Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, head of Canada’s official opposition, recently became the first Canadian political leader to appear on the controversial Joe Rogan Experience podcast.

Poilievre had been asked to sit for an interview with Rogan amid the federal election campaign in April 2025, but was reportedly advised by his team to pass since Rogan was, and remains, a polarizing and contentious figure. Nonetheless, Rogan’s podcast is one of the world’s longest running, averaging 11 million listeners per episode and ranked No. 1 globally on Spotify in 2025.

Poilievre apparently changed his mind, presenting Rogan with the gift of a kettlebell inscribed with a maple leaf during the interview. The Conservative leader told the media he went on the podcast because he wanted to appeal to the United States to lift tariffs on Canadian goods.

Whether his efforts worked remains to be seen, but could there be unintended consequences to Poilievre’s appearance on the podcast? Did he spread any harmful disinformation about Canada and North America to a massive audience that, while possibly popular among his base, could be detrimental to Canadians in general?

Rogan and the manosphere

We conduct research on the manosphere, online spaces including videos and podcasts characterized by hyper-masculine ideals and documented tendencies to spread conspiracy, hate and misinformation.

Our findings show that manosphere influencers spread toxic content about marginalized populations, including dangerous misinformation about health, politics, immigration and the environment. The Joe Rogan Experience is part of this ecosystem.

From this vantage point, we analyzed Poilievre’s comments to Rogan to see if any of the podcaster’s well-known conspiratorial or misinformation-laden ideas made it into the conversation, and how Poilievre responded.

While recent coverage of the podcast episode in news media has focused on tariffs, Canada-U.S. relations and a shared love of fitness, we found misinformation on immigration, the health and environmental consequences of Alberta’s........

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