Having close personal connection to the lab for a few years - He is very successful, very charismatic, and a consummate politician above all. He holds tons of sway over Northeastern admin (lucky to have such a big fish in their little pond), and of course at his Hungarian university he's basically god. Certain policies simply do not apply to him.

Anyway, in the lab there is very strong pressure for things to look right. Some students and postdocs play ball, and enjoy great success in their careers. Some get a little squicked out (use of funds, and the science, seemed to be possible areas of concern), wrap things up quietly and remain on good terms. One or two have major concerns and just kinda disappear. In addition to the treatment of foreigners and management style issues characteristic of academia (which tbh causes more anguish than any of the sketchier stuff).

There are of course a lot of other lazslo affiliated business ventures - startups, books, etc. Right now and for the past few years his big focus has been on producing fine art which can be pretty lucrative, and also .... A good medium for the things he likes to do with money/influence.

Anyway, very nice and charismatic guy, really successful, objectively speaking I admire him, but his name is also used as verb/improper noun in our household if that makes sense

Curious about what you meant by "his name is also used as verb/improper noun in our household i".

as in "it is very lazslo", "lazslo bs","i lazsloed the fuck out of it" etc. in reference to things such as NFTs, flashy demos built on nothing, marketing driven science, etc.

How do you define consumate politician ?

Interesting critique post, but can you elaborate why you linked the wikipedia bio of a popular scientific podcaster, who apparently has nothing to do with this debate, other than a family connection to an author cited near the end of the post?

perhaps someone who does not believe in the value of sunscreen isn't the most trustworthy critic of anything?