Aspen Ideas Festival 2020: Stacey Abrams, Anthony Fauci, and David Byrne

The Aspen Ideas Festival kicks off with conversations about the latest Covid-19 developments, the ongoing fight for voter rights, and how music can change minds.

Two visionary leaders discuss what the upheaval of 2020 is revealing about who we are as Americans and who we are called to be. At a moment that demands we reimagine so much about our democracy — as persistent, systemic inequities are laid bare — how do we pursue immediate reforms while not losing sight of long term, wholesale transformation? How do we cultivate civic engagement even as we confront a new chapter in a long history of voter suppression? And because we do not have the luxury of giving up, what are the big ideas that might give us hope in the face of cynicism?

Talking Heads co-founder and Arbutus creator David Byrne joins Ford Foundation President Darren Walker for a lively conversation about art and life and the role of artists in trying times. “Music can unite people,” says Byrne. “It can make people feel that they belong, that they’re not alone.” Evoking Dr. Martin Luther King, Walker calls Byrne one of “America’s firefighters” at a time when the nation’s house is on fire. In this poignant conversation, Byrne and Walker share the roots of their own love of the arts, explain how the arts are integral to humanity, and reveal why they believe artists and their work can be a force for good.

Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert and Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, joins CNN Senior Medical Correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, to discuss the current state of the Covid-19 pandemic and the recent surge in cases as the US reopens. Fauci talks about the US response to the pandemic, including missed opportunities to curtail the impact of the coronavirus early on as well as the difficulties in now containing community spread of the virus. With three vaccine candidates entering phase three clinical trials, Fauci provides an update on the progress in developing a safe and effective vaccine and predicts when and how Americans may have widespread access to a Covid-19 vaccination.