logo
episode-header-image
May 2019
1h 11m

David Brooks: The Quest for a Moral Life

Oprah
About this episode
New York Times best-selling author, columnist and political commentator David Brooks discusses his new book, The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life. David explains there are two metaphorical mountains we must climb to live a moral life. He describes the “first mountain” life, which is self-centered, vs. the “second mountain” life, which is others-ce ... Show More
Up next
Mar 4
Super Soul Special: Marianne Williamson: A Return to Love
Originally aired May 2, 2018. Best-selling author Marianne Williamson talks about the 20th anniversary of her groundbreaking book "A Return to Love." A global phenomenon, the book went on to sell more than 1.5 million copies in the United States and has been published in 23 diffe ... Show More
37m 21s
Feb 25
Super Soul Special: Jay Williams: You Can Survive Your Worst Mistake
Originally aired April 30, 2018. Former professional basketball player Jay Williams opens up to Oprah about his near-fatal, career-ending motorcycle crash, his regrets and how he's learned to fulfill his destiny despite those who say he threw it all away. Jay was poised to become ... Show More
32m 28s
Feb 18
Super Soul Special: Jean Houston: Lessons from 'The Wizard of Oz'
Originally aired April 25, 2018. American philosopher and best-selling author Jean Houston describes herself as an "evocateur of the possible" and a "midwife of souls." She sits down with Oprah to talk about her expansive career, mythologist Joseph Campbell, her work with luminar ... Show More
30m 27s
Recommended Episodes
Nov 2021
The Quest for a Moral Life
<p>Note: This is a rebroadcast. This episode originally aired June 2019.</p><p>Do you ever feel like you’re spinning your existential wheels in life? That outwardly, you seem to be doing ok, but inwardly, you feel kind of empty? </p><p>My guest today would say that you’ve got to ... Show More
48m 56s
Apr 2019
David Brooks' Moral Journey
Tina Brown talks with David Brooks, the New York Times op-ed columnist and author of the new book The Second Mountain. Brooks posits that decades of unfettered individualism and social freedom have left us all morally adrift. But he has identified four principles that can get one ... Show More
33m 49s
Dec 2023
How To Know a Person with David Brooks
David Brooks is one of America’s leading writers and commentators. He is an op-ed columnist for The New York Times and appears regularly on PBS NewsHour and Meet the Press. He is the bestselling author of The Second Mountain, The Road to Character, The Social Animal, Bobos in Par ... Show More
49m 50s
May 2022
[Unedited] David Whyte with Krista Tippett
It has ever and always been true, David Whyte reminds us, that so much of human experience is a conversation between loss and celebration. This conversational nature of reality — indeed, this drama of vitality — is something we have all been shown, willing or unwilling, in these ... Show More
1h 26m
Apr 2023
#107 — Is Life Actually Worth Living?
Sam Harris speaks with David Benatar about his philosophy of “anti-natalism.” They discuss the asymmetry between the good and bad things in life, the ethics of existential risk, the moral landscape, the limits and paradoxes of introspection, the “experience machine” thought exper ... Show More
49m 15s
Jun 2019
The lies our culture tells us about what matters -- and a better way to live | David Brooks
Our society is in the midst of a social crisis, says op-ed columnist and author David Brooks: we're trapped in a valley of isolation and fragmentation. How do we find our way out? Based on his travels across the United States -- and his meetings with a range of exceptional people ... Show More
15m 19s
Nov 2017
“The Children of God” - David Berg
The child of missionaries and grandson of a reverend, David Berg was destined for religious leadership. But, as a victim of sexual abuse who never received support, David developed twisted ideas. Greg and Vanessa discuss this apocalyptic cult’s charismatic leader, the concept of ... Show More
44m 35s
May 2022
David Whyte — Seeking Language Large Enough
It has ever and always been true, David Whyte reminds us, that so much of human experience is a conversation between loss and celebration. This conversational nature of reality — indeed, this drama of vitality — is something we have all been shown, willing or unwilling, in these ... Show More
50m 34s
May 2019
Thoreau: the writer who went to the woods
Rajan Datar and guests explore the life and legacy of the American thinker Henry David Thoreau and his famous work 'Walden', which describes the young writer's experiment in living simply at Walden Pond in Massachusetts, for two years, two months and two days in the 1840s. A land ... Show More
39m 58s