Aspen Ideas to Go

Raising our kids with access to touchscreens and technology at almost all hours of the day is an untested experiment with unknown results. But by many measures, it isn’t going well. For several years, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt has been collecting and analyzing the data on young people, social media and smartphones. He’s found some deeply troubling trends, which he explains in his latest book, “The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness.” In a talk at the 2025 Aspen Ideas Festival, Haidt highlights his key findings and underscores the seriousn...

A push to expand publicly-funded school choice programs across the country is gaining steam. In only three decades, the practice has grown dramatically and President Trump is supportive of the idea. But what effect do school choice policies have on the K-12 education system as a whole? And where do charter schools fit in this debate? In this discussion from the 2025 Aspen Ideas Festival, three education experts from various perspectives report on what the data is telling us and highlight the nuances we should be considering. Alberto Carvalho is the superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, the...

Major forces shaping the U.S. economy are already causing ripple effects across the globe. To say it’s a time of economic uncertainty and transformation may be an understatement. America could see the biggest tariff shock in nearly a century and immigration policy is affecting the labor market. In addition, the Tax Act, or One Big Beautiful Bill, could add trillions to the deficit. Prominent business leaders unpack the situation in a well-rounded discussion on the state of the economy. Zanny Minton Beddoes, editor in chief of The Economist, moderates the conversation that includes Blackrock CEO Laurence Fink, Ge...

Regardless of one’s politics, most would agree that America is going through a difficult time. Our rifts seem overwhelmingly deep, and it’s not clear how to repair them. New York Times columnist and writer David Brooks has had his idea of what America is supposed to be and stand for upended in recent years. But he also isn’t giving up. In his 20th talk at the Aspen Ideas Festival, he charts a path of recovery. He looks to history for examples of eras when society’s ruptures reached untenable levels, and to psychology, philosophy, theology and other di...

The United States is in a pivotal foreign policy moment. What can a zoomed-out view of the current world order tell us about where things are going? Several foreign policy experts come together on stage at the Aspen Ideas Festival for a discussion on the state of the world order. David Petraeus is a former CIA director and Army general, Susan Rice served as an advisor to both Biden and Obama and UN ambassador, and John Bolton was Trump’s national security advisor for part of the president’s first term. CNN journalist and author Fareed Zakaria keeps the conv...

The mission of the U.S. Department of Justice has been tested over the past few months, as the Trump administration has thrust the agency into the center of several politicized debates. In the current atmosphere, can the DOJ fulfill its job of keeping our country safe and upholding civil rights? Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who served under President George W. Bush, and former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, who served under President Obama, lend their deep experience to this question in a talk at the 2025 Aspen Ideas Festival. CNN journalist and author Fareed Zakaria moderates the conversation...

The Middle East is being remade at this very moment. With missiles flying between Iran and Israel with US engagement, and Gaza in rubbles, what will the future hold? Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says he hopes for peace. In a wide-ranging conversation with CBS Evening News Co-Anchor John Dickerson, Olmert speaks passionately about the state of his region — from Israel’s war with Hamas and the crisis in Gaza to the likelihood that Iran’s nuclear program wasn’t completely wiped out in the June bombing.

U.S. Government funding for scientific research has led to innovations and breakthroughs for decades. But, with funding freezes, slashed budgets, and the cancellation of grants, the health of America’s scientific enterprise is in jeopardy. What’s at stake – for research, innovation, and the economy? How did we get here, and what will it take to chart a more sustainable path forward? David Leonhardt, director of the Editorial Board of The New York Times, leads a discussion with Holden Thorp, editor in chief of the Science family of journals, Jennifer Nuzzo, epidemiology professor at Brown University, and Karel Merten...

Since many Americans’ ancestors arrived at Ellis Island, the United States has experienced surges in immigration. But the largest escalation, surpassing even the peak at the turn of the 20th century, was during the Biden Administration. “In the U.S. and much of the world, we are living in an age of mass migration that has no precedent,” says David Leonhardt, editorial board director at The New York Times. What accounts for this upsurge and why has it fiercely divided republicans and democrats? Leonhardt speaks with Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, and ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Rom...

Controversies on college campuses have been near-constant over the past several years, and higher education institutions are now politically divisive targets. Administrators are asked to meet difficult demands and account for the actions of the thousands of faculty, staff and students under their wing. A panel of experts reflect on major recent challenges facing schools and share honest thoughts on previous shortcomings and where to go from here. Michael Elliott is the president of Amherst College, Margaret Spellings is president and CEO of the Bipartisan Policy Center, and Ted Mitchell is president of the American Council on Education. New...

Are you ready for bold ideas and thought-provoking conversations from the world’s top thinkers and doers? From happiness and leadership to AI, global affairs, the arts, and beyond — Aspen Ideas to Go is your front-row seat to the Aspen Ideas Festival where we challenge assumptions and ignite curiosity, one conversation at a time. New episodes drop weekly in 2025. Subscribe now and learn more at Aspen ideas.org/podcast.

In the 1990s, scientists unearthed a striking discovery – there are planets outside of our own solar system. Turns out, many of these planets are in a habitable zone capable of supporting water and oxygen. “The current estimate is about one sextillion habitable planets across the universe,” says Garett Graff, author of UFO: The Inside Story of the US Government’s Search for Alien Life Here – and Out There. Given the huge number of planets and the vastness of the universe itself, it seems likely intelligent life could exist (or may have already come and gone). Graff leads a discussion with Bill...

The nuclear family structure that Americans think of as traditional is actually a relatively recent convention. And for a lot of folks, it isn’t quite working. More and more people are rethinking who they want to live with and how they want to raise children, and are willing to brave legal hurdles and social stigma to give something else a try. Jaymes Black is the CEO of the organization Family Equality, which works to help LGBTQ+ families thrive. They join NPR producer and editor Rhaina Cohen, the author of “The Other Significant Others: Reimagining Life with Friendship at the...

A privileged childhood in Hollywood surrounded by entertainment industry characters gave actor, producer and director Griffin Dunne a wealth of stories. Some are about the kind of funny and charming encounters with glittery names that you might expect. But others are tragically life-altering, such as his sister’s murder by her ex-boyfriend and the excruciating high-profile trial that followed. Dunne got it all down on paper and published “The Friday Afternoon Club: A Family Memoir” last year. He spoke at the 2024 Aspen Ideas Festival with his longtime friend and fellow actor and producer Fisher Stevens about reliving years of hilari...

Communication is about a lot more than the words coming out of our mouths. We often hear each other, but don’t really listen. Or we understand the literal meaning of what someone is saying, but we seem to miss the point and fail to connect. What’s happening in our brains in those situations? And why is it sometimes so hard to do something we’ve been doing since we were children? New Yorker writer Charles Duhigg set out to find the answers to these questions in his latest book, “Supercommunicators: The Science of Conversation and Connection.” In this talk...

In 2018, professional basketball superstar DeMar DeRozan gave the world a dose of reality when he tweeted about struggling with depression. Even though he was in the middle of NBA All-Star weekend – an achievement many people think is the ultimate dream – he didn’t want to leave his hotel room. He was just looking to be truly seen and heard, but he ended up starting an important conversation and becoming a devoted advocate for mental health issues. And he inspired fellow NBA player Kevin Love to speak out not long after with an essay about dealing with longtime anxiety and depres...

In 2018, professional basketball superstar DeMar DeRozan gave the world a dose of reality when he tweeted about struggling with depression. Even though he was in the middle of NBA All-Star weekend – an achievement many people think is the ultimate dream – he didn’t want to leave his hotel room. He was just looking to be truly seen and heard, but he ended up starting an important conversation and becoming a devoted advocate for mental health issues. And he inspired fellow NBA player Kevin Love to speak out not long after with an essay about dealing with longtime anxiety and depres...

For centuries, people have tried to get to the bottom of what makes us happy. Recent studies show regular sex makes people happiest and commuting is when we’re most unhappy. And, happiness levels fluctuate throughout life. “Happiness follows a u-shaped curve,” says author and columnist David Brooks. “People are happier in their twenties. They typically decline and hit their bottom happiness category at age 47 and they tend to get happier as they get older.” These findings, though, may not tell the whole story. How does the consideration of purpose, meaning, and virtue change the definition of happiness? What can we lea...

Being a parent today is full of stress, pressure and information overload. Experts offering advice are everywhere, and for some parents, the wealth of available resources can make it feel like failure and criticism is inevitable. How do you pick out what’s actually helpful in the limited time you have? This talk from the 2024 Aspen Ideas Festival features a panel of moms who are also experts on parenting and child development. Aliza Pressman, MD is a developmental psychologist and co-founder of the Mount Sinai Parenting Center. Grace Bastidas is the editor-in-chief of Parents magazine and founder of a pa...

Using the law to charge and imprison political opponents is a favorite tactic of dictators the world over. In an age of growing global authoritarianism, unscrupulous rulers are getting more strategic about their methods and sharing lessons learned. The fight to free political prisoners is one with moving goalposts for the human rights attorneys and advocates working hard behind the scenes. Jared Genser of Perseus Strategies and Caoilfhionn Gallagher of Doughty Street Chambers, both human rights lawyers, explain how these processes often play out in reality, and where governments frequently fall short. Diane Foley, founder of the James W...

The quest for work-life balance is neverending for many of us. The advice in this talk from the 2023 Aspen Ideas Festival still holds a lot of relevance, so we’re bringing it back for a refresher. In today’s world, we tend to switch jobs more frequently than previous generations, and are more likely to have multiple jobs. Side gigs where we express passions or find meaning are also common, and many juggle additional roles as caregivers and community members, as people always have. In short, many of us are focused on a lot more than just climbing a corp...

Today’s boys and young men are having a tough time. By several measures of success and happiness, they’re struggling to keep up and turning to the internet for help, where many end up hooked by extremists. We need to find better ways to frame the problem, support them and push them in the right direction. The solution starts with a frank conversation about what’s really going on, according to the experts on this panel from the 2024 Aspen Ideas Festival. Richard Reeves founded the American Institute for Boys and Men and wrote “Of Boys and Men: Why the Mode...

Some musicians start with formal lessons and daily practice and some get hooked by picking up a washboard between hopping train cars across the country. Alynda Segarra is the latter type, and it led them to a new life dedicated to music and community in their adopted home of New Orleans. As the band Hurray for the Riff Raff, Segarra has been making music beloved by critics and fans since 2008 and is still going strong. Their most recent album, “The Past is Still Alive,” came out last year. They sat down with poetry professor and host of the PBS seri...

Julia Louis-Dreyfus has kept us laughing for years in her roles as Elaine Benes in “Seinfeld” and Selina Meyer in “Veep.” But her most recent work has her shifting from comedy to drama. She plays Zora in the film “Tuesday” about a mother battling to accept the impending death of her terminally ill daughter. “I really love being an actor, so even the hard stuff has a grip on me,” she tells podcast host Sam Fragoso. A master interviewer, Fragoso is known for eliciting emotions his guests don’t expect. His wide-reaching conversation with Louis-Dreyfus touches on ambition, frustration in showbusiness, L...

Living as a trans person in America comes with its share of challenges, which are sometimes even life-threatening. But some say it can also open up access to incredible freedom. What lessons can we all learn from people who’ve transitioned and transformed? Alok Vaid-Menon is a comedian and writer with remarkable patience and compassion for everyone and their inner journey – even the people sending them hate and death threats. “I am trying to look in their face and say ‘I want you to live,’” they say in a documentary short about them titled “Alok.” Artist and filmmaker Alex Hedison got to k...

The rapid development of the Covid-19 vaccine and the ramp-up of manufacturing and global distribution were unprecedented feats of medical coordination. But those on the inside say it could have gone even smoother and faster, and if we implement the lessons learned we’ll be in much better shape if another pandemic hits. Unfortunately, most global leaders seem to want to just move on and prioritize other issues, according to Adar Poonawalla, the CEO of vaccine company Serum Institute of India. His firm is one of the only family-owned medical manufacturers, and they were able to scale up production dr...

It’s a tough time to try and express the complexity of life honestly. Writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie doesn’t shy away from truth-telling and believes we should all step up and do more of it. She thinks there’s more of a political “middle” in the general public than is generally represented in media, and she keeps that group in mind in her work. An essayist, poet and novelist, Adichie published her first novel in 12 years, “Dream Count,” on March 4, 2025. Last summer, she joined podcast host Kelly Corrigan of “Kelly Corrigan Wonders” on stage for the closing session of the 2024 Aspen...

Few working technology reporters have been around as long as Kara Swisher. The start of her career coincided with the emergence of the internet, and she’s interviewed almost all of the major tech players between then and now. She’s still known today for making billionaire founders sweat in the hot seat. But she’s not just a technology critic, she’s also an ardent cheerleader. As she explains in her memoir, “Burn Book: A Tech Love Story,” and in this episode, her tough questions aim to be in service of better technology and a better world. The co-founder a...

Creativity is as intrinsic to our species as any of our basic instincts, says Debbie Millman, designer and curator. But for millions of people in the United States, the ability to create has been thwarted. This basic human need, as important as love and shelter, Millman says, isn’t available for people serving time at the nearly 2,000 correctional facilities across America. In this discussion, moderated by Millman, a group of artists and activists share how they’re working to bring creative outlets to people who are incarcerated. Turns out ushering creativity into these dark and lonely spaces not only incr...

The entertainment industry has had to pivot and refresh time and again to adapt to constant changes in format, business models and attention spans. Somehow, producer Brian Grazer has been able to keep up. The storyteller, who has received multiple nominations and wins at the Oscars, Emmys and Golden Globes, manages to find what people connect with and turn it into a hit – and he does this over and over. In this talk from the 2024 Aspen Ideas Festival, Grazer and the entertainment leader and former Disney CEO Michael Eisner discuss what makes something work and how to go from an...

Advances in medicine and healthy living mean that more and more people will live to be 100. But just because their bodies can last doesn’t mean their bank accounts will keep up. Retirement, and especially a long retirement, takes careful planning and sophisticated financial literacy. It’s impossible to know what the future economic world will look like, but accounting for the unexpected and finding good guidance is essential. In this talk sponsored by Aspen Institute supporter Prudential Financial, two financial planning experts lay out the options for saving later in life and spread the word on the importance of p...

In the early days of cable television, there wasn’t a single network aimed at Black audiences. Sheila Johnson and her husband at the time saw an opening, and put all their hopes, efforts and money into co-founding Black Entertainment Television. The gamble paid off and the channel grew to become an influential and successful part of culture and television history. But behind the glitter, Johnson’s marriage was difficult and degrading and she lost track of herself and her dreams. In her memoir “Walk Through Fire,” Johnson shares what those tough times were like, and how she found her way...

Owning a professional sports team is not for the faint of heart. Results are volatile and wins and losses come with the strong emotions of a city’s fan base. But it’s a sound investment for the right type of business leader, and the value of professional teams has been steadily rising over the past several years. Two legendary owners with very different backgrounds meet for this conversation about what it’s like to have a major stake in the game. Alex Rodriguez wrapped up an incredible career in major league baseball in 2016, after playing for 22 years. He’s gone o...

Looking around and experiencing the suffering and injustice in the world can make it difficult to believe that happiness exists. But the Judeo-Christian tradition teaches that it’s sinful to succumb to despair, and we have a responsibility to ourselves and others to try and find our way through dark times. On the other hand, when you avoid suffering, you avoid meaning, and therefore, you avoid happiness, says professor and author Arthur Brooks. One of the great secrets of happiness, he says, is unhappiness. Spiritual and intellectual leaders may have a lot to offer us about building our lives in...

Millions of children across America don’t have art classes in school and don’t grow up going to art museums and galleries. They might be hours away from the closest museum, or their families might not have the means to bring art into their lives. Philanthropist Alice Walton had that kind of childhood, and wants to prevent as many people as possible from repeating it. When she discovered the art world as an adult, she also learned how insular and urban it was, leaving out so many. These experiences led her to found the Crystal Bridges Museum of Amer...

The extremely wealthy and powerful drug cartels in Mexico operate with near-impunity, perpetuating violent crime and terrorizing Mexican citizens. But they also bring pain and suffering to the United States by importing massive amounts of fentanyl, fueling the deadly opioid epidemic. Drug lords saw an opening after the U.S. government finally stepped in to stop the flow of prescription opioids created by the pharmaceutical industry. A ready-made market of addicted people just over the border provided incentive, and fentanyl was cheaper and easier to produce than other drugs. Anabel Hernandez, a Mexican journalist who’s covered the cartels fo...

This episode is from the 2022 Aspen Ideas Festival, but we’re bringing it back because it’s still as relevant as ever. Though it can sometimes feel like conflict and discord is human nature, our brains are actually predisposed to forming groups and working together. In our individualistic society, we may think our minds stop at our skulls, but when people come together and connect effectively, they actually think in different ways, and they all become smarter and healthier together. Science writer Annie Murphy Paul, the author of “The Extended Mind: The Power of Thinking Outside the Brain,” joins NYU psyc...

Sir Ken Robinson believed that as a society, we tragically underestimate and underutilize human ability. We create linear systems for our minds modeled on industry and manufacturing, and we fail to honor the nonlinear imagination and creativity inside all of us. As a speaker and educational advisor, Robinson worked with people all over the world in various sectors and settings on helping them reconnect with their natural inclinations and aptitudes. He advocated for educational reform that treated children as individuals motivated by interests and passions. Robinson unfortunately passed away in 2020, and this episode is from our archives. He gave...

Scholars are still uncovering information about Britain’s involvement in the transatlantic slave trade and its era of slavery, piecing together how the wealth generated from these atrocities shaped the nation’s history. For some descendants, this means just now learning about their families’ roles in and benefits from these horrors. In Britain, a few horrified heirs and private institutions are stepping forward to make amends, but there are few models for what meaningful reparations or restorative justice could look like. Where do we go from here, and what would truly make a difference? In this conversation from the 2024 Aspen...

Each year brings more destructive natural disasters and growing evidence of the challenging future we face if we don’t address climate change. But the biggest cause of climate-related deaths is one that’s hard to see and hardly talked about. Extreme heat killed more than 2,000 people in the United States in 2023 and put intense stress on millions as they faced high costs of utilities and numerous life interruptions. Federal, state and local policy hasn’t kept up with rising temperatures and the scale of the heat threat, and cities are scrambling to adapt and prevent more deaths. In this p...