According to one student of these matters, “Legacy media is dying.”[1]  (Committing suicide might be closer to the mark.[2])  readers have fled the daily newspapers and viewers the network television news.  Expertise is deeply discounted.  What has taken/will take its place?  The commonly offered bogeyman is the fractured, unregulated, irresponsible internet.  Any idiot can spread his/her/their opinion, and many do.[3]  That monster is hydra-headed. 

One head rears in the “manosphere.”  It emerged as a reaction against hostile interpretations—chiefly by men–of “political correctness,”[4] “wokeness,”[5] “cancel culture,”[6] and feminism.[7]  Many conservative commentators took aim at all of these in elite publications.  What normal or ordinary people take any notice of elite sources, conservative or progressive?  However, schools and corporate human relations departments gobbled up the new thought.  Many young men felt bruised by the deprecation of traditional forms of manly behavior they encountered in school and at work.[8] 

The “Manosphere” emerged out of this reaction.[9]  It is a social media world that strongly attracts certain young men.  Not a few either.  Joe Rogan,[10] the Big Honcho of this circus, has 14.5 million followers for his podcast on Spotify, and 200 million downloads a month.[11]  In his earlier life, Rogan was a Mixed Martial Artist (MMA), a stand-up comic, and a host for the television show “Fear Factor.”  Since 2009, he has hosted “The Joe Rogan Experience.”[12] 

Rogan fills his shows with discussions of “comedy, mixed martial arts, alternative medicine, aliens, and psychedelic drugs.”  His competitors “banter about sports, fighting, women, pop culture, and video games.”[13]  Sometimes he strays into broadly politically-charged topics.  Rogan’s been called on some of his statements.  He’s responded by saying that he’s a “f…ing moron” and that no one should see him as “a respected source of information.” 

We need better versions of both “manliness” and “credible news.”  Abuse won’t do it. 

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[1] Seton Hall professor of Communications Jess Rauchberg, quoted in “Joe Rogan’s world,” The Week, 13 December 2024, p. 11.    

[2] See ABC World News Tonight with David Muir Full Broadcast – Jan. 23, 2025, especially the second half of the show with the apparently obligatory stories on shootings with dramatic film; bad weather headed East with pictures of jack-knifed semis; non-fatal trauma in the skies or at the airport with dramatic film; courtroom report from a lurid crime; celebrity news, especially if it involves a product of ABC’s owner, Disney; and a heart-warming story under the label of “America Strong.”  Or you can follow Holman Jenkins’ columns in the WSJ upbraiding mainstream print journalism for its stupidity and bias in the treatment of Donald Trump, a politician whom Jenkins abhors. 

[3] Look at me.  I’ve got a WordPress account and an internet connection. 

[4] See: Political correctness – Wikipedia  Itself a model of political correctness.  Also, Inclusive language – Wikipedia 

[5] See: Woke – Wikipedia 

[6] See: Cancel culture – Wikipedia 

[7] See: Wells for Boys – SNL – YouTube  No, you really gotta! 

[8] See: After Dark – Fight Club | REJECT WEAKNESS, EMBRACE MASCULINITY    

[9] It appears to be an appropriation of the earlier British “Lad culture.”  Lad culture – Wikipedia  The following seems to capture the moment.  Chumbawamba – Tubthumping – YouTube   A new “British invasion.” 

[10] See: Joe Rogan – Wikipedia 

[11] “Joe Rogan’s world,” The Week, 13 December 2024, p. 11. 

[12] For a brief clip of Rogan, see: All Shooters Have One Thing In Common | Joe Rogan & Michael Shellenberger  For a full episode, see: Joe Rogan Experience #2260 – Lex Fridman  Rogan’s interviews run for about three hours and are unstructured.  Donald Trump sat for one.  Joe Biden, understandably, did not.  Oddly, neither did Harris. 

[13] “Joe Rogan’s world,” The Week, 13 December 2024, p. 11.