How Do We Fix It?

America is facing a reading crisis. According to a  government survey  the number of adults who read for pleasure has fallen by more than 30% in less than 15 years.  Another recent study  found that Americans watch an average of three hours of TV a day, compared to less than half-an-hour spent reading. "Reading is seeing the world through someone else's eyes", says Professor&nb...

The high stakes show-down between the U.S. and China on tariffs, trade and cyber security threatens to disrupt the global economy.  Growing tensions  were temporarily put on pause during a recent meeting at the Group of 20 summit between President Trump and China's leader Xi Jinping. But many long-term challenges remain. Relations with China are the most important foreign policy issue. T...

What you think is true doesn't necessarily line up with reality. From the heated debate over gun violence deaths to our views about violent crime and global poverty, many of us have serious perception gaps.  Democracy can be damaged when public opinion is out-of-step with the facts. The opioid epidemic is often in the headlines and was recently declared a public health emergency. But did you...

The opioid and heroin epidemic has caused massive destruction suffering and pain.  After rising for many decades, America’s life expectancy rate has dropped for the past two years in a row. Nearly 50 thousand Americans last year were the victims of  opioid overdose  deaths-- twice the rate  of other wealthy nations. But now, because of impressive initiatives to tackle the crisi...

Artificial intelligence will lead to sweeping changes in our society, economy and relationship with work. China has suddenly caught up with The United States and will exercise much greater technological power in the future. "We will not have to do routine jobs anymore," says our guest,  Kai-Fu-Lee.  "AI will take over in the next 15 to 20 years all the routine jobs that we have and...

Just in time for Thanksgiving, we speak with best-selling author and "immersive journalist"  A.J. Jacobs  about his extraordinary gratitude project and brand new book,  "Thanks a Thousand". He decided to say "thank you" to every single person involved in producing his morning cup of coffee. "It turned out to be thousands of people," A.J. tells us. "I thanked the barista, the lid des...

What are the most inspiring, exasperating, unique, important, and first-in-our-lifetime results from the Midterm Elections? In this special edition, Jim and Richard give their Quick Fixes take on how American voted. We discuss: Donald Trump's turnout gift, why the economy played a far larger role than election analysts admit; the serious problems that now face both Republicans and Democrats, the i...

How can America recover from  hatred , distrust and resentment that have lead to  deep divisions , the fraying of our civic institutions and even violence, such as the recent  Pittsburgh synagogue shooting ? This episode, recorded at  ReCity  in Durham, North Carolina, is the third in our renewing democracy podcasts, where we report on collaborative efforts to promote resp...

Polarization is tearing us apart. Bullying and bluster are two of the most common ingredients in American democracy. How can we renew democracy and restore the sort of trust that is essential for governance? This episode looks at the constructive and energetic responses of two local and national groups in Minnesota. We visit a  Living Room Conversation  discussion on race at  M...

American democracy is in crisis and politics have become weaponized with name calling and personal attacks. Trust in national institutions and the media is at an  all-time low.   Congress and  The Supreme Court  are much more likely than in the past to cast predictable party-line votes. As a nation we are failing to make creative solutions, based on compromise. This episode is...

Never before in living memory has America been so deeply divided, and this paralysis threatens to weaken and corrode democracy. Ideological silos have become much more common among both conservatives and liberals. One opinion poll says 7 in 10 Americans believe that our politics have reached a dangerous low point. And most say the climate is a new normal— not temporary. This is the first of four “...

At a time of fractured politics and failed leadership, what lessons can be learned from Ronald Reagan-- one of the most significant presidents in our history? Considered a dangerous outsider by critics when he was elected in 1980, he appeared to be enthralled with happy endings and disinterested in many of the finer details of economic and social policy. And yet America's fortieth president presid...

A  recent poll  finds that two-thirds of Americans often or occasionally get news from social media. But many consumers are highly skeptical of the information they see on Facebook and other sites, expecting it to be "largely inaccurate." Now a new company,  Newsguard,  uses journalism to fight the epidemic of false stories, misinformation and outright propaganda, helping reade...

Are identity politics ruining democracy? National and global institutions are in a state of decay, and identity fuels much of today's debates in America and across the world.  On the right, Donald Trump seized on the grievances and resentment of white working class voters and others who felt let down by the impact of globalism and technology. On the left, social and political movements b...

In recent decades, business strategy has been built on the idea that we must compete to win. But what if the competitive model of business is now broken? In today’s interconnected, digital world, strategies to create competitive advantage may be holding us back— with a negative impact on the workplace and the economy. In his new book “ Collaborative Advantage: How Col...

At the recent funeral for Republican Senator John McCain, former Presidents and leaders of both parties paid tribute to his belief that America "is a nation of ideals, not blood and soil." In the farewell statement  to the country he loved, Senator McCain described our democracy as “325 million opinionated, vociferous individuals.”  The funeral was a rare, and perhaps passing moment...

Tyson talks about the possibility of intelligent life on other planets, tackles science deniers on the right and left, and explains why we should invest more in pure science. Tyson also discusses his book, "Astrophysics for People in a Hurry.” "What's curious to me is you have the liberal community claiming the (moral) high road ...against the science deniers of the right with regard to global war...

Neil deGrasse Tyson , America’s most prominent spokesman for science and Director of New York City’s  Hayden Planetarium , talks about the benefits of a cosmic perspective, the case for manned space flight and much more in this first part of our wide-ranging conversation. We also discussed Tyson's book, " Astrophysics for People in a Hurry ." Richard and Jim met Tyson at his offices at The&nb...

The national suicide rate rose 28% from 1999 to 2016, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2016, alone, 45,000 people took their own lives. This year's suicides of celebrity chef  Anthony Bourdain  and fashion designer,  Kate Spade , focused new attention on the crisis. Why is the U.S. suicide rate as high as it was one hundred years ago? What are proven w...

Was Donald Trump's election a one-off event, or did it represent a fundamental realignment of American politics? Washington-based political experts wrongly called the 2016 election, and our guest,  Salena Zito , author of  "The Great Revolt" , argues that they keep blowing it today. Democrats who ignore the concerns of those who went for Obama in 2012, but then backed Trum...

From ancient times to the present day, women and men have brought meaning to their lives through storytelling. Before the invention of the printing press, ancient societies passed on the knowledge and wisdom of one generation to the next through oral history.  Today, no other medium is as intimate and personal as podcasting. We are the town criers of our time. In this "Quick Fix" episode, Ric...

Free speech on campus is under assault at many colleges and universities. From  disinviting commencement speakers  to shouting down professors and others they disagree with, some students demand "safe spaces" from controversial remarks and what they call micro-aggressions. So far, 1800 professors from the right, left, center and other political leanings have joined the effort to bridge t...

President Trump has withdrawn from international agreements, criticized NATO, The European Union, and attacked the policies of Canada, Mexico, Britain, France and Germany-- all traditional allies. He praised President Putin, and continues to sow chaos in the international trading system, reportedly threatening to pull the U.S. out of the World Trade Organization-- W.T.O. This last step, above all,...

America's landscape of towns and cities is ever-changing. Countless Main Streets and small downtowns were eviscerated by big box stores, globalization, online commerce and poor planning. But today, many resilient communities are fighting back. Called "one of America's  very best singer-songwriters " by The New Yorker, our guest,  Dar Williams , tells us how towns and cities can turn them...

We discuss the American Revolution and the meaning of freedom with acclaimed historian and journalist,  Russell Shorto , author of the 2018 book, " Revolution Song : A Story of American Freedom."Russell Shorto is also the writer of a fine new podcast series, " American History Tellers ." As the nation struggles with a political crisis and national discord, this episode-- released during the w...