Podcasts and pop stars light up White House race

Hello. The White House race has added star quality today, with pop royalty Beyoncé tipped to campaign with Kamala Harris and Donald Trump talking to the king of podcasts, Joe Rogan. Anthony Zurcher and Sam Cabral weigh up the significance of each. We round off the week with features highlighting the perils of using artificial intelligence for university work, about the rags-to-riches story of a man named the most influential black Briton, and on dealing with friendships that fall apart. Oh, and scroll down for ketchup in space.

QUESTIONS ANSWERED

Rogan's path to crucial election interview

Rogan has hosted guests from astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson to far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. Credit: Getty Images

Podcasts are playing a key role in the US election. Kamala Harris is set to appear on social psychologist Brené Brown’s Unlocking Us - a hit with female listeners. Meanwhile, Donald Trump is talking to the US's biggest podcast, the Joe Rogan Experience, with its followings of 14.5 million on Spotify and 17.5 million on YouTube. So how did Rogan become so influential?

What is Joe Rogan's background?

Rogan began his career as a stand-up comedian, featured in two sitcoms - Hardball and NewsRadio - and gained national exposure as host of the US edition of the Fear Factor game show. He became one of the first comics to venture into podcasting in 2009, quickly building an audience with his easy-going conversation style and sense of humour. By 2020, he had signed one of the largest licensing deals in the business, with Spotify.

How did he get so popular?

Part of his appeal, says Kat Rosenfield, a freelance culture writer and novelist, is his willingness to talk to anyone, about anything. But his willingness to absorb contrarian perspectives has also landed him in hot water. During the Covid-19 pandemic, he was criticised for promoting vaccine scepticism, leading to a coalition of medical experts to call out Spotify for allowing "false and societally harmful assertions" to spread.

What's in it for Trump?

Rogan's listeners are overwhelmingly young and male. Almost 80% are men, and half are between the ages of 18 and 34, according to Edison Research, which produces survey-based data on podcasting in the US. Such figures suggest Rogan's audience is part of a crucial voting bloc to whom the Trump campaign has made clear it is trying to reach.

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PICKS OF THE WEEK

THE BIG PICTURE

Who gains from the Brics expansion

The leaders of China, Russia and India each derive different benefits from their membership of the bloc. Credit: Reuters

Brics, the alliance of major developing countries, has long projected itself as a counter to Western governance. In Russia this week, it added Egypt, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates to its number - along with Iran. Foreign policy analyst Michael Kugelman says fears of an outright anti-Western entity are unfounded - but the expansion has left India with a tricky balancing act.

And finally... in space

The Nasa astronaut who filmed this video said everyone he'd shared it with "either thinks it is awesome or gross - nothing in between". The apparent lover of tomato ketchup claimed "some interesting science stuff" was happening during his Heinz-based display, but it may have just been a ploy to eat a lot of his favourite condiment. Watch the clip to see which of the two viewer groups you fall into.

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