Don't mistake self-congratulatory with show-y about academia.
Only the home crowd know academics names, politics at least has the public eye on them.
I feel like this depends on the field. Newer / “hotter” fields (e.g. evo psych) tend to be dominated by rockstars while traditional / staid fields (e.g. linear algebra) have mostly solid and competent practitioners.
I haven't even heard of evo psych lol, never mind these "rockstars".