The Death of the Public Intellectual: Greatly Exaggerated

It seems that certain cultural phenomena are always on their death bed. We constantly hear about the death and decline of: Rock & Roll; The Movies; The Novel; Civility; etc. In some circles the public intellectual is on that list of endangered species. And as often as not the main cause of death is usually attributable to technology and all that goes with it. Well, at least when it comes to public intellectuals, Daniel Drezner denies the declension argument and even goes so far as to defend that blasted technology, including those damned blogs that in the minds of some are ruining everything.

Oh -- and rock & roll, movies, and the novel are fine too.