I looked back at this after a day or two and while it packs in a lot of content to consider, I suspect simply examining the archetypes involved - how cowboys have evolved - is a basis for examining where our programs have evolved.

I've read further in the essays, and realized that volume the introduction (written in 2018) that discusses McMurtry's being "tone-deaf" in the discussion of fiddle contests was being polite, and has little to do with music.