The industrial revolution and consequent terrible labor conditions sparked a wave of revolutions in Europe, and then a string of laws and protections for workers. As author and innovation expert Alec Ross describes it, we “rewrote the social contract.” But, Ross says, we may be due for another rewrite, as we transition from an industrial economy to one based on information and knowledge. He writes in his book, “The Raging 2020s: Companies, Countries, People – And the Fight For Our Future,” that ...
Mar 16, 2022•49 min•Ep. 410
Any organization, public or private, with any connection to Ukraine, should be exercising extreme technological vigilance, says cybersecurity expert Sandra Joyce, Executive Vice President and Head of Global Intelligence at Mandiant. In addition to the attacks on the ground, Russia could come at Ukraine virtually, with a wide range of targets and tactics and varying levels of sophistication. On February 18th, 2022, a few days before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Chris Krebs, the Senior Newmark Fe...
Mar 02, 2022•43 min•Ep. 409
We may have moved from a time of reckoning on racial equity to a time of transformation, says business leader Dr. Rohini Anand, and that gives her hope. The author of “Leading Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: A Guide for Systemic Change in Multinational Organizations,” Anand advises leaders all over the world on how to get to work and make DEI improvements that stick. Each situation is unique, but the principles Anand has come up with help leaders adapt her expertise to their own organiza...
Feb 16, 2022•40 min•Ep. 408
The cornerstone of democracy is the principle that all citizens have the right and ability to participate in their own governance, either directly or via representation. While many Americans today may believe that we’ve lost sight of that inclusive ideal, Rashad Robinson, racial justice activist and the president of Color of Change, points out that for some, the system has never worked as well as it was supposed to. He wants us to come together and look ahead to build a new, more inclusive, more...
Feb 02, 2022•29 min•Ep. 407
Anthony Doerr is probably best known for his Pulitzer Prize winning novel All the Light We Cannot See . Just like that book, his latest work, Cloud Cuckoo Land , features protagonists who are dreamers and outsiders who find hope in the midst of danger. He talks with Mary Beth Keane, author of Ask Again, Yes , about the inspiration for his latest book and its focus on technology, destruction, preservation, and humanity’s vast interconnectedness. Doerr and Keane spoke as part of the Winter Words c...
Jan 20, 2022•54 min•Ep. 406
People have been thinking about happiness for thousands of years. In fact, ancient thinkers came up with strategies for cultivating pleasures over a lifetime, or creating a lasting capacity to take joy in the world. This long-term flourishing is different from immediate pleasures — it’s a richer notion of happiness. Laurie Santos is a professor of psychology at Yale and an expert on human cognition and the cognitive biases that impede better choices. She’s joined by Yale philosophy professor Tam...
Jan 05, 2022•44 min•Ep. 405
Even though women are likely to live longer than men, their hormonal changes make them far more susceptible to age-related memory loss like Alzhemier’s disease and other conditions. Yet gender is often not a primary consideration by the medical community — but more and more research shows that it should be. Professor of neuroscience, neurology, and radiology Lisa Mosconi directs the Women’s Brain Initiative at Weill Cornell Medical College. Her latest book is “The XX Brain.” She discusses the fe...
Dec 28, 2021•36 min•Ep. 404
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 her book, “The Genius of Birds.” She sits down with Alexander Taylor, an animal psychologist who’s be...
Dec 22, 2021•46 min•Ep. 403
In the 1950s and 60s, mental health providers used psychedelics to help patients open up about difficult memories. Then, the drugs were banned. Now there’s a resurgence. Psychedelics like MDMA, psilocybin, and ketamine are being studied as solutions for anxiety, depression, and PTSD. Findings show that drugs like MDMA are especially useful in the context of healing from trauma. Rachel Yehuda, director of the Center for Psychedelic Psychotherapy and Trauma Research, and Gita Vaid, a psychologist ...
Dec 15, 2021•32 min•Ep. 402
The global Covid-19 pandemic has worsened inequality. Oxfam International found that while billionaire fortunes returned to pre-pandemic highs in just nine months, a recovery for the world’s poorest people could take over a decade. In the United States, wealthier people have kept their jobs and decreased their expenses as they transitioned to working from home, while others have either gone to work on the frontlines or lost their jobs altogether. What caused this widening gap and can it be rever...
Dec 07, 2021•43 min•Ep. 401
The Covid-19 vaccine was developed at an unusually rapid pace, and now the public's expectations are high for what science can deliver. It's a good thing we're in a science moment . Gobs of data are being produced, researchers are collaborating more, and the public is engaged. But is the pace of discovery keeping up with the science? Alison Snyder, managing editor at Axios, interviews Darío Gil, senior vice president and director of IBM Research at IBM, Serpil Erzurum, chief research and academi...
Nov 30, 2021•50 min•Ep. 400
Current political fault lines are fracturing American society as people grow farther apart from one another due to differing beliefs and opinions. We often see people we disagree with as caricatures, and think we can never reconcile our differences. Yet despite that sense of contradiction we are much closer to each other than we think. To bridge the divide, we have to strengthen the bonds that make us human. In this special Thanksgiving conversation, Krista Tippett longtime host of the radio pro...
Nov 23, 2021•28 min•Ep. 399
Longtime food journalist Mark Bittman says America's food system needs to be reimagined so land is used fairly and well and people have access to food that promotes health, not illness. His latest book, Animal, Vegetable, Junk: A History of Food, from Sustainable to Suicidal , tells the story of humankind through the lens of food. The frenzy for food has driven human history to some of its most catastrophic moments from slavery and colonialism to our current moment of Big Food. Big Food—driven b...
Nov 18, 2021•43 min•Ep. 398
It's clear the United States isn't united right now. A Pew Research poll done before the 2020 election showed about 9 in 10 voters worried a victory by the other party would lead to lasting harm for the country. Our partisan divides aren't just endangering relationships and slowing progress in Washington, they're threatening our national security. "The greatest gift the United States can give to our national foes is hating each other. Why? Because it’s the ultimate distraction," says Arthur Broo...
Nov 09, 2021•43 min•Ep. 397
Quick Take is a weekly dose of ideas and insights delivered in short form. Today’s episode features Gayle Smith, the State Department’s coordinator for the global response to Covid-19. Watch her full conversation from the Aspen Security Forum. The talk was co-presented with the Aspen Institute Health, Medicine, and Society Program. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYXL0PpkvYE Follow us on instagram.com/aspenideas Follow us on facebook.com/aspenideas Follow us on twitter.com/aspenideas aspenideas....
Nov 06, 2021•5 min•Ep. 396
We try our whole lives to avoid pain and suffering and when it does show up, we try to solve it. In her new book, No Cure for Being Human , religious scholar Kate Bowler says we try to out-eat, out-learn, and out-perform our humanness. Truth is, bad things do happen to good people and if we're going to tell the truth, we need one another. As someone who lives with cancer, Bowler knows first-hand about the everything-works-out fantasy common in American culture. She speaks with Adelle Banks, nati...
Nov 02, 2021•46 min•Ep. 395
Want to raise creative kids who learn how to think for themselves? Go easy on the rules. Quick Take is a weekly dose of ideas and insights delivered in short form. Today’s episode features Adam Grant, a professor of management and psychology at The Wharton School and author of The Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World. Listen to his entire talk from the Aspen Ideas Festival https://www.aspenideas.org/podcasts/originalshow-nonconformists-move-the-world Follow us on instagram.com/aspenidea...
Oct 29, 2021•7 min•Ep. 394
Norms in newsrooms across the United States are being upended thanks to deep polarization, a racial reckoning, and the pandemic. Hallmark journalistic traits like neutrality and objectivity are being redefined. Eric Deggans, TV critic for NPR, says it's impossible to be objective, and journalists have long been advocates for the status quo. “We’ve seen newspapers apologize for how they covered the Civil Rights Movement because they marginalized civil rights advocates." Still, today's challenges ...
Oct 26, 2021•57 min•Ep. 393
Quick Take is a weekly dose of ideas and insights delivered in short form. Today’s episode features astronomer Jill Tarter. She co-founded SETI, or the “Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute.” Watch her full conversation from the Aspen Ideas Festival https://www.aspenideas.org/sessions/searching-for-aliens-finding-ourselves Follow us on instagram.com/aspenideas Follow us on facebook.com/aspenideas Follow us on twitter.com/aspenideas aspenideas.org...
Oct 22, 2021•5 min•Ep. 392
When President Biden expanded the nation's Child Tax Credit in March, US Senator Michael Bennet applauded the move. Bennet, a democrat from Colorado, has been working to increase support for families since he introduced the American Family Act in Congress in 2017. Now he wants to make the Credit, which pays most American families $250 or $300/child each month, permanent. He says it will cut childhood poverty in half. Still, Republicans reject an effort to extend it saying it's a waste of taxpaye...
Oct 19, 2021•34 min•Ep. 391
What if the key to a healthier brain is as simple as getting up out of your chair? Quick Take is a weekly dose of ideas and insights delivered in short form. Today’s episode features neurosurgeon Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Listen to the full episode https://www.aspenideas.org/podcasts/building-brain-health-at-any-age Follow us on instagram.com/aspenideas Follow us on facebook.com/aspenideas Follow us on twitter.com/aspenideas aspenideas.org...
Oct 15, 2021•3 min•Ep. 390
When you tick a box on an online privacy notice, just how much personal information are you giving away? Is the tradeoff worthwhile? When it comes to data, the relationship between companies and consumers is uneven — customers are getting a raw deal because there's no limit on what a company can collect. Whose job is it to regulate this space and better protect consumers' data? Tom Wilson, CEO of Allstate, thinks the federal government should step in with a digital Bill of Rights that would incr...
Oct 12, 2021•54 min•Ep. 389
Quick Take is a weekly dose of ideas and insights delivered in short form. Today’s episode features Bumble founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd. Watch her full conversation from the Aspen Ideas Festival https://www.aspenideas.org/sessions/the-billion-dollar-bumble-that-changed-the-dating-game-forever Follow us on instagram.com/aspenideas Follow us on facebook.com/aspenideas Follow us on twitter.com/aspenideas aspenideas.org
Oct 08, 2021•7 min•Ep. 387
Technology has changed the way we think and interact with one another, and social media platforms are intentionally engineered to be addictive and manipulative. Those messages are in the documentary "The Social Dilemma," which was created by Jeff Orlowski's filmmaking company Exposure Labs. "Big social," says Orlowski, is transforming our information ecosystem. He tells Vivian Schiller, executive director of Aspen Digital, that an unregulated social media landscape cannot co-exist with a healthy...
Oct 05, 2021•47 min•Ep. 388
How can technology be used to help people leave conspiracy movements? A technologist for Google weighs in. Quick Take is a weekly dose of ideas and insights delivered in short form. Today’s episode features Yasmin Green, the director of research and development for Jigsaw, a unit within Google that works to use technology to solve global security challenges. Listen to the full episode https://www.aspenideas.org/podcasts/how-can-we-fix-a-broken-and-dangerous-internet Follow us on instagram.com/as...
Oct 01, 2021•4 min•Ep. 386
John Hagel, author of The Journey Beyond Fear, says there's increasing fear and uncertainty in the world and it's not just from the pandemic. Competition for jobs, mounting performance pressure, and a rapidly accelerating pace of change are escalating fears, especially in the workplace. But fear exists in other places — far-flung locales few people visit. Alison Levine is a polar explorer who made history when she skied nearly 600 miles from west Antarctica to the South Pole. She and Hagel talk ...
Sep 29, 2021•42 min•Ep. 385
What classrooms need now: A focus on emotional health. Quick Take is a weekly dose of ideas and insights delivered in short form. Today’s episode features Tim Shriver, chairman of the Special Olympics and founder of Unite, speaking at the Aspen Ideas Festival. Watch the full conversation, produced in partnership with the Walton Family Foundation: https://www.aspenideas.org/sessions/the-classroom-of-the-future-better-education-for-all aspenideas.org...
Sep 24, 2021•5 min•Ep. 384
The history of exploration on Mars reads like a good book with twists and turns and unexpected findings. None of these findings, though, have turned up evidence of life. After decades of searching, scientists are hopeful a NASA rover called Perseverance, which touched down on Mars in February, will reveal ancient, long-dead, fossilized life. Sarah Stewart Johnson, planetary scientist and author of The Sirens of Mars , says Perseverance is scouring the surface of a crater and producing rock sampl...
Sep 21, 2021•29 min•Ep. 383
Twenty years ago, terror attacks on September 11th took place in the United States over the course of a morning but the effects have been felt ever since — politically and psychologically. Journalist Garrett Graff says America lost its innocence that day and the attacks led to a series of consequential blunders by political leaders. The anger, hatred, and fear that emerged from 9/11 and the resulting War on Terror are to blame for the distrust and divisiveness that exists in America today. Graff...
Sep 15, 2021•47 min•Ep. 382
How is social justice best pursued in a time when America is facing a reckoning on race? In today's cancel culture, many believe making the world a better place means banishing some opinions from the public sphere. John McWhorter, associate professor of English at Columbia University, says this censorious mindset threatens the value of free speech. McWhorter, a linguist and author of over 20 books, speaks with Jane Coaston, host of The New York Times podcast "The Argument," about pop culture, th...
Sep 08, 2021•44 min•Ep. 381
