David Brooks

That's a great American story.

Another lucky break was I found my heroes early on.

And I think both of you may share a bit of this if you haven't put it this way.

I realized that in the 1950s and 1960s, there were a group of writers who were slightly above like normal journalism and below academia.

And they were people like Jane Jacobs and Rachel Carson and Digby Baltzell and Daniel Bell.

Vance Packard.

Vance Packard.

Your role model originally.

And so I said, that's where I want to be.

And so I think I've tried to do that for the rest of my career and I will continue to do that.

Well, it hasn't gotten any easier to write.

I can tell you that.

I think I've changed an enormous amount.

My wife and I have been married for nine years.

And when she looks at a video of me from like 20 years ago, she says, well, I wouldn't have married that guy.

And so I think I've become a little more emotionally open and emotionally vulnerable.

And I think what's changed has not been good, as I said in my final column.

We were a more hopeful country.

We had faith in institutions that was greater.

We had faith in America's role in the world.