Brett was troubled by Gerry Prokopowicz's line of questioning with guest Scott Patchan on Civil War Talk Radio. There are two possible explanations for the "inquisition" ...(1) Dr. P was trying to elicit from Scott why his work is important to a broader audience; that is to say, he may have been serving the interest of his general radio audience by drawing Scott out.
(2) Scott is a specialist, the obverse of a "public historian" and GP is self-consciously a "public historian." Ergo, why, why, why.
For some reason, GP really takes that public history stuff seriously despite his own righteous instincts and better nature. Public history is like a last mad youthful adventure. He'll come home eventually.
In any case, everyone should be ready to explain the broader meaning of their work, though nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition.
