@inquiline I absolutely think they do, not uncharitable at all. There are things I enjoy about being there and we’ve yet to get to “main character of the day” among academics but it feels like they’re spoiling for that.
(I also think a lot of them don’t want adjuncts/grad students, but more because they don’t want *those* types of arguments; they want it to be a cross between a seminar and a listserv).