Comment by at1as
6 hours ago
He's a very underrated science communicator. We need more people like him pulling physics into the cultural zeitgeist through a positive lens.
Too much of the science that breaks into the mainstream (AI being the obvious example) is framed primarily from a negative viewpoint (or, remember the "LHC will spawn a blackhole that engulfs the earth" talk, instead of a focus on the incredible science behind it)
Mindscape is roughly in the top 20 science podcasts (also #3 in physics) and his books regularly make the NYT bestseller list. So he's definitely popular, but perhaps still underrated relative to the quality of his content. His approach is more idiosyncratic than the most popular science communicators. He focuses mostly on the topics that interest him and isn't averse to getting technical in certain discussions. I think that naturally limits his audience, for better or for worse.
How is he very underrated?
I mean, I otherwise agree with the sentiment of your post but I feel like most people are rating him pretty well.
is he broadly known? Sure, his books have done well - but have they really reached a very broad set of people?
As a science educator, I think the only true household name at present is probably Neil deGrasse Tyson