Featuring New York Times best selling authors Arthur C. Brooks and Jonathan Haidt

On March 13, 2019, Heterodox Academy hosted a public lecture and conversation with Arthur Brooks. Brooks is president of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a public policy think tank in Washington, DC, a former professor of Business and Government at Syracuse University, a columnist for the Washington Post, and bestselling author of eleven books on topics including  the role of government, economic opportunity, happiness, and the morality of free enterprise.

The lecture was in honor of the release of Brooks’ new book, Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America from Our Culture of Contempt. 

Following an introduction by HxA Executive Director Debra Mashek, Brooks presented some of the book’s big ideas — that contempt and outrage are the wrong answer in today’s polarized world, that disagreement is the key to excellence, and how our feelings towards those we disagree with are irrelevant compared to how we act. Brooks was later joined on stage by NYU professor, author, and HxA co-founder Jonathan Haidt for conversation, followed by a Q&A session with the audience.

After the conversation, all attendees joined HxA and AEI for a reception to celebrate Brooks’ book and to mix and mingle as a community.