I listened to the podcast earlier today, and I have no idea why this was a topic Alex wanted to pursue. He mentioned early on that this and the climate change show were two things he wanted to get around to covering.
I thought at first that Alex would have been a Freud advocate, since he is so often opposed to the views of mainstream science, and mainstream psychological scientists have dumped Freud's ideas in the waste bin long ago. I guess he gets credit for being the first to try to bring a scientific approach to psychology, but the ideas themselves have not held on at all. I started college in 1978, and I know at that time Freud was not seen as valid. I have the impression that as of the 1950s, the gig was up for Freud's ideas.
My wife has a master's degree in psychology, and does counseling for her career, and I know that there are a few professionals out there who seem to subscribe to Freud's ideas, but they are the ones who are seen as the fringe kooks. Sort of the way that parapsychology advocates and UFO abduction believers are seen as fringe kooks by the mainstream. It was for that reason that I would have guessed that Alex would have been on Freud's side.
I don't know, maybe Alex had the impression that current scientists revere Freud, and he was hoping to poke the eye of mainstream science again? That's the only thing I can figure.