In an election year, Americans need fewer hot takes and more cool-headed reasoning

A.J. Jacobs, bestselling author of the new book "The Year of Living Constitutionally," says slower, more thoughtful reasoning is needed today — and cites the Founders as a model.

"Writing longhand allowed my mind to go into a state of flow." "They wrote letters. Then they sealed them with wax." A.J. Jacobs is a bestselling author, journalist and podcaster. He has written four New York Times bestsellers that combine memoir, science, humor and a dash of self-help.

I’m doing this because I spent a year trying to live like the Founding Fathers. It was an attempt to learn whatever life wisdom I could from them — and one of my favorite parts of that year was writing with ye olde quill pen.