The Big Smush: Why Everything Is So Political

I can remember those first few years, always looking for blazers. I was a newly minted Ph.D., and I wanted to look professorial. I was a member of a category of people called “professors” or “academics.” I wasn’t trying to fake it. I was a legitimate member of this category in good standing.

But there were things about being an academic — what they think, do, and value — that set them apart. I wanted to embrace those things.

They like coffee, preferably from independently owned coffee shops. They buy organic food at farmer’s…