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Save up to 40% your first year. Visit LifeLock.com slash podcast. Terms apply. He's a Pargit Gilbert Montgomery professor and author of Build the Life You Want, the art and science of getting happier and teaches a course over at Harvard.
And everybody signs up for it, why wouldn't they? Arthur, welcome back. Hey, man. Good to see you.
I love seeing you. Well, thanks. And congratulations. Your daughter's going to go into the Marines now, right? That's my daughter. She is a Marine. She's waiting to take her commission in May after finishing her bachelor's degree. She'll graduate May 18th and later that day she'll take her commission as a butter bar, second lieutenant. And this is your second Marine in your family? Second Marine. My first Marine, my first Marine he got out a year ago. He's still in the reserves. He's a sergeant scout sniper from the three five out of Camp Pendleton. So were you in the military? No, no, no. We have a military family.
Absolutely. We fly the Marine flag because two of our kids became Marines. They made us into a military family.
It's a beautiful thing. Where did that come from? It came from my middle son, Carlos. He's, you know, he was looking for what was going to make him the man that he wanted to be. And he felt that the U.S. Marine Corps was his ticket to doing that.
And it absolutely was the case. Gave him a sense of meaning and purpose in his life. Got out at age 23, married, nine months after getting married, had his first child.
And by your fruits, you shall know them. And today, I mean, getting married young and having kids and starting a family shows strength of character and purpose. And that's what he did. He got that from the U.S. Marine Corps.
Wow. And so and now he's out, but he's in reserves. He's in the reserves. Now he's a supervisor at Clark Construction, which is the best construction company in America. So the one thing I hear that's great about since Pete got nominated, he's known as like the war. He's one of the guys.
Yeah. And they say recruiting is picking up with him at the top and with this new let's keep the woke part of the military out of it. He's got to go in there and actually implement it. You saw yesterday the Black Lives Matter, the gay flag, pride flag off on all embassies came down. No more cultural financing of transitional transit, trans parades through El Salvador or whatever they were financing. You think that's a good thing? Well, I think it's a good thing for any company, organization, government agency, all of us to pay attention to what your real job is and do it as well as you possibly can. When you have a secondary and a tertiary kind of mission and you're focusing on that, you're not going to do your job well. That's the bottom line.
That's the biggest problem. U.S. military should be about defending our nation, projecting our values, helping the rest of the world understand the United States is here to do business. Don't mess with us. And furthermore, if you actually have our values, we have your back. And that means we've got to be tough. We've got to be strong. We have to have war fighters and we have to be well funded. That's what we do.
All the other stuff is secondary at most and probably should be. I've talked to so many people after Afghanistan that served in the military. I want my kids going in. If this is going to be the attitude, if I'm going to serve, you're going to fight a war for 20 years and leave that way and not apologize for it and say it was a big success.
I saw more people go, that's it. You know, the military families usually go down the line. One percent of the country defends all of it.
So I sense that there's a bit of a pivot going on. They have a reason to join because someone, when Pete gets in, is going to have their back. I hope that's the case. I certainly hope that's the case because the United States cannot be a great nation without a great military. We must have a great military. We have to have a dangerous military, a lethal military full of people that are actually willing to use force. And by the way, who also love our country and love the world are motivated by a sense of global brotherhood. But I'm telling you, it's a dangerous world out there and we have to be willing to actually use our lethal force. And you have to have people motivated to do so. So you notice Trump changed his rhetoric a little. That happens sometimes. Now that he got the job, he says it's going to be a golden age.
And then he got this question from Sean Hannity, and I thought it was an interesting pivot. Cut one. With time, effort, money, unfortunately, but they're all solvable. We can get our country back.
But if we didn't win this race, I really believe our country would have been lost forever. And the question in was, we have a lot of problems. He goes, yeah, but they're all solvable. So that means he knows that's his responsibility. You explain that in terms of his leadership. I think the big difference now, he's got so many people doing the job. He doesn't feel he has to do everything. You only got one cabinet member in place and already Rubio's going to Panama. He did the flag thing we were talking about and the culture thing with the State Department. And he's got other people talking about what they're doing at the border. How do you feel about how he's approaching this compared to the other?
I like it so far and I think it's important that he actually will pivot. Why? Because when you don't have the job, you make the case for why you should have the job. Once you've got the job, stop campaigning.
Start doing the job. And that is in point of fact, we do have a lot of problems. And in point of fact, if you look at history, look, you're a historian. The United States doesn't have problems that we can't solve. Absolutely not.
And you need great leadership and vigorous activity, total enthusiasm and energy. And that's how the way this thing has started. You know, I would love to do and I'm not saying it's just a one size is just get out of intramural play. This is just so many times you see real things going on right now. Do you have an opinion on the border? Let's hear it. You have an opinion on immigration? I want to understand it. You want to know how to get inflation down?
Let's do it. You don't have to be an economist, but you have an opinion on it. But then when you have so many legitimate issues and this historic reemergence of this figure that was supposed to be in jail and now he's president of the United States, a lot to talk about. But instead, Elon Musk, one of the most impactful people of his generation and the best is yet to come.
You're really the greatest entrepreneur of our lifetimes. He is the Henry Ford of our lifetime. Benjamin Franklin?
Yeah, it's just incredible. The guy is completely amazing. And by the way, I guarantee you if Benjamin Franklin came back to life, he'd be controversial. He was controversial in his life. He was.
He was controversial in his time. But he was just somebody who said, I love heat inside. I'm going to get a wood burning stove. You know, I think we have to find a way to put out fires quickly. I think we have to start a fire department in every town. They're so dark. We need street lamps. Yeah, it's just unbelievable how somebody looks at a problem and solves it.
And I'm not one of them. And Elon Musk sees a problem and whether somebody is trapped in a cave or where there's a problem with fires, he brings out his star link and makes it happen, helping in North Carolina, too. So he, one thing about him, in front of crowds, he's like a kid. They were chanting his name at the Capital One Center and he came out and he touched his heart and put his hand straight out. Right. And they're saying that he was saluting Hitler. That's comically stupid. Yes. But it didn't stop Senator Chris Murphy.
Listen to this. Okay, I thought we had it. So Senator Chris Murphy brought up that he was saluting Hitler.
At last, Elise Stefanik, how she responds to that? I mean, I'd say it's nonsense because it's nonsense. Look, we know when we're being gaslit. And what's going on is we're kind of willing participants in the gaslighting process that our national media and our politicians are feeding us all the time. If somebody says something outrageous and ridiculous, as long as it's about somebody that you disagree with or that you hate, then you're willing to go along with it. That's the kind of a confirmation bias that we're willingly putting up with. And, you know, the good news is that a lot of people are kind of done with that. A lot of people, they want to get on with making the country a whole lot better. And so what I really hope is that the Republicans don't do that.
What I really hope is that the Republican administration with the Republican House or Republican Senate can use the moment to stop gaslighting people, not being lying, not not ginning up controversy about the other side. Just just stick to your knitting, man. Absolutely. Just get it done. Get it done.
Success leaves clues. Let's listen. I think anti-Semitism work is best when we call out what's happening on both sides of the aisle. What do you think of Elon Musk, perhaps the president's most visible adviser, doing two Heil Hitler salutes last night at the president's televised rally? No, Elon Musk did not do those salutes. I was not at the rally, but I can tell you I've been at many rallies with Elon Musk, who loves to cheer when President Trump says we need to send our U.S. space program to Mars. Elon Musk is a visionary.
I'm looking forward to his work in Doge, the Department of Government Efficiency, and look forward to looking how we can be more efficient and effective. But that is simply not the case. And to say so is the American people are smart.
They see through it. They support Elon Musk. We are proud to be the country of such successful entrepreneurs. That is one of our greatest strengths as Americans. Chris Murphy is not a knucklehead. He's, you know, he's not some guy that just, all you do is put the sound up.
Are we ever going to get past this? I mean, let's be frustrated to a guy who prides himself on high level intellectual conversations with the most interesting people in the world. And then you see a senator trying to find out if the next U.N. ambassador is worthy. And that's a question. Yeah, no, I mean, this is just what we call in psychology motivated reasoning.
And motivated reasoning means that you see what you want to see because of your pre-existing beliefs. This happens all the time. We're all exposed to this. We do this a lot.
It's a very normal thing to do. So there's somebody you don't like and you're looking for a way that they're dissing you in some way. They're insulting you in some way. They're slighting you in some way. Or somebody that you really like, they can say something to you that would really sound like an insult. You're like, nah, I didn't mean it. That's how humans are wired.
That's how confirmation bias works. But if you're in the public eye, if you're a leader, you have a responsibility to resist that. It's a very important thing to do.
Why? Because look, here's what I really hope we can do going forward. Whether you're a Democrat or Republican.
And Brian, you got both listening to you right now, which is great. We need leaders primarily interested in bringing the country together because we cannot afford a four year alternating ping pong match about public policy and world affairs. It's dangerous when the United States changes course on health care, changes course on foreign policy, changes care and diplomacy, changes course on defense. Every four years, we're weaker than we should be. We're spending more money than we should be.
Poor people are being left out to dry. And the way that we do that is having leaders on both sides saying, I want to bring the country together. And to do that, I got to stop gaslighting people and falling prey to this confirmation bias and ginning up these fake controversies that shouldn't exist in the first place. So I wonder you hear this moment because this goes into your happiness theme and why people change and how some of them find contentment.
Here's Donald Trump talking about a seminal moment. Those who wish to stop our cause have tried to take my freedom and indeed to take my life. Just a few months ago in a beautiful Pennsylvania field, an assassin's bullet ripped through my ear. But I felt then and believe even more so now that my life was saved for a reason. I was saved by God to make America great again. So it was an applause line, but it was a true line. It's I hope he lives up to that, giving glory to God, giving thanks to God, bringing people more with if he's a Christian with a cross and gospel of Jesus Christ, I hope he lives up to that. And by the way, what did Jesus say that truly changed the world? He said, you have heard that you should love your friends and hate your enemies. But today I give you a new teaching. Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Matthew 544. If he believes the things that he's saying right now, I would love to see Donald Trump and the people in his administration start to love their enemies in a very meaningful way.
Well, I'll tell you one thing. Normally, Elon Musk went and blew up his whole big mega deal they did to build that new energy center. Elon Musk said these guys don't have $500 billion.
Check their balance sheets. The old Trump would have said, well, Elon doesn't know everything these guys do or something or he would have taken it on. But he just kind of laid out on that. Yeah. What about the bishop yesterday? The Episcopal bishop of the National Cathedral speaking in front of Trump, actually preaching in front of Trump and J.D.
Vance. Your thoughts? You know, it's I think that we live in a country and I'm truly grateful to live in a country where a member of the clergy can stand up in front of the United States and say things that he finds obnoxious and she will have no knock in the night. She will have no jackbooted thug. So my first line is, look, I disagree with a lot of what she said. I'm a conservative and I disagree with what she said politically. I am so grateful to live in the greatest country in the history of planet Earth where she can do that without fear.
God bless America. That's all I can say. Right.
She doesn't have any fear. But is was it appropriate? Yeah. I mean, I don't think even if she was liberal and there's a liberal president and a conservative preacher, I think it was ill advised. I think it was an ill advised because I think it was her moment to actually talk about what what clergy are supposed to do, which is to bring people closer to God. And I think that was a moment. I think it was a lost moment. I think I regret it because I think it was a lost opportunity. And I would kind of encourage people to join me in that regret, notwithstanding their politics. But do you want people to go to church?
Yeah. I mean, I want I mean, I'm a Christian. And so I live a public faith, meaning that, you know, I like Catholic and I want to go to mass. And I think it's the most beautiful thing is the most important thing in my life. And I want to share that with everybody I can.
So a lot of people say that's that's why I don't go. I don't need that. I mean, I don't need politics. I don't need politics.
I don't need to find out how inadequate I am from somebody that maybe you're not looking up to to begin with. So I thought that was now all of a sudden we're talking about her. And I ask you, you don't know where.
But is that what they wanted? I don't know. She's on CNN. She's on this. She gets to talk about it. So did she accomplish your goal? It's hard to say because I can't look into her heart.
You know, the problem is that you don't know the motivations of other people. I think she was probably pretty poorly advised because she had an opportunity to build a bridge to the president of the United States using language that was not pugilistic. It was not controversialist at all to talk about, you know, the love of our Heavenly Father and to talk about how he could be a representative of God's love and his work. And to say, please be merciful to everyone without actually bringing something that was overtly controversial and political into it. Right. And in front of his whole family, too.
Yeah. I mean, it's funny because, you know, that was provocative because he does not have a long tradition of reacting very well to that. And so the result is just kind of kind of like, what does she think is going to happen? And, you know, she'll be lauded as a hero among, you know, people on the on the hard political left. And then people get a big kick out of what President Trump is writing on true social. And and then the whole merry-go-round goes round again. It's just not helpful. He does not have a long history of reacting well to that.
That was the most political thing you've ever said. Back in the moment with Arthur Brooks. Hey, maybe you started your business because it was your passion, but fell into H.R. as your business got going. Like for us in this podcast, nobody's an expert in all areas, including H.R. That's why we're excited about an all in one solution that can give you your time back to doing what you love most, growing your business. Bamboo H.R. is a powerful yet flexible all in one H.R. solution for your growing business.
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That's oracle.com slash cain. And thinking about that and Donald Trump saying things that this country would be a meritocracy, you're talking about a man who didn't become the president of the United States because of merit. He was given everything that he has. He is a legacy hire. He is, if anything, a D.E.I. hire.
I didn't earn it. And so, you know, that's just some of the things that I was thinking. Yeah. So that is the view where I always go to learn things. You know, to me, it's like a university. So whatever they say, I think the exact opposite. And I know I'm OK.
I know is Arthur Brooks, Arthur. Should I waste your time and ask you to analyze that statement? It's, you know, the whole idea that look, look, she's right. Here's why. None of us earned anything. We didn't earn our lives. We didn't you know, I didn't earn being born in the United States of America and speaking English and having great parents. I didn't earn that stuff. All that really matters is that you use what you've got to the best of your ability and in service of glorifying God and serving other people. As far as I'm concerned, that's what matters. Reach your potential.
Totally. I mean, do it, man. You look, we are entrepreneurs in the business of our lives. We're the startup founders of the enterprise of your Brian Kilmeade, Inc. And look at you.
I mean, you're like I was telling you the break. You're a machine. You're doing this. You're doing that. You're every place and you're all in all the time because you're you're the Elon Musk of your life. And that's what we need to be.
Everyone is. Thank you for that. Are there you have a newsletter. You have a bunch of projects. But you have a newsletter we can get right now. Absolutely. If we can't go to Harvard, we can't pass the admissions and we certainly can't get into your class.
It's always sold out. What do we do? It's 9 a.m. Monday morning. You can get to your inbox 500 words about how science can make you happier.
If you understand and can change your habits, go to Arthur Brooks dot com, just like it sounds. How science can make you happy. Absolutely. I mean, the science of happiness is about neuroscience and behavioral science.
So it's made digestible and understandable to everybody. But most importantly, it's got the habits that come out of it. And you go to the Web site, you sign up.
It's completely free. It'll be delivered to you every Monday morning. Get happier now. Do you keep learning? I do. I mean, I'm a I'm a that's why I teach at a university is because I'm a student for the rest of my life. And it's an incredible adventure because Arthur Brooks incorporated my personal enterprise is all about learning and bringing that learning to everybody that I possibly can. So who teaches you or are you just picking up different things? You go back in time, go back to great thinkers.
I do. I read I read biography. I'm I'm constantly studying ancient philosophy. And part of the reason is because I wasn't trained in philosophy. I'm always staying up to date in my own field of behavioral science. And I was learning as much as I can about neuroscience in the public interest to bring it to everybody I can. And and that's why your other projects coming out are building on all that.
Exactly right. New podcast coming out, working on a television series. But the newsletter is the new thing this week. All right. And where do we go?
Arthur Brooks dot com, everybody. All right. There you go. All right. Always great to see you. Thank you. And you made me happy by appearing. You always make me another success. Brian, kill me.
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