We live in an age where becoming a public intellectual is simple. All you need to do is appear authoritative to academics and sell yourself to the public. Success depends on whether your message is fashionable, and you can exploit it before fashions change, or can adapt it to changing fashions. A lot depends on the way you spin your message and on the public knowing less than you. You should convey a sense of caring about something important, apart from yourself, and you should notice wrongs that need to be put right. It will help if somewhere in your…