Video from Life Stories
David Brooks Interview: How To Live A Meaningful Life
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 has 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. Subscribe for access to interviews, series, films, and educational materials that address issues of social justice, history, politics, the arts, and culture by spotlighting relatable human stories of purpose and meaning. Learn about our work and how to support our mission here: https://www.lifestories.org/. For extended versions of these interviews and more, visit:    / @lifestoriesinterviewarchive  Follow us on Instagram:   / lifestoriesinterviews  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 © Kunhardt Film Foundation. All Rights Reserved." from the video instruction