As a way of exploring how educational research is disseminated in wider social contexts, this article focuses on antagonisms between expertise and populism as broad social discourses. Dimensions of that antagonism include rifts and bubbles, snobbery and narrow-mindedness. The article evaluates two divergent approaches that attempt to ameliorate antagonisms between expertise and populism: doubling-down on rationality, and pivoting to affect. The observations in this study make it possible to imagine broader definitions of expertise that include a greater range of human capacities, and a wider repertoire of reading, including both suspicious and surface readings. Reflexive humility among researchers, and a more inclusive regard for varieties of expertise invite versions of intellectual expertise that eschew arrogance and elitism.