How Do We Fix It?

"Stuff happens," says homeland security expert and mom of three, Juliette Kayyem.   The government has got to find a better way to talk about the threat of terrorism and natural disasters. Most of us need to have a better plan to prepare.  "We talked in a way when people would either tune out or freak out," says Juliette of her time as a top official at The Department of Homeland of Homeland Security. "We are all in this together," she tells on this episode of "How Do We Fix It?" Her new book is "Security Mom: An Unclassified Guide to Protecting Our Homeland And Your Home." The book is packed with common-sense ways to think about positively about a difficult subject. Juliette's solutions: The government shouldn't scare, but prepare. Pretending that America is invulnerable is both unrealistic and unhelpful to citizens. Homeland security is not just about tragedy or terror, it's what all of us can do every day to keep ourselves strong, safe and prepared.  Families should have a "72 on you" plan. If you call 9-1-1 in an emergency, don't assume help will come quickly.  Have 72 hours of vital supplies, including non-perishable food, water, first-aid kit, flashlights and batteries. Talk to your kids about how the family should stay in touch in an emergency. Copy important personal documents and put them on the cloud. "You can get yourself prepared for almost any eventuality in a very small amount of time," says Juliette. "You're going to feel better being prepared for something rather than nothing."  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"At the end of the day everybody is biased," says our guest,John Gable, founder CEO of AllSides. "You're biased by what youknow. You're biased by what you know and you're biased by yourentire human existence before then."AllSides is unique in how it covers the news - displayingstories on its front page - from different points of view. It urgesreaders to "engage in civil dialog and discover a deeperunderstanding of the issues."The left-hand column at AllSides has stories fromliberal-leaning sites (New York Times, Huffington Post, Salon), theright column features conservative-leaning media coverage of thesame event (Fox News, The Blaze). The centrist column plays thingsdown the middle (USA Today, Christian Science Monitor)."Part of what we do is help people understand that they arebiased as well," says John.With deep experience in technology and his former involvement inpolitical campaigns, he understands how so many of live in a bubble- only listening to those we agree with. And why that's a threat toour democracy.Solutions:Take the "doyou live in a bubble?" quiz. Learn why left or right are not our only political options. John Gable urges us to read Neil Postman's ground-breaking 1985book, "AmusingOurselves to Death." The book looks at the impact of televisionand mass entertainment on our perceptions of politics andculture. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Too often, news coverage is all about clashes, controversies andcontests.  The way the media cover major events can have aprofound impact on our view of the world. In this episode, Jim and Richard - both journaliststhemselves - are joined by DavidBornstein, who writes for theFixes blog of The New York Times and is co-founder of SolutionsJournalismNetwork.org. "The news tends to focus far more on what's wrong than onthe credible efforts around the world of people who are trying tofix things, whether they are successful or not." David tellsus.  "I think the main thing is that the problems scream andthe solutions whisper. The problems are always clamoring forattention. Solutions, you really do have to be proactive and golook for them." David says that solutions journalism focuses not just onwhat may be working, but how and why it appears to be working, oralternatively, why it may be stumbling. Using the best availableevidence, it delves deep into the how-to’s of problem solving,often structuring stories as puzzles or mysteries that investigatequestions like: What models are having success reducing the dropoutrate in public schools? How do they actually work? What are theydoing differently than others that are resulting in a betteroutcome? Solutions Journalism network goes into newsrooms aroundthe country, and trains editors and reporters on the imperatives ofthe "now what" aspect of reporting.  Solutions journalismhelps news organizations play a stronger role in the communitiesthey serve. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With the approach of Earth Day, this show looks at the cleanair, carbon-free case for nuclear power. And it challenges the viewheld by many environmentalists that the only way to save the planetis for all of us to get by with less.Guest Michael Shellenberger is is coauthor of AnEcomodernist Manifesto, a which argues that human prosperityand an ecologically vibrant planet go hand-in-hand. In 2007,Michael received the Green Book Award and Time magazine's"Heroof the Environment."His recent TEDx talk is "How Humans SaveNature." Nuclear power is an anathema to many of his fellowenvironmentalists, but Michael tells us its a crucial form ofenergy that "produces zero air and water pollution... There's nopollution that comes out of nuclear plants." He says that we canboost growth all over the world and still set aside more land fornature and wildlife. Michael makes argument that humans, who havecaused so much destruction to the planet, have the ingenuity tosave it.Michael recently started a new group, EnvironmentalProgress.organd is the author of the book "BreakThrough: From the Death of Environmentalism to the Politics ofPossibility." He calls on those who care about the future ofthe planet to reject the language of limits and embrace possibilityand the aspirations of people around the world who strive toimprove their standard of living.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You can't have too much of a really good thing. That's why we decided to invite Lenore Skenazy,founder of Free Range Kids, to make a welcome return to "How Do We Fix It?" She was a guest on an earlier show.Lenore is the passionate and playful campaigner, who says most American kids don't have nearly enough unstructured free time, when they can be curious and engage the world on their own terms."Free time is unsupervised time," Lenore tells us. "It's not a parent sitting there saying 'oh, that was really good, or try it this way.' Sometimes you've got to do things that are really bad and try it the wrong way, because that's the creative process." Lenore says parenting styles have changed in the past 30 years, especially for many urban and upper-middle classes Moms and Dads. Risk avoidance seems more important than stimulating a child's imagination."Think back on your own childhood. Your parents loved you and they let you go. And it's a new thing not to give children any freedom."From the Free Range Kids statement of where it stands: "Fighting the belief that are children are in constant danger from creeps, kidnapping, germs, grades, flashers, frustration, failure, baby snatchers, bugs, bullies, men, sleepovers and/or the perils of the non-organic grape." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We have a problem in our society. Too many people don't understand science or the importance of the scientific method. Many children aren't learning the basics of math and science, which closes off a broad range of career opportunities. It's also a problem in our civil society. A broader understanding of how science works would help parents know why they need to vaccinate their kids or what's going on with climate change. Science evangelist Ainissa Ramirez has some great fixes. She's the author of "Save Our Science" and "Newton's Football," a lively book about the science of America's favorite sport. Ainissa is dedicated to making science fun for people of all ages. Her excellent two-minute podcast, "Science Underground," helps spread the word." We all start off as scientists," Ainissa tells us in this episode. "If you look at a 4-year-old's hands, they're completely dirty, because they're engaging with the world. But then something happens. School happens" The science knowledge deficit holds back many girls and minorities. But Ainissa says "girls used to rock STEM at one point." Find out what happened in this episode of "How Do We Fix It?" Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode looks at the simple, highly personal way that living room conversations allow people of different viewpoints to really hear each other. A progressive activist, Joan Blades was deeply involved in starting MoveOn.org in the late 90's. More recently she has also worked on ways to encourage respect and dialog among liberals, independents and conservatives. She is the cofounder of LivingRoomConversations.org. In part one last week (episode 43), we looked at why Americans need to find new ways to speak about our differences, such as visiting websites with opposing political opinions, and having conversations that are not vindictive. "It's actually really fun having a living room conversation," says Joan. "They're more fun than if you have a bunch of people around that you know what they're going to say. We get to laugh about our differences once we understand what's going on." Among the first conversations the group had was a discussion on climate and energy. "One of the problems progressives have right now is that if they run into someone who doesn't believe in climate science, they roll their eyes." As soon as you do that, "you've lost your conversation," Joan says. "Nobody listens to anybody." Here are some of the topics we raised in this episode: LivingRoomConversations.org has simple for ground rules each meeting - encouraging participants to be curious, show respect and take turns. Listening to people is the best way to get people to listen to you. These conversations are not debates. Instead of winning, the aim is come up with solutions. LivingRoomConverstions.org guidelines are open-source. People can use what works for them. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How can you talk to people you disagree with? We Talk to Joan Blades, the founder of MoveOn.org about how to bridge the partisan divide.This show is another response to the deep partisan divide in America - part one of a fascinating conversation with Joan Blades. Much of our political campaign has been dominated by personal insults, name-calling and dogma. Voters have rewarded politicians who use anger and blame others for the country's problems. Individual citizens are part of the problem and the solution. "We live with the dysfunction of partisan behaviors and believe we must and can do better," says Joan, co-founder of LivingRoomConversations.org. She makes the case for personal dialog across party lines, arguing that it's a key part of changing the way all of us think about politics. A strong progressive, who co-founded the liberal activist group, MoveOn.org in the late 90's, Joan makes the case for listening to those you don't agree with. "It's actually really fun having a living room conversation," she tells us."They're more fun than if you have a bunch of people around and you what they're going to say." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Let's face it. Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders have won far more votes than almost any "expert" forecast. The reason may well be that emotions and learned behavior from others play a far bigger role in our decision making than most of us realize. Our "Fix It" guest Mark Earls - the HERDMeister - is an award-winning British writer and consultant on marketing, communications and human behavior. In his latest book, "Copy, Copy, Copy," Mark shows how we vote and buy stuff by copying others - our friends, family and our neighbors."   "Donald Trump is "much smarter than we give him credit for," says Mark.. "He gets that people need to feel stuff rather than think about it."  In his advertising work, Mark has used the lessons of behavioral science and marketing success to advise clients. He shares his fascinating, if somewhat frustrating insights with us. As voters and consumers we can learn from what his research tells us - even when he go to the supermarket or spend time with friends. "I would not recommend buying grocery shopping when you're hungry," Mark tells us. And... "If I find myself in a British bar I tend to have a glass of beer and that's how it goes, unless somebody else around me goes 'ooh, a gin and tonic. I haven't had a gin and tonic for a long time'. So we both have the same thing." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

More than any time in recent decades, American politics aredeeply divided. Compromise is a dirty word."The way that we're running the country is that we're notrunning the country," says our guest Mark Gerzon, author of the newbook, "TheReunited States of America."As President of Mediators Foundation, the group he founded 25years ago, Mark has brought people together in conflict zonesaround the world Concerned about increasing polarization in theU.S., Mark is working on the ideological frontier between left andright."We can work together to solve the problems we all face in acountry we all love," Gerzon tells us on this episode of "How Do WeFix It?" But what we have now is a permanent campaign by bothparties. "And after election day they start the next campaign.""We can't solve any of the problems we face if we're tearingeach other down the whole time."Mark's fixes include urging individual citizens to engage indiscussions with people we don't agree with, asking questions aboutwhat they think, rather than stating fixed opinions."Do you want to get drunk on being right and enjoy that feelingof being with the people you agree with and bad mouth the peopleyou don't?," asks Mark.News media coverage, he says, is biased in favor of controversy,contests and clashes."There's a whole America out there that's not getting any newscoverage. And that's the America where Americans work together."Resources for compromise and open-minded dialog include:livingroomconversations.orgbridgealliance.useveryday-democracy.orgdemocracyfund.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.