Thanks! It’s actually the brainchild of Ken Jennings. I emailed him asking if he had any suggestions for crossword themes associated with his podcast (hence the Ken Jennings and John Roderick clue) and this was his response. Pretty cool of him, IMO.
That's awesome. I love the shout-out to Ken with the clue for HOES, too. Laughed at that reference while solving and it's even better now that I know Ken helped inspire this puzzle.