A new report by Axios and The Generation Lab reveals that 71% of young Americans don’t regularly listen to news and politics podcasts. The study examines young Americans’ podcast consumption habits and interest areas.
Conducted in February 2025, it analyzed listening preferences across multiple podcast categories among nearly 1,000 18-34-year-olds nationwide.
Among those who listen to podcasts with news and political content, “The Daily” leads with 12% monthly listenership, followed by “The Ben Shapiro Show” (6%) and “The Charlie Kirk Show” (7%). Other news programs like “Pod Save America,” “Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!” and “Up First” each capture only about 4% of young listeners.
True Crime and Entertainment Show Stronger Appeal
In the true crime category, “Dateline NBC” (14%) and “Crime Junkie” (11%) emerge as the most popular options, though 69% of respondents don’t regularly engage with true crime content.
The comedy and entertainment category shows slightly better performance with “The Joe Rogan Experience” reaching 13% of young Americans monthly, while “Call Her Daddy” captures 9%. Other entertainment podcasts like “This Past Weekend with Theo Von” (6%) and “Club Shay Shay” (5%) maintain modest but notable audiences.
Business and Science Categories Show Distinct Patterns
Business and self-improvement podcasts struggle to find wide audiences, with 76% of young people avoiding these shows entirely. The Ramsey Show brands (including “The Ramsey Show” at 9% and “The Dave Ramsey Show” at 8%) are the strongest performers in this category.
Science and education content fares somewhat better, with “TED Talks Daily” emerging as a standout performer with a 21% monthly listenership—the highest individual podcast percentage across all categories surveyed. However, 69% of respondents still indicated they didn’t regularly consume science and education podcasts.
Sports Podcasts Show Niche Appeal
Sports podcasts demonstrate similar patterns to other categories, with 76% of young Americans not regularly tuning in. Among those who do, “Barstool Sports” leads at 15%, followed by “New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce” at 8%.
Young Americans’ Broader Interest Areas
Beyond podcasts, the survey examined what young Americans consider themselves “avid fans” of. Gaming and cinema/TV each lead at 41%, followed by concerts and live music at 37%. Traditional sports (29%) and fitness (29%) show moderate interest levels.
Political engagement registers at 24% who consider themselves avid fans of “Politics & Current events,” while emerging technologies show more modest enthusiasm with Artificial Intelligence at 15% and cryptocurrency at 9%.
The data indicates a significant portion of young Americans (13%) don’t identify as avid fans of any of the listed interest areas.
The full report is available here.
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A new report by Axios and The Generation Lab reveals that 71% of young Americans don’t regularly listen to news and politics podcasts. The study examines young Americans’ podcast consumption habits and interest areas.
Conducted in February 2025, it analyzed listening preferences across multiple podcast categories among nearly 1,000 18-34-year-olds nationwide.
Among those who listen to podcasts with news and political content, “The Daily” leads with 12% monthly listenership, followed by “The Ben Shapiro Show” (6%) and “The Charlie Kirk Show” (7%). Other news programs like “Pod Save America,” “Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!” and “Up First” each capture only about 4% of young listeners.
True Crime and Entertainment Show Stronger Appeal
In the true crime category, “Dateline NBC” (14%) and “Crime Junkie” (11%) emerge as the most popular options, though 69% of respondents don’t regularly engage with true crime content.
The comedy and entertainment category shows slightly better performance with “The Joe Rogan Experience” reaching 13% of young Americans monthly, while “Call Her Daddy” captures 9%. Other entertainment podcasts like “This Past Weekend with Theo Von” (6%) and “Club Shay Shay” (5%) maintain modest but notable audiences.
Business and Science Categories Show Distinct Patterns
Business and self-improvement podcasts struggle to find wide audiences, with 76% of young people avoiding these shows entirely. The Ramsey Show brands (including “The Ramsey Show” at 9% and “The Dave Ramsey Show” at 8%) are the strongest performers in this category.
Science and education content fares somewhat better, with “TED Talks Daily” emerging as a standout performer with a 21% monthly listenership—the highest individual podcast percentage across all categories surveyed. However, 69% of respondents still indicated they didn’t regularly consume science and education podcasts.
Sports Podcasts Show Niche Appeal
Sports podcasts demonstrate similar patterns to other categories, with 76% of young Americans not regularly tuning in. Among those who do, “Barstool Sports” leads at 15%, followed by “New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce” at 8%.
Young Americans’ Broader Interest Areas
Beyond podcasts, the survey examined what young Americans consider themselves “avid fans” of. Gaming and cinema/TV each lead at 41%, followed by concerts and live music at 37%. Traditional sports (29%) and fitness (29%) show moderate interest levels.
Political engagement registers at 24% who consider themselves avid fans of “Politics & Current events,” while emerging technologies show more modest enthusiasm with Artificial Intelligence at 15% and cryptocurrency at 9%.
The data indicates a significant portion of young Americans (13%) don’t identify as avid fans of any of the listed interest areas.
The full report is available here.