I was looking for who these listeners were switching to, or what the change was relative to overall podcast listenership, and was totally surprised the authors didn't include a base rate in their analysis. Not including base rates in references to anything quantitative is like writing spam emails with spelling mistakes because being dumb enough not to notice is a good proxy for being dumb enough to buy what you are selling. Though I doubt whether the people at the Verge have the sophistication to be intentionally fraudulent. They just need enough noise or to craft a conflict around. However it's a good example of data-horoscope journalism, where you backfit your narrative to points on a line.

Rogan is probably the most successful podcaster in the world by a variety of possible metrics, and I'm not sure what a reasonable expectation of how that plays out would be. Does he transform into a being of pure light and ascend into space, or, does he just do a job he likes until he doesn't anymore, and moves on to something else?

The Verge should just say what they mean, which is that Rogan talks to off-brand people and you shouldn't be tempted by how good the conversations are because it will not align you with crumbling mainstream narratives, and instead you should spend your time engaged with their clickbait talking points factory deciphering their adolescent purple sophistry.