How Do We Fix It?

Medical errors are America's third largest cause of death. Only heart disease and cancer have a higher body count.    A new report  estimates that about 250,000 Americans die each year because of screw-ups in hospitals, doctors' offices and other medical settings.  In 2013, research by NASA's chief toxicologist put the number at as many as 440,000.   In this episode of "How Do We Fix It?", Pittsbu...

It's the biggest issue of the Presidential campaign that the candidates are not talking about: bloated government and the poor delivery of services.   From very long TSA airport security lines to the dysfunction at your local DMV, our interactions with government can be extremely frustrating.  Exceedingly complex rules and laws make things even worse.    For decades, Philip K. Howard has been a le...

With technology in overdrive, self-driving cars are no longer a fantasy. The first autonomous cars and trucks made by major auto manufacturers could be on the road within several years. But "Fix It" guest Eddie Alterman, Editor-in-Chief of Car and Driver magazine says not so fast. "It's a scary concept anyway you look at it," he tells us.  "The autonomous car is a very ine...

The numbers are alarming.  A 2015 Gallup poll found nearly 70% of U.S. employers say they're either bored or disengaged at work.   The cost to employers has been put at more than $500 billion in lost productivity. The cost to workers is incalculable - in human misery, unnecessary stress and lost opportunity.   Workplace psychologist Ron Friedman is the author of "The Best Place to Work: The Art an...

"Stuff happens," says homeland security expert and mom of three, Juliette Kayyem.   The government has got to find a better way to talk about the threat of terrorism and natural disasters. Most of us need to have a better plan to prepare.  "We talked in a way when people would either tune out or freak out," says Juliette of her time as a top official at The Department of Homeland of Homeland Secur...

"At the end of the day everybody is biased," says our guest,John Gable, founder CEO of AllSides. "You're biased by what youknow. You're biased by what you know and you're biased by yourentire human existence before then." AllSides is unique in how it covers the news - displayingstories on its front page - from different points of view. It urgesreaders to "engage in civil dialog and discover a deep...

Too often, news coverage is all about clashes, controversies andcontests.  The way the media cover major events can have aprofound impact on our view of the world.  In this episode, Jim and Richard - both journaliststhemselves - are joined by DavidBornstein , who writes for theFixes blog of The New York Times and is co-founder of SolutionsJournalismNetwork.org .  "The news tends to focus far more...

With the approach of Earth Day, this show looks at the cleanair, carbon-free case for nuclear power. And it challenges the viewheld by many environmentalists that the only way to save the planetis for all of us to get by with less. Guest Michael Shellenberger is is coauthor of AnEcomodernist Manifesto , a which argues that human prosperityand an ecologically vibrant planet go hand-in-hand. In 2007...

You can't have too much of a really good thing. That's why we decided to invite Lenore Skenazy, founder of Free Range Kids, to make a welcome return to "How Do We Fix It?" She was a guest on an earlier show. Lenore is the passionate and playful campaigner, who says most American kids don't have nearly enough unstructured free time, when they can be curious and engage the world on their own terms....

We have a problem in our society. Too many people don't understand science or the importance of the scientific method. Many children aren't learning the basics of math and science, which closes off a broad range of career opportunities. It's also a problem in our civil society. A broader understanding of how science works would help parents know why they need to vaccinate their kids or what's goin...

This episode looks at the simple, highly personal way that living room conversations allow people of different viewpoints to really hear each other. A progressive activist, Joan Blades was deeply involved in starting MoveOn.org in the late 90's. More recently she has also worked on ways to encourage respect and dialog among liberals, independents and conservatives. She is the cofounder of LivingRo...

How can you talk to people you disagree with? We Talk to Joan Blades, the founder of MoveOn.org about how to bridge the partisan divide. This show is another response to the deep partisan divide in America - part one of a fascinating conversation with Joan Blades. Much of our political campaign has been dominated by personal insults, name-calling and dogma. Voters have rewarded politicians who use...

Let's face it. Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders have won far more votes than almost any "expert" forecast. The reason may well be that emotions and learned behavior from others play a far bigger role in our decision making than most of us realize. Our "Fix It" guest Mark Earls - the HERDMeister - is an award-winning British writer and consultant on marketing, communications and human behavior. In h...

More than any time in recent decades, American politics aredeeply divided. Compromise is a dirty word. "The way that we're running the country is that we're notrunning the country," says our guest Mark Gerzon, author of the newbook, " TheReunited States of America. " As President of Mediators Foundation, the group he founded 25years ago, Mark has brought people together in conflict zonesaround the...

From the AmericanRevolution and the Founding Fathers - through wars, economic changeand the struggle for civil rights, American history isoverwhelmingly dominated by the achievements and errors ofmen.  Women - because they were largely excluded from public andprofessional life for most of our history - play a relatively smallrole in the established narrative of our past.  "Role models have a hugei...

For its opponents, Obamacare is a disaster - a classic exampleof over-reach by an Administration that wants to expand the sizeand scope of the Federal government. Supporters say The Affordable Care Act is a triumph, benefitingcountless millions of Americans, while reducing the threat ofpersonal bankruptcies in medical emergencies crippling healthcarecosts. "We have decreased the rate ofthe uninsur...

Debbie Galant talks about what it's like to livewith breast cancer.  What she learned along the way amount tosolutions for what can be a desperate, lonelyexperience. From the shock of herfirst diagnosis to sometimes wrenching, sometimes funnyconversations with her doctors and family, Debbie gives us valuablelessons about how to survive and recover, physically andemotionally. "You are pitched intot...

Anti-lock brakes make many motorists drive faster. Introducing helmets and face masks in football raised the risk of concussions. Financial regulators and central bankers played a role in creatingconditions that led to the 2008 mortgage meltdown. The illusion of safety can lead to reckless behavior. These fascinating insights are part of "Foolproof - Why SafetyCan Be Dangerous and How Danger Makes...

Before The U.S. and other nations can be successful againstIslamic State (ISIS) and other global jihadists, we must understandthe difference between Islam and Islamism. That's the argument fromour guest on this week's episode, Maajid Nawaz. "It happens to be that today we are dealing with an insurgencythat's rising and growing within my own Muslim community," he says. It doesn't help to deny it."...

We'd like to think that science should exist outside of politics and researchers follow the truth wherever it goes. But the ideal of rational non-ideological science is under attack at many colleges and universities, says our guest, Alice Dreger. An historian who studies human sexuality and the ethics of medical research, Alice is the author of the provocative new book, "Galileo's Middle Finger."...

The armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in the dry prairies of Southeast Oregon by members a small militia group is the most recent chapter in the very long-running dispute over land in The West. Our guest is environmental historian Nancy Langston, author of “Where Land and Water Meet. A Western Landscape Transformed.” In some western states the Federal Government owns more th...

It's easy to make resolutions to improve our lives, but how do we boost our chances of following through? The first two guests on this New Year's Resolutions special are Dave McRaney of the podcast, "You Are Not So Smart" and Dr. Peter Whybrow,Director of the Semel Institute at U.C.L.A., author of The Well-Tuned Brain: Neuroscience And The Life Well Lived."Dave dives in to confirmation bias, when...

If you want to get of sense of what we're about, this highlights show may be a good place to start. We've put together a "best of" podcast that reflects our values and makes the argument for why we're worth listening to. From Episode 4, released in June, reformer Philip K. Howard made the case for better government and simpler, shorter laws, instead of all the red tape and tangled mess that we hav...

We love our smartphones, tablets, and laptops. But what is the explosion in mobile technology doing to our brains? Our guest, Professor Abigail Baird,is a developmental psychologist,expert on the teenage brain and mother of two young children. She says technology has great benefits, but also could have a negative impact on our conversations, memory and social life. The brain's craving for novelty...

From angry scenes over Halloween costumes at Yale to protests against racism at the University of Missouri, student activism is back.  More than at any time since the late 1960's, America is in the middle of a wave of college unrest.  To what extent do students today have genuine grievances? Are at least some of them rebels without a cause - angry because their feelings have been hurt?  “ Step by...