Over the past couple of years, podcasts have been an emerging source of media and entertainment. Many podcasts provide a source of information and entertainment ranging from comedy to politics.  One of the long time powerhouse podcasters has been Joe Rogan.  Rogan is an experienced reality TV personality, a commentator for the Ultimate Fighter Championship (UFC), and longtime host of his own podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience (JRE).  JRE has been running since 2013 and is now on episode one-thousand five-hundred and thirty-seven.

Earlier this year, Joe Rogan announced that he would be moving his massive podcast library exclusively to Spotify. Many speculators believe this deal was worth upwards of $100 million.  Previously, JRE was available on YouTube and Apple Podcasts.  Without a doubt, this groundbreaking deal is not only positive for Rogan but also for many up-and-coming content creators.  It comes in a time where many platforms, such as YouTube, are not supporting their creators for the massive amounts of revenue they bring into their corporations.   

With this recent agreement, Spotify has gained ground to become one of the leading media platforms around the world.  Many know Spotify for their music selection, but now they have begun to include music videos and videos of the hosts recording the podcasts.  Spotify has been landing many collaborations with personalities ranging from comedians to TikTok stars.  By teaming up with more influencers,  Spotify hopes to compete with Apple, who has been called “anti-competitive” by Spotify. Spotify made this claim about Apple’s recent Apple One service which prioritizes its own services over a competitor’s such as Spotify.

The biggest news that has surrounded Rogan, is the rumor that he may be a moderator for a debate between President Donald Trump and Democratic Presidential Nominee, Joe Biden.  President Trump swiftly accepted the invitation for a debate.  It would only be fair if both Trump and Biden agreed to this because Rogan could potentially present topics that may not be brought up in the formal debates.  In addition, Rogan has a stronger connection to the younger demographic with nearly 20 million followers combined on Instagram and Twitter alone.

Jimmy Luzum, a student at the University of Minnesota, commented on Rogan’s podcast and a potential debate saying, “Joe Rogan has a lot to offer to debate because he has had a vast variety of guests, and Rogan has the ability to discuss very serious topics that other people may not be able to in a publicized setting.”

Rogan conducts excellent research about guests on his show and asks about topics they are passionate about. There is no question that Rogan would put forth his best effort to make sure there would be a fair debate, yet have topics equally challenging to both Trump and Biden.  With the three presidential debate moderators being Chris Wallace, Steve Scully, and Kristin Welker, Joe Rogan would be an exceptional fourth debate moderator offering a potentially new style of debate.  

Some people may ask, what makes Rogan qualified to moderate a debate between our future leaders?  Well, Rogan has been known to have no major political affiliation whether that be conservative or liberal.  An element that makes Rogan such a phenomenal personality is his ability to consider both sides of a viewpoint and not to favor one without knowing both sides.  Rogan is also known to have guests of various political affiliations or general influence on his show.  Some of his previous guests included Ben Shapiro, Elon Musk, Bernie Sanders, and Dan Crenshaw, amongst a large library of other notable guests. 

 Much of the pressure for this debate to happen falls on the candidate’s willingness to participate.  With Trump allegedly accepting the invitation, it leaves Biden yet to respond.  If this debate were to happen, it would have to happen soon because we are just weeks away from the election on November 3.