AIF Blog
June 01, 2013
The Afternoon of Conversation is Aspen Ideas' signature event, and ths year's was no exception. More than 2,000 people gathered in the Benedict Music Tent to hear a variety of speakers.Here are some highlights from the afternoon.Wu Tong surprised guests with an unannounced Random Act of Culture by planing the sheng, an ancient Chinese wind instrument.."There is no issue of patriotism or morality or economic prudence...
June 01, 2013
During last years Aspen Ideas Festival, Stanley McChrystal, former commander of US and international forces in Afghanistan and of the Joint Special Operations Command, told Bob Schieffer and an audience of nearly 2,000 that national service should be mandatory.Listen here to Stanley McChrystal's Aspen MinuteAspen MinuteOn May 29, The Wall Street Journal published an op-ed by McChrystal where he makes the case...
April 22, 2013
This month marks the 10th anniversary of the sequencing of the human genome and every day, biomedical scientists are working to usher in a new era of genomic medicine based on the insights we now have, said Kenneth L. Davis, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Mount Sinai Medical Center, at a recent Aspen Ideas Festival event in New York City."Biomedical researchers are identifying more and more ways to...
April 16, 2013
Today the Gang of Eight released the details of their proposed immigration reform, which includes, among other things, a 13-year path to citizenship for unauthorized workers and tightened border security. Read more details here about the Gang of Eight's proposal. As lawmakers, and the nation, consider the broad proposal, here is a look back at immigration coverage at the Aspen Ideas Festival.Last summer, Valerie...
March 15, 2013
Today the Aspen Institute launches its first-ever program dedicated to veterans issues, the Aspen Institute Veterans Initiative. The program aims to take on the challenge of educating private practitioners (also called “frontline care providers”) to effectively diagnose and treat mental distress in veterans. Read more about the program.Watch Paul Rieckhoff, founder and executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan...
February 22, 2013
As Secretary of Energy Steven Chu steps down from the Obama Administration and takes up a post at Stanford University (read news coverage), we look back at Dr. Chu's session at Aspen Ideas where he spoke with Ray Suarez about nuclear energy, coal, and natural gas, among other energy options. Loading the player...
January 22, 2013
Leading up to the Festival track What We Believe and Why: An Exploration of Values, we asked 2012 Aspen Ideas speakers the following question: Where do your values come from?Following are their answers—some surprising, some insightful, and some that will make you question where your own values come from. Explore sessions from the Values track here. (Learn more about each speaker via links at the bottom of this page...
January 10, 2013
"So there is a view out there that, often called the Easterlin paradox, and the Easterlin paradox claims that raising levels of economic development does nothing for well-being whatsoever and therefore we shouldn't bother doing it," said Justin Wolfers during the Economics of Happiness discussion at the 2011 Aspen Ideas Festival. "I'm going to show that claim is straight out false." His assertion is presented in a...
December 10, 2012
Last week, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the shortlist of documentaries that will progress into the voting process for the Oscars. Among the 15 are two films that screened at Aspen Ideas Festival.James Balog's Chasing Ice and Rachel Grady's and Heidi Ewing's Detropia. Watch the trailers below and see the talks they gave at Aspen Ideas.Chasing Ice (Watch post-screening discussion here.)In...
November 20, 2012
Tonight’s episode of The Aspen Institute Presents concludes the 10-part series from the stages of the Aspen Ideas Festival. It delves into the state of sports in modern society.So much is at stake for athletes. In fact, many young athletes are groomed to use sports as a ticket out of poverty; but in this process, some would argue, they are not properly mentored in sportsmanship thus changing the game and the very...