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David Brooks

Published podcast speaker

Claims
39
Episodes
2
Shows
1
Named items
2

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The evidenced stack.

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book / uses

Paddington Bear

“I read a book when I was seven called Paddington Bear, and I’ve written pretty much every day since then. People know to get out of my way before I write for two hours in the morning; that’s just how I live.”

Conversations with Tyler · 6 Jun 2018

Evidence receipt · Source ↗

person / uses

Reinhold Niebuhr

“Then I went to an Episcopal camp for 15 years, and then I read Reinhold Niebuhr, and then I fell in love with Saint Augustine, and somehow you find that story settling into you.”

Conversations with Tyler · 6 Jun 2018

Evidence receipt · Source ↗

Claim ledger

What David said.

39 transcript-backed records

01 / belief

The thing I learned most from in high school and college was my romantic relationships, they were more meaningful to me than my classes, even the breakups.

“The thing I learned most from in high school and college was my romantic relationships, they were more meaningful to me than my classes, even the breakups.”
Speaker
David Brooks
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

03 / belief

I think AI is also kryptonite in the exact same way, that if you’re a college kid, and you’re not doing any of your papers, you’re just using your GPT to write your papers — that’s kryptonite.

“I think AI is also kryptonite in the exact same way, that if you’re a college kid, and you’re not doing any of your papers, you’re just using your GPT to write your papers — that’s kryptonite.”
Speaker
David Brooks
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

06 / commitment

I will see you at the Four Seasons of northern Ghana. I publicly thank you. Tyler has something called Tyler Cowen’s Ethnic Dining Guide, especially in the DC area I guess you’re in New York, too.

“I will see you at the Four Seasons of northern Ghana. I publicly thank you. Tyler has something called Tyler Cowen’s Ethnic Dining Guide, especially in the DC area I guess you’re in New York, too.”
Speaker
David Brooks
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

07 / belief

One of the things I learned from them is that if you had looked at the media in the ’60s, you would have thought sexual behavior changed radically because suddenly there was porn everywhere, there was nudity everywhere.

“One of the things I learned from them is that if you had looked at the media in the ’60s, you would have thought sexual behavior changed radically because suddenly there was porn everywhere, there was nudity everywhere.”
Speaker
David Brooks
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

09 / belief

In my view, they were right about the idea that the internal nature of regimes determines the foreign policy of those regimes, that a dictatorship is bound to be more dangerous than a democracy.

“In my view, they were right about the idea that the internal nature of regimes determines the foreign policy of those regimes, that a dictatorship is bound to be more dangerous than a democracy.”
Speaker
David Brooks
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

10 / belief

I would say I think New York City — to the extent that America has a cultural center, which I’m not sure it does anymore — I would still say New York City is (a) the cultural center, (b) the most dynamic city in America.

“I would say I think New York City — to the extent that America has a cultural center, which I’m not sure it does anymore — I would still say New York City is (a) the cultural center, (b) the most dynamic city in America.”
Speaker
David Brooks
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

11 / belief

I can say it may have weakened the power of the mainstream media and created more fringe, but I think what influences people is their direct lived experience, not so much media.

“I can say it may have weakened the power of the mainstream media and created more fringe, but I think what influences people is their direct lived experience, not so much media.”
Speaker
David Brooks
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

12 / belief

I’d say even though there are some mayors — I think LA, San Francisco, I think Atlanta — I’d say we’re in a period where the quality of our mayors is surprisingly low in a way that it didn’t used to be. It used to be, I would think, the happiest people I know were people who left Congress and became mayors, and the most unhappy were people who left mayors and became congressmen, because you can actually get something done.

“I’d say even though there are some mayors — I think LA, San Francisco, I think Atlanta — I’d say we’re in a period where the quality of our mayors is surprisingly low in a way that it didn’t used to be. It used to be, I would think, the happiest people I know were people who left Congress and became mayors, and the most unhappy were people who left mayors and became congressmen, because you can actually get something done.”
Speaker
David Brooks
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

15 / prediction

I think the act of perception is 90 percent of what you think, that whether we’re seeing a moral act, or seeing a good on a supermarket shelf, or seeing another human being, we’re making quick aesthetic judgements that will determine all the downstream thought processes, and that’s why so many neuroscientists are phenomenologists now, because perception is most of what the mind does.

“I think the act of perception is 90 percent of what you think, that whether we’re seeing a moral act, or seeing a good on a supermarket shelf, or seeing another human being, we’re making quick aesthetic judgements that will determine all the downstream thought processes, and that’s why so many neuroscientists are phenomenologists now, because perception is most of what the mind does.”
Speaker
David Brooks
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

16 / prediction

I think that would lead to American renewal. That does not seem to be happening because the leaders of our major institutions, whether it’s corporations, universities, and so on, are basically laying low.

“I think that would lead to American renewal. That does not seem to be happening because the leaders of our major institutions, whether it’s corporations, universities, and so on, are basically laying low.”
Speaker
David Brooks
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

17 / evaluation

I think we’re just not at a moment where that kind of self-confidence — which is very hard to manufacture for one person; it takes a whole group — I just think we’re not at that moment.

“I think we’re just not at a moment where that kind of self-confidence — which is very hard to manufacture for one person; it takes a whole group — I just think we’re not at that moment.”
Speaker
David Brooks
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

18 / evaluation

Because the Trotskyites were smarter, the Stalinists did something intelligent, which is, they said, “You’re not allowed to talk to the Trotskyites.

“Because the Trotskyites were smarter, the Stalinists did something intelligent, which is, they said, “You’re not allowed to talk to the Trotskyites.”
Speaker
David Brooks
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

19 / preference

I make the attempts, and because in the things I care about, which are more humanistic, it’s hoovering up all the crap on the internet about what love is, or do you grow from post-traumatic experiments?

“I make the attempts, and because in the things I care about, which are more humanistic, it’s hoovering up all the crap on the internet about what love is, or do you grow from post-traumatic experiments?”
Speaker
David Brooks
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

20 / evaluation

Part of the problem is the opportunity structure is so slim that everybody is applying to the same few schools and the same few internships, so the rejections are massive.

“Part of the problem is the opportunity structure is so slim that everybody is applying to the same few schools and the same few internships, so the rejections are massive.”
Speaker
David Brooks
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

21 / evaluation

It’s that segregation is always wrong; slavery is always wrong. That sense of a held moral order was essential to the existential security of all people in our society and our ability to settle disputes, because we had an understanding of right and wrong.

“It’s that segregation is always wrong; slavery is always wrong. That sense of a held moral order was essential to the existential security of all people in our society and our ability to settle disputes, because we had an understanding of right and wrong.”
Speaker
David Brooks
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

22 / prediction

” I think AI is a great tool, but I’m unthreatened by it because I don’t think it has understanding, I don’t think it has judgment, I don’t think it has emotion, I don’t think it has motivation.

“” I think AI is a great tool, but I’m unthreatened by it because I don’t think it has understanding, I don’t think it has judgment, I don’t think it has emotion, I don’t think it has motivation.”
Speaker
David Brooks
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

23 / evaluation

” I think we’ve amputated the importance of what we stupidly call the non-cognitive skills, which is social skills, which is drive, which is motivation.

“” I think we’ve amputated the importance of what we stupidly call the non-cognitive skills, which is social skills, which is drive, which is motivation.”
Speaker
David Brooks
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

27 / uncertainty

I am a big pen chewer. I don’t know if that counts as a real dysfunction. I feel I should come up with something more dramatic: I chew pens and shoot heroin at the same time.

“I am a big pen chewer. I don’t know if that counts as a real dysfunction. I feel I should come up with something more dramatic: I chew pens and shoot heroin at the same time.”
Speaker
David Brooks
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

29 / belief

I think a Reaganite foreign policy is still possible, which urges democracy promotion, human rights abroad, but is not quite thinking that we’re going to solve human evil within three years.

“I think a Reaganite foreign policy is still possible, which urges democracy promotion, human rights abroad, but is not quite thinking that we’re going to solve human evil within three years.”
Speaker
David Brooks
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

30 / belief

If anything, there’s a bit of a movement, especially among the young, toward a more pro-life position. And on the basic stability of bourgeois virtues, I think the conservatives are actually winning that argument.

“If anything, there’s a bit of a movement, especially among the young, toward a more pro-life position. And on the basic stability of bourgeois virtues, I think the conservatives are actually winning that argument.”
Speaker
David Brooks
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

31 / evaluation

The reason there were so many tight communities in Chicago, say, in African American neighborhoods, Italian neighborhoods, Polish neighborhoods is because those people did not have access to Michigan Avenue.

“The reason there were so many tight communities in Chicago, say, in African American neighborhoods, Italian neighborhoods, Polish neighborhoods is because those people did not have access to Michigan Avenue.”
Speaker
David Brooks
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

32 / preference

There has to be some other way to solve the problem for long attention span. And the one thing I’d love to do is demote how we think about high tech and especially social media.

“There has to be some other way to solve the problem for long attention span. And the one thing I’d love to do is demote how we think about high tech and especially social media.”
Speaker
David Brooks
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

33 / evaluation

The third thing to say is, I think events have pushed me away from a more pure free-market view especially, because I think the structures of the economy have become more evident, the structural flaws of the economy.

“The third thing to say is, I think events have pushed me away from a more pure free-market view especially, because I think the structures of the economy have become more evident, the structural flaws of the economy.”
Speaker
David Brooks
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

34 / preference

My favorite definition of commitment, by the way, is falling in love with something and then building a structure of behavior around it for those moments when love falters.

“My favorite definition of commitment, by the way, is falling in love with something and then building a structure of behavior around it for those moments when love falters.”
Speaker
David Brooks
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

36 / evaluation

It captures both the vulgarity of America, but the energy and especially the business energy of America. But if we think the rise of narcissism is a problem in our society, Walt Whitman is sort of the holy spring there.

“It captures both the vulgarity of America, but the energy and especially the business energy of America. But if we think the rise of narcissism is a problem in our society, Walt Whitman is sort of the holy spring there.”
Speaker
David Brooks
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

37 / recommendation

You go online, you do work nobody else wants to do so somebody pays attention to you, and then you get well known for being a smart person who’s willing to work hard. I think that’s probably still the way to go.

“You go online, you do work nobody else wants to do so somebody pays attention to you, and then you get well known for being a smart person who’s willing to work hard. I think that’s probably still the way to go.”
Speaker
David Brooks
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

38 / evaluation

I didn’t think corporate tax cuts were the way to increase growth, but you linked to a study — I don’t know if you’re allowed to talk in these things, but at least a story in Bloomberg that suggested that since the corporate tax cuts, that capital expenditures have risen 37 percent, and stock buybacks have only risen 16 percent, which suggests that the corporate rate cuts are producing more economic activities than a lot of economists suggested they would.

“I didn’t think corporate tax cuts were the way to increase growth, but you linked to a study — I don’t know if you’re allowed to talk in these things, but at least a story in Bloomberg that suggested that since the corporate tax cuts, that capital expenditures have risen 37 percent, and stock buybacks have only risen 16 percent, which suggests that the corporate rate cuts are producing more economic activities than a lot of economists suggested they would.”
Speaker
David Brooks
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler
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