David Brooks on How to Know a Person

“People are dying to tell you their life story. They just need to be asked.”

So says David Brooks—author, columnist at The New York Times, and writer at The Atlantic—on a new episode of The Russell Moore Show. Moore and Brooks’s conversation explores the themes in Brooks’s new book, How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen. They talk about what it means to view people according to the inherent value and dignity of their souls, how love shapes us, and the cultural vocabulary around trauma. Moore and Brooks discuss marriage and the power of compassion. Their conversation covers the Hamas attacks, political volatility, and how to get through 2024 without increasing division.

Tune in for an episode that cuts straight to the heart of what it means to be human and to honor the humanity in others.

Resources mentioned in this episode include:

• Losing Our Religion: An Altar Call for Evangelical America by Russell Moore
• How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen by David Brooks
• Weave: The Social Fabric Project
• Telling Secrets: A Memoirby Frederick Buechner
• Michael Gerson’s sermon at Washington National Cathedral
• Man's Search for Meaning by Victor E. Frankl
• The Angel That Troubled the Waters by Thornton Wilder
• Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High by Joseph Grenny, Kerry Patterson, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler, and Emily Gregory

Do you have a question for Russell Moore? Send it to questions@russellmoore.com.

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“The Russell Moore Show” is a production of Christianity Today
Executive Producers: Erik Petrik, Russell Moore, and Mike Cosper
Host: Russell Moore
Producer: Ashley Hales
Associate Producers: Abby Perry and McKenzie Hill
Director of Operations for CT Media: Matt Stevens
Audio engineering by Dan Phelps
Video producer: Abby Egan
Theme Song: “Dusty Delta Day” by Lennon Hutton