Why are the Top Podcasts Currently Right-Wing?
- 2024peoplefirst
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
Podcasts have seen a significant shift in becoming right-wing conservative
This has led to Donald Trump winning the 2024 election
Explained below why it's podcasts that have seen the change in conservatism
When I received my Spotify Wrapped, the site then provided a list of this year's top podcasters. The least I can say is that there was an overwhelming amount of right-wing podcasters. After seeing two Reddit posts asking why this is and seeing it for myself, I was obliged to the urge to research it.
Shows
The really big ones are well-known, so you'll recognize names like Joe Rogan, Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, The Ryan Show, The Charlie Kirk Show, and Candace Owens. However, one of the many reasons these podcasts gain monetization and popularity in the formats that they reside in is hate-watch views. So rather than looking into these podcasts, it would be better to listen to better pieces of media that explain the right-wing's casts in digestible clips. Some of the shows you should look into, if you are interested in researching this topic yourself, would be I Don't Speak German, Paranoid Strain, QAA, Behind the Bastards, and Love on the Media. I'll link a playlist of all of those in this post.
Radio
Going back to the title of this post, why are the top podcasts currently right-wing? There are a few reasons. First, we have the format transfer of AM/Talk Radio. What I mean is that AM or Talk Radio shows were mostly right-wing. I say were because they've declined in popularity following our more modernized technology. So if there's no one to listen to the radio, they have to choose a new format to take their views to. The new format is podcasts. They've migrated over from preaching using radio waves, over to your Spotify.
Contribution
This has a big contribution to Trump winning. Rather than TV news or talk shows, social media, and podcasts influence voters the most. As I've seen people saying, 2016/2020 were the elections of social media, where Instagram and TikTok influenced voters the most. This last year, 2024, was the election of podcasts. What was put out in podcasts convinced voters the most. And generally, people prefer an enjoyable base rather than real television news. More people like listening to Joe Rogan because his content is more rounded, rather than being boring by purely discussing politics. These channels combine entertainment and politics. According to Yahoo, people trust the news they hear on these podcasts more than news from other sources. Obviously, these podcasts share a lot of misinformation and conspiracies whilst promoting Trump, but their listeners don't know that. So it's no coincidence that right-wing podcasts were the most popular podcasts the same year that Trump won.
Liberal's lack of a medium
Podcasts are the Conservative's medium. It's their format for spreading their political beliefs. This is an advantage to them because Liberals do not have a medium that they inarguably dominate. (Though, the average conservative would say they own all media.) So why is podcasting the medium for Republicans? They have professions that allow them to be able to consume media by multi-tasking, listening, and working in their demographically labor-intensive jobs.
Conclusion
In this short post, it's easy to figure out what role podcasting played in the election. Don't worry, you're not alone in rolling your eyes every time you scroll past some clip of an ill-informed individual talking into a microphone about a conservative topic, mixing up facts so they sound more informed than the "crazy liberals." However, it provides a little more clarity to put together the frequency of seeing these podcasts everywhere and the current political climate. The conservatives are using their podcast medium and the popularity of it to share their opinions, allowing Trump to win last November. So, my question stands: what medium should the liberals use?
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