Collection
Standout Sessions from the 2022 Aspen Ideas Festival
![Bill Nye on Big Storms: How Much Is Climate Change to Blame?](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/c76452ea-1662-4f83-ba58-ad15ca0c770b/52186355481_9144fb517b_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=600&q=80&rect=1434%2C0%2C3661%2C5504&w=400)
In the 23 years since the final episode of “Bill Nye the Science Guy” aired, natural disasters such as hurricanes, heat waves, and floods have significantly increased in frequ...
![Can Gen-Z Trust their Elders?](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/c05ab2fc-483b-4834-afd8-aade2b6b6777/52184574396_6919b57ff4_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C5954%2C3350&w=400)
From climate change to school shootings to cherry-picking history curricula, younger generations have a lot to be skeptical about when it comes to who’s in charge. How can we...
![How to Mend Our Fraying Social Fabric (Town Hall)](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/3fec7645-99c3-41fe-abc3-603a1138d63e/52184556900_a00c93b4e9_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=1818%2C563%2C6426%2C3610&w=400)
The list of our societal sins is long: Trolls are rewarded with money and attention; polarization has undermined good-faith arguments; and the public square — literal and virt...
![Inflation and the Economy: How Bad is This Going to Get?](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/ace3cbef-d10b-464c-b674-7dc67a3989a1/52184063748_17c2769042_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C8245%2C4640&w=400)
Inflation has reached heights not seen in four decades. While the Russia–Ukraine conflict has played a role, prices were already marching upward as the nation emerged from COV...
![Will Democracy Self-Destruct?](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/ab01c0af-cefb-40cb-a810-a3b030799fdc/52177661606_f9d5a1ebe3_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=600&q=80&rect=1044%2C0%2C2232%2C3343&w=400)
In the last decade, the people of democratic societies across the globe have elected autocratic leaders. These populist strongmen have undermined democratic institutions with...
![The Great Friendship Reset](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/fd173ac1-ab51-452f-a22a-6f48c7388923/aif-2022-friendship.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C1600%2C901&w=400)
The older we get, the more we need our friends — but the harder it is to keep them. This is an aphorism in the best of times, but it’s tragically true after more than two year...
![A Recipe For Fixing Our Broken Food System](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/6540d1bb-d04a-4e64-9a43-319d974a6f4e/aif-2022-bitman.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C1599%2C900&w=400)
If you want to make an omelet, you’ve got to deal with a broken food system—one that is a massive contributor to climate change, that leaves populations hungry or full of non-...
![America the Beautiful](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/2132dd29-f43d-4887-9e30-b3cbf44e301b/aif-2022-america.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C1600%2C901&w=400)
From purple mountain majesties to cities built on coastlines, American landscapes are as diverse as the people that inhabit them. How does our relationship to the outdoors def...
![Americans and Climate: Words to Use, Words to Lose](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/bf0b2a49-bbc5-4046-8f98-2e8506283281/aif-2022-words.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C1600%2C901&w=400)
Most people now agree that climate change is real and that humans are causing it. But that’s where the consensus stops. Political pollster and strategist Frank Luntz, known fo...