Yep, it seems like a rant fitting of Hacker news where they break apart someone's text and pinpoint tiny sections to pick at without actually making a point in general.

Not sure why this rant was posted to HN.

Also the postcast wasn't freakonomics, it was an offshoot one where they don't critique a users work, they just interview them as a friendly conversation.

Getting upset like the author did indicates that the author doesn't know the difference between a podcast and an academic paper.