Aspen Ideas to Go

Have Democrats become too identified with technocratic ways of speaking — about the economy, the pandemic, climate change? Has this deepened the political divide between those with and those without college degrees? Can Democrats reconnect with working-class voters who were drawn to Donald Trump? A few people inside the Democratic Party, including Colorado senator Michael Bennet, are speaking up to do just that, and figure out how to reorient the party to a compassionate and winning strategy. Harvard political philosophy professor Michael Sandel lays out a similar argument in his recent book “The Tyranny of Merit: What’s Become of the Common Good?” Bennet and Sandel hash out recent history and imagine a new direction — philosophical, social, economic and strategic — for the Democratic Party and the American people. aspenideas.org

Heat waves. Wildfires. Floods. This summer has served up some of the most extreme weather on record, and it’s clear many of us are overwhelmed by climate change news. We usually hear more about problems than solutions, and it’s often difficult to find helpful information about managing our fear and discomfort. Alaina Wood is a scientist and climate communicator, known for her TikTok videos about uplifting climate-related news. She believes that amplifying positive messages helps people lead healthy lives and stay engaged in activism. She’s joined on stage at this 2022 Aspen Ideas Festival event by clinical and environmental psychologist Thomas Doherty, who specializes in working with people on their concerns about environmental issues and climate change. He aims to help people improve their mental health and build capacity to take action on the issues they care about. NBC correspondent Gadi Schwartz moderates the conversation. aspenideas.org

For many people, the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown became an unexpected opportunity to take stock of our relationships. Some friendships deepened and transformed, some slipped away, and many social circles shrank. Which isn’t always a bad thing. Our friendships have an enormous impact on our lives, but this type of relationship hardly gets any attention from social scientists and the media, and we have a lot of misconceptions about friendship. The writers and researchers in this panel from the 2022 Aspen Ideas Festival, psychologist Marisa G. Franco, writer Eric Barker, and author and speaker Jen Hatmaker, are all working to change that. In a lively conversation, they pick apart the inner workings of these unique kinds of bonds and share some tips on making and keeping better friends. Writer Jennifer Senior, author of the viral story in The Atlantic, “It’s Your Friends Who Break Your Heart,” moderates the discussion. aspenideas.org

We are in a golden age for organized crime and corruption, according to watchdog groups. Technological innovations like cryptocurrency have given criminals new tools for covering their tracks, and allowed them to spread out around the globe. Bad actors have spent decades building tangled webs of enablers and tactics, and they now have more resources and capital than ever to invest in new crime enterprises. The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project has reporters and editors on every continent who put their lives at risk to follow trails of laundered money and trace clues back to the guilty parties. Their reporting uncovers the ways corruption is chipping away at democracy, human rights, and quality of life for regular citizens. The co-founders of the OCCRP, Drew Sullivan and Paul Radu, along with Freezing Order author Bill Browder,  joined NPR host and reporter Mary Louise Kelly on stage at the Aspen Ideas Festival, to explain their methods, share their read on the magnitude of the problem, and speculate about the future of organized, globalized crime. aspenideas.org

Parents have always cared about what their kids are learning in school, but education debates have become particularly explosive in the U.S. in the last couple of years. All over the country, parent groups have introduced bills that try to control and restrict what children learn – especially around issues of race, history, and LGBTQ identity. What’s behind the recent push for parental power over education? And is it pitting parents against teachers? Parents who are also educators, researchers and writers join moderator and New York Times podcast host Jane Coaston to try and untangle this flood of activism and assess its impact. You’ll hear from writer and editor at The Dispatch, David French, Wheaton College theology professor Esau McCaulley, and Stanford internet researcher Renée DiResta. aspenideas.org

In public forums and institutions all across America, people are arguing about what free speech means in the age of the internet. What are the rules, and are they the same in every context? What are the consequences of taking action against hate speech, and what are the consequences of not taking action? Is “cancel culture” real, and what is it? Are we in need of a fundamental reset of the bedrock principles and law regarding freedom of speech? In this rousing and passionate panel from the 2022 Aspen Ideas Festival, New Yorker staff writer and professor Jelani Cobb and professor and former ACLU president Nadine Strossen debate the harms and merits of allowing and restricting speech in various environments. David Brooks, New York Times columnist and chair of Weave: The Social Fabric Project at the Aspen Institute, moderates the conversation. aspenideas.org

Inflation is dominating the financial news headlines, and millions of Americans are really hurting from high prices for gas and food. The unemployment rate is still low, but some companies are announcing layoffs and hiring freezes, and it’s hard to see the light at the end of the economic tunnel. There are more questions than answers: What caused the highest inflation rate in 40 years, and how do we get out of it? What can the Biden Administration and the Federal Reserve do to help? Are we facing a recession? And who is inflation affecting the most? Ellen McGirt, senior editor at Fortune magazine, moderated a panel of economic experts at the 2022 Aspen Ideas Festival as they explored all of these questions, picking apart what happened in hindsight, and looking ahead to predict where the economy might go from here. You’ll hear from Karin Kimbrough, the chief economist for LinkedIn Corporation, Gregory Daco, the chief economist at EY-Parthenon, and Steven Rattner, CEO of Willett Advisors. aspenideas.org

As Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, reporters bring us more and more heart-wrenching stories and images of suffering caused by the conflict. The scale of the damage can feel overwhelming, but a firsthand account can sometimes help us process the impact and ground us in what’s happening in the region. Yuliya Tychkivska is a longtime activist and the executive director of Aspen Institute Kyiv. She recently fled the war in Ukraine with her three children, traveling through at least six countries before finding temporary stability. Her husband is still back home, fighting in the war as a soldier. Tychkivska spoke with Elliot Gerson, Executive Vice President of the Aspen Institute, at the 2022 Aspen Ideas Festival about her harrowing experience during the war, hardships experienced by friends and family, and her hopes for Ukraine’s future. aspenideas.org

Alexander Hamilton called the U.S. Supreme Court the “weakest” branch of government, because it has no direct control over the military or budget. But the court’s recent cluster of decisions on hot-button issues has demonstrated that it can have an enormous impact on the American people and life in this country. Is the judiciary becoming more powerful, and therefore more dangerous? And what will be the consequences if the Court’s power is undermined by ongoing questions about its legitimacy? The 2022 Aspen Ideas Festival asked a panel of legal experts to address these questions and shed some light on the Court’s recent decisions. Law professor and writer Jeffrey Rosen, of the National Constitution Center, moderates the conversation between Melissa Murray of NYU School of Law, Sherif Girgis of Notre Dame Law School and Neal Katyal of Georgetown Law. This is the final episode of three about SCOTUS decisions and the future of the Court. aspenideas.org

The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization on June 24, 2022, has clear consequences: abortion is no longer a protected federal right in the U.S, and many clinics are shutting down. But the legal arguments the decision relies upon are much more complex, and those details often get lost in the headlines. The 2022 Aspen Ideas Festival brought together a conservative and a liberal constitutional scholar to break down the ruling, explain the nuances and speculate about how Dobbs might impact the legal future of other federal rights, such as contraception access and same-sex marriage. Law professor and writer Jeffrey Rosen, of the National Constitution Center and Yamiche Alcindor, the Washington correspondent for NBC News, moderate the conversation between Sherif Girgis of Notre Dame Law School and Melissa Murray of NYU School of Law. This is the second of three episodes about SCOTUS decisions and the future of the Court. aspenideas.org