Aspen Ideas to Go

Why do human beings explore? And, why are the most adventurous explorers drawn to outer space? Naturalist and astronomer David Aguilar explains why the drive for adventure fades after childhood, and how we can regain it as adults. Also, a group of physicists dig into what the universe is made of. Janna Levin, Lisa Randall, and Lawrence Krauss debate black holes, and whether they actually exist. Th...

Less than a month into his presidency, Donald Trump made combative and accusatory remarks on Twitter about the intelligence community for a report on Russian connections. Are his messages undermining the legitimacy of the intelligence community? If so, will the agencies be less effective in making decisions around national security? Former CIA and NSA Director Michael Hayden joins former acting CI...

Kleptocracy presents a growing threat to US national security and international peace, as money laundering and other forms of public “grand corruption” increasingly undermine democracy, cripple development, weaken Western soft power, and accelerate state collapse. Can an International Anti-Corruption Court, modeled on the International Criminal Court in The Hague, tackle the problem? Meryl Chertof...

Margot Lee Shetterly, author of Hidden Figures , says “It’s one thing to tell your own story, it’s another thing to take responsibility to tell someone else’s life.” Her book about a group of black women mathematicians who helped catapult the US space program to success became a blockbuster film. In this episode, she tells Michele Norris, former NPR host and director of an Aspen Institute program,...

Renowned Harvard psychologist Dan Gilbert describes the foibles of imagination and illusions of foresight that cause each of us to misconceive our tomorrows and misestimate our satisfactions. Vividly bringing to life the latest scientific research in psychology, cognitive neuroscience, philosophy, and behavioral economics, Gilbert reveals what scientists have discovered about the uniquely human ab...

If the 20 years from 1995 to 2015 were shaped in significant measure by digitization and the rise of the internet, what’s next? What will define the next decade? Drawing from his highly-praised New York Times best-seller The Industries of the Future, Alec Ross provides a view into the forces that will carve tomorrow’s economy and the difficult, necessary steps that must be taken to prepare ourselv...

Albert Einstein was no Einstein when he was a kid. He was slow to talk and was even dubbed “the dopey one.” But, Einstein said, slow development gave him time to wonder about things most people don’t spend time on and as a result, his imagination flourished. In this rebroadcast, Aspen Institute President and Einstein biographer Walter Isaacson delves into the source of Einstein’s creativity. Where...

Everything—from the country’s place in the world to the social contract between citizens, government, and the private sector—seems to be knotted in hard, uncompromising debates. In this episode, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, former presidential advisor David Gergen, and Steve...

Chaos in the Middle East, instability in Europe, and a reckless North Korea are signals that the world is increasingly defined by disorder. Author and Council on Foreign Relations President Richard Haass says the world needs an updated global operating system. The guidelines and institutions that have led the world since World War II are outdated and unable to deal with modern threats like terrori...

Thanks to technology, we are more connected than ever—digitally. But at what cost? How have technologies, like online dating sites and apps like Tinder, changed attitudes and behaviors? How do we choose a partner and stay interested when we have an almost infinite world of choices at our fingertips? Will marriage become a thing of the past? Match.com’s Chief Scientific Advisor Helen Fisher joins E...

The world is more complex and volatile today than at any other time in modern history. In order to successfully navigate a rapidly changing world, author and MIT Media Lab Director, Joichi “Joi” Ito says you must be alert and nimble. In his book Whiplash: How to Survive Our Faster Future , he writes the people who succeed will be the ones who learn to think differently. In this conversation with A...

As the US continues to grapple with issues of race, history is proving to be an invaluable tool to underscore and discuss uncomfortable truths still governing the dynamics of race. How can history help us face and overcome troubling truths? Bryan Stevenson, founder and director of the Equal Justice Initiative, speaks with Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust about his organization’s efforts to buil...

Author and former labor union leader Andy Stern thinks universal basic income is the key to solving problems plaguing America’s economy. He wrote about it in his book Raising the Floor: How a Universal Basic Income Can Renew Our Economy and Rebuild the American Dream . As technology takes over jobs humans used to do, the old idea is gaining new attention. Universal basic income has been supported...

How are diet and lifestyle linked to bacterial communities in the gut? How can growing knowledge about gut health be used to develop new therapies? Researchers are learning how the gut microbiome responds to the food we eat, influencing obesity, autoimmune disorders, cardiovascular disease, and even mental health. Trillions of bacteria inhabit the human gut, working in close and complex symbiosis...

Those who study human behavior have learned that simply by encouraging—or “nudging”—individuals toward the right decisions for themselves, dramatic improvements can be made. Cultural commentator David Brooks and Cass Sunstein, legal scholar and the founder and director of the Program on Behavioral Economics and Public Policy at Harvard Law School, discuss the power of “nudge” and how, broadly impl...

In these final days of Barack Obama’s presidency, we consider how the future will view his leadership. Will economic recovery and health care victories at home be overshadowed by what many see as his failure to intervene meaningfully in conflicts abroad? Critics on the left wish the president had gone further on several key issues, while critics on the right have little good to say about Obama’s g...

What actually happens to the brain when we meditate? Published studies have documented the many physical and mental health benefits of meditation, including decreased pain, better immune function, less anxiety and depression, a heightened sense of well-being, and greater happiness and emotional self-control. Imaging studies show, with meditation there’s increased activity in brain regions associat...

“I spent the first half of my life being afraid,” says Jennifer Finney Boylan, author of the bestselling memoir of transgender experience, She’s Not There , “and the second half telling people to be brave.” In this episode, Boylan opens up about her battle with suicide, how society treats her differently as a female, and the power of love and family. She talks about living life as a father for six...

Author and New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman says the world has entered an age of dizzying acceleration, and in this episode, he explains how to live in it. His latest book Thank you for Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations delves into mega changes in terms of computing power, the global economy, and the environment. How do these changes interact? How d...

Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis was the greatest critic of big business and big government since Thomas Jefferson. He served in the early 20th century and was the Court’s first Jewish justice. In this lively conversation, Jeffrey Rosen of the National Constitution Center talks with Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic , about Brandeis’s relevance in today’s political climate, and...

Why do happily married couples cheat? Why does the modern egalitarian approach to marriage quash desire? Are the heightened expectations we bring to modern love combined with our pursuit of happiness directly related to infidelity? In this episode, author and couples therapist Esther Perel tackles the topic of infidelity. Perel is recognized as one of the most insightful and provocative voices on...

New York Times columnist David Brooks explores a life well lived. In this episode he examines happiness and commitments. In his book The Road to Character , he studies people who radiate an inner light. What work did they do to reach higher levels of happiness? A successful life usually depends on making four major commitments: to spouse or family, a faith or philosophy, a community, and a vocatio...

Mike Mullen, retired admiral and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says the national security challenges the new Trump administration will face are plentiful. Mullen gives insight into President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for national security advisor, General Mike Flynn. What kind of leader will he be? And how will he guide Trump – who has no national security experience – on issues ce...

To find the path to long life and health, Dan Buettner and his team study the world’s “Blue Zones,” communities whose elders live with vim and vigor to record-setting age. In this episode, Buettner debunks the most common nutrition myths and offers a science-backed blueprint that outlines how the average American can live another 12 quality years. What are the diet and lifestyle habits that keep p...

Most people think that happiness has four sources: the sensory pleasures, material wealth, romantic relationships, and children. But recent research suggests that much of what people think about happiness is wrong. Daniel Gilbert, author of "Stumbling on Happiness," hosts this symposium in which experts discuss what science has discovered about each of these sources. The featured speakers are Paul...