Aspen Ideas to Go

In the United States, the number of people attending church is declining. So where are people going to find meaning and community? Casper ter Kuile, Harvard ministry innovation fellow, says fitness classes, advocacy groups, and maker’s spaces are taking the place of congregations – they’re providing people with a sense of identity. Casper ter Kuile speaks with other spirituality experts in a conve...

Former Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal thinks American democracy is at risk if President Trump isn’t held accountable for abusing his office’s power for political gain. In December, the US House impeached Trump. Now Katyal believes the Senate should vote to remove him from office. Katyal, who has argued dozens of cases before the Supreme Court, says Trump’s actions — asking foreign powers to...

Why is it that simple pleasures such as bubbles, rainbows, and hot air balloons bring joy to most people? Designer Ingrid Fetell Lee says, “there’s something really powerful in the idea that we all find joy in the same things,” especially items with little significance otherwise. Fetell Lee studied how our physical environment impacts our well-being, both physically and psychologically. She believ...

In the age of streaming entertainment, there’s Apple, Disney, Comcast, and many others. But it began with Netflix. In 2013 Netflix shifted from a distribution company (remember the mailed DVDs?) to a distribution and content creation business. Some of the company’s first shows were hits like “House of Cards” and “Orange is the New Black.” Ted Sarandos, chief content officer for Netflix, describes...

In July of 2017, Alex Honnold became the first person to ever free-solo climb the face of Yosemite’s El Capitan. He climbed nearly 3,000 vertical feet alone and without ropes. The historic feat was captured in the Academy Award-winning film, “Free Solo.” He says self-confidence helped him complete the climb. “If you get scared while free-soloing, [your self-confidence] starts to crumble a little b...

Writers Tara Westover and Sarah Smarsh grew up in rural parts of the mid-section of America and chronicled the stories of their childhoods in best-selling books. While the books vary in emphasis, structure, and theme, both writers agree that people in the Heartland are easily stereotyped by the national media and politicians. “There’s a real gulf between the story we tell ourselves about a country...

Artificial intelligence isn’t something we’ll see in the future. Thinking machines are already here, and nine powerful companies in the US and China control their development. The spam filter in your email inbox is AI. So are programs like Google Translate. The next level for thinking machines is when they begin learning the way humans learn. As artificial intelligence gets refined, who’s keeping...

In the 2016 presidential election, more than 80 percent of white evangelicals voted for President Trump. At one point (in the 19th century) evangelicals were associated with malcontents who fought for prison reform, abolitionism, and even early feminism. Now, this group is “the most loyal and most vital element of the Trump coalition,” says Michael Gerson, syndicated columnist for The Washington P...

Two Pulitzer Prize-winning historians explain the difference between myth and reality in American history. David Blight, a professor at Yale, says we use myths to help process history, which can be dismal. “Much of history is dark because human nature is dark. We sometimes have to process the past in sentimentalism — in stories that allow us to wake up in the morning.” Annette Gordon-Reed, an Amer...

Tara Westover's childhood was distinct. Raised by survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, she encountered extreme adversity. She wasn't allowed to attend school, and instead worked in her father's junkyard. She suffered serious injuries, and was sometimes at the mercy of a volatile and abusive older brother. She chronicled her story in "Educated," a best-selling book she hopes people find relatabl...

Bias is natural — it’s one way we make sense of the world. It becomes problematic when our biases become stereotypes and prejudices. So how do we manage bias, particularly in the classroom and workplace? Jennifer Eberhardt, author of “Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do,” sits down with Adam Grant, host of the WorkLife podcast to go over the science behin...

When she was 35 years old, Kate Bowler was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer. She had been on an upward spiral: thriving in her career and loving life with her husband and newborn son. Bowler, who’s a scholar of Christianity, had just written the book “Blessed,” about the Christian idea that good things happen to good people. But through her experience of personal suffering, she realized no amo...

Countering racism is essential to the formation of a just and equitable society — so how can we fight it? Ibram X. Kendi says to be able to recognize racism we need to define it and then understand it’s opposite: antiracism. In his new best-selling book , How to Be an Antiracist , Kendi explains that racism is powerful and can change the way we see and value others and ourselves. How can we recogn...

In modern-day medicine, doctors have little time to spend with patients because rote tasks, like taking notes and performing medical scans, use up their precious time. Eric Topol, a prominent cardiologist, says there has been a steady degradation of the human side of health care – ever since medicine became big business. “We have de-humanized health care. We have gutted the care of health care. Th...

The Supreme Court will take up contentious issues like gay rights, health care, abortion, and DACA this term, which kicked off Monday. The outcome of these cases may hinge on one vote — from Chief Justice John Roberts. Roberts is at the center of the Court not just because he’s Chief but because he’s a swing vote. Joan Biskupic, author of The Chief: The Life and Turbulent Times of Chief Justice Jo...

One of the most lawless places on earth is the high seas – remote waters, often hundreds of miles from shore. These largely ungoverned waters play host to criminal acts like sea slavery, gun running, human trafficking, and abuse of stowaways. “The lack of protections for the people who work above the water line and the creatures below, I think, is a huge problem,” says New York Times investigative...

When our bank accounts are full, are we happier? Does a pay raise at work equal increased joy? What is the link between money and happiness? Behavioral scientist Elizabeth Dunn says money can buy happiness if you follow some core principles of smart spending. She and Robert Frank, Cornell professor and author of the Economic View column in The New York Times , explain how changing the way we think...

Three decades ago, writer Bill McKibben gave a warning about impacts from global warming in his book The End of Nature . Since then, little has been done to tackle the problem, which is growing. Weather events are worsening and communities are suffering from stronger storms, heat waves, wildfires, and more. “The world is now in violent and chaotic flux,” he says. To address this emergency, he sugg...

With just five months until primary season ramps up in the United States, what’s being done to ensure bad actors don’t attack our elections? In 2016, Russia used cyberattacks and social media to sow division in the presidential race. What lessons were learned by companies like Facebook and entities like NATO and the Federal Government? Facebook’s head of election security, Katie Harbath, sits down...

How did an Iranian-born single mom make her way to the “room where it happened,” ultimately serving as one of the closest advisors to the president of the United States? As the longest running senior advisor to a US president in history, Valerie Jarrett worked with President Obama during his 8 years in office. Before reaching the White House, Jarrett dealt with hardships like a failed marriage and...

As the US and China continue their trade war, economic instability is rising in countries around the world. Gita Gopinath, chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, says the number one risk to the global economy is the trade war. The IMF is seeing weakening in industrial production, manufacturing, and investment. “All of this is very closely tied to trade, trade uncertainty, and policies...

Starting in the 1970s, political scientist Francis Fukuyama says the world saw a significant expansion of democracy. Dozens of countries were becoming democracies and by 2008, more than 100 democracies existed around the globe. Now, says Fukuyama, liberal democracy is being challenged by populist nationalist leaders and they’re fanning the flames of identity politics. Instead of uniting over a sha...

Karl Rove served as deputy chief of staff and senior advisor to President George W. Bush before becoming a Fox News contributor. He has his finger on the pulse of today’s Republican party, but remembers a time when the party looked different. Today, more party members consider themselves nationalist and populist. Many are less concerned with deficient and smaller government and more worried about...

Is the relationship between the United States and Mexico on shaky ground? This year, President Trump threatened to impose tariffs on Mexican imports if the country didn’t stop the flow of migrants from Central America. And, just this week, Mexican officials called a fatal shooting at an El Paso department store that killed eight Mexican nationals an “act of terrorism." Will the issues at the borde...

In a wide-reaching discussion from the Aspen Security Forum, Jens Stoltenberg, secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), discusses the major threats in the world today. From cyber warfare to Russia pulling out of a key nuclear arms treaty, the 29-member alliance is grappling with challenges across the globe. Stoltenberg speaks with Courtney Kube, Pentagon and Defense Depa...