EP 357: Arthur Brooks Rejects the Politics of Outrage and Culture of Contempt

Arthur Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute, returns to the podcast to call on Americans to reject the culture of contempt and the outrage industrial complex. He talks about the event that woke him up to the ugliness of our political discourse two and a half years before the 2016 election. He pulls back the curtain on how political parties are pushing us farther apart and how talking heads in the media are profitting from stoking divisiveness and hate. Arthur reveals the connection between frequent commenting on social media and personality disorders and how he handles angry emails and twitter trolls. He shares what we can learn about civility from the Dalai Lama and a leading marriage counselor. We discuss the power of stories to bridge divides and the necessity of the competition of ideas to a health democracy. Plus, Arthur shares what he thinks about President Trump’s two hour rant at last week’s CPAC conference, the time he got mistaken for a Mormon (and loved every minute of it), and why every conservative needs a friend like Cornel West and every liberal needs a friend like Robert George.

Order Arthur's book Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America from the Culture of Contempt on Amazon, Audible, or wherever books are sold. Subscribe to The Arthur Brooks Show wherever you listen podcasts and follow him on twitter at @arthurbrooks. Please take our annual podcast listener survey and register to win a $100 Amazon gift card at www.podsurvey.com/kick.