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Spend an hour with two of America’s best teachers, exploring the ups and downs of their experiences on the front lines of American education. What brought them to the classroom—and why did they stay? What do they wish parents and policymakers understood better about the life of a teacher? What’s changed the most about their jobs in the last few years? How do they focus on...
Raised by uncompromising survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, Tara Westover survived extreme adversity, from never being allowed to go to school, to suffering serious physical injuries (and a dad that prohibited doctors or hospitals), to being at the mercy of a volatile and often abusive older brother. How did she not only make it through this childhood, but ultimately...
How does the woman at the helm of the largest symphonic organization in the United States view the role of orchestras at the dawn of the 21st century? Deborah Borda, who spearheaded the appointment of Gustavo Dudamel as LA Phil Music Director, is renowned for her creative leadership, relentless search for innovation, and her progressive outlook on the responsibilities and...
Every few months, it seems, we see more startling evidence — from the Catholic Church, to USA Gymnastics, to the Boy Scouts — of just how rampant sexual abuse of children is in our society. Add to the equation that abuse by family members is far more common than the institutional cases that make the news; the resulting picture is of a deeply destructive global phenomenon....
On the evening of Wednesday, March 8 – International Women’s Day – the Vice President participates in moderated conversation with iconic singer and songwriter Gloria Estefan at Aspen Ideas: Climate. They discuss the Biden-Harris Administration’s approach to climate change as a priority issue, including the potential for climate solutions and a new clean energy economy made...
With the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, the Biden-Harris administration has committed a record amount of federal funds to encourage the advancement of clean energy, but myriad regulatory, political, and practical challenges remain to meet our climate goals. White House clean energy advisor John Podesta shares how the administration is implementing the IRA and work...
Partisanship has been a hallmark of American democracy since the Hamiltonians and Jeffersonians first squared off. But many political thought leaders have begun to worry that this period — with partisans gravitating toward distant poles and the energy of each party coming from their extreme wings — is different. Especially in Congress, where compromise has become a dirty w...
Far too many students in the United States and around the world face challenges when seeking a quality education; this untapped potential is a waste of societal and economic resources. In this session, education and civil society leaders will talk about their efforts to engage underserved and refugee youth, and their successes and failures in helping those youth overcome b...
Few health and social welfare policy issues escape the oversight of the US Department of Health and Human Services, second in size only to the Department of Defense. Prescription drug costs, access to reproductive health services, national and domestic public health threats like COVID-19, and the epidemic of loneliness are all within its purview. As it implements the healt...
How can we prepare needed talent to fuel economic growth and social mobility? With the workplace rapidly changing with advances in artificial intelligence, do we even know enough about future jobs to prepare young people with the right skills and capacities? Are our education systems prepared in light of rapid demographic shifts? Leaders in industry and academia have some...
Eighty percent of what impacts our health happens outside of the doctor's office: from education and employment opportunities to access to housing, transportation, and quality food. A panel of global experts will explore actionable solutions to address the root causes of disparities and how to build a path forward for collaboration, community co-creation, and a shared visi...
Trust in civic, religious, and academic institutions is at an all-time low in America. But this phenomenon did not, as some Americans might believe, begin on November 7, 2016. It has been on the decline for decades, and while it has been falling, individualism and tribalism have been on the rise. And these tribes — tied to each other with ever fewer common threads — are mo...
The Bauhaus was among the most progressive art schools in Europe in the first half of the 20th century. While it existed for only a brief period of time, from 1919 to 1933, its influence on international art, architecture, and design, as well as on educational theory and practice, is unparalleled. A key figure in the history of the school was Herbert Bayer, a Bauhaus maste...
How do we develop scalable policy solutions that will empower families throughout the United States to rise out of poverty and achieve better life outcomes? How we can improve children’s opportunities in communities that currently offer limited prospects for upward income mobility? Award-winning Harvard scholar Raj Chetty, whose research focuses on equality of opportunity...
In a time of uncertainty, rapid change, and disruption, who is best positioned to move society forward? Many are losing faith not only in government, but in the institutions of journalism, nonprofits, and higher education. What role should these organs of civil society play in today’s fractured world, and how can people of good will come together to best make a difference?...
As Latino Americans emerge as the majority minority and the new mainstream, representing 18 percent of the US population and approaching one-third by 2060, questions are emerging about where and how Latinos fit into the national narrative. Latinos are revitalizing rural communities, starting businesses, and entering the workforce and educational system at record rates, yet...
Two authors of acclaimed but thoroughly different memoirs of growing up in rural American communities dive into their experiences growing up in the heartland, what they think urban Americans get wrong about our rural people and places, and how they are using their platforms to address some of the most complex challenges that rural communities face today.
Americans speak with many voices, and nobody hears more of those voices than the people they elect to represent them and to fulfill the various tasks of governing. A member of Houston City Council, an eight-year mayor of a diverse California community, an elected public-service regulator from a few miles south of the Canadian border, and a state attorney general from a hig...
By some measures, American women are enjoying more opportunity today than ever before. And the #MeToo movement brought women’s stories of surviving harassment and assault to the center of the national conversation in an unprecedented way. But dig a little deeper, and you’ll find that critical disparities persist when it comes to income security, health and reproductive rig...
Featured Ideas Festival Scholars include Lashon Amado, María Teresa Kumar, Michael McAfee, and Eshauna Smith. Fueling today’s highly charged political environment is the growing sense that opportunity is elusive and inequality is rising because our national economic policies unfairly disadvantage the middle class. Millions of Americans believe they’re pawns in a game they...