Today we have David Brooks on the podcast. Brooks is an op-ed columnist for The New York Times and appears regularly on “PBS NewsHour,” NPR’s “All Things Considered” and NBC’s “Meet the Press.” He teaches at Yale University and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is the bestselling author of a number of books, including The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement; The New Upper Class and How They Got There; The Road to Character, and most recently, The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life. In this episode we discuss: The evolution of David’s thinking about character The relationship between our commitments and our fulfillment in life Brook’s criticism of self-actualization taken to the extreme The four crises of our time David’s current stance on reparations Why David is a “border stalker” How David reconciles the need for commitment with identity fluidity Commitment vs. individualism The importance of healthy transcendence The enunciation moment What we can do about the current political landscape David’s thoughts on polyamory and the single life