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We're often taught that our surroundings are incidental to our well-being, but an emerging body of research shows that the physical world can be a powerful tool for cultivating happier, healthier lives. Studies show that workers in colorful offices are more alert, friendly, and confident than those in drab ones, that windows can speed healing, and children progress faster...
Jordan Peterson, author of the best-selling 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos, may be one of the most famous intellectuals in North America today. He also may be among the most misunderstood. His fans say that he’s saved their lives, and detractors say that he’s the gateway drug to the alt-right. Who is this psychologist-philosopher whom so many of us had never heard...
With the power of a text message, the advice of a health worker fits in the palm of your hand. With innovative entrepreneurship, care becomes accessible where it previously was not. With the skill of a midwife, the pregnant woman in need of a champion thrives. Health systems may be complex, but what powers them is simple—the human beings at their backbone who are critical...
A healthcare worker shortage is today’s reality, putting safe, quality healthcare at risk for everyone. According to the US Surgeon General's Advisory on Building a Thriving Health Workforce, the realities are that many of our health workplaces and practices are exhausting and demoralizing for our talented, caring, and overworked healthcare professionals. The emotional, ph...
Music can lift the spirits and help heal the body. No musician demonstrates that better than Jon Batiste, a “crowd-thrilling rebel bandleader,” according to Rolling Stone magazine. Viewers of "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" know him best for the exuberant music he conducts with Stay Human. Accomplished pianist, artistic director at the National Jazz Museum in Harlem,...
The average American will spend a third of his or her life working. What is the secret to achieving happiness because of our work and not in spite of it? How can we make a job into a vocation? David Brooks and Arthur Brooks have both studied and written about these questions, and they argue that in all kinds of work the answer is to find meaning. In this conversation, the...
Renowned psychologists Lisa Damour, author of The Emotional Lives of Teenagers, and Laurence Steinberg, author of You and Your Adult Child, delve into the complex landscapes of adolescence and young adulthood in today’s society. Both have devoted their careers to studying and understanding adolescents — Damour as a clinical psychologist working with families and organizati...
Richard Besser recently assumed the role of president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), the nation’s largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and health care. A pediatrician, Besser served most recently as ABC News’s chief health and medical editor and was previously acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). He w...
Join an intimate conversation on modern racism, hate, and the growing alt-right social movement with one of America’s first neo-Nazi skinhead leaders. Shaken from his old ideologies by tragedy, he’s now a leading figure in de-radicalizing people away from violence-based ideologies through his writing, his Free Radicals Project, and a controversial new MSNBC docu-series, “B...
Nearly 75 percent of us experience some significant adversity by the age of 20, but these experiences are often kept secret — as are our battles to overcome them. Clinical psychologist Meg Jay, author of Supernormal, tells the tale of everyday superheroes who have made a life out of dodging bullets and seeking justice, even as they hide among us as doctors, artists, entrep...
In her new memoir, Mary Louise Kelly candidly explores the delicate balance between career and motherhood, sharing her insights as the host of NPR’s “All Things Considered” in the year leading up to her son’s departure for college. She and Kelly Corrigan, host of PBS’s “Tell Me More with Kelly Corrigan,” sit down for a lively and honest conversation about the challenges of...
Is a thing of beauty, as Keats wrote, “a joy forever?” Or is it, as in the view of Camus, “unbearable”? The precise nature of beauty and how to understand its role in our lives may prove elusive to most of us, but it is the everyday work of philosophers. Is beauty skin deep? Is it socially and culturally determined and, if so, what are the implications? What power does it...
Most people think that happiness has four sources: the sensory pleasures (from art to chocolate), material wealth, romantic relationships, and children. But recent research suggests that much of what people think about happiness is wrong. Daniel Gilbert, author of “Stumbling on Happiness," hosts this symposium in which experts discuss what science has discovered about each...
Too often, the decisions we make are driven by fear. With its companions worry and anxiety, it permeates our lives and wreaks havoc on our relationships and communities, holding us back from the very pursuits that promise fulfillment and joy. As senior pastor of a church in America’s heartland, Adam Hamilton has seen the costs of fear up close. Drawing on recent research,...
Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Jon Meacham shares a view of Abraham Lincoln, who managed to hold the country together despite threats to democracy and the devastations of the Civil War. Understanding Lincoln, his unwavering commitment to democratic principles, and this period in history provides a critical lens to comprehending America’s contemporary challenges, and the...
From “The Office” to being cheerleader for spirituality, comedic actor, writer, and producer Rainn Wilson is on a mission to show the world how embracing spirituality can help us navigate increasingly challenging times. NBC’s Jenna Bush Hager sits down with Wilson to discuss his new book and travel show. (Book signing to follow.)
The forces of division have been tearing America's social fabric for decades. But a new coalition of community builders with a new set of beliefs is rising to turn things around. Here's how you can help. Underwritten by Nestlé Waters North America.
If Black women bear the heaviest burdens of the maternal mortality crisis—they are 2.6 times more likely to die during pregnancy or shortly after childbirth—they are also the most determined to address it. Moving beyond grief and rage, their leadership is prioritizing culturally sensitive care, respect for best practices, and greater use of community-based models and licen...
Join us for an interactive evening of presentations, small group discussions, performances, and opportunities to engage with other participants. Featuring Harold Green, Jonathan Greenblatt, Neal Katyal, Jon Lovett, Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, Manoush Zomorodi, and more. (Participants must be ages 14 – 24.) NOTE: Tickets are NOT available on aspenshowtix.com. Visit aspenideas.com...
The search for meaning is at the crux of the human condition and the basis of Life Worth Living, a new book emulating one of Yale’s most popular courses. In this lively “hot seat” discussion, professor Miroslav Volf discusses the book’s framework with host Kelly Corrigan. Afterwards, distinguished guests join in contemplating key questions such as: what’s worth doing, who...