
I love what Jon Stewart is doing.
No offense but that’s emblematic of the problem with our party’s communication strategy and vapid approach to leadership.
The trick is to find someone to reach the young men in our country who are struggling with their identity and purpose. That's who Joe Rogan and his ilk were able to reach in this past election cycle.
Love Trae Crowder - Funny and super smart.