I used to like Neil but then I saw him give a talk in person at a local college. There was some girl that asked a silly question during the q and a part of the visit and in front of an audience of hundreds of people Neil laid into her about how her question was stupid and she was wasting everyone's time. He did that until she started crying and left. After the next person asked a question as Neil was wrapping up his answer he decided to get another jab at the girl he already chased off by saying "and that's a real question". It's hard to convey how clearly the cruelty and contempt hung in that room.

Yeah as a podcaster he's entertaining, but the problem is the absolute disdain he has for non-scientists, and even graduate student scientists. He's a smart man, but he absolutely thinks he's one of the smartest people alive and makes it known. Never once has a scientist sent an employee to a room full of other scientists to make sure they all turned their cellphones off when he walks in a room, but he does that. Kip Thorne isn't even that up his own butt lmao