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By Monica Sager
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The Joe Rogan Experience briefly lost its spot as the No. 1 podcast on Spotify to a series that "dares to explore the profound abilities of non-speakers with autism."
Newsweek has contacted Spotify and Joe Rogan for comment through media forms.
Why It Matters
The Joe Rogan Experience has consistently topped the podcast charts in recent years. The show frequently welcomes prominent guests, including politicians hoping to secure the votes of its largely young, male audience.
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What To Know
On Friday, The Telepathy Tapes leaped ahead in views over Rogan's show, but its reign didn't last long. By 11:30 a.m., Rogan had regained his throne at the top of the Spotify chart.
The Telepathy Tapes, a newer show, is hosted by filmmaker Ky Dickens and psychiatrist Dr. Diane Hennacy Powell. The two explore the "misunderstood and underestimated" abilities that nonspeakers with autism have.
"These silent communicators possess gifts that defy conventional understanding, from telepathy to otherworldly perceptions, challenging the limits of what we believe to be real," the podcast's description said. "For years, their parents and teachers have quietly witnessed these remarkable abilities, knowing that the time to share their truth would eventually come."
British newspaper The Times gave The Telepathy Tapes five stars, writing in its review: "And telepathy is only the beginning. Soon we're onto the subject of whether non-verbal autistic children can see ghosts (of course they can) and the magical qualities of stones and crystals."
According to the Indy100, Dickens and Powell said they spent no money marketing their show. The podcast has 10 episodes, with the most recent released on December 23.
Despite its popularity, this is not the first time The Joe Rogan Experience has lost the top position on podcast charts.
Last month, Rogan was dethroned as the host of the No. 1 podcast on Apple Music and Spotify in the U.S. by Kylie Kelce, who is married to retired football star Jason Kelce. Her new podcast, Not Gonna Lie, made its debut on streaming platforms on December 5 and hit the top spot on the charts four days later.
How Popular Is The Joe Rogan Experience
Rogan, a former Fear Factor host, began his podcast on YouTube in 2009. By 2015, it had grown to become one of the world's most-popular podcasts, regularly pulling in millions of views.
In December 2020, Rogan signed a licensing deal with Spotify for the platform's exclusive rights to broadcast the show. The deal was widely reported at the time to be worth $100 million, although The New York Times reported in February 2022 that the true amount for the 3.5-year deal was "at least" $200 million.
Spotify and Rogan signed a new $250 million deal in February 2024, when the streamer announced that the show would no longer be exclusive to its platform.
Rogan has had famous names on his show in the past, including Senator Bernie Sanders, whistleblower Edward Snowden and billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk.
According to an analysis conducted for Newsweek by Impact Social, the podcast seemingly helped Donald Trump win over swing voters in the 2024 election.
Both Trump and his running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, appeared on Rogan's podcast during the presidential campaign.
What People Are Saying
Joe Rogan said of The Telepathy Tapes on the December 25 episode of his podcast: "I'm only on episode two, but it's really fascinating, man, because it's a dismissed thing—it's a woo-woo thing—but if it's real, shouldn't scientists study it?"
Ky Dickens said on episode one of The Telepathy Tapes: "The reigning philosophy in science is something called 'materialism' … And research into telepathy falls way outside the materialism lane."
Kelly Schricker, a parent, wrote on X, formerly Twitter: "Let me just say, having a non-communicative / late talker toddler The Telepathy Tapes just hits different."
What Happens Next
According to the JRE Library, historian Wesley Huff is scheduled to join Rogan on his podcast later this month. Other upcoming guests, the site said, include journalist Glenn Greenwald, world champion kickboxer John Wayne Parr, singer-songwriter Mike Posner, actors Jamie Foxx and Sylvester Stallone, and Olympic gold medalist Mark Schultz.
The Telepathy Tapes has released a preview for its second season.
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