The Obama years were the closest thing we’ve had to technocracy. The President and his administration celebrated science and expertise, and they gave enormous regulatory powers to ‘the smartest people.’ During these years, the prevailing posture — culturally, politically, and within academia — suggested that the public was dim-witted and irrational, but well-meaning experts could fix things. As you know, that didn’t didn’t last. With Trump and Brexit came post-truth and a revolt against scientific and scholarly expertise.