![](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/c511080c-7d50-4fef-bc34-0c30b15b1c7b/52178455753_048e57ecc4_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&q=80&rect=0%2C115%2C8256%2C4646&w=800)
Roads and Rails: In Conversation with America’s Infrastructure Czar
![](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/c511080c-7d50-4fef-bc34-0c30b15b1c7b/52178455753_048e57ecc4_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&q=80&rect=0%2C115%2C8256%2C4646&w=2000)
We just do a terrible job in this country of giving ourselves the freedom to say, we made a mistake.
Setup
Before signing the $1.2 trillion dollar Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, President Biden put Mitch Landrieu in charge of executing its vision. In this role, the former New Orleans mayor oversees the biggest investment in American infrastructure in generations. With promises of generating millions of high-paying jobs, fixing supply chains, and repairing America’s roads and rails, how are things going seven months after this bipartisan act was signed into law? How does environmental justice and the protection of children factor into planning? What potential is there for clean energy and climate resilience? And how far can this new funding take us toward broadband internet for all?
- 2022 Festival
- Environment
- Arts
- USA
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Environment
![15 Talks to Understand the 2024 Political Landscape](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/26ac3431-ada5-424c-94a2-fdbb8fbb1bc3/GettyImages-1490401931.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=267&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C4096%2C2729&w=400)
The 2024 presidential election is only months away, and the past few weeks alone have brought shocking headlines that change the political ground we stand on — an attempted a...
![Meet 7 Women Leading the Way to a Brighter Climate Future](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/11e09403-1a70-4720-abb0-8c203f892106/GettyImages-1415703633.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&q=80&rect=738%2C0%2C3733%2C3733&w=400)
Women are crucial to the climate movement, but their voices are often underrepresented and their work goes under-supported. Meet just a few of the women from this year’s Aspen...
![Aif Stock Hero Images](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/d53c86d8-a116-4261-8468-bf005c53bca1/AIFStockHeroImages.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&mono=8a5f4e&q=80&rect=1453%2C0%2C3377%2C3375&w=400)
![Aif Stock Hero Images](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/d53c86d8-a116-4261-8468-bf005c53bca1/AIFStockHeroImages.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&q=80&rect=1453%2C0%2C3377%2C3375&w=400)
The federal right to abortions in the United States has been overturned, access to contraception and IVF services are threatened in many states, and the gender wage gap persis...
![Adobestock 260344316](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/f2599851-39be-4138-a0b4-165f786a48a6/AdobeStock_260344316.jpeg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&mono=0a7c51&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C2624%2C2624&w=400)
![Adobestock 260344316](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/f2599851-39be-4138-a0b4-165f786a48a6/AdobeStock_260344316.jpeg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C2624%2C2624&w=400)
The Supreme Court has issued another series of controversial and consequential decisions this term, fueling discussion on the current state of the judicial branch. Recent poll...
![Chasing Hope](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/2f55539f-2197-464f-8b26-2929b02cf707/53824051485_57d377543e_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=600&q=80&rect=1613%2C0%2C2576%2C3864&w=400)
As one of the foremost reporters of his generation, Nicholas Kristof has been witness to century-defining events and atrocities around the world. How has he managed to weaponi...
![Closing Session](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/48047a1f-d980-4abf-ae89-bfbd1c8bc246/53824584793_ab831623a7_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C160%2C3200%2C1800&w=400)
![Are American Women Going Backwards?](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/a4f70e43-9976-4d6c-936d-6ffb4f1b3993/53824046585_143bcae259_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C462%2C4651%2C2618&w=400)
The rollback of reproductive rights, the push to end no-fault divorce, and gun laws that allow domestic abusers to own a firearm are turning the clock back on women’s rights....
![Can We Disagree Better?](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/867d54ef-2bf9-4bb5-995d-f35c23e375d0/53821131222_ca1376075a_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C187%2C5360%2C3015&w=400)
Americans feel more polarized than ever, but two governors from opposite sides of the aisle have made it their mission to show otherwise.
![A Friendship Forged Across the Aisle](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/7f68fce4-96b1-496a-9a3c-24bc903170c0/53823888468_306343aebd_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=600&q=80&rect=1292%2C0%2C2067%2C3100&w=400)
Former Senators Bill Nelson and Kay Bailey Hutchison discuss the bipartisan work that defined their careers, suggest ways for today’s elected officials to find common ground,...
![The Court Decides](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/44f5f558-fb15-4b8c-8704-3d09fe95fc55/53822899936_81b46589e0_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=4%2C0%2C8248%2C4640&w=400)
As the Supreme Court concludes another contentious term, it is once again reshaping the legal landscape. With cases on abortion, gun rights and social media — and potentially...
![Extreme Heat: The Silent Killer of Climate Change](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/b5e2e176-6cbe-4d92-b593-011e59139c36/6.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C97%2C4651%2C2616&w=400)
Heat is now the top weather-related cause of death in the U.S., killing more people than hurricanes, floods and tornadoes combined. An environmental journalist and two city ch...
![There’s an Energy Transition Happening in Your Backyard](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/038a9839-e479-49fe-ab58-0fbb6194b7d8/energytransition.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C430%2C8256%2C4644&w=400)
Every transition comes with tradeoffs, and even clean energy carries negative consequences. As they mine for critical minerals or build solar arrays on sensitive land, clean e...
![The First AI Elections](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/99577b3a-ea63-463d-ab41-661af8afde41/aielections.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=600&q=80&rect=1515%2C0%2C2414%2C3621&w=400)
Two billion people worldwide are set to vote in elections this year, amid global conflict, societal mistrust, broken information ecosystems — and the truth-destroying disrupti...
![The Secret of Making Hits](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/008361bf-2540-4a00-8e1f-69739f370ce8/53822660989_e5265f0505_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=1%2C307%2C5880%2C3308&w=400)
Amid seismic shifts in the entertainment world, Oscar-, Golden Globe- and Emmy-winning Brian Grazer has managed to keep pivoting to new ways to tell stories in movies, TV and...
![Guerrilla Creativity](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/24e08eb1-8bb0-4970-9930-a617d58c5f32/53821275967_e65a66da2d_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C185%2C5493%2C3090&w=400)
In the last 30 years, conglomerates from Amazon to Netflix to Spotify have changed the way we interact with media, books, fashion and music. Creatives are struggling to mainta...
![What Images Teach About Racial Justice](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/b952ab2d-c640-4a57-8279-6c7d03238fb9/53820187272_5aeee651ba_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C242%2C4650%2C2616&w=400)
Images communicate truths, and also lies. Learning to pay attention to photographs can help us discern. An art and cultural historian and a visual artist host a master class o...
![The Iconoclast](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/32220310-b38a-40d9-b373-6fb5dbb0b1e9/53820643279_96e2c83e4f_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=600&q=80&rect=1608%2C0%2C2574%2C3861&w=400)
Peter Thiel has made no secret of his feelings about economic and cultural issues. Hear him discuss his vision for the future, his bets on AI and digital currencies, his thoug...
![How Do We Stop the Shooting?](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/cd3b5f27-2641-4fd2-839d-a6b3e1fc996d/53821344433_b018c4e0b1_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C242%2C4650%2C2616&w=400)
Firearms are one of the leading causes of death among children in the U.S., a country where there have been more than 150 mass shootings in the first five months of 2024. Sit...
![Vagabond of Song](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/7eea29da-ea74-4516-b211-776d628c7f8a/53821145355_6b0d6d5891_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C311%2C5975%2C3361&w=400)
Hurray for the Riff Raff is more than Alynda Segarra’s musical moniker; they spent their youth hopping trains across America, capturing that life in youthful poetry then and a...
![Debate Night at Ideas](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/ab06994e-18a8-42bd-9727-b735c360d0fc/53821494800_c394ae62c7_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=1%2C306%2C5882%2C3309&w=400)
Join our panel of expert analysts for a pre-debate conversation about how the 2024 election is shaping up. Stay for the debate watch party and refreshments, then hear the pane...