Does it matter if the paragon of the scientifically optimised existence is actually kind of a jerk in real life?Neurobiology professor and host of the Huberman Lab podcast, Andrew Huberman: 'I was, in my sceptical and half-assed manner, Huberman-pilled.' Photograph: Chance Yeh/Getty Images for HubSpot
My friend had described Huberman as “reassuringly boring”, and although this doesn’t quite do justice to his skill as a science communicator, it does go some way toward accounting for his appeal. His affect is wonkish without being impenetrable, and he has a gift for simultaneously condensing and simplifying complex bodies of research.
Last month, New York magazine ran a cover story entitled “Falling for Dr. Huberman.” It’s a very long article, which goes into extraordinary detail on matters of debatable public interest, but the gist of it is that Huberman, that paragon of the optimised existence, has been presiding for some years now over a sexual life of near-deranged complexity and duplicity, conducting simultaneous relationships with six women, each of whom believed herself to be his exclusive partner.