I did too. Actually I was introduced to the Acquired podcast by the WSJ last month[1] and Hermes was the first episode I listened to. I wonder if this was just another WSJ reporter falling down that same rabbit hole.
Coincidentally this exact thing happened to me. I checked out the podcast after reading about it here. Luckily I was visiting Europe last month so got some time to listen to this 3-4 hour podcast episode, almost like a half audiobook!
[1] Via https://www.wsj.com/business/media/acquired-podcast-tech-bus...