Dick Lipton's blog ( http://rjlipton.wordpress.com/ )does this as well, and I think this is an essential part of it being as successful as it is. People like being mentioned and like reading about other people, and humanizing ideas goes a long way towards making them interesting.

We might need some clarification about what we mean by interesting or valuable.

There is the interest that draws pageviews and adds advertising dollars, and I believe there is a different interest that informs you and gives you new things to think about, with less mass appeal but greater utility/value to the reader.

Talk about people or talk hedged in human interest might be at the first end of the spectrum because anyone can have an opinion, and reciting that opinion is the extent to which you interact with the idea.

The other end of the spectrum has a limited, focused appeal because you must have thought about it or have some understanding of the subject before you can participate. Then, your opinion/understanding process is challenged to fit pieces together that might offer contradictions to your beliefs, or require you to form new ones.