I have a gift for you — that’s not too much of an exaggeration to say. The gift is an hour with Roger Scruton, here. He is the latest guest on Q&A, and, for this episode, I have a co-host — not just any co-host, but the co-host with the mostest, Mona Charen.

I asked her to join me because Scruton is too large — too capacious, too multifarious, too polymathic — to be questioned by just one person.

Scruton, to remind you, is the British philosopher, novelist, composer, etc. At the beginning of the program, I said (something like), “I’m not sure that Roger is an athlete, but I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that he coached track on the side.” Roger responded that he is not, in fact, an athlete. The only exercise he gets is on a horse — and it’s the horse that’s doing the work.

Scruton has written more than 40 books, on diverse and key subjects, the latest book being The Disappeared, a novel.

Mona and I talk to him about as many subjects as we can. One could have gone on and on, of course. We touch on art, architecture, beauty, popular music, democracy, global warming, gay marriage, Israel, education, drugs, America, and more. At the end, we ask, in essence, “What is it to be a conservative?” (Among Roger’s books is How to Be a Conservative.)

I sat through this hour, but intend to listen to it again, and perhaps a third time. As Mona pointed out at the top of the show, Scruton is something, someone, to be grateful for.