The author argues that progressive intellectual life in America is dead, as the centralized and authoritarian control of progressivism by major foundations and nonprofits has eliminated the possibility of being a progressive public intellectual.

In his new biography, "Places of Mind: A Life of Edward Said," Timothy Brennan examines the various facets of Edward Said, a renowned Palestinian-American scholar and public figure, who was also Brennan's former PhD advisor.

Timothy Brennan, a professor at the University of Minnesota, has authored a biography on Edward Said, a celebrated Palestinian-American scholar and public intellectual, who was also Brennan's former PhD advisor at Columbia University.

Zev Harvey, a Jewish philosophy professor, discusses the life and ideas of Prof. Aviezer Ravitzky, a leading Jewish philosopher in Israel, before a public event honoring Ravitzky's contributions.

Isaac Rosenfeld, a mid-century American Jewish intellectual known for his essays, novels, and cultural criticism, is explored in Steven Zipperstein's biography "Rosenfeld's Lives."