Aspen Ideas to Go

Today’s women are warriors and peacemakers, athletes and artists. Women in leadership roles can play a crucial role in leading us toward a better and more equitable future, and women must be part of the solution to the current global crises. Former US secretary of state Madeleine K. Albright and former prime minister of New Zealand the Honorable Helen Clark are trailbreaking leaders and powerful a...

Psychologist Angela Duckworth explains how to raise a child with strong character. Duckworth, who's the author of Grit and a MacArthur "Genius," talks with Jackie Bezos about how young people learn to be grateful, vulnerable, and fearless by modeling the adults in their lives. (This conversation is from the 2018 Aspen Ideas Festival.) aspenideas.org

Corporations can play a critical role in closing the wealth gap and confronting systemic racism in America. Taking a hard look at diversity in their workforces, supply chains, and customer bases will pay off — not just in a better corporate image but in an improved economy that benefits everyone, including the corporations. “We as leaders, those of us in positions of power, have an obligation to s...

With millions of Americans already infected with COVID-19, public health officials are working to ensure that a safe and effective vaccine is available for every American who wants one. They also want to be sure people aren’t afraid of getting those shots. Nancy Messonnier, M.D., is director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. She leads the Center for Disease Control’...

The American Dream says hard work will lead to a better life. But Harvard professor Micheal Sandel says climbing the ladder of success is getting harder in the United States, because the rungs on the ladder are growing further apart. He says inequality is deeper and upward mobility has stalled — and that’s a failure of the meritocracy, the governing elites, a group desperate to hold on to status a...

Current political fault lines are fracturing American society as people grow further apart from one another due to differing beliefs and opinions. We often see people we disagree with as caricatures, and think we can never reconcile our differences. Yet despite that sense of contradiction we are much closer to each other than we think. To bridge the divide, we have to strengthen the bonds that mak...

It’s time to slow down and start again to remake American culture and undo systemic racism, says author and Yale professor Claudia Rankine. White Americans must wade into the waters of whiteness, and interrogate their own responses to Blackness. They need to see how policies and institutions continue the patterns of segregation and legacies of white supremacy. Eric Liu of the Aspen Institute’s Cit...

The civil rights movement has affected all Americans, whether they realize it or not. The opportunity for everyone to vote represents a major shift, but changes in education, housing and even sports reflect the strategic leadership of activists throughout American history. Civil rights experts and Stanford University professors Pamela Karlan and James Steyer discuss the history of civil rights mov...

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks says liberal democracy has become about “me” instead of “us.” In his new book, Morality: Restoring the Common Good in Divided Times, Sacks says we are losing our strong, shared moral code and that’s challenging our sense of community and common good. Growth comes from an openness to others who may not be like us and, he says, developing a moral bond based on mutual accept...

As scientists work to develop a vaccine to battle the coronavirus pandemic, many people question whether the process has been rushed and if the results will be effective and safe. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is responsible for approving new vaccines in this country. FDA commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn and former FDA commissioner Dr. Peggy Hamburg say the agency uses data driven techniques...

From domestic election security and counterterrorism, to U.S. interests around the globe, the National Security Advisor provides solutions to the most critical challenges of our time. President Trump’s National Security Advisor, Ambassador Robert O’Brien, joins former National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley. Theydiscuss critical issues including Washington’s response to China and Russia’s rising...

The 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to molecular microbiologists Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier for their work on CRISPR, the revolutionary technology that gives scientists a way to accurately cut DNA and transform the genetic code of life. Likened to a pair of “genetic scissors,” CRISPR could open the door to cures for some cancers, sickle cell anemia, and other diseases. Bu...

Usually, heart health is only addressed in adults. But recent research shows that cardiovascular damage is detectable as early as age 15. The good news is teaching even very young children about good nutrition, exercise and ways to deal with stress, may help combat heart disease, the leading cause of death around the world. Two cardiologists discuss recent discoveries and research in improving car...

Tensions are mounting across the United States and around the world. People from all walks of life often feel like their opinions aren’t respected or heard, leading to bitter disagreements that drive wedges between family members, neighbors, and communities. That’s where the Better Arguments Project comes in. Designed to foster a culture where we can learn to come together by arguing and directly...

The late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the second female justice confirmed to the US Supreme Court, told an Aspen Institute crowd in 2017 that her experiences as a woman gave her a unique perspective on the Court. She talked about her relationships with Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and the late Antonin Scalia. She also explained what it was like to work with newly-elected Justice Neil Gorsuch. Her discussi...

Antibodies, convalescent plasma, gene-based vaccines — you may have heard these terms on the evening news, but what do they mean? How might they help in the battle against Covid-19? As the race to develop a vaccine continues, questions remain about effectiveness, testing, and whether people will actually get the vaccine once it’s on the market. Two medical experts involved in the fight explain the...

When the US economy begins to recover, former US Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers says there will be winners and losers. The recovery will be more bearable for the rich than the poor. He believes the recovery includes three stages: collapse, bounce-back, and slog. We’ve experienced collapse and bounce-back already. “Now we’re headed for a slog,” he says, “where we’re going to play mediocre wack...

Disinformation online is on the minds of voters, candidates, government officials, and technology platforms as the US election gets closer. Already experts have seen disinformation campaigns around the Covid-19 pandemic, which could spell trouble in November, says Laura Rosenberger, director of the Alliance for Securing Democracy. “When you’re sowing doubt about the information the government is p...

The pandemic and social unrest around racism make it a challenging time for students and educators, but it’s also a period of opportunity. Janice Jackson, CEO of Chicago Public Schools, says it’s time to address long-standing inequities in education. In her district, the third largest in the country, students have been learning about justice and restorative practices — even before the death of Geo...

Wes Moore, author of Five Days: The Fiery Reckoning of an American City  (written with Erica Green), says communities around the United States must confront systemic racism. His book, about the life of Freddie Gray delves into the uprising that followed Gray’s death just days after he was taken into police custody. With the recent death of George Floyd, Moore says we’re reliving history. In a conv...

One-hundred years ago this month, women suffragists celebrated the passage of the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution. The hard-fought battle to win the right to vote lasted decades. Since then, what strides have women made toward gender equality? What hurdles remain? Cecile Richards, former president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, says women are becoming the most powerful poli...

The time we’re living in is unusually tumultuous. The Covid-19 pandemic is causing loss, disruption, illness, grief, anxiety, and uncertainty. The killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and many others have fueled pain and anger around racial injustice. “We have all lost our fundamental way of life to some degree or another,” say psychologist Guy Winch, “We are all dealing with massive uncertai...

George Will, author of The Conservative Sensibility , says conservatism is “an orphan persuasion.” Will, who changed his voter affiliation from Republican to unaffiliated four years ago, thinks conservatism is under threat — both from progressives and elements inside the Republican Party. In a broad-reaching discussion with Susan Page, Washington bureau chief for USA Today , he talks about the tra...

As the presidential election approaches, voters are considering factors unique to 2020. While divides on a number of fronts and growing distrust in government may motivate some voters, there’s also deepening concern about America’s response to the Covid-19 crisis and the resulting recession. How will such a chaotic environment continue to shape the public's interests and discourse, and how much wi...

David Agus , author of The Lucky Years: How to Thrive in the Brave New World of Health , says we’re living in a golden age when the latest science and technology can customize care. Tools that track behavior like how much we sleep and walk are now widely available. Such technology, says Agus, can help us control chronic conditions, reverse aging, and improve health overall. In his conversation wit...