Search results

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...

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 fro...

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...

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...

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 Outdated measurement systems and unrealistic living standards have artificially kept U.S. poverty rates low over the past...

Leaders are the face of their institution, answering for all its missteps and sometimes taking the fall for the actions of others. How can anyone manage that job in today’s divisive world, and why would anyone want to? Three successful leaders come together in this episode for a frank conversation full of wisdom on the recipe for great leadership and recruiting and shepher...

Technological innovations are led by people, and in this episode, the leaders of two of the most influential companies in Silicon Valley provide some insight into the human drivers of their products. Sam Altman is co-founder and CEO of OpenAI, which created the artificial intelligence tools ChatGPT and DALL-E. Brian Chesky is co-founder and CEO of Airbnb, which has revolut...

Relations between the United States and China have become increasingly tense over the past few years. Trade wars have escalated, and U.S. national security experts are bracing as China bulks up its military power, purportedly for a 2027 anniversary. If China invaded Taiwan, it would spark major conflict between the two nations. In this June panel from the 2024 Aspen Ideas...

America’s “second founding” came on the heels of the Civil War, when the architects of the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments thought long and hard about how to enshrine civil rights that were truly for all into the U.S. Constitution. Despite an immediate backlash, including from the Supreme Court, and repercussions we’re still dealing with today, that second generation of fra...

If we do absolutely nothing to mitigate climate change, scientists estimate the toll could be $38 trillion a year in damages. Industrialized countries like the United States, China, Russia and European nations are the biggest contributors to the problem, but as things stand, they probably won’t pay most of the costs from catastrophes that happen in other parts of the world...

Hope seems like a simple concept, but the feeling can be difficult to hold onto. And when times are difficult and chaos swirls around us, it’s more important than ever. How do we find and practice hope when it’s elusive? Spiritual and religious leaders rely on centuries of experience and wisdom to continually guide people back to hope, and this episode’s discussion from th...

Almost anyone with a computer can figure out how to make a deepfake photo, video or audio. With a contentious and vitally important election around the corner in the United States, what can we do to prepare for convincing misinformation aimed at voters? Experts around the country and the world have been preparing for this issue, and many have already gone through their own...

It’s been decades since the United States has updated its immigration policies in any sort of comprehensive way, and the problems and suffering at the southern border have persisted. Meanwhile, worsening conflicts around the world push more and more people to leave their homes and try and make their way to America. Immigration is a top concern of U.S. voters, and almost ev...

Where will artificial intelligence be in five years, or 10 or 20? What happens if the technology is regulated? And if it isn’t? How will it shape the world and the way we live our lives? The CEO of Microsoft AI, Mustafa Suleyman, has been working in this young field for more than a decade. He knows the AI landscape inside and out, and is a level-headed advocate for the tec...

The challenges for university presidents keep coming, from Middle East protests to standardized testing and admissions debates, to complaints over classroom content and pedagogical methods. The American public has little faith in college administrators right now, according to polling, and it’s often unclear how institutions can move forward and assuage the critics. Not to...

Whether they publicly tout it or not, U.S. technology companies play a powerful role in politics, cultural issues and the way we live. Founder and investor Peter Thiel is one of the more visible and outspoken Silicon Valley figures. A member of the so-called "PayPal Mafia," a highly successful group of PayPal founders and employees, Thiel waded into the limelight in the le...

Sizable electorates around the world are flocking to populist candidates who promise power, domination and a return to better times. The global experiment in liberalism seems to be suffering a setback. In his latest book, “Age of Revolution,” journalist Fareed Zakaria teases apart the foreign policy decisions that got us to this point. Several U.S. missteps, such as the wa...

Conflict and suffering can bring out the worst in people, but it can also bring out the best. This is one of the lessons New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof has learned from decades of reporting on the ground in war zones and amidst humanitarian nightmares. Somehow, despite witnessing atrocities like the Tiananmen Square protests, genocide in Darfur and war in Iraq,...

The federal right to abortions in the United States has been overturned, access to contraception and IVF services are threatened in many states, and the gender wage gap persists. It feels like an era of backsliding for women’s rights and freedoms. What can we do to reverse the trend and get back on the road to progress? Three experts and crusaders for women’s and family ri...

The grim stream of news from the Middle East has been making it more and more difficult to hold onto hope for peace. When and how will the conflict in Gaza end? And could war even spread to Israel’s northern border with Lebanon? Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who served from 2006 to 2009, takes the stage at the 2024 Aspen Ideas Festival to share his frank thoug...