Aspen Ideas to Go

Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller is scheduled to testify in front of Congress Wednesday. He’ll answer questions about the 400-plus page report he delivered to the Attorney General in March. The report details a two-year investigation on Russian election interference and whether President Trump obstructed justice. It left almost as many open questions as there were before Mueller began his pro...

Who controls a woman's body? Herself? Her church? Her community? Her government? Leana Wen, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, says women’s health and rights have become a political game and her organization is fighting back. New court cases threaten to erode or overturn Roe v. Wade, the Federal law that legalized abortion, says Wen. She says some women are already living a...

After Russia interfered in the 2016 US presidential election, the social media giant Facebook came under deep scrutiny. Rightly so — much of the interference happened on its platform. Mark Zuckerberg, president, CEO, and founder of Facebook, says the company has spent billions and hired ten’s of thousands of people to deal with security. Still, he doesn’t want Facebook to deal with the problem alo...

Before it wrapped up its term in June, the Supreme Court made decisions on two landmark cases: political gerrymandering and the census. How do these decisions and the makeup of the current Court foretell what’s to come on issues like Roe v. Wade, voting rights, and free speech? A panel of leading legal experts weighs in on how this term will impact the issues at the core of American life. Panelist...

Paul Ryan may no longer be a member of Congress but he's still paying attention to the issues. The former Speaker of the US House retired in January. In this interview with Judy Woodruff, anchor and managing editor of "PBS NewsHour," Ryan talks about immigration, the upcoming presidential election, and why he agrees with President Trump about trade and China. Their conversation was held June 23, 2...

What does it mean to be American? How is that story best told and understood? New York Times columnist David Brooks talks with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and undocumented immigrant Jose Antonio Vargas about citizenship without certainty. Vargas was smuggled from the Philippines to his grandparents’ home in California when he was 12 years old. He discovered a few years later that he was undo...

Millennials check their phones 150 times a day, more than 2 billion people use Facebook, and another 2 billion use YouTube. What’s the root of our digital addiction? Tristan Harris, former Google ethicist and founder of the Center for Humane Technology, says these companies have perfected the use of persuasive technology and we’ve fallen for it. It’s a problem, says Harris, because technology has...

Leading up to the US presidential election in 2016, Kansas pastor Adam Hamilton noticed the people in his congregation wrestling with fear. Campaign speeches and negative ads stoked anxiety, but personal fears, such as disappointment and failure, weighed on the people in his church. Hamilton, who founded the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, explains tools for dealing...

The clothing and outdoor gear company Patagonia bills itself as “the activist company” and lately, it’s been particularly active. Following the 2016 US presidential election, Patagonia donated its Black Friday sales to environmental groups. The company sued the Trump Administration for its resolution to reduce two national monuments in Utah, and in 2018 the company announced it was donating the mo...

It used to be that having a “bird brain” was an insult. Now, it’s practically a compliment! Turns out the brain of a bird, which is small enough to fit into a nut, is full of neurons. These animals are capable of complex cognition — they can solve problems, count, understand cause and effect, and even communicate in ways that resemble language. Jennifer Ackerman chronicles birds’ intelligence in h...

Read Jeffrey Rosen's article, America Is Living James Madison's Nightmare in The Atlantic . The views and opinions of the speakers in the podcast do not necessarily reflect those of the Aspen Institute. aspenideas.org

How are the tools we use to solve personal crises related to national problems? Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jared Diamond says the ways we deal with problems like divorce, the death of a loved one, a serious health problem, or financial troubles, can be used to effectively deal with crises in countries. In his newly-released book, "Upheaval: Turning Points for Nations in Crisis," Diamond examine...

The way friends talk to one another can either bring them closer or create distance. When it comes to women’s friendships, author Deborah Tannen says women talk more often (than men), at greater length, and about more personal topics. Men’s friendships tend to be more focused around activity. Either way, friendships between women, men, and women and men can be gratifying…and complicated. Tannen ta...

Millennials shoulder a lot of stereotypes. They’re called entitled and in need of instant gratification. They’re not committed to their work and expect a work-life balance at their very first job. Do these labels actually define them? Are they really any different than the generations before them? In this lighthearted and informative conversation, organizational psychologist Adam Grant and inspira...

Mary Robinson ’s book, Climate Justice , records the stories of people experiencing effects from climate change first-hand. They’re not staying silent. From Malawi to Mongolia, people are waging a battle for climate justice, many of them women from poor communities. Robinson, the former president of Ireland and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, believes climate change is one of the most press...

What if we could turn back time and reverse extinction? Famed writer, biologist, and environmentalist Stewart Brand is attempting this with an organization he co-founded. Revive and Restore is building a tool kit for genetic restoration that would allow the rebirth of species, like the woolly mammoth. Brand says the absence of these animals has left a gap and reviving them will re-enrich the entir...

Economists who have researched happiness over a lifetime find it starts to decline after adolescence and noticeably dips when people enter middle age. How can we avoid the middle age blues and feel purposeful later in life? Arthur Brooks , behavioral economist and American Enterprise Institute president, uses eastern and western philosophies, classical music, and the latest research to give usable...

A recent blockbuster article by journalist Jane Mayer examines close ties between the White House and Fox News. The piece, published in The New Yorker , spurred the Democratic National Committee to choose not to allow Fox to hold any of its presidential debates. In this broad conversation, Mayer touches on the Fox News article, another piece on Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and her book D...

Christian Picciolini went to his first white supremacist skinhead meeting at age 14. A lonely and bullied child, he was quickly swept into the movement and eventually became a leader. In this candid conversation, he speaks with journalist Matt Thompson about why he decided to leave the skinhead movement and turn his life around. Picciolini now helps people disengage from hate groups through an org...

The truth is under assault in America, according to Marty Baron , executive editor of The Washington Post . By labeling the press as the opposition party and calling into questions facts, President Trump is subverting the role of free and independent news, says Baron. Baron talks with Brian Stelter , host of CNN’s “Reliable Sources,” about how his journalists are operating in a fake news atmospher...

Kate Bowler and Elaine Pagels both teach religion, write about religion, and have experienced immense hardships. In this frank and funny conversation, they explore why people still seek ancient religious teachings in our modern age. In moving and relatable moments, they explain how they overcome loss, illness, and isolation. Pagels is the author of The Gnostic Gospels and Why Religion?: A Personal...

The latest World Happiness Report puts the United States in 18th place, behind all the Scandinavian countries, Costa Rica, Canada, and others. The report, issued annually by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, looks at income, healthy life expectancy, social support, freedom, trust, and generosity. Another happiness list from National Geographic puts Boulder, Colorado in first place...

Nearly two decades ago, author Colson Whitehead began thinking about writing about the Underground Railroad. “I remembered when I was a kid, I first heard those words…I thought it was a literal train beneath the earth,” he says. He put pen to paper and the result was the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Underground Railroad . In it, the historic secret network of safehouses for runaway slaves beco...

When Americans elected their first black president more than a decade ago, some questioned whether the country had transitioned into a post-racial era. But today race is a more prominent and intransigent problem than ever. As the US grapples with issues like identity politics, the Travel Ban, a wall on the southern border, and Black Lives Matter, writers Jelani Cobb and Wajahat Ali question the li...

When your dog wags its tail or welcomes you home, what are they thinking about? How do they perceive you and the world around them? Two canine cognition scientists, Alexandra Horowitz and Brian Hare , share what dogs know, understand, and believe. This field of research is growing and these scientists are gaining valuable insight in the minds of America’s most popular pet. Show Notes Listen to The...