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(noun) an influencer with a podcast, invariably male, who describes himself as the enemy and antidote to the liberal elite
“Bro-caster is the opposite of streamer” is the kind of joke you'd expect from a streamer. It's anti-woke, very sexist in an old-fashioned way, and it comes off more conceited than funny. As women in the media learn to poke fun at themselves, heterodoxy doesn't belittle itself.
Joe Rogan, one of the most popular podcasters in the world, is the proto bro. His podcast, launched in 2009, set the template. He has more than 14.5 million followers on Spotify. According to a YouGov survey of Britons, more than four-fifths of listeners are male and most are aged between 18 and 34.
Although Rogan's own political beliefs are hard to pin down, he gives airtime to fringe scientists, political extremists and conspiracy theorists. No one has an easy ride, with the host using the same cut-and-dry style as he does with Donald Trump and Elon Musk. At least part of Rogan's appeal is the sense that, if he gets tired of any guest, he can beat them very easily.
And while Rogan is measured in his support for men's rights, broadcasters who followed his lead are more willing to stir up age-old resentments. Andrew Tate, a former kickboxer and self-identified alpha male, is the manosphere's most notorious activist with a brand of toxic misogyny that resonates in school playgrounds.
In the mainstream, bro-casters can be seen as the offspring of shock-jocks like Howard Stern. Their irreverence and boundary-pushing rants appealed to General X because he was wrapped in a layer of ironic distance.
Then the wind changed. The manufactured anarchy of talk radio was replaced by influencer-manufactured authenticity. There's no hint of irony in Jordan Peterson's self-help psychobabble, or Steven Bartlett's C-suite punchlines, or ex-Navy Seal Shawn Ryan's machismo. They all want to be taken seriously as seekers of truth while being admired as caricatures of masculinity. Broadcasting is what happens when an audience wants answers but has heard enough from experts.
bryce.elder@ft.com
