Earlier quoted context omitted.
I recently discovered iot, and good lord is that the best podcast. I adore how the host wrangles academics on his show to keep them on topic. Just hilarious. And the topics are all over the place, making each week a real undiscovered gem.
I love IOT and appreciate Melvin Bragg, but I’ve increasingly felt he tends to arbitrarily challenge (and even bully) some of his guests - typically younger women. On the other hand, he has “regulars” who, suave as they may be, invariably get a pass to ramble - and they are all old English men. He also clearly has much less patience for scientific topics than the humanities, and on literary subjects he pushes his own…
I think part of his sharpness with scientists is rooted in a commitment to making specialists speak plainly and understandably for the audience, without jargon or insider-y concepts.