Yesterday, Spencer remarked that "reading David Brooks awkwardly name-drop Vampire Weekend makes me prefer the columns of his where he pretends that neoconservatism is an invention of anti-Semites."

Meh. I liked the Vampire Weekend column. It's just that while I almost always enjoy the "comic sociology" pieces that made Brooks famous, I wish they came with footnotes or something so we could learn whether or not there's actual sociology to back up the stuff Brooks is saying. Is there real evidence that the rise of geek culture is politically relevant as he implies toward the end? It's an interesting issue, which makes it an interesting column, but while I liked the joke about Barack Obama being the Prince Caspian of the iPhone set, I'd also kind of like to know the answer.