Former first lady Michelle Obama’s new podcast with her brother Craig Robinson, titled IMO with Michelle Obama & Craig Robinson, dropped its first two episodes on Wednesday; this is how its views so far compare with that of Joe Rogan.
Why It Matters
In the 2024 presidential election, podcasts emerged as a key and influential media source with appearances or a lack thereof from both President Donald Trump and his Democratic opponent, former Vice President Kamala Harris making headlines and racking up millions of views, with Trump having a much greater reach than Harris.
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According Backlino, 47 percent of the U.S. population from age 12 and above listen to a podcast at least once a month with YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts being the most popular place to listen. More than 70 million people listened to podcasts in 2023, with the number projected to be over 110 million by 2029, as per Statista.
What To Know
Michelle Obama’s podcast debuted this week. Data from Spotify and Apple Podcasts is not yet available for the show, however, the views that it received on YouTube are public, providing a snapshot into its listenership.
The podcast’s first episode received 43,826 views as of press time, while the second, which featured an interview with Issa Rae, has received 14,000 views. In contrast, the most recent episode of the Joe Rogan Experience received 749,795 views as of press time, a much higher viewership.
However, one area where Obama is beating Rogan is subscriber engagement. On YouTube, Obama has 17,100 subscribers while Rogan has 19.5 million. Obama’s first podcast episode has reached more than double her subscriber base, with her second reaching nearly 100 percent of her subscribers, while Rogan’s most recent podcast reached around 3.8 percent of his own subscribers.
It’s also important to note that this new podcast from Obama is very much in its infancy. Though, the former first lady is no stranger to hosting podcasts. The Michelle Obama Podcast was released in 2020 and “was the most successful original in Spotify history, bringing in more women listeners over 40 than any other podcast,” according to her website bio.
Speaking about her podcast on Instagram, Obama wrote: “There’s a lot going on in the world right now. We’re living through some really complicated and confusing times and on top of that, folks are trying to juggle family life, work dynamics, relationships, aging parents, and more.”
What People Are Saying
Michelle Obama, in a post on X speaking about her podcast: “In our first episode, we share stories about growing up on Euclid Avenue in Chicago and the journey that led us to who we are today—from life on the South Side to going to college together to the White House and, more recently, our experience after losing our mom. It’s been a lot, but we always know that we’ll have each other’s backs. For over six decades, we’ve been each other’s sounding board—and now, we can’t wait to be yours, too.”
What Happens Next
New episodes of IMO with Michelle Obama & Craig Robinson are dropping every Wednesday.
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