No worries you are not alone, I presume he is mostly known in the US (Fear Factor, The Man Show, UFC - what are those? I didn't spend much time in front of TV in last 15 years, there was/is life to be lived).

Nobody expects for example americans to know some french or spanish comedians/hosts, and HN is predominantly american website.

He seems interesting but the lengths of podcasts mentioned in the article are showstoppers for me - I can't imagine dedicating 3-5 hours to this (and I can't properly listen to such conversation and do something else). That said, I got motivated to watch the Musk part, mainly for the Musk himself.

The article, albeit with its flaws, mentions interesting point - his popularity being the result of these uber-politically-correct days, where masculinity is often frowned upon, and white western guy should feel guilty for being who he is/was and keep apologizing (I am not western and not american so this is a foreign feeling to me, but I get where it comes from). Every action makes reaction, a nice example of this general principle.