Abby Phillip
Aspen Ideas Festival - June 27th (full episode)
The US secretary of transportation on how building bridges can help restructure America. Celebrate the reopening of one of the country’s most prominent cultural venues — the home of The Public’s Free Shakespeare in the Park — as two directors discuss the return of theater to a changed world and the continued relevance of Shakespeare’s plays. Finally, a social scientist says the pandemic has offered valuable life lessons that may actually help people lead happier lives.
Building Bridges to Restructure America
From roads and bridges to electrical grids and internet provision, infrastructure systems across America are in dire need of maintenance — putting everything from the country’s economic performance to public health at risk. Knowing the stakes, it will take a concerted bipartisan effort and a vast budget to put reconstruction plans into action. In this conversation with US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, we explore what can be done to — finally — come together and fortify the nation’s foundation.
The Performing Arts: Reopening and Returning to a Changed World
Join Public Theater Artistic Director and Aspen Institute Harman/Eisner Artist in Residence Oskar Eustis and Saheem Ali, The Public’s Associate Artistic Director and Resident Director, as they mark the reopening of one of its most storied venues — the Delacorte Theater in New York City’s Central Park — for The Public’s Free Shakespeare in the Park. Speaking from the Delacorte for the first time since the start of the pandemic, they discuss the return of theater to a changed world, the continued relevance of Shakespeare’s plays, and their upcoming production directed by Ali with Jocelyn Bioh’s exciting adaptation of The Merry Wives of Windsor.
On Happiness: Life Lessons from COVID
Over a year of global isolation and calamity, many of us have experienced disappointment, loss of control, loneliness and isolation, and uncertainty about the future. Happiness has, perhaps, seemed elusive. And yet, Harvard social scientist Arthur Brooks argues, the pandemic has offered us ways to grow, in ways most unexpected, and given us life lessons that may actually help us to lead a happier life. Join Professor Brooks for a talk that may change your perspective on happiness — for years to come.