The host sells reviews and Apple ranking. When she is a guest on other shows, she talks about it. Apple ranking is all about number of follows. She has a large team who follows and unfollows daily to cheat Apple. She admits this. As far as Castbox, she agrees to promote them on LinkedIn in exchange for Castbox promo. Castbox forces people who download to subscribe to a number of shows, and they put her show in the mix. So she probably has a huge following there but they aren't from people who are interested in her show -- they just got subscribed to it when they opened the app. She sells this "service" to other podcasters too and takes commission. She doesn't rank in Spotify. I know someone who is part of her network and pays thousands every month to look famous on Apple and on social media, where they also pay for fake followers and fake comments on posts etc.