Alan Dershowitz on Trump; what an Islamic fundamentalist learned in an Egyptian jail; plus a tenured professor explained why she quit her job—trigger warning ahead. No doubt about it - the nomination and election of Donald Trump was the biggest, most surprising news story of 2016. At the start of this show we get two fascinating takes on the Trump story from a marketing man and a Harvard Professor. For decades Alan Dershowitz has been on the front lines in the fight for civil liberties. He also ...
Dec 29, 2016•25 min
What we can learn from the best education systems in the world? A lot.We learn about PISA - The Program for International Student Assessment - and why this international test on math, science and reading has disturbing results for U.S. schools. We interviewed British teacher Lucy Crehan, author of the breakthrough book, "Cleverlands", went on a remarkable journey to Finland, Asia and Canada, to study the world’s best schools. We find out why a simple question from a student in her science class,...
Dec 22, 2016•26 min
More than eight years after the financial meltdown, we still have a lot to learn, says our guest, CNN global economic analyst Rana Foroohar. "The rise of finance has actually kind of eaten the rest of the economy," Rana tells this in this "Fix It" episode. "Finance controls the rest of industry. Finance has become the tail that wags the dog." At the same time, the financial industry remains at risk for another hugely destructive collapse. In her book, "Makers and Takers: The Rise of Finance and ...
Dec 14, 2016•28 min
Dr. Michael Shermer is our guest; he's the Founding Publisher of Skeptic magazine, a monthly columnist for Scientific American and a regular contributor to Time.com.In his latest book, “The Moral Arc: How Science and Reason Lead Humanity toward Truth, Justice, and Freedom,” Dr. Shermer discusses how science, reason, and rational inquiry contribute to human progress and history. He claims that we are living in the most moral period of our species’ historyUsing data, and lessons from history, Mich...
Dec 07, 2016•26 min
The U.S. spends more than $3 trillion a year on healthcare, or nearly $10,000 a year for every man, woman and child. But are we getting a bang for our buck? In many cases, the answer has to be no. And this goes well beyond the raging debate over Obamacare and whether all Americans should have access to coverage.About a third of money spent on healthcare is now simply wasted or spent on poor decisions, says our guest, emergency room physician and entrepreneur, Doctor Joe Habboushe. The crisis inc...
Nov 30, 2016•33 min
This show is about the benefits adults, especially business owners, can get from playing games. This year's huge success of Pokemon Go helped bring gamification and augmented reality into the mainstream - with many small businesses using the mobile app to raise engagement with consumers. Dan Grech, OfferCraft, tells us how governments, businesses, and even parents use games to boost participation and change behavior.Dan Grech is a former journalist who works for OfferCraft, a Florida company tha...
Nov 23, 2016•23 min
Anyone who cares about diversity, feminism and closing the gender gap should be fired up about this show.Author, entrepreneur and - yes provocateur - Sallie Krawcheck is our guest. Her forthcoming 2017 book is "Own It: The Power of Women at Work." Sallie is CEO and Co-Founder of Ellevest, a digital investment platform and wealth management site for women. For years, she has been well known as one of the most senior women on Wall Street and was called "the last honest analyst" by Fortune Magazine...
Nov 16, 2016•31 min
We recorded this the day after the stunning U.S. Presidential election. This show is our attempt to explain the reasons for Donald Trump's win.Despite his deeply divisive rhetoric and attacks on Muslims and undocumented Mexican immigrants that deeply offended many voters, Trump emerged victorious. We examine why Trump won the election but also solutions and takeaways from his surprise victory.Solutions:Let’s come up with a list of things we can agree on. Congress should meet before the new Admin...
Nov 10, 2016•13 min
Almost all of us do a poor job of predicting the future. This show looks at how we can adapt to the disruption and change the future inevitably brings. Using examples from business and our personal lives, we consider how to be smarter and more successful."You can't really imagine what it's going to be like should a bad thing happen," says our guest, Mark Earls. "We over-estimate how bad we might feel if we lose something, and under-estimate how we might feel if something good happens to us."Mark...
Nov 02, 2016•24 min
"There are genuine emotional benefits when we connect with strangers," says our guest, Kio Stark. These fleeting interactions are important interruptions in the steady routine of our lives. "They bring connectedness and belonging."Kio is the author of "When Strangers Meet: How People You Don't Know Can Transform You." Her popular TED Talk has received more than 1,450,000 views. "My own interactions with strangers resonate with meaning for me," she writes in her book. "You find questions whose an...
Oct 28, 2016•23 min
Do you believe you can make a difference? What improvements to the world have been made by nonprofit organizations? What lessons have been learnt by philanthropists about delivering services and furthering their cause? These and many more questions are answered here by our guest, Jennifer McCrea . She's a leading global expert on giving and fundraising. Jennifer works to transform the practice of philanthropy She discusses her important work with the Born Free Africa collaborative, which works f...
Oct 19, 2016•23 min
The news media have bombarded us with stories about the candidates, the contest and - to a lesser extent - the crucial issues America faces as people vote for the next President. This podcast is about the voters. We went back to four past episodes of "How Do We Fix It?" pulling extracts about how we make decisions and why the information that you and I receive from internet search engines and other sources may be radically different than the news and views our friends and neighbors are hearing. ...
Oct 12, 2016•15 min
“Vision Zero” is the highly ambitious plan put in place two years ago by New York's Mayor Bill de Blasio. The goal: no traffic deaths by 2024. America's largest city is nowhere near reducing fatal crashes to zero, but great progress has been made since 1990. "The good news is that we've gone from 701 deaths back then to an average of 245 deaths a year under the de Blasio Administration," says urban economics and transportation researcher Nicole Gelinas in this "Fix It" episode. Nicole is a senio...
Oct 05, 2016•27 min
Electile Dysfunction (is), “a terrible pun plus insightful commentary" is how TV host and wit Seth Myers describes" the new book by Professor Alan Dershowitz. Dershowitz became a professor at Harvard Law when he was 25 years old. In his long and distinguished career, Newsweek described Dershowitz as "the nation's most peripatetic civil liberties lawyer and one of its most distinguished defenders of individual rights." We recorded this episode of "How Do We Fix It?" at his Manhattan home. "Electi...
Sep 28, 2016•30 min
Too often, migrants and refugees are viewed as "other" - not like us. In recent days Donald Trump Jr. compared the Syrian refugee problem to a bowl of Skittles In this episode, Leonard Doyle of the International Organization for Migration walks us through the worldwide crisis of tens of millions of displaced people, from families fleeing from war and terrorism to young men and women who overstay their visas in search of a better life. We look at the definitions of these terms - so often glossed ...
Sep 21, 2016•30 min
Get ready for slower economic growth and de-globalization, says investor and writer Ruchir Sharma . Ruchir invited us to his New York office, where he is the head of emerging markets and chief global strategist at Morgan Stanley Investment Management. He is also the author of " The Rise and Fall of Nations: Forces of Change in the Post-Crisis World. " Our interview looks at Ruchir's rules for spotting political, economic and social change. They include: The depopulation bomb: If the working popu...
Sep 14, 2016•24 min
On New Year's Eve, journalist and former Parade Editor-in-Chief Janice Kaplan made a promise to herself to be grateful during the coming year and look on the bright side of whatever happens. As we find out in this episode, it made a big difference to her life. Janice discovered that how she feels has less to do with events than with her own attitude and perspective on life. Her recent book "The Gratitude Diaries" began after a survey she had done found that 94% of Americans thought people who ar...
Sep 07, 2016•20 min
How much do you know about money? Many of us make simple mistakes that cost us hundreds, if not thousands of dollars a year. According to a recent study by The FINRA Investor Education Foundation, only 37% of Americans have high financial literacy. 29% of 18-34 year-olds with a mortgage have been late with a monthly payment and more than one in four people use high-cost forms of borrowing like pawn shops and payday loans. And even worse, many of us think we know much more about personal finance ...
Sep 01, 2016•25 min
From "nap-time activists" and mommy bloggers to a "stroller march" on Washington, Moms Clean Air Force is using creative and highly effective ways to advance their cause to get dangerous pollutants out of the air. In this "How Do We Fix It?" episode we speak about solutions with the group's National Field Director, Gretchen Dahlkemper, a Pennsylvania mom who became an activist - fired up about the threat to her children's health. Her daughter has asthma. So for her this campaign is personal. "I ...
Aug 24, 2016•24 min
Following on from our recent episodes about high schools and playdates, this week we explore children's learning, technology and play with three "How DO We Fix It?" guests. Science evangelist Ainissa Ramirez explains why all young kids are fascinated by science. But school often gets in the way of exploration and curiosity. Ainissa explains how parents and other caregivers can spark interest in science. Psychology professor Abigail Baird shares insights and tips for parents about a healthy balan...
Aug 17, 2016•14 min
The obesity rate is 52% in Brownsville, Texas - far higher than the national average. Nearly one in three residents has diabetes - three times the rate elsewhere. Brownsville also has a very high rate of poverty where more half the residents are not covered by health insurance. This city and other largely hispanic communities along the U.S. - Mexico border are facing a health emergency. Brownsville decided to tackle the crisis head on, with an innovative mix of public initiatives - including a n...
Aug 10, 2016•21 min
Remember when kids were allowed to play, usually without supervision, when did that change? When did play turn into a playdate? Today many parents organize playdates. Play is arranged, supervised and has the parental seal of approval. "I think we could add more diversity into how our children play with other children,"says our guest, Tamara Mose, Associate Professor of Sociology at Brooklyn College. Tamara is the author of the new book "The Playdate: Parents, Children and the New Expectations of...
Aug 03, 2016•23 min
The release of nearly 19,000 e-mails from the Democratic National Committee rocked party leaders and forced the resignation of DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz. We look at how this happened, why Russia was probably involved and how many other organizations, businesses and government agencies are at risk of cyber break-ins. Adam Levin, co-founder of Credit.com and the online security firm IDT911 says the power grid and financial system are at risk. He warns of a possible "Cyber-geddon." In this...
Jul 27, 2016•12 min
Improving America's high schools is an exceptionally complex and difficult task. But all across the country the most enlightened educators are working to narrow the gap between student achievement and the needs of an evolving workplace. Our guest, Liz Willen, is editor-in-chief of the groundbreaking Hechinger Report. Using solutions journalism, data, stories and research from classrooms and campuses, Hechinger looks at how education can be improved and why it matters. "The best high schools, whe...
Jul 20, 2016•26 min
When is the last time that you called a big company or government agency and a human being answered the phone? From big data, complex algorithms and giant corporations to massive government bureaucracy, the everyday life can seem increasingly impersonal. Our guest, Steve Hilton, argues for radical change. The former senior policy advisor to ex-British Prime Minister David Cameron has written " More Human: Designing a World Where People Come First ." The book is a clarion call for reform of gover...
Jul 13, 2016•26 min
Are opinion polls accurate? Did they miss the rise of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders? Do they properly measure America's increasingly sharp political and cultural divisions? What's the difference between a well-designed poll conducted with careful methodology and a sloppy opt-in online survey? Our guest is Gary Langer , an internationally recognized opinion researcher and longtime director of polling at ABC News. He has overseen and analyzed more than 750 surveys on a broad range of topics. Gar...
Jul 06, 2016•24 min
This show may very well save you money, boost your career and help you make smarter decisions. It's about risk. Our guest is Karen Firestone - author of the new book “ Even The Odds - Sensible Risk Taking in Business Investing and Life." She is President and CEO, of Aureus Asset Management, an asset management firm she cofounded after 22 years as a fund manager and research analyst at Fidelity Investments. Karen is a contributor to the Harvard Business Review blog. "I think that sensible risk ta...
Jun 29, 2016•24 min
Would Britain face lasting economic and political harm if it votes to quit the European Union in June 23rd's referendum? Our show looks at the case for Brexit . Steve Hilton , one of David Cameron's closest friends and a former senior political advisor to the Prime Minister, is a leading member of the Vote Leave campaign. He tells us in this episode that a bureaucratic, over-centralized EU has become far too entangled in British life and is incapable of reform. Richard and Jim disagree on the be...
Jun 17, 2016•12 min
How many times have heard somebody say that the political campaign has reached a new low? How much worse is the 2016 race compared to previous elections?We asked Princeton University Professor, Sean Wilentz, to give us a history lesson. In his latest book, "The Politicians and the Egalitarians" Sean makes the case for pragmatism, arguing that politicians serve the country best through the art of compromise.On this episode, he tells us that "nasty, slimy stuff" is nothing new in Presidential camp...
Jun 15, 2016•14 min
This podcast is all about how to have better habits and use them to be more productive in our projects, careers and everyday lives. We talk about to-do lists, email, mental models and making the most of our time with best-selling author, Charles Duhigg . His latest book is "Smarter, Faster, Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and In Business." Charles is also the author of "The Power of Habit." "Keeping your eye on that thing that matters most to you is the secret to success," Charle...
Jun 08, 2016•27 min
