Why is it so hard to watch our children fail? Why might a highly structured life for a child be a bad thing? And how important is our behavior, as adults, in the development of a child? In this episode, 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. Bezos is the co-fou...
Nov 20, 2018•35 min•Ep. 240
Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson. What were America’s Founders like as individuals? And what would they think of American democracy today? In this lighthearted conversation, National Constitution Center President Jeff Rosen interviews David Rubenstein , co-founder of The Carlyle Group, collector of historic documents, and funder of American cultural and educational institutions. Did you know James Madison was short in stature? Or that John Adams only had one tooth? Rosen and R...
Nov 14, 2018•52 min•Ep. 239
Michael Pollan , author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma and The Botany of Desire , focuses on psychedelic drugs in his most recent book. How to Change Your Mind dives into the latest developments in trials using psychedelic therapy to treat depression, anxiety, obsession, and trauma. For the book, Pollan immersed himself in the psychedelic experience, saying it helped him become more open, emotionally available, patient, and less defensive. He talks with Corby Kummer , senior editor at The Atlantic , ...
Nov 06, 2018•59 min•Ep. 238
The deadly shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue is the latest hate crime in an especially atrocious period. The number of hate crimes against religious minority communities has surged in recent years, and it’s likely driven, in part, by the country’s deep polarization. Luckily, solutions are surfacing and some are led by this episode’s speakers. Christian Picciolini is a former white supremacist who now helps others disengage from hate movements. Farhan Latif runs the El-Hibri Foundation, which em...
Oct 30, 2018•52 min•Ep. 237
Tech entrepreneur Ash Bhat dropped out of high school and college to pursue digital projects. The 20-year-old’s latest effort: combatting online bots, or Twitter accounts with no human oversight. It’s a job that’s worth a break from school, he thinks. “We have a moral responsibility to make a difference.” With his company RoBhat Labs, he and his co-founder are working to tackle the spread of fake news. He tells investigative tech reporter Kashmir Hill that stomping out bots can help unite a divi...
Oct 26, 2018•16 min•Ep. 236
Tristan Harris , former Google design ethicist, says the apps we use on our devices everyday are designed to maximize screen time. “Whenever we use these products, we’re activating supercomputers pointed at our brains.” They draw you in and keep you there, he says, and the result is loneliness. Harris, who founded the Center for Humane Technology, talks with Gizmodo’s Kashmir Hill about what we can do limit screen time. The "Off Stage Series" goes into the issues that impact all of us. These con...
Oct 26, 2018•20 min•Ep. 235
With the midterm elections around the corner, should internet users be on alert for fake news? As research director at New Knowledge, Renee DiResta investigates the spread of disinformation across social networks. Since the 2016 presidential election, tech companies like hers have taken “meaningful steps,” she says. In her conversation with Kashmir Hill , investigative reporter for Gizmodo Media, DiResta explains how she’s working to stop disinformation from going viral. The "Off Stage Series" g...
Oct 26, 2018•21 min•Ep. 234
The forces of division have been tearing America's social fabric for decades. Our country is now dealing with isolation, alienation, and tribalism. But a new coalition of community builders with a new set of beliefs is rising to turn things around. New York Times columnist David Brooks is leading an effort at The Aspen Institute to bridge the differences that divide Americans. In this talk, he goes over what he’s discovering and how you can help. Show Notes Passes for the Aspen Ideas Festival go...
Oct 23, 2018•57 min•Ep. 233
Adam Grant is exploring “how to make work suck less.” For his podcast WorkLife, he visited unconventional companies to discover how to improve the work experience. Grant, who authored Give and Take and teaches at the Wharton School, thinks we should be leading more creative and meaningful lives at work. After all, we spend a quarter of our lives there. He speaks with Mike Kaplan , president and CEO of the Aspen Skiing Company based in Aspen, Colorado. Show Notes Listen to the Aspen Insight episo...
Oct 16, 2018•56 min•Ep. 232
In June, the University of Chicago announced it will become test-optional. It's the first elite school to do so. The move is part of a bigger effort to expand access to a broader talent pool of well-deserving applicants. But, will removing the requirement that incoming undergraduates submit ACT and SAT scores make a difference? What are the best ways to reach aspiring students who are stopped from applying by fees and tuition costs? And how should universities measure merit and success? Universi...
Oct 09, 2018•48 min•Ep. 231
News reporters have covered the #MeToo movement since it gained ground one year ago. But journalists haven’t just written about the movement, some have experienced sexual harassment and violence themselves. In this episode, a group of leading female journalists share their personal stories and discuss how newsroom culture must shift. What concrete steps can the industry take to serve women currently working as journalists and the next generation of writers? Speakers include Katie Couric , Mona C...
Oct 02, 2018•58 min•Ep. 230
Rebecca Traister ’s new book Good and Mad details how women’s anger has erupted into the public conversation. In our first Off Stage interview on women, she tells USA Today Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page that women are “mad that Donald Trump is president and they’re mad about sexual harassment.” Women in the past have been angry individually, but a new movement that emerged following the 2016 election reflects collective anger, says Traister. Her book Good and Mad was released October 2nd. T...
Oct 02, 2018•27 min•Ep. 229
Former treasury secretary Larry Summers has been vocal about his disagreements with the current direction of US economic policy, particularly in the areas of trade, tariffs, and the rethinking of international agreements on commerce and investment. What would he do differently? What do we need to do to really ensure economic growth? He speaks with Jillian Tett , US Managing Editor of the Financial Times . Show Notes Listen to the Aspen Ideas to Go episode How Artificial Intelligence Will Transfo...
Sep 26, 2018•51 min•Ep. 228
In an era when the mainstream media is under attack, New York Times Deputy Managing Editor Rebecca Blumenstein is heartened because more people are paying for news. “Our circulation has almost doubled. People have realized that facts have value,” she says. In her Off Stage conversation with USA Today ’s Susan Page , she talks about fake news, covering Trump, and what advice she would give to young women entering the news business. The "Off Stage Series" goes into the issues that impact all of us...
Sep 21, 2018•20 min•Ep. 227
Global economist Dambisa Moyo says democracy is in crisis around the world. In her book Edge of Chaos , she explains how voter participation rates are low, money is seeping into politics via big donations, and political freedoms have declined. “We do have democracy on paper, but in terms of the efficacy and efficiency of the democratic process, I think there are deep concerns.” In her conversation with guest host and journalist Susan Page , she also describes the hurdles she’s overcome to work i...
Sep 21, 2018•19 min•Ep. 226
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 undocumented. In Vargas's memoir, Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen , he describes the psyc...
Sep 18, 2018•54 min•Ep. 224
What role does faith play in bringing people together? Reverend Adam Hamilton pastors the largest United Methodist church in America. Within his Kansas congregation, he observes deep divisions that reflect the larger disunity in our nation. These divisions, he thinks, are tearing at our social fabric. His plan: to get people to think differently by focusing on influencing, not irritating, and seeing the humanity in others — even those we strongly disagree with. He speaks with David Brooks, New Y...
Sep 11, 2018•1 hr•Ep. 223
This spring marked the 15th anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq, and the war in Afghanistan has gone on long enough that children born after 9/11 are now old enough to enlist in the military. Is there any path out of conflict for Iraq and Afghanistan — for the United States, or for the citizens of the war-weary countries? This episode features individuals who were deeply involved in both conflicts. David Petraeus, former CIA director, led the 101st Airborne Division in the invasion of Iraq. D...
Sep 04, 2018•56 min•Ep. 222
Broward County School District Superintendent Robert Runcie remembers clearly the events of February 14, 2018. That’s the day a gunman killed seventeen people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. In this conversation with the Washington Post ’s Jonathan Capehart , Runcie talks about the power of hope and how some of the radical academic changes he brought to the District, the sixth largest in America, may have helped the school’s students become powerful leaders in the g...
Aug 29, 2018•50 min•Ep. 221
Sal Khan ’s career journey took him from finance to the classroom. The former hedge fund manager now runs the nonprofit Khan Academy , which provides free online education. He says online learning is changing the way students learn and instructors teach. For classrooms that have integrated the Academy into their lessons, students are learning at their own pace and teachers have more time to tutor kids one-on-one. In this conversation, Khan talks about how the Academy is personalizing education f...
Aug 28, 2018•50 min•Ep. 220
Costa Rican diplomat Christiana Figueres led the global adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015, and continues to fight for the climate today in her work with Mission 2020 . Working to reduce greenhouse gases globally can be frustrating, she admits, but she chooses optimism over pessimism. She recalls a moment where her attitude shifted, “I many years ago, decided — because it is a decision — that I was going to be optimistic about addressing climate change.” We won’t solve climate change, she s...
Aug 24, 2018•52 min•Ep. 219
More than 65 million people around the globe are either refugees, asylum seekers, or displaced within their own countries. It’s the largest number of people forced to flee their homes since World War II. From South Sudan to El Salvador and Yemen to Afghanistan, the International Rescue Committee is working to help people recover and resettle. David Miliband leads the organization and thinks the world’s refugee problem is solvable. In this conversation with Steve Clemons , editor at large for The...
Aug 21, 2018•53 min•Ep. 218
How do we save ourselves from repeating errors of our past? Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright poses this question in her new book, Fascism: A Warning . She thinks fascism now presents a greater threat to peace than at any time since the end of WWII. In this episode, she speaks with Aspen Institute CEO Dan Porterfield about what tools in the “national security toolbox” we can use to fight fascism. She explains how her childhood led her to write the book and why she calls herself an “op...
Aug 17, 2018•55 min•Ep. 217
Across the US, students are heading back to college for the start of the school year. Many will wrestle with mental health challenges. Campus counseling offices are busier than ever and peer-run mental health clubs are popping up. Colleges are working to keep up as students’ academic, social, and athletic demands sometimes become too much to bear. In this episode, Teen Vogue editor Samhita Mukhopadhyay leads a conversation with Paula Johnson, president of Wellesley College, and Dan Porterfield, ...
Aug 14, 2018•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 216
Midterms are often seen as the first nationwide referendum on a first-term president. Donald Trump’s ratings have ranged from low to medium-low, but a “blue wave” of victories is far from guaranteed this fall. Where Democrats strive for inclusiveness with regard to race, gender, and immigration status, critics see “identity politics,” and successfully fending off that critique may determine the party’s fate across the country. Who are the rising Democratic stars to watch, and what internal clash...
Aug 10, 2018•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 215
At age 25, Gaby Pacheco was the first undocumented Latina to testify in front of Congress. In this conversation with New York Times Contributing Op-Ed Writer Wajahat Ali , she talks about the struggles immigrants still face years later. She spearheaded efforts that led to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and participated in the Trail of Dreams, a four-month walk from Miami to Washington, DC, calling attention to the plight of immigrants. In this one-on-one conversation, ...
Aug 09, 2018•29 min•Ep. 214
In our first “Off Stage” bonus episode, New York Times Contributing Op-Ed Writer Wajahat Ali speaks with former white supremacist skinhead Christian Picciolini . For 8 years, Picciolini was a follower, then a leader in the white supremacist movement. When the people he thought he hated showed compassion, he left the group. Now he helps others disengage from extremism. In this one-on-one discussion, he talks about what draws someone to join an extremist group, why white supremacy is growing in th...
Aug 09, 2018•25 min•Ep. 213
One year after a deadly hate rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, the city continues to heal. White supremacists gathered at the University of Virginia and then in downtown Charlottesville in mid-August last year. Protesters clashed and a young woman, Heather Heyer, died in the fray. Now, the historic city that was once home to Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe is also associated with the white supremacist hate rallies. Why did these groups choose Charlottesville? What has Charlottesville learned...
Aug 07, 2018•53 min•Ep. 212
Russian President Vladimir Putin in July, singled out American-born businessman Bill Browder at a joint press conference in Helsinki, Finland. Putin, standing alongside President Trump, named Browder and his business dealings. Browder was the largest foreign investor in Russia until he was arrested in 2005 and expelled from the country. His corporate documents were seized by Russian authorities, he says, and the young lawyer he hired to investigate—Sergei Magnitsky—was arrested and died in priso...
Aug 03, 2018•38 min•Ep. 211
Is the Republican Party in the United States having an identity crisis? Are the priorities of the Republican Party, conservative ideals, and the Trump administration’s policies aligning? Or, are we witnessing the factions of the party splintering off? Our panel includes Jonah Goldberg ( National Review ), Allysia Finley ( The Wall Street Journal ), Michael Steele (former Republican National Committee chairman), and Mickey Edwards (former Republican Congressman from Oklahoma and Aspen Institute V...
Jul 31, 2018•1 hr•Ep. 210
