With Manuel de Lope, Peter Godwin, Pierre Guyotat, Linda Polman, and Hervé Le Tellier; moderated by Jane Ciabattari

For Ralph Waldo Emerson the public intellectual was the preserver of the past’s great ideas. For Edward Said, his or her mission was to advance human freedom through political engagement. Both believed the thinker’s interaction with a larger audience was vital. What has become of the public intellectual’s role in these modern times?