Aspen Ideas to Go

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A House Divided Apr 18, 2017

Show notes

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 CIA Director John McLaughlin and Juan Zarate, former Deputy National Security Adviser for Combating Terrorism, to discuss the impact Trump’s statements have had. The discussion is moderated by David Ignatius, columnist and associate editor of The Washington Post.

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Combating Kleptocracy Apr 11, 2017

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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 Chertoff, head of the Aspen Institute Justice and Society Program, leads a discussion with Deborah Connor, acting chief of the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery section at the US Justice Department, senior US District Judge Mark Wolf, and Frank Vogl, co-founder of Transparency International.

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"Hidden Figures" Author on Storytelling, Race, & Science Apr 04, 2017

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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, that she grew up among the women she wrote about. Later in the show, another award-winning author who writes about race and identity, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, discusses her book Americanah.

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(Mis)Imagining the Future Mar 28, 2017

Show notes

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 ability to imagine the future, and about our capacity to predict how much we will like it when we get there.

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The Industries of the Future Mar 21, 2017

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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 ourselves and our children for a world with powerful artificial intelligence, robotics, and scientific developments that will change our lives at work and home.

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Einstein's Creativity (Rebroadcast) Mar 14, 2017

Show notes

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 did it come from? How was it reflected in his life? And what can we learn from it?

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Can We Reclaim Civitas in American Society? Mar 07, 2017

Show notes

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 Clemons, Washington editor at large for The Atlantic, discuss how the country can regain a spirit of civitas. In the past, civitas—binding laws and mutual commitment of a shared national journey—has assured respect for opposing positions. Have we lost the ability to find common ground? Does national civitas need a reboot?

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Richard Haass on a World in Disarray Feb 28, 2017

Show notes

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 terrorism, cyber, and climate change. Haass speaks with Aspen Institute President Walter Isaacson about his book A World in Disarray: American Foreign Policy and the Crisis of the Old Order.

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What Is Technology's Toll on Intimacy? Feb 21, 2017

Show notes

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 Eric Klinenberg, co-author of Modern Romance, and Christie Hefner, former CEO of Playboy Enterprises for a conversation about technology’s toll on intimacy.

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How to Survive Our Faster Future Feb 14, 2017

Show notes

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 Aspen Institute President and CEO Walter Isaacson, Ito talks about how President Trump’s ability to be agile helped him win the White House. Ito also discusses the problem of fake news and what his organization is doing to combat it.

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