It's what I like about the show, it's organic, people come there and feel at ease enough to do whatever they want. The freakouts afterwards are even better. It just shows the state we live in, the state of the media, and our society.
And as for his reach, he got there because the way he converses with people. A conversation. The size of his platform is determined by the formula of his podcast (there's none).
If people know a better way to run a podcast, it's free to start one, it can be done with a phone. There's nothing holding you back.