Idaho

David Brooks gives North Idaho Distinguished Lecture

Published

1 year ago

October 26, 2024

David Brooks gives North Idaho Distinguished Lecture

COEUR d’ALENE — A bright light shined on the humanities Thursday evening as David Brooks addressed the largest crowd to ever attend the Idaho Humanities Council’s North Idaho Distinguished Lecture and Dinner at The Coeur d’Alene Resort.

Brooks, a best-selling author and journalist, carried the more than 800 audience members on a poignant and sometimes humorous journey of introspection, reflection and thoughtful communication as he discussed how to inject some humanity into a society riddled with bitter divisiveness.

He shared some of his personal experiences of opening up to others and to life in general.

“The sad thing is, as I was taking a little step toward being more human, the broader American culture has become more dehumanized,” Brooks said.

He spoke of increasing mental health problems, rising suicide and depression rates and how so many Americans feel sad, lonely and isolated.

“When you get sadder, you get meaner, because when you’re not seen or you’re invisible and neglected, you feel under threat and you feel it’s an insult on your dignity, which it is,” Brooks said.

He said some hospitals struggle to keep staff because patients have become so abusive. He touched on the increase in hate crimes and gun violence and other statistics, including how 20 years ago, two-thirds of Americans gave to charity while now fewer than 50% of Americans do.

This dehumanization is happening across society, he said, and people are seeking unity in politics. This seems to give people a sense of community, but it’s not a true community.

“You’re just hating the same people,” he said. “Politics seems to give you the illusion you’re taking moral action on behalf of the country, but you’re not sitting with a widow or serving the poor. You’re just being indignant on Twitter. Politics takes loneliness and turns it into culture wars.”

He said Ryan Streeter of the American Enterprise Institute conducted a study that found that those who say they are lonely are seven times more likely to be involved in politics than other people.

“That makes a lot of sense when you realize our politics is dominated by people who are lonely and angry at the world,” Brooks said.

Several attributable factors include technology, social media, the reduction in community involvement, economics and more.

Above all are basic social skills — how to be good listeners, how to gracefully end conversations, how to appropriately reveal vulnerability, how to break up with someone without crushing their heart, how to host a dinner party where everyone feels included, he said.

“For a couple generations, we have neglected to teach each other how to be considerate to each other in the complex circumstances of life,” Brooks said.

The one skill that tops the rest is the ability to make others feel understood and respected.

Brooks said there are “diminishers” and “illuminators.” Diminishers never ask questions. While pleasant, they’re just not curious and may tend to stereotype others. He said they do what is called “stacking.”

“They learn one fact about you and make a whole series of assumptions about who you must be: ‘You voted for Trump, therefore you must blah, blah, blah,’” he said. “I met a woman at a Trump rally years ago who was a lesbian biker who converted to Sufi Islam after surviving a plane crash. What stereotype does she fit into?”

Illuminators, on the other hand, are curious about others and pay close attention.

How do you become a better illuminator?

“The first thing you do is be deeply involved in the humanities,” Brooks said. “The humanities, these kinds of cultural products, they furnish your mind with emotional knowledge and wisdom. They help you take a richer and more meaningful view of your own experiences. They help you understand, at least a little bit, the depths of another human being. They help you answer the deepest question, which is, ‘How should I live my life?’”

Another step can be found in the gaze of another’s eyes.

“We think as we go through life we’re being measured by how confident we are,” Brooks said, “but mostly we’re being measured by how warm we are.”

Accompaniment — helping others shine — is an important illumination piece; as a pianist gives his attention to a performer, the audience’s attention is also pulled in that direction.

The art of conversation is another critical piece of helping others feel understood.

“Treat attention as an on-off switch, not a dimmer,” Brooks said. “Make it 100% or 0%, don’t 60% it.”

Be a loud listener, he said.

“I’ve got a buddy, when you talk to him, it’s like talking to a Pentecostal charismatic church, he’s like, ‘Yes, yes, yes! Amen, preach that, preach that,’” Brooks said as audience members laughed. “Love talking to that guy.”

Don’t fear the pause, Brooks advised, and don’t be a “topper” who one-ups others.

Finally, he said, to keep the “gem statement” in the center. When conversations become difficult, there is usually something deep down upon which both parties can agree.

Best-selling author and political commentator David Brooks shakes retired art teacher Jane Morgan’s hand Thursday evening at a private reception before the Idaho Humanities Council’s North Idaho Distinguished Lecture and Dinner at The Coeur d’Alene Resort.

David Brooks addresses the largest crowd to ever attend the Idaho Humanities Council’s annual North Idaho Distinguished Lecture and Dinner at The Coeur d’Alene Resort as he speaks Thursday night on the importance of basic social skills and other aspects of restoring humanity to a dehumanized society.

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Idaho

Idaho Lottery results: See winning numbers for Pick 3, Pick 4 on April 19, 2026

Published

2 hours ago

April 20, 2026

Press Room

The results are in for the Idaho Lottery’s draw games on Sunday, April 19, 2026.

Here’s a look at winning numbers for each game on April 19.

Winning Pick 3 numbers from April 19 drawing

Day: 9-5-1

Night: 8-0-6

Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Pick 4 numbers from April 19 drawing

Day: 2-7-0-3

Night: 4-3-3-3

Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Idaho Cash numbers from April 19 drawing

15-28-31-38-45

Check Idaho Cash payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from April 19 drawing

32-42-52-53-55, Bonus: 05

Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

When are the Idaho Lottery drawings held ?

Powerball: 8:59 p.m. MT Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
Mega Millions: 9 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
Pick 3: 1:59 p.m. (Day) and 7:59 p.m. (Night) MT daily.
Pick 4: 1:59 p.m. (Day) and 7:59 p.m. (Night) MT daily.
Lucky For Life: 8:35 p.m. MT Monday and Thursday.
Lotto America: 9 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
5 Star Draw: 8 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
Idaho Cash: 8 p.m. MT daily.
Millionaire for Life: 9:15 p.m. MT daily.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a USA Today editor. You can send feedback using this form.

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Idaho

‘Unrelenting’: Statehouse reporters recap 2026 legislative session in Idaho Falls – East Idaho News

Published

14 hours ago

April 19, 2026

Press Room

‘Unrelenting’: Statehouse reporters recap 2026 legislative session in Idaho Falls – East Idaho News

IDAHO FALLS — Two prominent Idaho Statehouse reporters say this past legislative session was “unrelenting,” chaotic, largely driven by budget cuts, and they see the Legislature getting more powerful.

Kevin Richert and Clark Corbin recapped this past legislative session at a forum on the ISU Idaho Falls Campus on Thursday.

Richert is a senior reporter at Idaho Education News, with more than 30 years of experience covering education policy and politics. Corbin is a senior reporter at the Idaho Capital Sun who has covered every Idaho legislative session, gavel to gavel, since 2011.

The event was hosted by the City Club of Idaho Falls, which “exists to sponsor and promote civil dialogue and discourse on all matters of public interest” and strives to be “nonpartisan and nonsectarian,” according to its website.

Budget cuts

Both Richert and Corbin said this session was driven by budget cuts. Corbin said this was due to a lack of revenue stemming from past income tax and the adoption of new federal tax cuts.

“Cuts for almost every state agency and state department dominated the legislative session,” Corbin said. “We’re talking about 4% budget cuts for most state agencies and departments in the current fiscal year, and we’re talking about an additional 5% budget cuts for almost all state agencies and departments starting next year — fiscal year ’27 — and continuing permanently.”

RELATED | Gov. Little signs so-called ‘crappy bill’ to cut state budget

Richert said he thought higher education was taking the brunt of budget cuts. “It’s not a question of whether tuition fees are going to go up at the universities; it’s a question of how much,” he said.

When asked what the future would hold, Corbin said the budget cuts aren’t likely to go away, and their effects will be felt over time.

“There could always be a change of leadership in the House, but they do expect the budget crunch to continue in the next year’s legislative session,” Corbin said.

‘Radiator capping’

Richert said he has one word to describe this year’s legislative session: “unrelenting.”

One thing that made it feel that way was that some bills were recycled over and over, he said. For example, Richert said the Legislature saw five different versions of a bill that proposed cuts to the Idaho Digital Learning Alliance.

“We had multiple bills that came from the dead,” he said.

The journalists said this is partly due to a tactic called “radiator capping.” The term means to replace the entire car — the bill’s text, in political terms — while only keeping the radiator cap: the bill number. By rewriting a bill on the House or Senate floor while maintaining its number, failed bills can effectively bypass the committee process.

“Those are the changes they tried to make on immigration bills, on union bills this year,” Corbin said. “It made it extremely difficult for the public to have any idea what was going on, to have any opportunity to participate in the legislative process and share their opinions.

A more powerful, more chaotic Legislature

Richert said Idaho’s annual legislative sessions are trending longer, commonly going into the early part of April, and producing a record number of bills.

“There are rumblings that this Legislature, as a body, is wanting to expand its reach over more and have even more power over the other branches of government to the point of — are we trending towards more of a full-time professional legislature?” Richert said. “We’re a long way from there.”

“The legislative branch of government, particularly the Idaho House of Representatives, is the most powerful I’ve seen it in 16 years of covering state government,” Corbin said.

He added that this year’s legislative session was unlike any he’s experienced.

“The overall temperature in the building was bad,” Corbin said. “It was divisive. It was chaotic. People were not hiding their feelings of disgust for each other. These traditional ideas of decorum and respect very much fell by the wayside.”

Richert said Gov. Brad Little vetoed very few bills that came across his desk, and the ones he did weren’t high-profile.

RELATED | Idaho Gov. Brad Little issues 5 vetoes. Here are the bills affected

“I think the governor behaved like he was very concerned about the supermajority-controlled Legislature, and I think that that Legislature, in turn, asserted itself and took control of the agenda this year,” Corbin said.

Are legislators representing Idaho?

Corbin said some bills this year also focused on the LGBTQ+ community, such as a bathroom restriction for transgender individuals, and a bill that banned the City of Boise from waving a Pride flag.

RELATED | Idaho governor signs bill to criminalize trans people using bathrooms that align with their identity

RELATED | Boise removes LGBTQ+ pride flag as Idaho governor signs bill to fine city for its display

When asked if these were what Idahoans wanted, Corbin said it doesn’t necessarily appear so to him, based on his review of Boise State University’s annual public policy survey.

“For years and years, I’ve heard concerns about affordability of housing, access to housing, managing the growth of the state of Idaho, having quality public schools available for our young people — that also generates a workforce pipeline for some of our businesses,” Corbin said. “I’ve heard about paying for wildfires. I’ve heard about having good roads, supporting access to public lands, public recreation, those are the concerns I hear from Idahoans.”

“But the Legislature spent a significant amount of time over the last two, three, four years placing additional restrictions on LGBTQ communities, placing restrictions on what teachers can and cannot teach in their classrooms, what school boards can and cannot do,” Corbin continued. “They talked about requiring a moment of silence every day to begin the public school day, where children could pray or read the Bible.”

RELATED | Gov. Brad Little signs public school ‘moment of silence’ bill into law

Corbin said it may be his own opinion, but perhaps it is easier to “make a bunch of noise about what’s going wrong and (distract) people with social issues” rather than focus on harder issues that Idaho faces.

“I think what you saw on the policy space is a reflection of the fact that you had legislators thinking about reelection, and legislators with time on their hands — and that’s not always a good combination,” Richert said.

Accountability

When asked how people can keep legislators accountable, Corbin said it can be done by following the state Legislature through trusted news sources, going to community events and voting.

“This is a great year to practice accountability, because all 105 state legislators and all statewide elected officials are up for election this year,” he said.