I guess that style appeals to some people, but I don’t think it’s conducive for good conversations. A better conversationalist knows how to pull out a thread and keep the conversation going without immediately jumping to an unrelated topic. A real-life conversation like this would be just as jarring.
As an economist Cowen knows that the more conversational market for podcasts is already saturated, and decides not to pursue it. I personally prefer that the questions Cowen makes show that he knows rather well who he is interviewing and why. Someone like Lex Fridman is in comparison less prepared. The downside with Lex's style is that some interviewees are so used to do a performance talk on their work that it's like listening to a broken record -- those who know nothing about the person get to hear a shallow introduction, whereas those who know the person learn nothing new compared to the papers, books, or other youtube videos.
Like, if you have been on a podcast yourself you might prefer Fridman kind of discussion in which you can quite freely lead hence get your agenda across. It is quite clear many visit Fridman because they know they will get to sell their ideas.
TC says he is well-prepared for interviews, that he has read this book and listened to that interview of the current guest, but then asks questions that are way out of the interviewee's circle of competence, interests, or knowledge.
"Do you prefer this conductor or this other one?". And the guest has never listened to either of them. Similar questions are asked at every interview, and sometimes several times during the same interviews. To me, it sounds more pretentious than prepared.
