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Aspen Ideas to Go is a show about big ideas that will open your mind. Featuring compelling conversations with the world’s top thinkers and doers from a diverse range of disciplines, Aspen Ideas to Go gives you front-row access to the Aspen Ideas Festival and other events presented by the Aspen Institute. The views and opinions of the speakers in the podcast do not necessarily reflect those of the Aspen Institute.
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Last year Russia infiltrated the digital networks of federal agencies and many of America’s largest corporations, and last week’s armed insurrection on the US Capitol was fomented through disinformation campaigns on social media.


Even though women are likely to live longer than men, their hormonal changes make them far more susceptible to age-related memory loss like Alzhemier’s disease and other conditions. Yet gender is often not a primary consideration by the medical community — but more and more research shows that it should be.


Today’s women are warriors and peacemakers, athletes and artists. Women in leadership roles can play a crucial role in leading us toward a better and more equitable future, and women must be part of the solution to the current global crises. Former US secretary of state Madeleine K. Albright and former prime minister of New Zealand the Honorable Helen Clark are trailbreaki...


Why is it so hard to watch our children fail? Why might a highly structured life for a child be a bad thing? And how important is our behavior, as adults, in the development of a child? Psychologist Angela Duckworth explains how to raise a child with strong character.


Corporations play a critical role in closing the wealth gap and confronting systemic racism in America. Taking a hard look at diversity in their workforce, supply chains, and customer base will pay off—not just in a better corporate image but in an improved economy that benefits everyone, including the corporations.


With millions of Americans already infected with COVID-19, public health officials are working to ensure that a safe and effective vaccine is available for every American who wants one. They also want to be sure people aren’t afraid of getting those shots. Nancy Messonnier, M.D., is director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. She leads the Ce...


The American Dream says hard work will lead to a better life. But Harvard professor Micheal Sandel says climbing the ladder of success is getting harder in the United States, because the rungs on the ladder are growing further apart.


Current political fault lines are fracturing American society as people grow further apart from one another due to differing beliefs and opinions. We often see people we disagree with as caricatures, and think we can never reconcile our differences. Yet despite that sense of contradiction we are much closer to each other than we think.


It’s time to slow down and start again to remake American culture and undo systemic racism, says author and Yale professor Claudia Rankin. White Americans must wade into the waters of Whiteness, and interrogate their own responses to Blackness.


The civil rights movement has affected all Americans, whether they realize it or not. The opportunity for everyone to vote represents a major shift, but changes in education, housing and even sports reflect the strategic leadership of activists throughout American history. Civil rights experts and Stanford University professors Pamela Karlan and James Steyer discuss the hi...