Joe Rogan, the controversial podcaster and comedian, is under fire. Most recently, he has promoted skepticism on the topic of climate change in episodes of his massively popular podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience. With a $100 million deal with Spotify and more than 20 million YouTube subscribers himself, Rogan is an influencer with unprecedented power. His assertions that a study he promoted proves the Earth is cooling have ruffled enough feathers to spur an open letter from scientists who conducted the study. They contend that his understanding misrepresents both the study’s conclusions and the broader state of climate science.
As a result, Rogan’s podcast is one of the most popular in the entire world. He’s often bragged about the temperature graph that proves him right. As recently as 2021, he has claimed that past shifts in Earth’s temperature disprove fears of current climate change. During a conversation with actor Mel Gibson, Rogan stated that there is “a lot of horseshit involved in climate change,” echoing sentiments that have drawn scrutiny from experts.
Top climate scientists, including paleoclimatologist Jessica Tierney, have rightly been frustrated at Rogan’s framing of this critical issue. It seems likely that many future listeners will develop a parasocial relationship with him. They take his judgments on face value and view him as a trustworthy information source. As this becomes painfully obvious, it’s especially alarming because Rogan’s recent anti-climate diatribes have served to educate hundreds of millions of his young listeners about climate myths.
Tierney commented on the impact of Rogan’s statements, stating, “I’ve watched his clips and gone: ‘Oh jeez.’ I can only laugh sometimes. It sure as hell disappointing that these massively popular podcasts are spreading this retro denier garbage. It’s not helpful. She cautioned that Rogan’s presentation of scientific data is often misleading and presented out of context.
Rogan has been praised for his spirited discussions with celebs including Gibson. He’s cited a recent Washington Post article, but he omits key information that changes the entire discussion. His representation of climate science has triggered an outcry from researchers. They are convinced that bad faith misinformation campaigns have already begun to irreparably warp public perception of the climate crisis.
“It’s dumb the way he’s interpreting this graph,” Tierney said. “If he wants to talk about it, he should invite me onto the show instead of talking about it to Mel Gibson or Bernie Sanders.” Her remarks illustrate an increasing concern from the scientific community. They counsel that reaching out to powerful truth-tellers such as Rogan is key to getting the right information into millions of ears.
Rogan’s recent statements have drawn the ire of critics largely because they fail to touch even the fringes of scientific reality. Tierney pointed out, “The temperature reconstruction is over millions of years. It’s not on a human timescale.” She further elaborated on the urgency of the matter: “It’s all about the speed, and we’ve never seen carbon dioxide and temperature rise as fast as now – even in big extinction events it was slower than this.”
The consequences of misinformation are significant. Public health expert Edward Maibach emphasized the enormous reach of social media influencers. He underscored their unique power to influence how the public understands the threat of climate change. “Ordinary folks don’t learn about climate change by reading science journals,” he said. They obviously are much more difficult to reach, but they learn about it mostly by hearing what other people say about it, which, in large part, is social media influencers or podcasters. When those influencers don’t know what they’re talking about, we all pay the price.
Rogan doubles down on his unscientific ideas about climate change, even in the face of condemnation. He goes on to downplay human-caused global warming as a concern. He has stated, “This idea that the whole thing is based on carbon emissions from humans is total bullshit. It’s not true.” These kinds of proclamations send up red flags for scientists who work to promote careful and clear communication about the state of climate science.