Bill Maher's Podcast Joins Men’s Journal

Bill Maher's podcast has joined Men’s Journal.

Men's Journal hosts podcasts?

Apparently so.

Monday, The Arena Group announced an exclusive partnership with Maher for his Club Random podcast.

Here are the details, per the press release.

"The ‘Club Random with Bill Maher’ podcast, one of the most popular podcasts in the world, announced today its new partnership with The Arena Group, a technology platform and media company home to such brands as Sports Illustrated, Parade, TheStreet, Men’s Fitness and more than 200 others. Through an exclusive licensing deal, the podcast will be featured on one of its core flagship lifestyle brands, Men’s Journal (MensJournal.com), and provide fans with new episodes every Sunday with exclusive behind-the-scenes clips not found anywhere else."

Men’s Journal is not exactly Spotify, Apple, or YouTube in terms of podcasting. Talk about an out-of-left-field signing.

Though it appears Club Random will still stream across all platforms. Licensing deals tend to only change ad sales and behind-the-scenes functions.

Thereby Maher's fans do not have to move to mensjournal.com to watch him smoke weed with A-list celebrities in his 70s-themed man cave. Still, you can find his podcasts there as of today.

The podcast is not inherently political, a contrast from his HBO program Real Time. That said, the show can get quite political -- and heated -- at times:

https://twitter.com/TheChiefNerd/status/1655630637384990720.

Topic selection is not the only difference between his flagship HBO program. Real Time features a lengthy writing team. One episode takes a week to write.

The podcast is off the cuff. It's simply Maher chatting with a guest from his basement bar. Maher describes the show as no different than when he hosts a friend at his home for a few drinks.

"Club Random ... is what I enjoy doing at home socially once or twice a week anyway—which is get super-high and chew the fat with someone who I just wanna talk to and hang out with for fun," Maher told Men’s Journal."

Bill Maher on the set of his podcast, Club Random.

Guests have included Dr. Phil, Stephen A. Smith, Kid Rock, Jay Leno, and Chevy Chase. And this week, John Hamm.

"With Real Time, you can’t really watch it if you don’t follow what’s going on in the world, at least a little bit. It’s a comedy entertainment show that I’m trying to make as palatable as I can to the largest audience, but it’s using as fodder what’s actually happening in the world, and a lot of people frankly just haven’t a clue. I mean, I could be speaking Mandarin."

Still, like Real Time, the podcast is quite successful.

Club Random has logged over 105 million views on YouTube and 12 million downloads since its launch last year. 

Men’s Journal is no Spotify. But shacking up with Maher is a good start.