Aspen Ideas to Go
Episodes
How to Make White People Laugh
07 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Author and filmmaker Negin Farsad calls herself a social justice comedian. She works to prove that humor - just like activism - can effectively challe...
"Extra" with David Henry Hwang
03 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Now, more than ever, a diversifying United States needs a shared base of knowledge. That’s according to Eric Liu, executive director of the Citizens...
Diane Rehm on Death with Dignity
31 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
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 re...
"Extra" with Maria Hinojosa
26 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Now, more than ever, a diversifying United States needs a shared base of knowledge. That’s according to Eric Liu, executive director of the Citizens...
First Lady Michelle Obama on Making Sports Accessible and Affordable
23 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
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 spor...
"Extra" with Colin Woodard
19 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Now, more than ever, a diversifying United States needs a shared base of knowledge. That’s according to Eric Liu, executive director of the Citizens...
War Reporting, Novel Writing, and How to Tell a Great Story
17 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Powerhouse literary couple Geraldine Brooks and Tony Horwitz didn’t start their careers writing books. The two were war correspondents covering even...
"Extra" with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
12 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Now, more than ever, a diversifying United States needs a shared base of knowledge. That’s according to Eric Liu, executive director of the Citizens...
Cancer: Breakthroughs and Challenges
10 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
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 exp...
The Complexities of Today's Security Challenges
03 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The Director of the FBI has said that the Bureau has counterterrorism investigations underway in all 50 states, underscoring the gravity of the “ins...
How to Learn Anything Fast
27 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Best-selling author of "The First 20 Hours: How to Learn Anything Fast!" Josh Kaufman shares universal, field-tested approaches to effective learning ...
Retweeting, Regramming, Reimagining our Relationship with Technology
19 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The architecture of how we live our lives is badly in need of renovation and repair. One of the things that makes it harder to connect with ourselves ...
Leading the Response to Radical Extremism
12 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
As radical extremism in the Middle East continues to undermine global security, it's crucial to understand and counter its roots and appeal. This epis...
Building Better Teen Brains
05 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Raising a teenager can be a lot of work and there's hard science behind why adolescence is so challenging. Laurence Steinberg authored the book "Age o...
Secrets of the Creative Brain
29 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Tom Kelley, author of Creative Confidence and partner at IDEO, says creativity and innovation aren't only reserved for "creative types," but everyone ...
The United State of Women
22 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
What has the Obama Administration done for women and girls? How will their women and girls initiatives continue after the president leaves office? Tin...
Why Ethics (Usually) Pays
15 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
When it comes to the bottom line, corporate social responsibility sometimes pays, but sometimes does not, according to Jonathan Haidt of the NYU Stern...
Jesus of History versus Christ of Faith
08 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Sifting through centuries of mythmaking, Reza Aslan sheds new light on one of history's most influential and enigmatic figures by examining Jesus with...
The Black Presidency
01 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In his book "The Black Presidency," Michael Eric Dyson explores the powerful, surprising way the politics of race have shaped Barack Obama’s identit...
WE-ASK: What Every American Should Know
23 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In 1987, E.D. Hirsch sparked a national debate with his book "Cultural Literacy," claiming that there is a foundation of common knowledge every Americ...
Ashley Judd on Feminism, Activism, and Why Hollywood Should Be Left Out of the Conversation
16 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Actress Ashley Judd is an advocate and activist who has traveled the world promoting empowerment and equality, effective grassroots programs, and stra...
Thomas Jefferson: An American Original
09 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In honor of President's Day, biographer Jon Meacham explores Jefferson's complicated legacy and suggests how we might reclaim the Jeffersonian insiste...
Solitary Confinement Through the Eyes of a Former Prisoner
02 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Hear what former prisoner Shaka Senghor, who was incarcerated for 19 years and now directs strategy for the bipartisan initiative #cut50, has to say a...
Poetry, Justice, and Alienation
26 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Can art tackle some of the most difficult social-justice questions we face today? Over the past year we have witnessed images of our country at war wi...
Meditation and Mindfulness - Going Beyond the Buzzwords
19 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Meditation and mindfulness have gone mainstream. From improvements in perception to body awareness, to pain tolerance and emotion regulation, to an in...
The Road to Character - David Brooks and Katie Couric
11 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
I wrote this book not sure I could follow the road to character, but I wanted at least to know what the road looks like and how other people have trod...
Exercise in Radical Empathy and Youth Speak Up
04 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Clint Smith is a high school educator, a Harvard PhD candidate, and a slam poet. In a series of spoken-word performances, Smith confronts inequality i...
Undaunted: Stories from the Frontlines of Global Health (Rebroadcast)
28 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
We'll be back in January with new episodes. In the meantime, don't miss this inspiring episode with stories of human resilience and ingenuity. During ...
A Formula for Happiness (Rebroadcast)
21 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
AITG is taking off a couple of weeks for the holidays. We'll be back in January with new episodes. This week, we revisit an earlier episode — A Form...
Winter Words Author Series
14 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Three authors shed light on the writing life and the stories behind their works. New York Times bestseller Jess Walter ("Beautiful Ruins"), former US ...
Vice President Joe Biden
07 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Vice President Joe Biden spoke at the Aspen Institute Summit on Inequality and Opportunity. Biden discussed root causes of poverty and inequality in A...
The Four Sources of Happiness
30 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Most people think that happiness has four sources: the sensory pleasures, material wealth, romantic relationships, and children. But recent research s...
Celebrating Einstein with Brian Greene
23 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Continuing our celebration of the 100th anniversary of the General Theory of Relativity, this talk features theoretical physicist Brian Greene. Arguab...
Einstein's Creativity
16 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the General Theory of Relativity, this talk takes a look at Albert Einstein's creativity. Where did it come from,...
Evan Thomas on 'Being Nixon'
09 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In 'Being Nixon,' Evan Thomas peels away the layers of the complex, confounding figure who became America's 37th president. Drawing on a wide range of...
Interview with Michael Bloomberg and Boris Johnson
02 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Boris Johnson, Mayor, London, Michael Bloomberg, Founder, Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies, 108th Mayor of the City of New York, and With Wal...
Robotic Moment: Who Do We Become When We Talk to Machines? (Aspen Lecture)
26 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Conversation is facing a crisis in our culture. We regularly put people on "pause" in conversation to check our phones. We treat machines as if they a...
Building a Better Teacher
19 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
We've all had great teachers who opened our minds — and maybe even changed our lives. But how can we make every teacher a star teacher? Elizabeth Gr...
Gray Matter: The Brain after 50
12 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Our brains are getting older, but there's still much to be optimistic about. Neuroscientists Susan Greenfield and Gary Small discuss the aging brain w...
What's Character Got to Do with It?
05 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
David Brooks writes about character. Aaron Sorkin writes about characters. The opinionator and consummate storyteller join in a conversation about how...
'Unfinished Business' with Anne-Marie Slaughter
29 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Anne-Marie Slaughter provides a sneak peek of her new book, 'Unfinished Business: Women Men Work Family'. Inspired by her 2012 article "Why Women Stil...
Facing Death with Dignity and a Plan
21 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
How can our medical and social systems support or hinder dying? Do we have the right to bend the arc of our own death, or that of a loved one? How can...
The Church of Pope Francis
14 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Nancy Gibbs, editor of TIME magazine, leads a conversation with: Michael Gerson, a nationally syndicated columnist whose writing appears twice weekly ...
The New Golden Age of Television
08 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Internet TV is growing globally in ways that traditional TV just isn’t. Netflix is a change-maker that is dramatically influencing our consumption o...
What is College For?
31 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Featuring William Deresiewicz, author of 'Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life' and New York Times...
China: New Economic Superpower?
27 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Former US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson has had unprecedented access to modern China’s political and business elite. As head of Goldman Sachs, he ...
Long Life in the 21st Century (Aspen Lecture)
24 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Aspen Lecture featuring Laura Carstensen, Fairleigh Dickinson Professor in Public Policy, Department of Psychology, Stanford University; Director, Sta...
Is Violence a Function of our Culture?
17 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Homicide remains an endemic, seemingly unsolvable problem in America. And violent crime afflicts African-American communities to a much greater degree...
A View from the White House
10 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
The President’s Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Advisor tells us what keeps her up at night and how she is working to make us all safe. Lisa ...
Faith and the Public Square
03 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) discusses faith and public life with Jim Wallis. The conversation begins from an agreement that the separation of church ...
Circuit Training for Your Brain: Well-Being Is a Skill
27 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Scientific evidence suggests that we can change our brains by transforming our minds and cultivating habits of mind that will improve well-being. Thes...
Radical: My Journey Out Of Islamist Extremism
20 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Maajid Nawaz shares his remarkable journey from Islamist extremism to liberal democratic values. Nawaz is the co-founder of Quilliam, a counter-extrem...
The Obama Doctrine: America's Role in a Complicated World
13 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Benjamin J. Rhodes, the deputy national security advisor to President Obama, was the chief US negotiator in the secret normalization talks with Cuba a...
The Supreme Court's Marriage Equality Ruling: The Most Consequential Ruling in Our Lifetimes?
06 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Recorded just four days after the SCOTUS ruling, this episode features a wide-ranging discussion of the cases and history behind the Marriage Equality...
Undaunted: Stories from the Frontlines of Global Health
29 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
During the Ebola crisis, strong grassroots relationships and homegrown leadership made the difference between life and death. Drawing on that learning...
The Evolution of Thinking Machines
22 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In many ways, artificial intelligence has become the norm. From autopilot on airplanes to language translation, we've come to accept once novel concep...
Should We Design Our Babies?
15 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
The discussion of "designer babies" often revolves around gender or hair color, but as Nita Farahany and Marcy Darnovsky explore, the medical debate i...
Acting Out
08 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
From co-founding Artists for a Free South Africa, to working in failing schools to turn them around, actor and 2014 Harman-Eisner Artist in Residence ...
Will Violence Be Our Legacy?
01 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu says that nowhere is America's crisis of violence more evident than in the African-American community. In this talk...
Kids These Days: Technology and Culture in American Life
25 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
What is new about how teenagers communicate through services such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram? Do social media affect the quality of teens’ ...
On Russia and Putinism
18 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
This episode features Nicholas Burns and Strobe Talbott discussing Russia and Putinism. Burns is director of the Aspen Strategy Group and Talbott is a...
"Redeployment" author Phil Klay
11 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Winner of the 2014 National Book Award, "Redeployment" takes readers to the front lines of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Author Phil Klay reads fr...
When Experts Disagree – The Art of Medical Decision Making
04 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Despite medical advances and the application of scientific principles to modern medicine, there seems to be increasing controversy about the "right" d...
The Road to Depth, Thinking about what Character Is
27 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Description Some people seem to lead inner lives that are richer and more substantive than the rest of us. How do they do it? In this talk, author and...
A Conversation Across Cultures
20 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In this lecture, philosopher, cultural theorist, and author Kwame Anthony Appiah rejects the idea that cross-cultural conversations often lead to the ...
"Our Kids" author Robert D. Putnam
13 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
A professor of public policy at Harvard, Robert D. Putnam has consulted for the last three American presidents and many other leaders around the globe...
American Musical Traditions
06 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
At 28, musician Jon Batiste is considered by many to be one of the most exciting and progressive new crossover talents on the scene today. His modern ...
From the Big Bang to Black Holes: Time, The Universe, and Everything
30 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Astrophysicist and writer Janna Levin offers an epic tour through time from the beginning of the universe in a big bang, through black holes, past the...
Flash Boys and the Human Piranha
23 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Michael Lewis is the author of the bestsellers "Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt", "The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game", and "Moneyball: The Art of W...
How Democracy Gets Restored
16 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Lawrence Lessig (professor at Harvard Law School) says there's a profound loss of confidence by Americans in their government. In this Aspen Lecture, ...
A Candid Conversation with John R. Lewis
12 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Congressman John R. Lewis (D-GA), civil rights leader, and co-author of the bestselling graphic memoir March: Book One, is the recipient of numerous a...
The Resilience Dividend
09 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Our interconnected world is susceptible to sudden and dramatic shocks and stresses: a cyber-attack, a new strain of virus, a structural failure, a vio...
A Formula for Happiness
02 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Want to be happy? Arthur C. Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute, has read all of the books and studies about what makes us happy —...
The Risky Business of Writing
23 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Journalist Katie Couric interviews "House of Cards" creator and producer Beau Willimon. Recorded live at the Aspen Ideas Festival, the two have a live...
"Wild" author Cheryl Strayed
16 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Cheryl Strayed discusses her journey, chronicled in the hugely popular book, Wild, and shares her search to overcome heartache and find healing. (Reco...
The Politics and Economics of Inequality
09 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Robert Reich examines what's happened to income and wealth in this country, why it's a problem, and what we can expect in future years. Reco...