In the 1950s, a Gallup poll asked high school seniors if they considered themselves to be a very important person. Just 12 percent said yes. When the same question was asked 50 years later, 80 percent of students said they think they are very important. In a new book, columnist David Brooks explores this broad cultural shift toward inflated self worth. He argues that a central fallacy of modern life is that focus on one’s own importance and success leads to happiness and a meaningful life. Brooks argues instead that in order to have a truly fulfilling life, you must learn how to forget yourself.
Excerpted from “The Road to Character” by David Brooks. Copyright 2015. Reprinted with permission from Penguin Random House. All Rights Reserved.
Rethinking leadership in the U.S. African AmericanStudies professor Eddie S. Glaude Jr. says Americans have looked to the political class to create a just democracy for too long – and it hasn't worked. In a new book he argues that we are the leaders we have been looking for and explains what that means for the 2024 election.
Menopause. Once a taboo topic, the "m" word is having a moment – among celebrities, in the media, and in Washington, where President Biden recently signed an order that supports research into women's health. Dr. Sharon Malone says it's about time, and explains why understanding "the change" is critical for a woman's ability to get – and stay -- healthy.
Donald Trump regularly ends his rallies with prayer. He has repeatedly compared himself to Jesus. And last week he started selling a version of the Bible. Robert P. Jones of the Public Religion Research Institute weighs in on Trump’s growing embrace of Christianity.
Donald Trump has made cognitive ability a central issue of the presidential race. But he rarely talks about his own family's experience with dementia. The Washington Post's Michael Kranish on Fred Trump Senior's Alzheimer's disease and what voters deserve to know about a candidate's mental fitness.