I like to think that back when they were first working in the archives, Martin when through little interests every couple of weeks. Just subtle things, maybe to do with specific statements or current events.
And Jon, despite his “raging hatred” for the guy, always seems to get really into the same things. He always has the perfect interesting fact, statistic, or contribution to the subject…
He insists it’s because he doesn’t want Martin “spreading false information and damaging the intellectual image of the institute!”
But really he just wants to impress him.