Men dominate the top of the podcasting charts. As listeners, they slightly outnumber women, too. “Brocasters” and the “manosphere” have even become a media obsession, and for good reason. During the election, conservatives successfully tapped into a world of dude-driven content to reach disengaged voters.
But there has been a surge of podcasts made by women, for women, too. And a company called Dear Media is at the center of much of it.
Based in Austin, Texas, Dear Media operates the largest network of podcasts for women. Its nearly 100 shows are as freewheeling and chummy as those in the “manosphere,” similarly hosted by comedians and content creators. Except here, Joe Rogan’s alpha masculinity and Logan Paul’s unabashed idiocy are swapped for girlboss confidence and therapy speak.
Gone, too, is the overt conservatism that now blankets the manosphere — but not all of its ideas. Dear Media emphasizes health and wellness in its programming, at times dipping into the same kind of contrarian thinking that powers Make America Healthy Again, the agenda of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Some of its shows are hosted by medical doctors. Others promote raw milk, parasite cleanses and communicating with angels. There is a do-your-own-research ethos, already familiar to those who follow “MAHA” or even Goop. But here, it is slid between dating diaries and reality-television recaps.
This range is working. In 2024, Dear Media reached No. 7 on Apple Podcasts’ list of top channels, alongside media juggernauts like iHeart, SiriusXM and The New York Times. This year, it debuted a Khloe Kardashian show on X and acquired “The World’s First Podcast,” which inspired a hit Netflix romantic comedy. And its success could open the door for more networks to embrace women’s interest in alternative health.
