No, Joe Rogan is Not a Gateway to the Alt-Right
On social media, Joe Rogan is frequently accused of being a “gateway” to the alt-right. In a recent piece for Slate, he is portrayed as a dimwitted doormat for right-wing grifters. And in an Axios piece on presidential candidate Andrew Yang, he was originally referred to as a “far-right influencer,” though that part of the post was later edited out. Rogan has begun fighting back against these critiques, insisting that they’re based on lies, and that he himself is quite liberal.
Much of the criticism regarding Rogan is tainted by an undercurrent of pretentiousness. Some of his fans would likely chalk that up to jealousy; Rogan’s podcast, the Joe Rogan Experience, is one of the most popular podcasts in the world. Meanwhile, traditional media outlets have been forced to tighten their belts as they struggle to keep pace with the evolution of modern media economics.
Jealousy may be a factor, but it isn’t the factor. If it were, there would be a great many more influencers wrestling with the same criticisms that Rogan has had to address. What separates Rogan from most other influencers, however, is his willingness to talk to virtually anyone at virtually any time about virtually any topic that catches his fancy.
What’s more, Rogan is not a naturally confrontational person. He tends to give his guests the benefit of the doubt and doesn’t challenge them as often as one might prefer. It works well for him and has allowed him to elevate himself and his podcast several levels above the formulaic debate show format that has long dominated cable news programming.
Rogan isn’t the first influential media personality to take a diplomatic approach to his work, nor is he the first to openly welcome controversial right-wing figures into his studio. But he is perhaps the most popular media personality who consistently dares to do both, and that’s why he has become an object of scorn to his critics.
If there’s one thing that the far-left and alt-right have in common, it’s their desire to dominate the conversation. The means by which each side attempts to accomplish that task are quite different, however. The alt-right relies heavily on deception, disinformation, irony, online trolling and harassment. The far-left prefers taking punitive actions against individuals who express conservative points of view, sometimes by attempting to de-platform right-wing speakers, other times by trying to get outspoken conservatives fired from their jobs.
Rogan takes a very different tack. He routinely pursues honest and respectful dialogues with controversial figures from all walks of life. But if you were to listen only to his critics, you might be misled into thinking that Rogan is only receptive to right-wing ideas and arguments. Nothing could be further from the truth. Rogan has invited countless guests on his show to discuss the harmful effects of climate change. He tackled the plight of refugees with journalist Ben Anderson and bonded with actor and comedian Duncan Trussell over the issue of President Trump’s child separation policy. Earlier this year, he talked with Democratic Senator Tulsi Gabbard about an array of topics ranging from college debt to universal basic income. And he was just as polite to those guests as he has been to controversial right-wing figures who have appeared on his show, such as Milo Yiannopoulos, Candace Owens and Ben Shapiro.
What Rogan does not do — and this is what seems to really tick his critics off — is dismiss out of hand every single idea, argument and perspective put forth by his right-wing guests. Unlike some partisan journalists, commentators and interviewers, Rogan recognizes that a person’s politics do not necessarily reflect the validity of every single belief that person espouses. If someone has an idea worth exploring, he will happily volunteer for that mission, much to the delight of his highly inquisitive audience.
Furthermore, Rogan is perfectly aware of his own intellectual limitations. When he disagrees with a guest about a specific subject, but his limited understanding of that subject prevents him from responding with a rational, evidence-based counterargument, he’ll wisely refrain from attempting to do so. Instead, he’ll just keep poking and prodding and asking questions. The answers he elicits typically provide his listeners with all the information they need to evaluate the legitimacy of the guest’s contentions.
To his critics, though, Rogan’s natural curiosity is a mortal sin. In their view, he acts as a conduit for the transmission of alt-right ideas simply by inquiring into the nature and origins of those ideas. And therein lies the faulty supposition that the most effective technique for defeating a noxious ideology is to try and silence its most prominent adherents, a supposition upon which many of the criticisms directed at Rogan have heretofore relied.
But the suppression of speech rarely succeeds in eradicating extreme viewpoints. Instead, it often achieves the opposite, transforming those views into exotic forbidden fruits and providing those who subscribe to such views with an incredible advantage in the process. To successfully level the playing field, one must first take the time to study what it is they’re fighting against. After all, you can’t defeat an idea that you don’t understand, and you can’t ever hope to understand an idea that you’re not even willing to examine or discuss. In that regard, Rogan is performing a vital service for his audience.
If the Joe Rogan Experience was offered as an actual university course, I suspect it would be called something like “Life 101: An Introduction to Everything.” Nothing is off limits on his show. He’s trying to make sense of a world that frequently baffles and confuses even the most intelligent among us. To do that, he must necessarily investigate ideas and perspectives that are bound to offend some people. That does not make his program a gateway to the alt-right; it makes his program a gateway to knowledge and understanding. I just wish that more people in mainstream media would follow his example.
