"In previous eras of technological advance, the humanists rose up to say: Bring us your new machines, but you will not turn us into machines. Let's think about what a modern humanistic uprising would look like."

Join Presidential Senior Fellow David Brooks for "The Battle for America's Soul," the first installment of the Fall 2026 Yale Conversations. This event is free and open to the public; registration is required.

Yale Conversations is a public forum presented by the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs, in collaboration with the Office of the President and led by Presidential Senior Fellow David Brooks, fostering respectful debate and intellectual exchange across differences.

Author, podcast host, and columnist David Brooks was appointed as a Presidential Senior Fellow at the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs in February 2026. Brooks is a staff writer at The Atlantic, host of the new podcast, "The Permanent Questions," and a regular contributor to PBS NewsHour. He worked as an opinion columnist at The New York Times for 22 years and has written for The Wall Street Journal, in addition to authoring books on topics ranging from neuroscience to ethics.