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What are we doing here? Is there a higher purpose to the lives we lead? What does it mean to have a good life? What happens when we die? For millennia, people have been asking these central questions about what it is to be human. The search for answers and adherence to belief systems are crucial to how many people make sense of their pasts, live in the present, and envisio...
We spend a lot of time working. How can we make our work lives more meaningful?
The average American spends a third of his or her life working.
Jesus and Buddha, separated by 3,000 miles and 400 hundred years, both speak to central questions of meaning. How similar — and how different — are their perspectives and how do the teachings, rituals, and histories of each tradition complement or contradict each other? Take the one-hour version of this popular Princeton course and explore how Jesus and Buddha understood t...
Across the United States, from rural areas to cities and suburbs, people have been hitting the streets to protest racism and police brutality.
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...
Javier Zamora’s migration journey took him from El Salvador to the United States by foot at age nine, while Jamie Ford’s great-grandfather emigrated from China to Nevada to mine. Both authors reflect on the ways in which migration has shaped them, unpacking what it means to be American and exploring the meaning of home.
The dramatic rise in suicides, violence, and addiction signal a society disconnected from meaning and a social fabric fraying at its seams. With participation in organized religion on the decline, and fewer traditional places to do the work of fellowship and ritual, what other places are people turning to to define their values and explore the big questions? To probe what...
The coronavirus is mutating rapidly at the same time people around the world are getting vaccinated. Will the vaccines protect us from the variants?
Ongoing war in Ukraine and the resulting tensions between the West, Russia, and China have made the NATO alliance all the more significant, and yet perhaps more vulnerable. What lies ahead as the alliance’s member nations assess each other’s commitments to their mutual security?
When is the truth the truth, a lie a lie, and what constitutes mere BS in an era that many refer to as “post-truth”? We address the kinds of critical and largely ethical questions we confront in our modern-day discourse across this deep dive, exploring the intent of the First Amendment (does it protect lies?), the reasons we lie (or, in fact, are we just strategically misl...
How do we create a culture that brings out the best in our personal and professional lives? Rituals are powerful tools for building a culture that better aligns your values and priorities with your everyday practices. Our work shows how rituals help people bridge transitions, get to flow, deal with conflict, and increase bonding. In this session, we’ll share some of the...
Despite discussion of work-life balance, work is not something separate from our life, but integral to it. Good work is a critical component to a good life. As societies across the globe struggle with economic division and working people who feel left behind, can companies invent a world of work that is more sustainable? The Eileen Fisher company is a certified B corporati...
It's already difficult to talk about politics in a polarized United States, but a few choice words are making it even harder.
From April 27-29, Aspen Ideas: Health will gather leading experts and innovators for powerful virtual conversations to explore big ideas and bold approaches to better health. Among them are five inspiring writers: Harriet Washington, Walter Isaacson, Suleika Jaouad, Sanjay Gupta, and John Torres. Their latest works explore everything from controversial medical practices to...
How has extreme individual freedom led to a crisis of isolation?
Global health today is characterized by a mix of promising developments and troubling trends. Life expectancy is on the rise, and maternal and child mortality rates are falling. But millions lack basic nutrition, primary health care, and access to vaccinations; we are ill-prepared for the next global pandemic; tobacco use kills six million people annually; and noncommunica...
Data from a 2007 voluntary research scan helped Steven Keating identify his own brain tumor in 2014 when he began to notice a phantom vinegar scent. After an MRI confirmed the presence of a tennis ball-sized tumor, Keating immediately began collecting his own clinical, research, and self-generated data. Armed with 200 gigabytes of information, he was better able to underst...
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Yale's Laurie Santos gives a crash course on how to feel less stressed and depressed.