Aspen Ideas To Go

The civil war in Syria has raged for five years and killed half a million people. Eleven million refugees have either fled to other countries or are displaced within Syria. In this episode, three survivors share their personal stories of strength and determination under intense and difficult circumstances. Syrian violinist Mariela Shaker says she “ran under bombs and mortars” to send applications to colleges in the United States. Experts in Middle East policy also examine solutions to the war. Who is most effectively helping, and how are they doing it? What should the world do beyond looking on in horrified disbelief? aspenideas.org

In a rare interview, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency weighs in on the global security scene and explains the current risks to the United States. John Brennan is interviewed by Dina Temple-Raston, counterterrorism correspondent for NPR, at the Aspen Security Forum. Even though the Islamic State, or ISIL, has lost territory in the Middle East, it continues to be a “global menace,” according to Brennan. He discusses what’s needed in the fight against the brutal terror group. He also discusses Russia, China, and cybercrime, and explains why Syria is the most complex issue he’s dealt with in his career. aspenideas.org

Is America turning its back on the humanities? The declining enrollment in disciplines including history, literature, language, philosophy and the arts, at colleges and universities across the country, signals a significant cultural shift. In this episode, Leon Wieseltier, contributing editor for The Atlantic, and Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust unpack why the diminished appeal of the humanities has huge cultural implications. Can this trend be reversed in a challenging age, when technology and quantification are highly revered? aspenideas.org

High-profile episodes of violence have highlighted excessive force and mistreatment of people of color by police. And this summer, police have become targets of violence with attacks in cities like Dallas and Baton Rouge. This episode examines the way forward for law enforcement and the communities they are duty-bound to “serve and protect.” We hear from law enforcement officials, including Attorney General Loretta Lynch, and activists. How will the frayed relationship between police and citizens be repaired? How has the Black Lives Matter movement changed the conversation? aspenideas.org

Helen Fisher knows a thing or two about relationships. The Kinsey Institute research fellow and Match.com’s lead scientific advisor has spent her career studying couples and romantic behavior. The author of six books, her writing traces human family life from its origins in Africa over 20 million years ago to the internet dating sites and bedrooms of today. Her cutting-edge research, using brain imaging, examines what love and romantic partnership does to our gray matter. In this episode, she explains why humans fall in love and form pair-bonds when the odds are against them. aspenideas.org

The world doesn’t lack for creative ideas—it lacks people to champion them. Once you have an idea, how do you communicate it? In this episode, Adam Grant, Wharton’s top-rated professor and a New York Times bestselling author of Originals, shares insights on how to speak up without getting silenced, and how to find allies in unexpected places. aspenideas.org

Vladimir Putin continues to taunt the US and Europe at every turn by testing NATO’s resolve, propping up Assad, provoking Ukraine, and even doing what he can to further complicate the migrant crisis. Domestically, Russia’s involvement in hacking the Democratic National Convention is in question. Heather Conley, Senior Vice President for Europe, Eurasia, and the Arctic; Director, Europe Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies discusses the current state with Elissa Slotkin, Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs. Their discussion, which takes place at the Aspen Security Forum, is moderated by Massimo Calabresi, Deputy Washington Bureau Chief and Senior Correspondent, Time Magazine. aspenideas.org

With the historic candidacy of Hillary Clinton, feminism is front and center this election. Be it wage inequality, women’s health, or paid family leave, many issues important to women at both ends of the economic divide are hotly contested. Dinner table wars rage, as boomer women and their millennial daughters disagree on Clinton, Sanders, and what being a feminist means when it comes to the vote. In this episode we hear from women involved in modern feminism as well as politically-active millennials. aspenideas.org

What do today’s Republicans believe America’s role in the world should be? This week’s episode features US Sen. Tom Cotton, R-AR, discussing his support for presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump. Trump has some very different ideas than the Republican foreign policy establishment about the global alliance system, free trade, and the current nuclear order. Cotton, a leading figure in Republican defense and foreign policy circles, explains the Republican worldview, Trump’s worldview, the Obama foreign policy doctrine, and what he thinks America’s role should be in these tumultuous times. aspenideas.org

Are we witnessing a new era in American politics? Two former Republican presidential candidates weigh in on the 2016 election. Newt Gingrich, former House Speaker, says the presidential race is unlike any he’s ever witnessed, characterized by rebellion against establishment politics in both parties. He predicts presumed Republican nominee Donald Trump will redefine the electoral map. Gingrich is being considered as a potential vice president by Trump. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is also featured in this episode. He explains why he plans to vote for neither Trump nor democrat Hillary Clinton. Take part in an upcoming podcast about policing and communities of color. What questions do you have around the issue? Email us your written question or a recorded voice memo. We’ll pose it to an expert on the topic, who spoke at the Aspen Ideas Festival. Send questions to aspenideastogo@gmail.com. aspenideas.org

On June 23, voters in the UK chose to leave the European Union. Three days after the vote, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde spoke at the Aspen Ideas Festival in Aspen, Colorado. She calls the decision to leave the EU “heartbreaking.” In this episode, Lagarde is interviewed by Jane Harman, president of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and trustee of the Aspen Institute. aspenideas.org

TAKEOVER is a special series of episodes that puts you on the ground during the Aspen Ideas Festival in Aspen, Colorado. This episode features Pete Dominick (comedian, radio host) as takeover host in conversation with Michele Norris (journalist, The Race Card Project) and Alec Ross (Author, "The Industries of the Future"). Dominick infuses humor into interesting conversation about politics, culture and future business. Music: Gillicuddy, Podington Bear aspenideas.org

TAKEOVER is a special series of episodes that puts you on the ground during the Aspen Ideas Festival in Aspen, Colorado. This episode features Emily Yoffe (The Atlantic) as takeover host in conversation with Bryan Stevenson (Equal Justice Initiative), Helen Fisher (The Kinsey Institute, Match.com), and Geoffrey Stone (Univ. of Chicago Law School). Yoffe asks probing questions and touches on issues such as the Supreme Court, politics, and love and sex. Music: Gillicuddy, Podington Bear aspenideas.org

TAKEOVER is a special series of episodes that puts you on the ground during the Aspen Ideas Festival in Aspen, Colorado. This episode features Franklin Leonard (The Black List Table Reads podcast) as takeover host in conversation with Melody Barnes (former assistant to the president and director of the White House Domestic Policy Council; co-founder of MB2 Solutions), DeRay Mckesson (protestor, civil rights activist, and educator), and Sarah Lewis (author, curator, and assistant professor at Harvard University). Music: Gillicuddy, Podington Bear aspenideas.org

TAKEOVER is a special series of episodes that puts you on the ground during the Aspen Ideas Festival in Aspen, Colorado. This episode features Maria Hinojosa (NPR's Latino USA) as takeover host in conversation with Jose Antonio Vargas (journalist), Melvin Mar (producer, Fresh Off the Boat), and Roberto Villaseñor (former chief, Tucson Police Dept.). Music: Gillicuddy, Podington Bear aspenideas.org

TAKEOVER is a special series of episodes that put you on the ground during the Aspen Ideas Festival in Aspen, Colorado. This episode features Perri Peltz (documentary filmmaker and journalist) as takeover host in conversation with Piper Kerman (author, Orange is the New Black), Seth Berkley (founder of International AIDS Vaccine Initiative), and Adam Foss (co-founder of Prosecutor Integrity Institute). Music: Gillicuddy, Podington Bear aspenideas.org

Homicide remains an endemic, seemingly unsolvable problem in America. And violent crime afflicts African-American communities to a much greater degree than others, as does mass incarceration — and police violence. What is the cause of this crisis? What is the role of culture? Are there any solutions? This episode features New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu who has been confronting this crisis head-on, in conversation with Ta-Nehisi Coates, national correspondent for The Atlantic, who has written widely on matters of race, policing, and American history. Jeffrey Goldberg, national correspondent for The Atlantic, moderates the discussion. (Rebroadcast of episode that originally aired in August 2015) aspenideas.org

Every summer, writers, professors, artists, activists, and others deliver their “big ideas” at the Aspen Ideas Festival. The onstage advice celebrates the Festival itself, which brings together great thinkers to debate and discuss the most important and fascinating issues of our time. The Festival marks its twelfth year in late June. This episode features “big ideas” from as far back as 2007 that cover science, arts education, happiness, and technology. Physicist Brian Greene, opera singer Jessye Norman and former congresswoman Gabby Giffords deliver their ideas, along with many others. aspenideas.org

Author and filmmaker Negin Farsad calls herself a social justice comedian. She works to prove that humor - just like activism - can effectively challenge deep-seated and sclerotic prejudices about race and religion. In her recent book, How to Make White People Laugh, she addresses the mistreatment and misperceptions of Muslims in the US after 9/11. In this episode, she's joined by radio host Dean Obeidallah and Imam Daayiee Abdullah, president and founder of the Mecca Institute. He's one of the world's only openly gay Imams. Farsad, Obeidallah, and Abdullah bring levity to serious, sometimes grim, topics in American cultural and political life. The discussion was held by the Aspen Institute's Arts Program. aspenideas.org

Now, more than ever, a diversifying United States needs a shared base of knowledge. That’s according to Eric Liu, executive director of the Citizenship and American Identity Program at the Aspen Institute. He’s calling on the American public and cultural leaders to build a crowd-sourced national list of facts and references every American should know. In this “Extra” episode, he talks to David Henry Hwang, Tony-winning American playwright, screenwriter, and opera librettist. He is the child of Chinese immigrants and shares how, growing up, he used television as one way to integrate into American society. (Music: Podington Bear/Jack) aspenideas.org