Atlantic writer David Brooks, who married his much younger former research assistant after divorcing his longtime first wife, was blasted online for a planned lecture on — of all things — love.
The scribe, an ex-New York Times columnist known for his questionable use of social science and egghead persona, was slated to give a Monday night talk at Yale University with the title “David Brooks: How to Fall in Love with Someone.”
“You’ve probably thought a lot about your professional life, and your intellectual life,” read an event description on the Ivy League school’s website. “But what about your romantic life? Let’s have a practical conversation about how people fall in love.? [sic]”
Online critics were quick to point out the irony of Brooks pontificating about love in light of his own questionable life decisions.
“Step 1: While married to the mother of your three children, hire a young research assistant,” Joshua Benton of the Nieman Journalism Lab wrote on X.
He was alluding to the fact Brooks married his ex-assistant — who’s 23 years younger than him — after ditching the mother of his three children.
“I cannot think of a combination of person and topic that I have less of a desire to hear,” another X user wrote.
“[P]utting the ‘affair’ in ‘global affairs,’” a third user wrote, alluding to the name of the venue, Yale’s Jackson School for Global Affairs.
Reached for comment on Monday, Brooks’ ex-wife Sarah Brooks lashed out at The Post, writing in an email: “You are a really bad reporter … So, f–k off.”
She was married for nearly three decades to the opinion writer, meeting when both were students at the University of Chicago.
Born Jane Hughes, she converted to Judaism several years into the marriage and took the name Sarah, according to public records and profiles of the columnist’s life.
David Brooks has credited his first wife with deepening his connection to Judaism, saying he was “pulled back in” at her urging as the couple built a religious family life together.
Their divorce was reported in November 2013 after 27 years of marriage, though both declined to discuss the split, citing a legal agreement tied to the proceedings.
In the years that followed, David Brooks, whose name and photo surfaced in the recently released Jeffrey Epstein files, married writer Anne Snyder, who worked with him early in her career. The two wed in 2017.
In a 2019 book and interviews, Brooks described undergoing a religious awakening around the time of his separation from his first wife, saying he came to see himself as a person of faith after decades of atheism.
Brooks acknowledged that by the fall of 2013, “strong emotional feelings existed” between him and Snyder, though both have said their relationship did not begin as an affair.
Snyder, who attended Wheaton College and is rooted in a Christian intellectual tradition, played a key role during that period, as Brooks began attending her church on Capitol Hill amid his separation.
Their relationship developed alongside his growing interest in Christianity, which he later described as a gradual spiritual shift rather than a sudden conversion.
The two eventually married after a period of separation and living apart, with their relationship shaped in part by shared discussions about faith as Brooks’ beliefs evolved.
In 2023, he sparked a social media firestorm with an X post whining about a $78 bill for a meal at Newark Airport — much of which was spent on booze.
The Post has sought comment from him and Snyder.
