Fascinating take on why public intellectuals have short shelf lives:

https://scholars-stage.org/public-intellectuals-have-short-shelf-lives-but-why/

This is a big part of why I intentionally try to keep "doing foot-soldier things" (notably, coding, and exploring the world regular-person-style rather than entourage-and-limousine-style)

I think my closest example of "intellectual whose fresh takes I have consistently respected over a 10+ year time span" actually is Scott Alexander.

Don't you think that one's relationship to risk has great implications in this? 
We seem to change the habits that made us who we are, taking less risks for the fear of losing what we've acquired. 
Who we were and who we are are in contradiction. 
Is it a bug, or is it a feature?