An accessible messenger providing entertaining but accurate snippets and overviews is very useful to the sciences or other misunderstood disciplines. It inspires interest in future experts and the young. It raises a more general maybe shallower interest, but also general appreciation and funding. In some cases it’s also quite lucrative to the charismatic expert doing the outreach, I think “A Brief History” paid for decades of Stephen Hawking’s medical care.

The cool work only happens if industry pays when there’s a profit to be had, or when society as a whole pays because it inspires and seems culturally valuable. Someone has to present that case for sponsorship.