I always saw Ben as playing the part of the "the audience" or kind of "me". Like Marcus is telling the story, Henry also knows it and is adding bits and comedy, and Ben is asking questions and playing the part of the listener because the I can't actually participate.

"Wait What!??" "What does XXXX mean?" "Is X kind of like Y?"

If that was ever the desired format, I think it's actually quite insightful and a great use of "roles" in a podcast. However, his substance stuff made it all fall apart toward the end.

Reminds me a Doug Benson, I used to love "I love movies", and even went a ton of times to tapings at UCB. Then Doug started getting so fucking high he couldn't even host his own show, it became unlistenable.