Aspen Ideas to Go

The Aspen Institute

4.2 (229)
PHILOSOPHY
UPDATED WEEKLY

Aspen Ideas to Go is a show about bold ideas that will open your mind. Featuring compelling conversations with the world’s top thinkers and doers from a diverse range of disciplines, Aspen Ideas to Go gives you front-row access to the Aspen Ideas Festival.

DEC 17

Muscle Matters with Bonnie Tsui

Conversations about wellness and our bodies usually don’t focus on what makes all movement possible – our muscles. But these parts of us are more complex than we give them credit for and tied to our overall health in nuanced ways. How we think about strength and muscle also differs based on our gender, upbringing and experience of society. In her latest book, “On Muscle: The Stuff That Moves Us and Why It Matters,” journalist Bonnie Tsui explores how muscles really work, and what doctors and scientists are learning about the importance of strength training and muscle health. In this program from Aspen Ideas Health, Tsui explains to CNN medical journalist Elizabeth Cohen how her curiosity about muscles led her into deep research, anatomy lab visits and reflection on culture, herself and her family.

50 min
DEC 10

Pico Iyer on Living with Fire

Writer Pico Iyer stumbled into a lifelong practice of periodic retreat and reflection after he lost nearly everything in a 1990 wildfire that burned his family’s house down. A friend suggested that he recuperate at a Benedictine monastery near Big Sur, California, and the calm he found there was life-altering. He began returning to the oceanside hermitage regularly, and slowing down became a fundamental part of his life and productive career. In this talk from the 2025 Aspen Ideas Festival, Iyer shares what those times of silence have given him, and how he’s learned to navigate tumult while always coming back to peace. Iyer’s latest book is “Aflame: Learning from Silence,” and he’s also the author of “The Half Known Life” and “The Art of Stillness,” among several other books and many essays.

53 min
DEC 3

Mary Louise Kelly’s Life in Seven Songs

Aspen Ideas to Go teamed up with our friends at the podcast “Life in Seven Songs” for this special episode recorded live at the Aspen Ideas Festival. Host Sophie Bearman interviews NPR host and reporter Mary Louise Kelly about seven songs that tell a story of her life spanning war zones, motherhood, hearing loss, and late-in-life love.

39 min
NOV 26

ENCORE: Hope in Troubling Times

Hope seems like a simple concept, but the feeling can be difficult to hold onto. And when times are difficult and chaos swirls around us, it’s more important than ever. How do we find and practice hope when it’s elusive? Spiritual and religious leaders rely on centuries of experience and wisdom to continually guide people back to hope, and this episode’s discussion from the 2024 Aspen Ideas Festival draws from these experts. Lutheran pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber founded the House for All Sinners and Saints in Denver, and doesn’t shy away from unorthodox methods of ministry. Rabbi Sharon Brous is the founder and leader of IKAR, a nondenominational Jewish congregation in Los Angeles. Humanist chaplain Greg Epstein works with the populations at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Union Theological Seminary professor and the former director of the Religion and Society Program at the Aspen Institute, Simran Jeet Singh, introduces and moderates the conversation.

55 min
NOV 19

Is There Anything GLP-1s Can’t Do?

Weight loss and diabetes drugs in the class called GLP-1s have exploded onto the market, starting to put a real dent in the obesity epidemic. And as doctors are gathering more data, it looks like the medications may also provide real benefits for cardiac health, liver disease, kidney function and possibly even addiction and sleep disorders. In this episode, a panel of experts explains how the drugs work, why they’ve been so effective, and how hopeful we might be about other uses. Cedars Sinai cardiologist Martha Gulati joins Nora Volkow, the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse and Diana Thiara, an obesity expert at UCSF, for a forward-looking conversation about this potentially game-changing medical advancement. Time Magazine health reporter Alice Park moderates the conversation.

1h 7m
NOV 12

Walter Isaacson’s Life in Seven Songs

Aspen Ideas to Go teamed up with our friends at the podcast “Life in Seven Songs” for this special episode recorded live at the Aspen Ideas Festival. Host Sophie Bearman interviews biographer and historian Walter Isaacson about seven songs that tell a story of his life and upbringing in New Orleans. Isaacson was the president and CEO of the Aspen Institute from 2003 to 2018, and is the author of “Leonardo da Vinci,” “Einstein: His Life and Universe,” and “Elon Musk,” among others. His latest book, “The Greatest Sentence Ever Written,” is out on November 17. “Life in Seven Songs” is a production of The San Francisco Standard.

32 min
NOV 5

Hope is a Muscle: Jason Reynolds and Krista Tippett

What does it look like to hope in the face of tough times and undeniable challenges? The speakers in today’s talk might describe true hope as more than a passive platitude, but something closer to a muscle that needs exercise. Krista Tippett, the creator and host of the public radio show “On Being,” reunites with young adult author and MacArthur grantee Jason Reynolds to continue their multi-year conversation about how to find resilience in a world full of obstacles. They explore the relationship between fear and hope, and share experiences of finding light and connection in unexpected places.

55 min
OCT 29

Creating Cultural Consciousness

Arts institutions carry a responsibility for responding to and driving culture. What does it take to lead these organizations and support diverse groups of artists, audiences, and benefactors? Actress, playwright and professor Anna Deavere Smith leads a frank and deep discussion about the role of museums, foundations, and cultural centers in today’s creative environment. Lonnie G. Bunch III, the head of the Smithsonian Institution, joins Mariko Silver, the CEO of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York, and Yana Peel, the president of Arts, Culture and Heritage at Chanel.

51 min

See All (576)

TRAILER

Trailer

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.

Jun 25

•

2 min

4.2

out of 5

229 Ratings

Please improve the sound quality of the speakers.

10/03/2021

glimadoll

Please improve the sound quality of the speakers.
I love the variety of topics and people

May 8

Bookish📚

I’ve been listening to this show for a long time and it continues to make the cut in my weekly rotation. Why? Because it covers so many topics. There’s an interesting mix of people in the news and unexpected/unknown (to me) people doing fascinating work.
Worst interviewer

02/25/2023

khy414

You need to have someone knowledgeable or can at least listen to do this interview. Interviewer is so self involved an important opportunity was lost. The issues the author writes about are pervasive and damaging to our world and the interviewer was truly clueless to this. Listen to Kirista Tippet’s interview if you are interested in Van der Kolk’s work.
Universe

02/22/2020

Digiverse

Cool!! I do wish that they would make a podcast about the multiverse and more about black holes!

Aspen Ideas to Go is a show about bold ideas that will open your mind. Featuring compelling conversations with the world’s top thinkers and doers from a diverse range of disciplines, Aspen Ideas to Go gives you front-row access to the Aspen Ideas Festival.