Andrew Sullivan is about as close as we get to a public intellectual in the United States. Although I don't agree with him on all issues, I still absorbed as much of his writing as I could while he published The Dish. He gave up that online publication a few months ago because the workload -- blogging his reactions in real time to news items from dawn until well after dusk -- was killing him.
In this thoughtful, honest conversation with Jeff Greenfield, Sullivan discusses major issues like gay marriage, President Obama's legacy, his Catholic faith, Israel and Palestine, torture, and health care. He also explains why he quit the business, and why he can't bring himself to blog about next year's presidential election -- especially with a Clinton and a Bush involved.