Aspen Ideas to Go

The Aspen Institute

4.2 (222)
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.

5 DAYS AGO

Sir Ken Robinson on Being in Your Element

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.

56 min
DEC 11

History, Justice, and Amends: Britain’s Legacy of Slavery

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. Where do we go from here, and what would truly make a difference?

58 min
DEC 5

The Invisible Danger of Extreme Heat

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 panel from the 2024 Aspen Ideas Festival, the chief heat officer for Miami-Dade County, Jane Gilbert, joins the chief heat officer for the city of Los Angeles, Marta Segura, to share their learnings and innovations in these brand new positions. Rolling Stone journalist Jeff Goodell, the author of “The Heat Will Kill You First,” brings a wider lens to the issue. NBC News correspondent Liz Kreutz moderates the conversation.

43 min
NOV 21

What is Missing in the Lives of America’s Young People?

Young people in America are struggling. The causes are varied and may not be entirely clear, but the results are unfortunately unmistakable. Many of our youth feel lonely, isolated or depressed and struggle to see a future where they can buy a house, have a family or feel connected to their community. The two panelists in this talk from the 2024 Aspen Ideas Festival bring a distinct expert perspective, filling out the picture of how to come to the aid of young people and prevent these patterns from repeating. The U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has issued advisories on the youth mental health crisis and raised the alarm about social media use. Kaya Henderson is the executive director of the Center for Rising Generations at the Aspen Institute, after spending years as an educator and entrepreneur. Both see the need to address this problem holistically and see kids as more than future workers. Former university administrator Dan Porterfield, now the president and CEO of the Aspen Institute, moderates the conversation.

1 hr
NOV 13

Can We Use the Past to Guide an AI Future?

New technologies have always led to changes in society, though not always as quickly or drastically as people feared. Could artificial intelligence be different? Instead of letting a new AI reality unfold amid helpless hand-wringing, what if we tried to learn from the past? In this talk recorded at the 2024 Aspen Ideas Festival, a panel of thoughtful technology experts from various perspectives meet to discuss what might happen in a future AI-infused world. They explore the possibilities between immediate havoc and the eventual end of humanity, and suggest actions we can take to get the outcome we want. UK historian, writer and TV presenter David Olusoga joins UK government technology advisor Karen McLuskie and tech philanthropist Vilas Dhar of the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation. The executive director of Aspen Digital at the Aspen Institute, Vivian Schiller, moderates the conversation.

52 min
NOV 6

A New Leash on Life: How Can We Help Our Dogs Live Longer?

Research on aging and extending life and healthspan has ventured beyond humans to our best animal friends – dogs. In less than a year, dog owners may be able to buy a drug that would extend their dog’s life and hopefully keep it healthier for longer. Especially for owners of big dogs with short lifespans, this could be welcome news. And what the drug developers learn about dog aging might contribute to learnings on human aging. Scientists are also building some of the first long-term studies on dog health that will provide detailed information and important insights on our pets’ lives, and maybe our own. Neuroscientist Celine Halioua founded her company Loyal when she was just 24, and is close to getting FDA approval for the company’s first drug. Daniel Promislow, a biogerontologist at Tufts University, founded and leads the Dog Aging Project, collecting data on dogs across the country from all walks of life. The Aspen Institute’s executive vice president, Eliot Gerson, moderates this feel-good conversation recorded at the 2024 Aspen Ideas Festival in June.

46 min
OCT 31

Jane Fonda, Rebel With a Cause

After a lifetime of successful acting and passionate activism, Jane Fonda is far from done. At 86, she’s now pouring all of her efforts into pushing for action that will stop climate change, and she’s willing to put it all on the line for this fight. From protesting and getting arrested in DC to talks and appearances across the country, Fonda is lending her famous face and using her platform every chance she gets to ensure our planet has a future. Her latest book, from 2020, is called “What Can I Do? My Path From Climate Despair to Action.”Journalist Katie Couric interviews Fonda at the 2024 Aspen Ideas Festival about this stage of her life and activism. Their conversation was recorded in June.

33 min
OCT 23

White Poverty

Many more Americans are struggling to survive and make ends meet than is typically portrayed in the media and public policy debates. And when poverty is depicted, harmful and inaccurate stereotypes often contribute to divisiveness rather than sympathy. Outdated measurement systems and unrealistic living standards have artificially kept U.S. poverty rates low over the past few decades. But Reverend William Barber II and his colleagues at the social change organization Repairers of the Breach have worked to correct the data and popularize the true scale of the problem. About 135 million people, or roughly 40% of the country, are considered poor or low wage, which means making less than $15 an hour. And in his book released earlier this year, “White Poverty: How Exposing Myths About Race and Class Can Reconstruct American Democracy,” co-written with Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, he tackles misconceptions about race and poverty that keep people divided and powerless. The myth that all poor people are Black hides reality and exploits racism to ensure that nothing changes. In this talk from the 2024 Aspen Ideas Festival in June, Barber talks with longtime public servant and former mayor of New Orleans, Mitch Landrieu, about what poverty really looks like and why the issue has been so distorted.

54 min

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4.2

out of 5

222 Ratings

Please improve the sound quality of the speakers.

10/03/2021

glimadoll

Please improve the sound quality of the speakers.
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!
I am so thankful!

03/19/2020

56rick

I have always read David Brooks and love his scholarship. I am a huge fan of Kate Bowler. They are both real, thoughtful, caring💗

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.