David Brooks fields questions after lecture at UTC

David Brooks fields questions after giving a lecture at UTC several weeks ago.

David Brooks, New York Times columnist, author, and regular analyst on The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, spoke at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga on November 17 to a packed auditorium about community development and educating the emotions.

Brooks, a social and political conservative, likens his involvement with the Times to a Jewish rabbi speaking in the middle of Mecca. Bagpipe staff cornered Brooks after his lecture, and he agreed to spend a few minutes fielding our questions.

Bagpipe: We printed off your article on cellphones and how they affect dating relationships, and we put it in our bathroom stall.
David Brooks: That’s marketing.
BP: It’s very applicable to young folks in dating relationships. You said that it’s not that we’re any worse as people, it’s just we have less help.
DB: Yeah, there used to be a formula, and that formula is gone.
BP: It has to do with your talk tonight about social segmentation and how there’s just not that community support. Do you have any advice for us tonight? We’re both unmarried.
DB: I’m not real key on dating advice so I’ll give you my wife’s number.
BP: Should we not date?
DB: No, I would say the one thing I’ve noticed—I was telling some students today—is that there used to be like a code, a societal code how to act and that’s gone. The only thing I would say, just statistically, is take your time. The number of people who marry early have historically worse records than the people who marry late. You can actually do a statistical breakdown—it’s very rationalistic—of what works. I’m not even going to tell you, because it won’t matter, and you’ll know it when you feel it. But the number of people who marry post-30 now is very high. I didn’t wait that long, but it’s not stupid.
BP: It was really refreshing to hear how highly you think of President Obama.
DB: He’s a wonderful guy. I disagree on like half the stuff he says, but then I agree with half. If you met him, you’d know he’s very intelligent, he understands you, he perceives opposing points of view. He’s very smart. He’s what you’d want in a president.
BP: How have you heard of Covenant College?
DB: That’s a good question.
BP: It’s a small school in rural north Georgia.
DB: I’m trying to think. I mean I don’t know much about it, but I know the name. I must have met people from Covenant.
BP: If we had more money for honorariums, we’d love to have you up there.
DB: Are there like famous Covenant alumni in Washington or something?
BP: Michael Cromartie.
DB: Oh, he’s one of my close friends! That’s it! That’s it. Yeah, Cromartie—I just emailed him today.