David Brooks opens up about the importance of vulnerability, attempting to lose ego, commitment, and reliability as a writer. He explores how American culture has changed over the past 60 years and why trust's been lost in our institutions and each other.

David Brooks is a journalist, author, and cultural and political commentator. He began his media career as a police reporter for the City News Bureau in Chicago before he joined The Washington Times in 1984. In 1986 he joined The Wall Street Journal, initially editing the paper’s book reviews and briefly serving as a film critic. He then worked from the paper’s Brussels office as an editor and foreign correspondent. By the end of his tenure at the Journal in 1994, he had become an editor of the paper’s opinion page. He became a senior editor at The Weekly Standard magazine at its inception in 1995. He was also a contributing editor of Newsweek magazine. In 2003 Brooks began writing an op-ed column for The New York Times. The following year he became a commentator on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.

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David Brooks, Columnist, The New York Times
Interviewed By: Teddy Kunhardt
Interview Date: October 17, 2019

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:17 American social fabric
04:09 Cultural changes
10:27 Looking inward
13:44 Losing ego
16:59 Family
18:44 Being a writer
23:20 Childhood
27:40 Summer camp
30:38 Grandfather
34:35 The American dream
35:54 College
41:47 Bill Buckley
45:15 Starting a career in journalism
50:49 The Weekly Standard
52:32 The New York Times
55:36 Jim Lehrer
59:45 Life as a political pundit
01:02:04 Meritocracy
01:05:48 Straight talk express
01:10:16 Prison of individualism
01:13:54 Leaving the conservative party
01:21:30 Happiness vs. joy
01:24:46 Finding happiness
01:32:40 Marriage
01:36:06 Living life as a gift
01:41:49 Transformational moments
01:44:21 Gaining wisdom
01:46:29 The Road to Character
01:52:30 Soul
01:57:22 The first mountain
01:59:49 The valley
02:07:24 The second mountain
02:11:01 Becoming radicalized
02:12:58 Overcoming weakness
02:15:38 Mind and reason vs. heart and soul
02:18:26 Deep love
02:20:08 Joyful people
02:22:23 The Social Fabric Project
02:34:19 Finding purpose
02:36:31 Kindness
02:39:36 Vocation vs. career
02:45:06 Forgiveness
02:46:42 Sarah Adkins
02:52:40 Radical mutuality
02:54:31 The second mountain
02:57:18 E.O. Wilson
02:59:31 Bruce Springsteen
03:03:28 Building community
03:07:09 Rippers
03:08:40 Unconditional love
03:12:21 Personal conversations
03:15:49 Forming a flock
03:17:39 Moving self to service

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