Academia has a serious problem with snobbery. Few other workplaces in the world have denser concentrations of people who think really highly of themselves, even though they wouldn't admit it openly and their preferred way of war is tons and tons of plausibly deniable passive aggression.

This snobbery problem opens a bigger chasm between the academics and the general public that would otherwise be necessary, and the political consequences down the line might be serious; if academics are perceived as out of touch, aloof and intentionally incomprehensible, the backlash won't be just anti-snobbish, but anti-intellectual, with possible dire consequences for the viability and vibrancy of Western civilization.

But the fact that popularizers like Bret Devereaux reap so much open disdain indicates that few activities are as unpopular among the gatekeepeers as building bridges across said chasm. A True Intellectual Must Be Dour At All Costs.