Star Treatment
Does prominence change the questions? Every guest, plotted: their public prominence (rated 1–10 by an LLM, methodology below) against the host pushback they met, measured from every diarized word of their episodes.
An aggregate AI reading of public interviews: pushback per exchange, plotted against guest prominence. It describes questioning patterns across the whole catalogue, not any single guest, and every point opens to its episode. full disclaimer →
+0.05pushback per +1 prominence
1.1/10host pushback, prominence 8–10
0.8/10host pushback, prominence 1–4
198guests measured
dot size = rated episodes · gold line = average per prominence level · every dot links to the person
All guests, by prominence
| Guest | Prominence | Host pushback | Guest pushback | Eps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elon Musk CEO, Tesla and SpaceX | 10 | 0.7 | 0.7/10 | 3 |
| Joe Biden | 10 | 1 | 1.8/10 | 5 |
| Joe Manchin Former U.S. Senator, United States Senate | 8 | 1.5 | 1.8/10 | 4 |
| Mark Fields | 7 | 0 | 3/10 | 1 |
| Bill McKibben Founder, Third Act | 7 | 1 | 3/10 | 1 |
| John Hickenlooper U.S. Senator, United States Senate | 7 | 2 | 2/10 | 1 |
| Mark Gurman Chief Correspondent, Bloomberg News | 6 | 0 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Mary Nichols Distinguished Counsel, Emmett Institute at UCLA Law | 6 | 0 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Miles O'Brien National Science Correspondent, PBS NewsHour | 6 | 0 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Amory Lovins Co-founder & Chairman Emeritus, RMI | 6 | 0 | 2/10 | 1 |
| Eric Brynjolfsson | 6 | 1 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Jigar Shah Co-Managing Partner, Multiplier LLC | 6 | 1.7 | 2.7/10 | 6 |
| Amy Westervelt | 5 | 0 | 1/10 | 2 |
| Julio Friedman Chief Scientist, Carbon Direct | 5 | 0 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Eric Klinenberg Professor of Sociology, NYU | 5 | 0 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Sonia Aggarwal CEO, Energy Innovation | 5 | 1 | 2/10 | 1 |
| Joel Makower Chairman & Co-Founder, Trellis Group | 5 | 1 | 2/10 | 1 |
| Michael Grunwald | 5 | 1 | 1/10 | 2 |
| Jason Bordoff Founding Director, Center on Global Energy Policy | 5 | 1.5 | 1.5/10 | 2 |
| Nancy Pfund Founder & Managing Partner, DBL Partners | 5 | 2 | 3/10 | 1 |
| Shayle Kann Managing Partner, Energy Impact Partners | 5 | 2.3 | 1.7/10 | 3 |
| Ramez Naam Founder & Managing Partner, Planetary VC | 5 | 3 | 3/10 | 1 |
| Steve Oldham Chief Executive Officer, Captura | 4 | 0 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Mike Laufer Co-Founder and CEO, Kairos Power | 4 | 0 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Neha Palmer CEO and Co-Founder, TeraWatt Infrastructure | 4 | 0 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Dan Shugar Founder & CEO, Nextpower | 4 | 0 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Steve LeVine Editor of The Electric, The Information | 4 | 0 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Annette Clayton | 4 | 0 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Ed Niedermeyer Program Director, Ride AI | 4 | 0 | 3/10 | 1 |
| Mark Schleifstein Freelance Environment Reporter | 4 | 0 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Dr. Jim Blackburn Co-Director, SSPEED Center, Rice University | 4 | 0 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Mateo Jaramillo Co-founder and CEO, Form Energy | 4 | 0.5 | 1/10 | 2 |
| Drew Baglino Founder & CEO, Heron Power | 4 | 1 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Karthik Rao | 4 | 1 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Gabriel Kra Co-Founder and Managing Director, Prelude Ventures | 4 | 1 | 1/10 | 2 |
| Amy Francetic Managing General Partner, Buoyant Ventures | 4 | 1 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Christina Binkley Co-Host, Hot Buttons | 4 | 1 | 1.5/10 | 2 |
| Amy Myers Jaffe Director, NYU Energy, Climate Justice and Sustainability Lab | 4 | 1 | 3/10 | 1 |
| Akshat Rathi Senior Climate Reporter, Bloomberg News | 4 | 1 | 1/10 | 1 |
| David Roberts Host and Creator, Volts | 4 | 1.5 | 2/10 | 2 |
| Tadeu Carneiro Chairman and CEO, Boston Metal | 4 | 2 | 2/10 | 1 |
| Rafi Garabedian Co-Founder and CEO, Electric Hydrogen | 4 | 2 | 2/10 | 1 |
| Andrew Beebe Managing Director, Obvious Ventures | 4 | 2 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Luke Iseman Co-founder & CEO, Make Sunsets | 4 | 2 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Dr. Holly Buck | 4 | 2 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Tamar Haspel Food & Science Columnist, The Washington Post | 4 | 2 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Nico Pinkowski CEO and Co-Founder, Nitricity | 3 | 0 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Sarah Jewett COO, Fervo Energy | 3 | 0 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Yayoi Sekine Head of Energy Storage, BloombergNEF | 3 | 0 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Greg Mulholland Co-Founder and CEO, Citrine Informatics | 3 | 0 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Janusz Reiter Founder & Chairman, Center for International Relations | 3 | 0 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Chris Tomlinson Statewide Business Columnist, Houston Chronicle | 3 | 0 | 2/10 | 1 |
| Yesh Pavlik Slenk Senior Director, Environmental Defense Fund | 3 | 0 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Emily Pontecorvo Founding Staff Writer, Heatmap News | 3 | 0 | 0/10 | 2 |
| Panama Bartholomy | 3 | 0 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Michael Thomas Founder and Author, Distilled | 3 | 0 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Miranda Green Investigative Journalist, Atmos Magazine | 3 | 0 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Bryan Guido Hassin CEO, DexMat | 3 | 0 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Gloria Riviera Journalist and Podcast Host, Lemonada Media | 3 | 0 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Jane Patton | 3 | 0 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Dr. Kimberly Terrell | 3 | 0 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Dharna Noor Fossil Fuels and Climate Reporter, The Guardian | 3 | 0 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Martin Pei Senior Advisor, SSAB | 3 | 0 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Julia Atwood Research Director, Sightline Climate | 3 | 0 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Paul Lau CEO & General Manager, SMUD | 3 | 0 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Dr. Mark Paul | 3 | 0 | 2/10 | 1 |
| Brian Kahn Senior Editor, Science Desk, WIRED | 3 | 0 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Dr. Lisa Schipper Professor of Development Geography, University of Bonn | 3 | 0 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Alex Harris Lead Climate Change Reporter, Miami Herald | 3 | 0 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Aaron Cantú Investigative Reporter, Capital & Main | 3 | 0 | 2/10 | 1 |
| Luis Olmedo Executive Director, Comité Cívico del Valle | 3 | 0 | 2/10 | 1 |
| Alexandria Herr Independent Journalist & Audio Producer | 3 | 0.2 | 0.2/10 | 5 |
| Dr. Melissa Lott Partner for Energy Technologies, Microsoft | 3 | 0.3 | 0/10 | 4 |
| Julian Spector Senior Reporter, Canary Media | 3 | 0.4 | 0.6/10 | 7 |
| John O'Donnell Founder & Chief Innovation Officer, Rondo Energy | 3 | 0.5 | 0.5/10 | 2 |
| Sheldon Kimber Founder and CEO, Intersect Power | 3 | 0.5 | 2/10 | 2 |
| David Ferris Reporter, POLITICO's E&E News | 3 | 0.5 | 0.5/10 | 2 |
| Maria Gallucci Senior Reporter, Canary Media | 3 | 0.7 | 0.5/10 | 10 |
| Jeff St. John Chief Reporter, Canary Media | 3 | 0.8 | 1.6/10 | 5 |
| Frank O'Sullivan Managing Director, S2G Investments | 3 | 1 | 1/10 | 2 |
| Susan Su Partner, Toba Capital | 3 | 1 | 2/10 | 1 |
| Cindy Taff CEO & Co-Founder, Sage Geosystems | 3 | 1 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Damien Beauchamp President and CEO, 8 Rivers Capital | 3 | 1 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Rick Needham Chief Commercial Officer, Commonwealth Fusion Systems | 3 | 1 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Shreya Dave Co-founder & CEO, Via Separations | 3 | 1 | 1/10 | 1 |
| John Woolard CEO, Meridian Clean Energy | 3 | 1 | 2/10 | 1 |
| Brian Janous Co-Founder and CCO, Cloverleaf Infrastructure | 3 | 1 | 1.5/10 | 2 |
| John Belizaire CEO, Soluna | 3 | 1 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Apoorv Bhargava | 3 | 1 | 3/10 | 2 |
| Bernadette Del Chiaro | 3 | 1 | 5/10 | 1 |
| Josh Becker State Senator, California State Senate | 3 | 1 | 5/10 | 1 |
| Ben Storrow Energy Reporter, E&E News | 3 | 1 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Priya Donti Assistant Professor, MIT | 3 | 1 | 1/10 | 2 |
| Gabrielle Coppola Auto Industry Reporter, Bloomberg News | 3 | 1 | 2/10 | 1 |
| Jesse Morris CEO & Co-Founder, Energy Web Foundation | 3 | 1 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Brady Seals | 3 | 1 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Sinduja Rangarajan Data Storytelling Lead, Jerry | 3 | 1 | 2/10 | 1 |
| Samantha Maldonado Senior Reporter, THE CITY | 3 | 1 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Shilla Kim-Parker VP of Digital Labs, American Express | 3 | 1 | 1.5/10 | 2 |
| Nate Adams Co-Founder, HVAC 2.0 | 3 | 1 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Christopher Preston Professor of Philosophy, University of Montana | 3 | 1 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Eric Wesoff Executive Director and Board Member, Canary Media | 3 | 1.5 | 2.5/10 | 4 |
| Katherine Hamilton Co-Founder and Chair, 38 North Solutions | 3 | 1.8 | 1.9/10 | 15 |
| Dimitri Gershenson Co-founder and CEO, Enduring Planet | 3 | 2 | 3/10 | 1 |
| Shomik Dutta | 3 | 2 | 2/10 | 1 |
| MJ Shiao SVP of Strategic Initiatives, Fixx Energy | 3 | 2 | 2/10 | 1 |
| Matt Eggers Managing Director, Prelude Ventures | 3 | 2 | 3/10 | 1 |
| Dr. Carly Anderson Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Timescale Ventures | 3 | 2 | 2.5/10 | 2 |
| Mona El Naggar | 3 | 2 | 3/10 | 1 |
| Marty Adams Former GM & Chief Engineer, LADWP | 3 | 2 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Alejandro de la Garza Freelance Climate Journalist | 3 | 2 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Dr. Tatiana Mitrova Global Fellow, Center on Global Energy Policy | 3 | 2 | 2/10 | 1 |
| Saloni Multani Partner, Galvanize Climate Solutions | 3 | 2 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Mario Fernandez Former Head, Breakthrough Energy Catalyst | 3 | 3 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Brandon Hurlbut Co-Founder and Partner, Boundary Stone Partners | 3 | 3 | 5/10 | 1 |
| Sam Ricketts Co-Founder and Senior Advisor, Evergreen Action | 3 | 3 | 2/10 | 1 |
| Mark Patel Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company | 2 | 0 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Lisa Martine Jenkins Editor, Latitude Media | 2 | 0 | 0.5/10 | 2 |
| Steve Cotton President & CEO, Aqua Metals | 2 | 0 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Carlos Nouel Managing Director, Technology Consulting, EY | 2 | 0 | 2/10 | 1 |
| Dr. Jack Kelly Co-Founder, Open Climate Fix | 2 | 0 | 2/10 | 1 |
| Emma Woollacott Senior Contributor, Forbes | 2 | 0 | 2/10 | 1 |
| Hannah Green Global GTM Strategy Leader, Microsoft | 2 | 0 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Gilbert Bluefeather Rosas Director of Sustainability, Modesto City Schools | 2 | 0 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Chris Galarza Founder & CEO, Forward Dining Solutions LLC | 2 | 0 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Maria Intscher-Owrang Co-Founder and CEO, Simplifyber | 2 | 0 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Dr. Bill Merrill Regents Professor Emeritus, Texas A&M University | 2 | 0 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Sonal Jessel Senior Program Director, Building Power Resource Center | 2 | 0 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Melody Edwards Reporter & Podcast Host, Wyoming Public Media | 2 | 0 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Andrew Friedman Senior Reporter, Weather & Climate, CNN | 2 | 0 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Matt O'Keefe Head of Opower, Oracle Energy and Water | 2 | 0 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Nina Farah Legal Reporter, E&E News | 2 | 0 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Dr. Rupa Basu Section Chief, CalEPA OEHHA | 2 | 0 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Kathleen Brophy Strategic Partner, Propulsion Agency | 2 | 0 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Dr. Diana Hernandez Associate Professor, Columbia University Mailman School | 2 | 0 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Erin Sikorsky | 2 | 0 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Adam McKay Founder and Filmmaker, Hyperobject Industries | 2 | 0 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Deborah Gordon Senior Principal, RMI | 2 | 0 | 2/10 | 1 |
| Sam White Co-founder & Director, Promethean Power Systems | 2 | 1 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Layla Madrone EVP, New Founder Pathways, Activate | 2 | 1 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Tom Burton & Silas (Sales) Braga | 2 | 1 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Tanya Das Director, Bipartisan Policy Center | 2 | 1 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Michelle Solomon Manager, Electricity Program, Energy Innovation | 2 | 1 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Michelle Davis Head of Global Solar, Wood Mackenzie | 2 | 1 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Nicole Pollack Reporter, Wisconsin State Journal | 2 | 1 | 3/10 | 1 |
| Jeremy Symons Principal, Symons Public Affairs | 2 | 1 | 3/10 | 1 |
| Anne-Sophie Corbeau Global Research Scholar, Center on Global Energy Policy | 2 | 1 | 1/10 | 2 |
| Elizabeth Cook VP of Technical Strategy, AEIC | 2 | 1 | 2/10 | 1 |
| Savannah Goodman Climate Solutions Lead, Google | 2 | 1 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Marie French Energy and Environment Reporter, POLITICO New York | 2 | 1 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Bettina Baumgarten | 2 | 1 | 2/10 | 1 |
| Rachel Kibbe Founder & CEO, Circular Services Group | 2 | 1 | 1.5/10 | 2 |
| Alexander Gard-Murray Executive Director, Passive House Massachusetts | 2 | 1 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Dr. Sarah Elkind Professor of History, San Diego State University | 2 | 1 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Dr. David Gonzalez Assistant Professor, UC Berkeley | 2 | 1 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Pierre Noel Senior Advisor, Tony Blair Institute | 2 | 1 | 3/10 | 1 |
| David Groarke Managing Director, Indigo Advisory Group | 2 | 1.5 | 3/10 | 2 |
| Liz Dennett Founder and CEO, Endolith | 2 | 2 | 2/10 | 1 |
| Chris Taylor CEO & Founder, GridStor | 2 | 2 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Mike Phillips | 2 | 2 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Greg Patterson CEO & Co-founder, Origami Solar | 2 | 2 | 2/10 | 1 |
| Shalini Ramanathan Director of Origination, Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners | 2 | 2 | 1/10 | 4 |
| Jen Downing Operating Partner, Ara Partners | 2 | 2 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Elaine Hsieh Partner & COO, VoLo Earth Ventures | 2 | 2 | 3/10 | 1 |
| Dr. Kevin Surprise Senior Lecturer in Environmental Studies, Mount Holyoke College | 2 | 2 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Emily Domenech Executive Director, Permitting Council | 2 | 3 | 5/10 | 1 |
| Julia Piper VP of Public Affairs, GoodLeap | 2 | 3 | 5/10 | 1 |
| Saritha Paruri VP of Commercialization, Tandem PV | 1 | 0 | 0/10 | 1 |
| News Broadcaster | 1 | 0 | 1/10 | 3 |
| Rachel Halfacre Director, Milken Institute | 1 | 0 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Amanda Lee Co-Founder & COO, Banyan Infrastructure | 1 | 0 | 0.5/10 | 2 |
| Yanni Sippis Senior Vice President, WS Development | 1 | 0 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Doug Chan | 1 | 0 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Anna Orthofer Partner, McKinsey & Company | 1 | 0 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Jay Bombay Director of Platform Operations, Leap | 1 | 0 | 2/10 | 1 |
| Jan Matthiessen | 1 | 0 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Savvy Bowman Program Director, ClearPath | 1 | 0 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Pat Risner | 1 | 0 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Adi Basham Head of Europe Research, BloombergNEF | 1 | 0 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Wolfram Hoppenstedt Managing Director, Federal Chancellor Willy Brandt Foundation | 1 | 0 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Will Hazlip President, National Grid Ventures US | 1 | 0 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Boren Reyes Founder and CEO, Boyes Electric Inc. | 1 | 0 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Raphael Brose Principal, Engineered Carbon Removals, Microsoft | 1 | 0 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Dr. Sue Natale Senior Scientist, Woodwell Climate Research Center | 1 | 0 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Christian Shepard Fellow, GovAI | 1 | 0 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Mark Kaufman Science Editor, Mashable | 1 | 0 | 2/10 | 1 |
| Michael Boyle Senior Director of Policy and Strategy, Energy Innovation | 1 | 0.5 | 1/10 | 2 |
| Dacia Leone Co-Founder and CEO, Supercool Earth | 1 | 1 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Phil Goodman Director of Carbon Removal Portfolio, Microsoft | 1 | 1 | 0/10 | 1 |
| Zach Jones Co-founder and CEO, Graphitic Energy | 1 | 1 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Titian Palazzi | 1 | 1 | 1/10 | 2 |
| Jess Melanson President & COO, Utilidata | 1 | 1 | 2/10 | 1 |
| Anna Radovanovic Senior Staff Research Scientist, Google | 1 | 1 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Whitney Olson Former Vice President, Bison Ford | 1 | 1 | 1/10 | 1 |
| Jake Jurowicz | 1 | 2 | 2/10 | 1 |
| Sadia Ravindran Founding Head of GTM, Hammerhead AI | 1 | 2 | 4/10 | 1 |
| Ahmad Farooqi | 1 | 3 | 4/10 | 1 |
| Scott Engstrom Co-founder & Chief Customer Officer, GridX | 1 | 3 | 4/10 | 1 |
host and guest pushback: scored 0-10 per topic segment by an LLM with a published rubric over the diarized transcript; an episode’s number is the peak-weighted p75 · prominence: rated 1–10 by an LLM from the person's public profile · full method on /methodology.