Someone introduced me to Conal's work a few days ago and recommended I watch his "Compiling to Categories" talk which I hadn't seen, and it just so happened that I watched it earlier today before this talk/paper posted. After viewing both for the first time today and reviewing the corresponding papers, one thing jumps out that's certain, and you can see it crystal clear. Conal is brilliant. And I don't say that lightly. The clarity of his work and his perspective on the problems is pristine. It's rare when someone is able to cut through the noise and peer into to the essence because there's no map and it's so hard to achieve the level of clarity that allows you to see the path that breaks through, but somehow he found the insight and nailed it. Damn, well done!