Virtually unknown in France, Joe Rogan’s podcast with 190 million monthly downloads is the most listened to in the world ahead of that of New York Times. Launched ten years ago on YouTube, his show has been an exclusive from the Swedish giant Spotify since 2020, which has invested heavily in the podcast market – the daily news podcast “L’Heure du Monde” is also a Spotify exclusive.
But since the start of the pandemic, this openly libertarian American has opened his microphone to figures from the antivax or conspiracy movement. On December 31, 2021, the comments of his guest, the controversial scientist Robert Malone, started a protest movement against Spotify. The musician Neil Young, followed by other artists, has decided to withdraw his music from the streaming platform.
But who exactly is Joe Rogan? What questions does this controversy raise? Corine Lesnes, journalist and correspondent for the newspaper The world in San Francisco (California), returns to this controversy.
An episode produced by Clément Baudet, directed by Amandine Robillard and presented by Jean-Guillaume Santi.
“The Hour of the World”
“L’Heure du Monde” is the daily news podcast of the World. Listen every day, from 6 a.m., to a new episode, on Lemonde.fr or on Spotify. Find all the episodes here.