Cast aluminum, not iron. And people have gone to dumber extents. I did, however say it was probably sheet metal with panels on top.
Heavy podiums are actually preferred- they’re less likely to topple over when some fat ass leans on them (see trump, for example,) or move when the gesticulation gets …. Excessively … thumpy.
Further… you know what a veneer is? It’s a thin slice of wood glued on top (and edges.) of course it looks like it’s solid wood.
It’s not.
There’s no real reason to do otherwise- few people will be up close to the podium that the seams would be visible.
There’s absolutely no way it’s carved from a monolithic slab- you can tell by the (terribly) book matched grain in the front panel; and the grain pattern is wonky on its edge, suggesting it’s all veneered over.
The differences in appearance are easily explained by different run in manufacturing, with different powder coat formulation and different veneer but the same build. The most i would go is to say it’s a rebadge job from China (like 90% of the stuff on alibaba and Amazon,)