Dinner Series

And the pursuit of happiness

A very special evening with Dr. Arthur Brooks
Date and TimeTuesday, March 8, 2022 @ 6:00 pm
LocationSt. John’s Episcopal Church
Listen to past event
Photos of the event
A former French horn player who decided to be an egghead late in life, he is a unique mix of Catholic piety, data obsession, sartorial connoisseurism, physical fitness, old-soul wisdom, and basic decency.”

— Jonah Goldberg, National Review

It’s easy to lose touch with just how extraordinary it is that America’s charting Declaration named “the pursuit of happiness” right up there with life and liberty as our opening argument to stick it in the king’s eye. So are we happy? If you look at objective measures of late, the answer is “no.” And our sense of it is that if “we the people” are miserable, this can’t be good for the American experiment.

We hope you’ll join us as we become bound and re-determined to be happy. And we’re beyond delighted to announce that our special guest in this journey is the extraordinary Arthur Brooks—a one man beacon of inspiration toward both happiness and radical decency in politics. This former AEI President, bestselling author, Atlantic columnist and Harvard professor is devoting the most recent chapter of his extraordinary career to discovering how to live our best lives. Fresh off the release of his most recent book, “From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life,” Brooks is making one of his first stops to see us. Learn more about Brooks below. And scroll all the way down to see the yummy dinner menu that Lively Cafe has planned for you!

Read More

Arthur is the bestselling author of 11 books on topics ranging from economic opportunity to human happiness. His most recent bestseller, Love Your Enemies, released in March 2019, is a guide to building a better country and mending personal relationships amidst our culture of political polarization. In February 2022, Arthur will release From Strength to Strength, a new book on finding meaning, success, and deep purpose in the second half of life. Read more about our special guest here. Facilitating the conversation is our friend and owner of Midtown Reader, Sally Bradshaw. Sally’s extensive career includes serving as Jeb Bush’s campaign manager during his successful bid for Governor in 1998, and as his Chief of Staff from 1999 until 2002. She has also acted as a senior advisor to Mitt Romney and Florida’s Republican Party. In 2016, after years of consulting, Sally opened Midtown Reader. A big thank-you to Florida TaxWatch for generously sponsoring this program.

Photo credit for featured image: Gage Skidmore

show less

Keynote Speaker

Dr. Arthur Brooks

Harvard University, The Atlantic Arthur Brooks, author

Sally Bradshaw

Owner, Midtown Reader Sally Bradshaw

Thanks to our headline sponsor, Florida TaxWatch

Join us for dinner all year

This year, we are getting our groove back.

We say it’s time for a post-pandemic reset, a spring cleaning, a democratic spa retreat of sorts, a year of finding our way back to our better selves (and maybe even to each other) — a year to get our groove back.

MORE

Made possible by our generous sponsors