In Slate today, academic David Greenberg begins a series of articles on the tension between pop history publishing and the world of highbrow history writers:

At one point, many academics seemed to consider popularity a first step into the Hades of commercialization and dumbing down. But today, most of my peers, myself included, seem eager to publish with trade presses, to write op-ed pieces about our research, or to appear on NPR and Charlie Rose—not just because we want the ego boost (though who wouldn’t?), but because we enjoy discovering new audiences who respond intelligently to our ideas.