Have you listened to the show or ever tried to cross-ref the stuff he has researched? It's mostly very easy. He's done like 400 shows, I'm sure he's had the occasional difficult topic, but that is not the norm.
Doing research can be time-consuming, especially if you're trying to track down primary references. A lot of times finding that primary reference can be difficult because of circular referencing: article "A" makes a claim but doesn't give a source, and every other article you find simply parrots "A."
$150/hr is not unheard of for a consultant or other self-employed person. He's having to make all contributions to various government programs that sometimes are split 50/50 between the employer and employee. (I don't know about the US, but here in Canada those programs are Employment Insurance and Canada Pension Plan, and some places have a payroll tax as well.) On top of that he has to pay for his own and his wife's health insurance, which probably is not cheap for self-employed people. Then there are required activities that don't generate revenue: bookkeeping, auditing, filing forms, looking for sponsors, etc.
