Crossing the Podcast Rubicon

Election 2024, the Organized Manosphere, and the Left’s Circular Firing Squad

This was originally published by Project Censored

“Can you imagine Kamala doing this show?” asked former President Donald Trump on the October 2024 episode of The Joe Rogan Experience. “I could imagine her doing this show,” responded Rogan before Trump interrupted, “She would be laying on the floor… If she did this kind of interview with you, I hope she does. It would be a mess. [Rogan laughing] She would be laying on the floor comatose. You’d be saying ‘call in the medics.’” Rogan disagreed, noting that he hoped Harris would appear on his podcast and expected the two would have a great conversation. However, as of a week prior to election day, Harris had not accepted an offer to appear on Rogan’s show—arguably the most popular podcast in the world—as the two parties couldn’t agree on terms and Rogan refused conditions proposed by the Harris campaign.

Ostensibly, Trump appeared on Rogan’s podcast as an opportunity to connect with voters—particularly male voters (males aged 18–34 are the majority of Rogan’s audience). According to polling data, Trump’s electoral success increasingly relies on male support, while his rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, seems to depend more on female voters. Researchers even suggest that this election could witness the largest gender divide in history, with traditionally Democratic male demographics, including young people and people of color, shifting toward Trump.

When it comes to the growing popular medium of podcasts, one of the biggest differences between Republicans and Democrats is their relationship with the podcasters. Both parties have legacy media outlets cheerleading their campaigns, such as MSNBC, CNN, and the New York Times for Democrats (Team Blue), and The Wall Street Journal, Fox News, and Forbes for Republicans (Team Red). However, in the digital realm, the right has the manosphere—a well-organized, cross-promotional network of content creators who amplify each other’s messages and offer a critique of liberal culture. By contrast, the Democratic Party lacks a parallel space.

The Manosphere

By 2023, nearly two-thirds of Americans had listened to a podcast. The manosphere is a loosely connected group of podcasts, influencers, and media creators who often criticize perceived excesses of liberal culture, especially around issues like gender, public health, and immigration— all of which were discussed extensively during Trump’s appearance on Rogan. Shows such as This Past Weekend with Theo Von, Andrew Schulz’s Flagrant, and Tony Hinchcliffe’s Kill Tony are key fixtures in this space, using humor and commentary to challenge more mainstream, liberal media narratives.

For example, when Trump held a 2024 rally at Madison Square Garden, legacy media and Democrats were introduced to and made aghast by manosphere comedian Tony Hinchcliffe who joked that Puerto Rico is a “floating island of garbage” and implied that Latinos “loved making babies.” However, in manosphere circles, jokes often reflect popular rhetoric from Trump and the MAGA wing of the Republican Party, such as those targeting open borders or suggesting that the COVID vaccine causes cognitive or developmental issues—a sentiment that resonates with audiences tired of what they view as institutional overreach by the government or mass media outlets. Perhaps more significantly, the manosphere isn’t just a fleeting trend—it’s been building for years.

Many in this community see themselves as critical voices pushing back against what they view as the absurdities of the “far left,” particularly around free speech, gender transition therapy, and identity politics. In response, Democrats and liberal media outlets have largely dismissed the manosphere as a bigoted space. For example, the liberal group Media Matters referred to Barstool Sports, a manosphere blog, as “a cesspool of misogyny and bigotry.” This wholesale rejection has had unintended consequences by helping the manosphere grow into a critical base of support for Trump.

Indeed, the manosphere is a space where disaffected voters—often men— feel heard and validated in a way they do not by mainstream political parties that dismiss them as sexist, transphobic, or racist. They see themselves as victims of a dogmatic liberal culture that is controlling speech, redefining traditional gender roles, and weaponizing various -isms, such as racism, to silence critics and cement control. The development of the manosphere is further aided by legacy media outlets, which too often feed into the manosphere narrative that establishment media cannot be trusted by getting caught misrepresenting the happenings around the now famous picture of Nick Sandmann adorning a MAGA hat next to a Native American elder at a Washington, DC, monument or exaggerating and misrepresenting Rogan’s position on COVID-19 vaccines and selectively editing a video making it look as if he endorsed Harris.

The Dems Juke Right, The Left Eats Itself

With days to go, we’re in another horse race election where things seem too close to call, with famed statistician and electoral analyst Nate Silver concluding that he will go with his gut since the data does not show a clear front-runner. In such a tight race, both campaigns turn to the new media space to turn out voters, as evidenced by Trump’s blitz through multiple podcasts in the manosphere and Harris’ appearance on Call Her Daddy and Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay podcast. After all, it only takes a few voters to shift the election one way or another, as happened in Florida in 2000, where roughly 500 votes (along with the Supreme Court) decided the election, or when roughly 40,000 votes in three swing states determined the outcome in the Electoral College (but not the popular vote) in 2020.

In this election, Democrats have largely avoided using the vibrant online leftist new media space, sometimes referred to as the prog-left or dirtbag left, which includes podcasts such as Bad Faith with Briahna Joy Gray, The Vanguard, Young Turks, Breaking Points, Jimmy Dore Show, Useful Idiots, and The Katie Halper Show, to name a few. These media makers have often been antagonistic to the Democratic Party, arguing that party leadership blames progressives for the Democratic Party’s failures to win elections, supports policies to censor and demonetize progressive media, is overseeing and justifying what progressives argue is a genocide in Gaza, and actively works to undermine progressive political campaigns by figures such as US Senator Bernie Sanders and former Ohio State Senator Nina Turner. Some figures in the new left podcast spaces refer to Democrats as “s**t libs,” indicating their view of the party as corporatist, wrapping exploitation of the working class in social justice rhetoric. They also criticize the Democratic Party establishment for virtue signaling a commitment to social justice issues while, in their view, weaponizing identity politics in ways that ultimately harm the marginalized communities they claim to support. Jimmy Dore summed it up as, “If it was 1860, the Dems would be bragging about their first transgender slave owner.”

The divide between Democrats and progressives (and those even further to the left) reflects a longstanding pattern of leftist infighting in the US. In the 1960s, President Lyndon B. Johnson quipped, “The difference between liberals and cannibals is that cannibals eat only their enemies.” This captures the current state of the prog-left media podcasting space, which from 2016 to 2024 transformed from a seemingly united front—attracting audiences comparable to legacy news media—into a series of internal divisions that have weakened the left overall. In other words, many in these new left media spaces have taken more to attacking each other instead of the MAGA right.

In just the last four years, this space has seen conflicts between figures who opposed the “Force the Vote” campaign and those who supported it, as well as public arguments among Zaid Jilani, Briahna Joy Gray, and Matt Taibbi regarding Taibbi’s contentious reporting critical of Democrats. Jimmy Dore, for instance, mocked Krystal Ball’s voice after she challenged RFK Jr. on vaccines, while Ball and her co-host Kyle Kulinski openly criticized Gray for not defending the Democrats enough. The Vanguard’s hosts and Ana Kasparian of the Young Turks are in the midst of a public spat. Some, like Taibbi, Dore, and Russell Brand, have even joined Rescue the Republic events in support of RFK, Jr., who has endorsed Trump, in a confused “enemy of my enemy” type approach. These are just a few examples of the divisions and defections within the prog-left media ecosystem that have become public. Meanwhile, the manosphere monolithically, misogynistically blathers on as a united front that is able to engage and presumably influence power — including a former president in Trump — and voters.

Remember, Remember the 5th of November

If the polls are correct, the United States is on the brink of a very close presidential election on November 5, with gender and new media playing pivotal roles. Podcast appearances by the candidates could change vote totals just enough to influence the outcome. The Democrats’ tenuous relationship with the prog-left media ecosystem could prove catastrophic, as it prevents the party from engaging with potential voters and understanding the skepticism many on the left feel toward Harris and the Democrats on issues like her support for the war in Gaza (and shutting out of “uncommitted” voters in swing states around this issue) or her flip-flopping on progressive policies regarding immigration, universal healthcare, law and order matters, and capital gains taxes.

Rather than engaging with the left in new media spaces to promote Harris, the Democratic party has dismissed the value of the prog-left media, all while trying to court more endorsements from conservatives and GOP functionaries such as former Vice President Dick Cheney, who left office with a 13 percent approval rating. Meanwhile, Trump is being welcomed with open arms into manosphere platforms where he can freely, without fact checks, spread his toxic messages, connect with voters, and possibly motivate enough of them to win the election. On Election Day, the manosphere’s influence will be tested, and if Trump wins, it will be a stark reminder for Democrats of the importance of engaging with progressive media and the party’s base. And for lefty podcasters, perhaps they will grow to understand strategic voting by focusing on dismantling the right-wing noise machine and not attacking each other instead.

Bonus Video: Decoding the Headlines: Top News Stories, Misinformation, and the 2024 Presidential Campaign

Oct 31, 2024: As the 2024 elections unfold, navigating the flood of news and information can be overwhelming, especially with the proliferation of misinformation. This virtual panel brings together critical media literacy experts who will analyze the top news stories of the campaign, examining how they are reported and how misinformation spreads. Panelists will share lessons on how to discern credible sources, identify deceptive tactics, and understand the impact of misinformation on public opinion and democratic processes. Join us for an essential discussion that equips us all with the tools to critically engage with the media during this pivotal election season. Moderators: Anjuli Verma, Assistant Professor of Politics and Legal Studies (UCSC) Kayson Tang, Undergraduate Class of Merrill College ’26 (UCSC) Speakers: Nolan Higdon, Lecturer, Merrill College (UCSC) Mickey Huff, Distinguished Director of the Park Center for Independent Media and Professor of Journalism (Ithaca College) Robin Andersen, Professor Emerita of Media Studies (Fordham University) Reina Robinson, Founder and CEO (Center for Urban Excellence)

Bonus Video: Crisis, Culture, and Civility Critical Media Literacy Education and Election 2024

With the 2024 US elections drawing near, host Mickey Huff moderates an expert panel discussion with three media scholars and educators about how critical-media-literacy education can enhance civic engagement. They outline the many challenges posed by social media, hyper-partisanship, and fake news, but also explore what educators can do to engage today’s students and equip them with critical tools necessary to deconstruct media messaging and bridge communication barriers, both inside and outside the classroom. This program is also a special broadcast that is part of the Big Rhetorical Podcast Carnival.

Bonus Video: Early Voting Turnout (KTVU) (Click Here to Watch The Interview)

People are already voting in record numbers in some states as Election Day nears. According to a tracker from the University of Florida, nearly 55 million people have already voted nationwide. Let's get some more insight on voter turnout by turning to UC Santa Cruz Professor Nolan Higdon.