I guess you're right - getting your podcast big enough that it becomes a necessary checkbox for book/media tours is a skill. You're correct that he brings absolutely nothing to the podcast, but he interrupts plenty - usually with superficial pet theories about the "oneness of the universe" or "how all we need is love, actually". He never seems well prepared for his guest beyond a chatgpt summary, never gets any kind of interesting answer out of a guest that they weren't already going to give, just absolutely zero criticality to anything in the interview.

A podcast with guests is an interview. Interviewing is a skill. The difference between a good and bad interviewer is night and day.