I will just say that in the astronomy faculty community, although Avi Loeb is the head of the Harvard astro department, his "research" has garnered him questionable and often head-shaking disapproval and a decrease in respect from colleagues. Some, bordering on many, think that he's just out to grab headlines and has become a bad joke at this point (past examples: solar system interlopers as "UFOs", etc).
Maybe Avi says that he worked his way to this position to be able to tackle interesting and off-the-path subjects, but somehow his work doesn't feel like it has the same integrity as expected from the chair of a leading institution. Or maybe that he goes to tv news channels preferentially over arxiv publishing. And maybe it's just something that happens to professors with age (like one's parents) -- they start going down the weird ideas rabbit hole.
Maybe Avi says that he worked his way to this position to be able to tackle interesting and off-the-path subjects, but somehow his work doesn't feel like it has the same integrity as expected from the chair of a leading institution. Or maybe that he goes to tv news channels preferentially over arxiv publishing. And maybe it's just something that happens to professors with age (like one's parents) -- they start going down the weird ideas rabbit hole.