>boasts about how he's a professor or something (he doesn't even live near the uni?)

I've listened to at least dozens of his podcasts and I have never heard anything like this. You may be thinking of something else. It does come up that he used to work with self-driving cars but only when it's relevant, it doesn't come across as boasting IMO (he doesn't even claim to be an expert, only familiar with the main ideas of the time).