American podcast host Joe Rogan has built a media empire with an annual income of $250 million through “The Joe Rogan Experience,” with each episode reaching up to 50 million listens. From Elon Musk smoking marijuana to Trump’s campaign rallies, this long-form conversation show that “talks about everything” is redefining the boundaries of media influence. (Previously: Huang Renxun also praised! What makes “Acquired” a must-listen podcast for Silicon Valley and Wall Street elites?) (Background Supplement: Full Text of Trump's Acceptance Speech: I love Musk, he is a superstar born, make America great again)

Table of Contents

• From comedian to podcast king, the show is valued at $250 million.
• Podcast chat, precise campaigning: Trump's three hours
• China Mirror: The Attempts of Luo Yonghao and Others
• Controversies and Boundaries: When Influence Becomes an Issue

You might not listen to podcasts, but you have definitely seen this image: in 2018, the photo of Musk holding a joint with smoke swirling around him went viral online, becoming one of the most memorable moments of his personal image. But few people know where this scene took place, and even fewer care about who the person sitting across from him is.

This is actually a recording of an American podcast show. The host handed Musk a joint mixed with marijuana and tobacco, and Musk asked, “Is this legal?” before taking a puff. The next day, Tesla's stock price dropped by 9%.

The classic scene of Musk smoking marijuana on the Joe Rogan podcast | Image source: Shenchao TechFlow

This episode has over 69 million views on YouTube to date, making it the most-watched episode in the podcast's history. What kind of show and what kind of host could make the world's richest person do such a thing in front of the camera?

During the 2024 U.S. presidential election, Trump also talked for three hours on this program, and in his victory speech, he specifically thanked this host; half a month ago, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang also sat in this recording studio and talked for two and a half hours about AI and the chip war, with over 2.8 million views in two weeks. His name is Joe Rogan, and his show “The Joe Rogan Experience” is currently the largest podcast in the world.

From comedian to podcast king, the show is valued at $250 million.

Joe Rogan's podcast influence is built on an unconventional personal resume. A comedian, reality show host, and UFC commentator—putting these three identities together, it doesn't seem like someone who could create the world's largest podcast. He is not a traditional talk show host, nor is he the type of polished, trained media professional. His background is actually in the entertainment and fighting circles, not in the news industry.

Joe Rogan, the world's largest podcast host | Image source: Deep Tide TechFlow

But it is precisely this kind of “wild path” that has allowed him to create something completely different from traditional media. Joe Rogan was originally a stand-up comedian, performing solo at clubs in Boston in the 1990s. He later moved to Los Angeles to develop his career, acted in sitcoms for a few years, and hosted a reality show called “Fear Factor.”

But what really brought him into the spotlight was another job. Since 1997, he has been a commentator for the UFC, sitting by the octagon to commentate on mixed martial arts matches for over twenty years. This job has solidified his standing in the fighting community and accumulated a large following of loyal male viewers.

Joe Rogan has been a UFC commentator since 1997 | Image source: Deep Tide TechFlow

In 2009, he started recording podcasts at home. Like many podcasts at their initial starting point, the equipment was rudimentary, with no sponsors and no business plan. But each episode typically lasted two to three hours, chatting with friends or guests about anything and everything. Looking back, his previous chaotic experiences turned out to be quite useful.

Having been a comedian, he knows how to make dialogue interesting and rhythmic. Having hosted reality shows, he is also used to staying relaxed in front of the camera. As a UFC commentator for twenty years, this audience is already accustomed to hearing him speak. Moreover, he is not an expert in any particular field, so he has the advantage of being able to boldly ask some “dumb questions.”

Faced with physicists, he would ask the most fundamental concepts; faced with politicians, he doesn't probe into policy details, but rather chats about “what are your thoughts as a person.” This style is something you can't see in traditional media. TV interviews have strict time limits, and hosts must quickly get to the point. News interviews emphasize confrontation, where reporters dig out things the interviewees don't want to say. Rogan's show is the opposite, giving you three hours, no edits, no interruptions, talk about whatever you want.

The result is that many celebrities have said things on his show that they wouldn’t say elsewhere. Musk smoking marijuana is just one example. Zuckerberg came to talk about MMA training, looking more like a normal person than at any congressional hearing. Gradually, Joe Rogan's podcast has become the go-to place for celebrities to “show their true selves.”

With various celebrities as guests, this program has become increasingly valuable. In 2020, Spotify purchased the exclusive distribution rights for “The Joe Rogan Experience” for $200 million, setting the largest deal in podcast industry history. In 2024, he renewed his broadcasting rights with Spotify, but the price rose to $250 million.

Joe Rogan's massive contract with Spotify | Image source: Shenchao TechFlow

Moreover, this time he will no longer accept exclusivity, and the program will return to being simultaneously available on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Podcasts. Spotify offered more money but obtained fewer rights. In 2025, “The Joe Rogan Experience” became the first podcast to top the annual charts on all three major platforms: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube. A chat show recorded from home for sixteen years is now valued higher than many traditional media companies.

Podcast chat, precise campaigning: Trump's three hours

On October 25, 2024, during the final stretch of the election, Trump sat down in Rogan's studio in Austin. The episode lasted a full three hours, and after recording, Trump rushed to a campaign rally in Michigan, making thousands of supporters wait an additional three hours.

What did they talk about in three hours? UFOs—Trump said he interviewed a fighter pilot who told him he saw a spherical object moving at four times the speed of an F-22 fighter jet. The White House bed—he vividly described his first feeling walking into the Lincoln Bedroom in the White House, thinking the bed was huge because Lincoln was six feet six inches tall. Tariffs—Trump also suggested completely replacing income tax with tariffs. Rogan asked, “Are you serious?” Trump replied, “Of course, why not? The 1880s were when our country was at its wealthiest, and it was all thanks to tariffs.”

These topics may seem completely unrelated, but they have one thing in common: they are things that traditional political interviews would absolutely never discuss. Television stations ask about policy details, press on controversial statements, and cut off time. No serious political reporter would let a presidential candidate spend ten minutes talking about UFOs and Lincoln's bed.

Trump chatted for three hours on the Joe Rogan podcast | Image source: Deep Tide TechFlow

Rogan's own evaluation has pointed out the effect of the show very well: “You said a lot of crazy things, but traditional media took these statements and made them news, which actually made you more popular. Because people are tired of the scripted tone of politicians. Even if they disagree with you, at least they know this person is real.”

This sense of authenticity is particularly effective for Rogan's audience. Data from foreign research institutions shows that 80% of the show's listeners are male, with over half aged 18 to 34. Politically, 35% identify as independents, 32% lean Republican, and 27% lean Democratic. One common characteristic of this group is that they do not watch traditional television news much and generally distrust mainstream media, but they spend several hours each week listening to Rogan chat.

In other words, this is a group of people who are hard to reach through traditional political communication. Trump spent three hours sitting across from a host they trust, speaking in a relaxed, informal manner, which was far more effective than any campaign advertisement. After the show went live, the YouTube view count quickly surpassed 50 million.

At that time, Trump's presidential election opponent, Kamala Harris, did not attend this program. According to reports, both sides had discussions, and Rogan also publicly invited her. However, Harris's team wanted to keep the duration within one hour, which Rogan rejected. In comparison, Trump's episode had over 50 million views, while Harris's appearance on another podcast, “Call Her Daddy,” had 600,000 views. The election concluded with Trump's victory. In his victory speech, UFC president Dana White specifically thanked Joe Rogan, naming him as one of the contributors to his victory. A podcast being included in the thank-you list of a presidential victory speech is a first in American political history.

China Mirror: The Attempts of Luo Yonghao and Others

Can Joe Rogan's model be replicated in China? Someone is trying. In June 2025, Luo Yonghao revealed at an AI conference that DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng suggested he leverage his “ability to make a living by speaking.” A few months later, he launched the video podcast “Luo Yonghao's Crossroads” on Bilibili, targeting Joe Rogan and Lex Fridman.

Luo Yonghao launched the video podcast “Luo Yonghao's Crossroads” on Bilibili | Image source: TechFlow

The format of the show is very similar to The Joe Rogan Experience: long conversations, minimal editing, each episode lasts three to five hours. The first guest is Li Xiang, the founder of Ideal Automobile, and the two chatted for four hours, discussing everything from childhood trauma to his relationship with Wang Xing, asking and answering anything. The reaction in the comments section is: In the era of short videos, this kind of “long-lasting strength of a super-sized cup” is too rare.

Luo Yonghao is not the only one. Lu Yu, Yu Qian, Li Dan, Yang Di, these famous hosts are all entering Bilibili to create video podcasts. Bilibili has also made significant investments, putting in 1 billion in summer to support traffic, providing free recording venues in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Hangzhou, and planning to launch AI creation tools specifically for podcasts. It seems that China's video “podcast era” is finally coming, but things are not that simple.

Bilibili strongly supports video podcasts | Image source: Shenchao TechFlow

• Traffic Disadvantage: In the traffic ecology of the Chinese internet, long content is inherently at a disadvantage. Users have been trained by short videos to have the habit of “watching a movie in three minutes.”
• Commercialization Challenge: The advertising revenue of the podcast industry in the United States exceeds 2 billion dollars in 2024, while in China, a podcast brand with nearly 500,000 subscribers quotes less than 40,000 yuan for a single spoken advertisement.
• Guest Tier: Rogan can invite Trump, Musk, and Jensen Huang, and these individuals are willing to say things on his show that they wouldn't say elsewhere. This status as a “first place for information” requires long-term accumulation of trust.

So, can Joe Rogan's model be replicated in China? The form can be learned, but the soil is different.

Controversy and Boundaries: When Influence Becomes a Problem

Joe Rogan is a controversial figure. In 2022, he sparked a storm by questioning the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine on his show. Spotify did not abandon Rogan, but added a “content warning” label to all episodes related to COVID-19, while also removing over 70 old episodes.

In 2024, he discussed the origins of AIDS with guests on his show, spreading some statements that have been debunked by the medical community, which were publicly criticized by the American Foundation for AIDS Research. A study from Yale University found that among the ten most popular podcasts in the United States, eight have spread false or misleading information about climate change, and Rogan's show is included in all of them.

His show is also a hub for various conspiracy theories in the United States. From the assassination of Kennedy to UFOs, from big pharmaceutical companies to government surveillance, he maintains an “open attitude” towards these topics. Critics argue that this provides a platform for false information, while his supporters believe it challenges the mainstream narrative.

This is also the complexity of Joe Rogan. He is not a consistently aligned person—supporting same-sex marriage, the legalization of marijuana, and universal healthcare are typical liberal positions. But he also questions mainstream media and provides a platform for controversial figures, which has made him a darling of conservatives. The reason his show is influential is precisely because he does not belong to any camp. Those who have lost trust in mainstream media find in him an “anti-establishment” alternative.

But the same qualities also make him a node for the spread of misinformation. When someone with an audience of hundreds of millions says, “I'm just asking questions,” those questions themselves are already shaping public perception. This is also the inherent tension of the podcast medium: its appeal lies in authenticity, relaxation, and lack of constraints, but when its influence reaches a certain level, the lack of constraints itself becomes a problem. Joe Rogan is a product of this era and also a mirror of this era.