he has quite the fanbase, he's over 2k live. a big reason is his reputation, its like how Dick Masterson from the dick show got most of his fans from his maddox trolling and the dr.phil episode. Very few people listening on a weekly basis knew the lore beyond that.
That's most podcasts in general, its like how 90% of people that listen to Taylor Swift don't follow her lore. beyond that is the ride or die types like you're seeing a lot of on the farms.
most jobs allow you to listen to something too now, between that and the commute and you're bound to get fans. there's a reason podcasts in general exploded in the 2010s. its like how talk radio somehow existed for generations. people just need to hear something to stop from going insane.
i constantly hit data caps listening to shit at my job