Aspen Ideas To Go

Internet TV is growing globally in ways that traditional TV just isn’t. Netflix is a change-maker that is dramatically influencing our consumption of story-telling. This episode features Katie Couric in conversation with Ted Sarandos, the gutsy program chief of Netflix, whose platinum successes include 'House of Cards', 'Orange is the New Black', and now 'Grace and Frankie'.

Featuring William Deresiewicz, author of 'Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life' and New York Times op-ed columnist David Brooks. At a time when traditional notions of college are under attack — in the shift to online instruction, in the emphasis on STEM fields and the denigration of the liberal arts, in the continued privatization of public higher education — it is urgent that we ask what college is supposed to be about in the first place. What happens when education is understood in purely vocational terms? What happens to schools, to teachers, to society — to students themselves? Why are students learning so little in college? Why are courses so much less important to them than extracurriculars? Why do so many young people today have trouble finding a sense of purpose? What are we doing to our children, and why are we doing it?

Former US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson has had unprecedented access to modern China’s political and business elite. As head of Goldman Sachs, he had a pivotal role in opening up China to private enterprise. Then, as treasury secretary, he created the Strategic Economic Dialogue with what is now the world’s second-largest economy. Paulson and the Aspen Institute's Walter Isaacson recently spoke about Paulson's new book, 'Dealing with China: An Insider Unmasks the New Economic Superpower,' as part of the McCloskey Speaker Series in Aspen, CO. Paulson outlined the steps needed to build a bright economic future for the US.

Aspen Lecture featuring Laura Carstensen, Fairleigh Dickinson Professor in Public Policy, Department of Psychology, Stanford University; Director, Stanford Center on Longevity. We are approaching a watershed moment in human history; a time when old people outnumber children and living to 100 is commonplace. There are major challenges associated with this dramatic and sudden increase in life expectancy, yet, Carstensen says we must not lose sight of the fact that long life presents unprecedented opportunities. If we use science and technology to solve problems associated with aging and we develop new social norms and lifestyles, she asserts that the entire life course can be redesigned in ways that dramatically improve quality of life at all ages. The Aspen Lecture convene some of the world's greatest minds in an interdisciplinary series that explores topics ranging from the Big Bang to representative democracy to Shakespeare.

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. His memoir Between the World and Me was published last month and is currently #1 on The New York Times Bestseller list. Jeffrey Goldberg, national correspondent for The Atlantic, moderates the discussion.

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 Monaco, Deputy National Security Advisor and Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism; Moderator: Mike Isikoff, Chief Investigative Correspondent, Yahoo News. For more, visit: www.aspensecurityforum.org- Follow @aspensecurity

Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) discusses faith and public life with Jim Wallis. The conversation begins from an agreement that the separation of church and state is imperative but that moral values should not be segregated from public life. Coons, who graduated from Yale Law School and Yale Divinity School, has said, "I think it’s foundational to our country that if we allow people to choose their path of faith, they must of course be also free, welcomed, celebrated, to choose not to have faith in a supreme being." Coons was elected to Vice President Biden’s former seat in 2010. He serves on the Appropriations, Foreign Relations, Judiciary, Small Business and Entrepreneurship, and Ethics committees and is the ranking member of two subcommittees. Wallis is president and founder of Sojourners, a nonprofit faith-based organization whose mission is to "put faith into action for social justice." He is a "New York Times" bestselling author, public theologian, speaker, and international c

Scientific evidence suggests that we can change our brains by transforming our minds and cultivating habits of mind that will improve well-being. These include happiness, resilience, compassion, and emotional balance. Each of these characteristics is instantiated in brain circuits that exhibit plasticity and thus can be shaped and modified by experience and training. Mental training to cultivate well-being has profound implications for schools, the workplace, and society as a whole. Richard J. Davidsonis the William James and Vilas Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry and director of the Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Davidson has published over 320 articles and edited 14 books, including The Emotional Life of Your Brain. NOTE: Davidson shared a couple of short video clips during his talk at the Festival. The first shows video games developed for kids to cultivate habits of kindness and pro-social behavior. The second is a demonstration of the presc

Maajid Nawaz shares his remarkable journey from Islamist extremism to liberal democratic values. Nawaz is the co-founder of Quilliam, a counter-extremism think tank based in London, and engages in counter-Islamist thought-generating, social-activism, writing, debating, and media appearances. He served four years in an Egyptian prison as an Amnesty International "prisoner of conscience" until he became de-radicalized and renounced his extremist views. This talk was recorded live at the Aspen Ideas Festival, July 2015. Learn more about the Festival at www.aspenideas.org.

Benjamin J. Rhodes, the deputy national security advisor to President Obama, was the chief US negotiator in the secret normalization talks with Cuba and has been a central player in the making of American foreign policy since 2009, both as a key advisor and as the president’s chief foreign policy speechwriter. Rhodes and Jeffrey Goldberg, national correspondent for The Atlantic, discuss the worldview of President Obama, focusing on Cuba, the Iran talks, and the continuing crisis across the broader Middle East.

Recorded just four days after the SCOTUS ruling, this episode features a wide-ranging discussion of the cases and history behind the Marriage Equality ruling. Featuring the legal dream team that helped make this a reality, former Solicitor General Ted Olson and star litigator David Boies. Neal Katyal, former Acting Solicitor General, moderates the conversation.

During the Ebola crisis, strong grassroots relationships and homegrown leadership made the difference between life and death. Drawing on that learning, movers and shakers from the Aspen New Voices Fellowship will share their stories about the silo-busting connections that can be forged under stress. From Sierra Leone to Nepal, these kinds of bonds keep our most vulnerable communities healthier and safer in perilous times. Aspen New Voices Fellows: Rubayat Khan, Relebohile Moletsane, Serufusa Sekidde, David Kuria, Kopano Mabaso, Abraham Leno, Samuel Kargbo, ElsaMarie D'Silva, Esther Ngumbi www.AspenNewVoices.org

In many ways, artificial intelligence has become the norm. From autopilot on airplanes to language translation, we've come to accept once novel concepts as just something thinking machines do. What we have ultimately learned is that human thinking is just one way of thinking. So, how far will artificial intelligence go? This episode features a conversation between Danny Hillis and Alexis Madrigal. Hillis is an inventor, scientist, author and engineer. He is co-founder of Applied Minds, a research and development company that creates a range of new products and services in software, entertainment, electronics, biotechnology, and mechanical design. Madrigal is the Silicon Valley bureau chief for Fusion, where he hosts and produces a television show about the future. He is the tech critic for NPR's "FreshAir," a contributing editor at The Atlantic, and a former staff writer at Wired.

The discussion of "designer babies" often revolves around gender or hair color, but as Nita Farahany and Marcy Darnovsky explore, the medical debate is far more complicated. Farahany is Professor of Law and Philosophy, Director of Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy, Duke University; Member, Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues. Should we screen embryos for disease? Should we make genetic modifications? These considerations raise ethical concerns and call into question the validity of surrounding research. The lack of regulation and oversight make this particular biotechnology frightening to some, while the potential for disease eradicating techniques excites others. But how far is too far? What are the major scientific and ethical hurdles to assuage the skeptics? Marcy Darnovsky is the executive director of the Center for Genetics and Society. Nita Farahany is professor of Law and Philosophy and director of the Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy at Duke University.

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 Alfre Woodard has played a role in making change as an activist artist. Woodard joins the Aspen Institute's Damian Woetzel in a conversation about her career and work as an artist on the front lines.

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, he asks: What’s the real cost of violence? And how do we change it? Since taking office in 2010, Landrieu has reformed the city’s police department and launched NOLA for Life, an initiative to reduce murders. And it seems to be working, at least incrementally: The murder rate in New Orleans has dropped for the third straight year. So what can the rest of the country learn from New Orleans? The Aspen Institute found this talk to be so compelling, that we’ll be taking a deeper look at Violence in America at the Aspen Ideas Festival this summer.

What is new about how teenagers communicate through services such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram? Do social media affect the quality of teens’ lives? Youth culture and technology expert Danah Boyd talks with The Atlantic’s Hanna Rosin about what Boyd sees as the major myths regarding teens’ use of social media, exploring tropes about identity, privacy, safety, danger, and bullying. Boyd argues that society fails kids when paternalism and protectionism hinder their ability to become informed, thoughtful, and engaged citizens through their online interactions. How will emerging technologies continue to impact a new generation of Americans? aspenideas.org

This episode features Nicholas Burns and Strobe Talbott discussing Russia and Putinism. Burns is director of the Aspen Strategy Group and Talbott is an ASG member and president of the Brookings Institution. In this discussion, they follow up on a lecture Talbott gave at the Aspen Institute back in August. That lecture, entitled "Putinism: The Back Story", focused on Russia’s current policies, turning a lens on what Talbott asserts are the undoing of recent reforms. (Watch the full lecture: https://goo.gl/obtm3Y) Here, Burns asks Talbott to reflect on what has changed, and what hasn’t, over the last eight months.

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 from and discusses this collection of short stories which asks readers to understand what happened there, and what happened to the soldiers who returned. Interwoven are themes of brutality and faith, guilt and fear, helplessness and survival. the characters in these stories struggle to make meaning out of the chaos. NOTE: Contains graphic scenes that may not be suitable for everyone.

Despite medical advances and the application of scientific principles to modern medicine, there seems to be increasing controversy about the "right" diagnostic and treatment choices, even for very common medical issues – such as how best to treat high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol; whether to take vitamins, and who should be screened for cancer with mammograms and PSA. Doctors Jerome Groopman, chair of Harvard Medical School, and Pamela Hartzband, assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, discuss why experts disagree, why there isn't a clear "right" answer, and what patients need to know to make decisions in the face of conflicting information.