The Translator's Duty
The core task of the public intellectual is translation: taking a complex, technical reality (like "API deprecation") and reframing it as a public value ("erasing history"). This requires distinct skills from academic research:
- Narrative First: Leading with stories (e.g., "When GeoCities died") rather than theory.
- Urgency: Answering "Why does this matter now?"
- Media Literacy: Knowing how to convey nuance in a 3-minute news segment.
The Risk of Visibility
Becoming a public figure carries risks, including the Tenure Trap and potential harassment. However, a discipline that remains hidden cannot influence the political economy of the internet.
Field Notes
The "Sagan" Effect: Carl Sagan was denied tenure at Harvard partly because his public fame made colleagues suspect his scientific rigor. Archaeobytologists must balance public visibility (podcasts, op-eds) with impeccable scholarship (data, peer review) to avoid this trap.