Well, short for Jonathan but at least it’s a nickname for his real given name.
Now, if someone came in and said that Jonathan Liebowitz was their favorite intellectual, we might have let it pass…
He legally changed his last name to Stewart, so it’s about as “real” a name as you can get.
Hey, I never made any claims or assertions about my own intellect. :o 
Another vote for Neil deGrassi Junior High Tyson Chicken. Love that man. Will still goof on his name, though.
Lewis Lapham is alive, btw, though he seems to have cut back on his intellectualizing.
I liked Mailer, Vidal and Hitchens. I’m sure there are people just as worthy today, but I haven’t had time to keep up. But if Fran Liebowitz is an intellectual, then her, too.
Since he obviously can’t post here himself, Andy Warhol (whom Vidal memorably called “a genius with a two-digit IQ”), wrote that Mailer was one of the few intellectuals he enjoyed.
James Howard Kunstler — Clusterfuck Nation. His insights into the built environment apply to countries other than America.
Chomsky’s always good for a giggle.
John Stossel and although he doesn’t speak for himself as much as get good interviews from others, Charlie Rose.
Some of my others have already been named but I would add Rachel Maddow. I have liked and respected her since her days of being on the Radio.
The late Pierre Elliott Trudeau.
I like Lawrence Krauss. Something of an arrogant bastard, but makes up for it with humor.