How Much Money Joe Rogan Makes From His Podcast

New York Times opinion writer Bari Weiss has inadvertently made a great case for what makes the Joe Rogan Experience so enjoyable. In 2019, she appeared on an episode of the popular podcast and accused aspiring presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard of having "monstrous ideas." Weiss derided Gabbard as a "toadie" who supports Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, whereupon Rogan calmly asked her to define the word "toadie." At this point, Weiss floundered like a trout out of water, suggesting she knew the definition but declining to supply one. Instead she waited for the definition ("a sycophant") to be read aloud.

After Weiss continued to insist that Gabbard was the "mother lode of bad ideas" without seeming to have a clear idea of why, Rogan voiced his concerns about launching unsubstantiated criticisms. In that painfully awkward exchange, Rogan dismantled an attack simply by asking basic, painfully obvious questions and politely pushing back. He wasn't combative or insulting, just calmly skeptical.

In 2020, Bari Weiss made yet another appearance on Rogan's show, but this time it was Rogan's positive remarks about a politician that caught people's attention. As Business Insider describes, Rogan told Weiss that he would "probably vote for Bernie [Sanders]" in the Democratic Primary, arguing that "he's been insanely consistent his entire life." When Sanders' presidential campaign posted a clip of Rogan's statements, the internet erupted like a Vesuvius of sanctimony. Many detractors were quick to condemn Sanders by association, noting that Rogan has had controversial guests like Alex Jones and Milo Yiannopolous. Others brought up remarks Rogan made in opposition to trans female MMA fighters competing against fighters who were born biologically female. Sanders' Democratic rival Joe Biden weighed in, calling trans rights "the civil rights issue of our time."

While Rogan has said some disagreeable things in the past, a lot could be said about the hypocrisy and selective pearl-clutching that happens in politics and online more generally. But rather than focusing on the fact that Biden voted to oppose gay marriage and bragged in 2019 about working with segregationist lawmakers who opposed busing during the 1970s, let's focus on why the endorsement is so valuable.

However you feel about Joe Rogan personally, millions of people appreciate the range of perspectives that appear on his podcast. With more than 7 million subscribers and 190 million downloads a month, the Joe Rogan Experience is one of the most popular programs on Earth. Part of Rogan's appeal is his willingness to listen to people without preemptively dismissing them based on the words of others. After Bernie Sanders appeared on the podcast, one YouTube commenter was quoted as saying, "I just realized that I allowed my opinion of this guy to be designed by everyone else. I actually like this dude."

That ability to allow people encounter ideas in a less filtered form has a value that's difficult to put a price on. As for the podcast itself, according to Cheat Sheet, UFC Middleweight Champion Michael Bisping has claimed that Rogan earns $75,000 per episode.