Long-Form Podcasts Are The Real Winners of The 2024 Election
On September 26, 1960 the first televised presidential debate aired, forever changing the way America connected with top candidates. Until this time, most people never got the chance to hear from presidential hopefuls unless they had the rare opportunity to attend a rally or listen to the phantom voices stumping for votes over the airwaves.
Now, their faces were broadcast into homes across the country and candidates became “real people.” The debate’s significance was undeniable. The stark juxtaposition between the young, freshed-faced Senator John F. Kennedy and the weathered Richard M. Nixon turned the tides for voters in a race where Nixon had been favored to win.
A new era of election media was born.
Nearly 20 years later, after losing the 1976 election, Reagan’s appearance on “The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson” would mark another significant shift in presidential media. Another big moment would occur in 1990 with Bill Clinton’s appearance on “The Arsenio Hall Show” with his legendary saxophone performance that captured the appeal of voters. This trend continued with candidates appearing on late night shows and more serious interview shows like “Barbara Walters Specials” television show.
What did all this mean? Americans wanted to see who these candidates were as people and connect with them on a deeper level. As time went on, these once-revolutionary television appearances became lackluster, stiff, and unrelatable. Whether they realized it or not, voters were craving a more personalized insight into the people vying for the job of running this country. And in 2024, they satisfied this craving with long-form podcasts.
The Joe Rogan Phenomenon
If you woke up Wednesday morning trying to wrap your head around the presidential election results, don’t forget to consider the role podcasts played in helping voters make up their minds.
Imagine telling a time traveler from the early 2000s that the man who hosted a reality show where people ate bugs for money was now one of the most influential media personalities in America. The man himself, Joe Rogan, often jokes about this phenomenon. Somehow, “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast has become the number one podcast in the world with three billion listeners and millions of subscribers. In a time when people barely have the attention span to make it through a three-minute TikTok video, Rogan has managed to keep listeners entertained for the entirety of his three-hour episodes.
How did he do it? The answer is simple, he’s real. Rogan episodes feel like you are part of a casual conversation among friends throwing back a few beers–the friends just so happen to be celebrities, musicians, comedians, scientists, medical professionals, historians, and politicians. Listeners keep coming back for more because the show is relatable and interesting in a way that scripted interview shows can never be. On Rogan, there is no censorship, no time constraints, and no topic of conversation is off the table. And this format may very well have helped shape the outcome of the 2024 election.
Two weeks before Americans went to the polls, Rogan had Donald Trump on his show. In just three days, the episodes garnered over 40 million views. This wasn’t a stuffy interview focused only on policy issues, which we’ve all heard a million times. Instead, it was a conversation with a regular guy running for office. Love him or hate him, Trump appeared more human and relatable than he ever has before. Following that episode, Rogan also had Trump’s running mate, J.D. Vance, on the show, having a similar impact and bringing the names on the ballot to life.
It wasn’t just Rogan’s show doing all the work.
Other comedians with extremely successful podcasts like Andrew Schulz, Theo Von, and Tim Dillon had Trump and Vance on their shows for casual conversations, making the pair more likable than anyone could have ever imagined in the months leading up to the election.
These podcasters are not right-wing operatives; they have each had politicians from different sides of the aisle on as guests. Theo Von had Bernie Sanders on days before Trump appeared on his podcast. Rogan even extended an invitation to Kamala Harris to be on the show, to which her team told him that he would have to fly to her and they would only give him 45 minutes. This doesn’t fit Rogan’s format at all, and the appearance never happened.
Taken at face value, this might not seem like an election dealbreaker, but if you doubt the impact comedian podcasters can make on a major U.S. election, just look at the comments by Harris’ own supporters on the left.
Former presidential candidate Andrew Yang posted on X “”For the record no matter what happens tonight I think the Kamala Harris campaign badly mishandled the Joe Rogan interview by not doing it. Tim Walz would have been good too.” Likewise, trans activist and popular gamer Brianna Wu conveyed a similar message on Bari Weiss during the Free Press live election coverage stream.
The Lesson for Democrats
No one can say for sure that Harris’ failure to appear on Rogan’s podcast significantly hurt her chances at the presidency. And surely, there are a plethora of reasons the election turned out the way it did. But we would be remiss if we discounted the significance of these down-to-earth podcasts interviews. The traditional interviews Harris did with reporters were dull and more of the same–she dodged questions, gave canned responses, and made promises she had no intention of keeping.
This election showed just how much voters long to connect with their candidates on a level that extends far beyond cookie cutter soundbites. Likability matters. Relatability matters. And these long-form podcasts are giving listeners a unique look at who these candidates are in a way that can’t be done in a 30-45 minutes interview. The rise of long-form podcasts in this election is no less revolutionary than that first televised debate.
If the Democrats are smart, the next time around they will reconsider the way they use the media to connect with the American voters.