Aspen Ideas to Go

Helen Fisher knows a thing or two about relationships. The Kinsey Institute research fellow and Match.com’s lead scientific advisor has spent her career studying couples and romantic behavior. The author of six books, her writing traces human family life from its origins in Africa over 20 million years ago to the internet dating sites and bedrooms of today. Her cutting-edge research, using brain i...

The world doesn’t lack for creative ideas—it lacks people to champion them. Once you have an idea, how do you communicate it? In this episode, Adam Grant, Wharton’s top-rated professor and a New York Times bestselling author of Originals, shares insights on how to speak up without getting silenced, and how to find allies in unexpected places. aspenideas.org

Vladimir Putin continues to taunt the US and Europe at every turn by testing NATO’s resolve, propping up Assad, provoking Ukraine, and even doing what he can to further complicate the migrant crisis. Domestically, Russia’s involvement in hacking the Democratic National Convention is in question. Heather Conley, Senior Vice President for Europe, Eurasia, and the Arctic; Director, Europe Program, Ce...

With the historic candidacy of Hillary Clinton, feminism is front and center this election. Be it wage inequality, women’s health, or paid family leave, many issues important to women at both ends of the economic divide are hotly contested. Dinner table wars rage, as boomer women and their millennial daughters disagree on Clinton, Sanders, and what being a feminist means when it comes to the vote....

What do today’s Republicans believe America’s role in the world should be? This week’s episode features US Sen. Tom Cotton, R-AR, discussing his support for presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump. Trump has some very different ideas than the Republican foreign policy establishment about the global alliance system, free trade, and the current nuclear order. Cotton, a leading figure in Republ...

Are we witnessing a new era in American politics? Two former Republican presidential candidates weigh in on the 2016 election. Newt Gingrich, former House Speaker, says the presidential race is unlike any he’s ever witnessed, characterized by rebellion against establishment politics in both parties. He predicts presumed Republican nominee Donald Trump will redefine the electoral map. Gingrich is b...

On June 23, voters in the UK chose to leave the European Union. Three days after the vote, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde spoke at the Aspen Ideas Festival in Aspen, Colorado. She calls the decision to leave the EU “heartbreaking.” In this episode, Lagarde is interviewed by Jane Harman, president of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and t...

TAKEOVER is a special series of episodes that puts you on the ground during the Aspen Ideas Festival in Aspen, Colorado. This episode features Pete Dominick (comedian, radio host) as takeover host in conversation with Michele Norris (journalist, The Race Card Project) and Alec Ross (Author, "The Industries of the Future"). Dominick infuses humor into interesting conversation about politics, cultur...

TAKEOVER is a special series of episodes that puts you on the ground during the Aspen Ideas Festival in Aspen, Colorado. This episode features Emily Yoffe (The Atlantic) as takeover host in conversation with Bryan Stevenson (Equal Justice Initiative), Helen Fisher (The Kinsey Institute, Match.com), and Geoffrey Stone (Univ. of Chicago Law School). Yoffe asks probing questions and touches on issues...

TAKEOVER is a special series of episodes that puts you on the ground during the Aspen Ideas Festival in Aspen, Colorado. This episode features Franklin Leonard (The Black List Table Reads podcast) as takeover host in conversation with Melody Barnes (former assistant to the president and director of the White House Domestic Policy Council; co-founder of MB2 Solutions), DeRay Mckesson (protestor, ci...

TAKEOVER is a special series of episodes that puts you on the ground during the Aspen Ideas Festival in Aspen, Colorado. This episode features Maria Hinojosa (NPR's Latino USA) as takeover host in conversation with Jose Antonio Vargas (journalist), Melvin Mar (producer, Fresh Off the Boat), and Roberto Villaseñor (former chief, Tucson Police Dept.). Music: Gillicuddy, Podington Bear aspenideas.org

TAKEOVER is a special series of episodes that put you on the ground during the Aspen Ideas Festival in Aspen, Colorado. This episode features Perri Peltz (documentary filmmaker and journalist) as takeover host in conversation with Piper Kerman (author, Orange is the New Black), Seth Berkley (founder of International AIDS Vaccine Initiative), and Adam Foss (co-founder of Prosecutor Integrity Instit...

Homicide remains an endemic, seemingly unsolvable problem in America. And violent crime afflicts African-American communities to a much greater degree than others, as does mass incarceration — and police violence. What is the cause of this crisis? What is the role of culture? Are there any solutions? This episode features New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu who has been confronting this crisis head-o...

Every summer, writers, professors, artists, activists, and others deliver their “big ideas” at the Aspen Ideas Festival. The onstage advice celebrates the Festival itself, which brings together great thinkers to debate and discuss the most important and fascinating issues of our time. The Festival marks its twelfth year in late June. This episode features “big ideas” from as far back as 2007 that...

Author and filmmaker Negin Farsad calls herself a social justice comedian. She works to prove that humor - just like activism - can effectively challenge deep-seated and sclerotic prejudices about race and religion. In her recent book, How to Make White People Laugh , she addresses the mistreatment and misperceptions of Muslims in the US after 9/11. In this episode, she's joined by radio host Dean...

Now, more than ever, a diversifying United States needs a shared base of knowledge. That’s according to Eric Liu, executive director of the Citizenship and American Identity Program at the Aspen Institute. He’s calling on the American public and cultural leaders to build a crowd-sourced national list of facts and references every American should know. In this “Extra” episode, he talks to David Hen...

Public radio host Diane Rehm lost her husband to Parkinson’s disease nearly two years ago. His was an unconventional death, where, in the end, he refused food, water, and medication. Physician-assisted suicide isn’t permitted in Maryland, the state where he died, so he took matters into his own hands. Now, Diane Rehm is an advocate in the right-to-die debate, or what she terms “right-to-choose.” I...

Now, more than ever, a diversifying United States needs a shared base of knowledge. That’s according to Eric Liu, executive director of the Citizenship and American Identity Program at the Aspen Institute. He’s calling on the American public and cultural leaders to build a crowd-sourced national list of facts and references every American should know. In this “Extra” episode, he talks to Maria Hin...

First Lady Michelle Obama says play, nutrition, and physical activity aren’t available to every child and, that’s a problem. With the cost of sports participation around $2,200 each year per child, these opportunities are increasingly only available to wealthier families. Plus, a report from the Sports and Society Program at the Aspen Institute shows parents have concerns around risk of injury, th...

Now, more than ever, a diversifying United States needs a shared base of knowledge. That’s according to Eric Liu, executive director of the Citizenship and American Identity Program at the Aspen Institute. He’s calling on the American public and cultural leaders to build a crowd-sourced national list of facts and references every American should know. In this “Extra” episode, Liu talks to Colin Wo...

Powerhouse literary couple Geraldine Brooks and Tony Horwitz didn’t start their careers writing books. The two were war correspondents covering events like the Gulf War in the 1990s. In this episode, Brooks and Horwitz are onstage for a lecture series held by Aspen Words, the literary organization of The Aspen Institute. Besides recalling their reporting experiences, the duo discuss what it takes...

Now, more than ever, a diversifying United States needs a shared base of knowledge. That’s according to Eric Liu, executive director of the Citizenship and American Identity Program at the Aspen Institute. He’s calling on the American public and cultural leaders to build a crowd-sourced national list of facts and references every American should know. In this “Extra” episode, he talks to Henry Lou...

Cancer is the second leading cause of death among adults in the US and cancer care costs $125 billion a year. In this episode we hear from medical experts who have researched, written, and made progress in the fight against cancer. Ronald DePinho, president of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, says it’s an exciting time because research has shed light on the instigators of the dis...

The Director of the FBI has said that the Bureau has counterterrorism investigations underway in all 50 states, underscoring the gravity of the “insider” terrorism threat in the United States. Simultaneously, terrorists from abroad, especially “foreign fighters” from among ISIL’s ranks, are seeking to enter Western countries. In this episode FBI Director James Comey speaks with Brooke Masters of t...

Best-selling author of "The First 20 Hours: How to Learn Anything Fast!" Josh Kaufman shares universal, field-tested approaches to effective learning and rapid skill acquisition in adults. From deconstructing complex skills to maximizing productive practice and removing common learning barriers, Kaufman describes how 20 hours of focused, deliberate practice can help you develop surprising levels o...