Daily Dispatch from the 2011 Aspen Ideas Festival Wednesday, June 29

June 29, 2011

Featured Video and Audio: 

  • Twitter Founders Announce New Venture at Aspen Ideas 
    In their second appearance at the Aspen Ideas Festival, Twitter founders Biz Stone and Evan Williams announce their new company, The Obvious Corporation. On why it’s called The Obvious Corporation: “Because all great ideas are obvious in retrospect,” says Williams. 
    http://as.pn/64
  • A Conversation with Lisa P. Jackson
    EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson discusses protecting public health and innovating for a new energy future with NPR’s Michele Norris.
    http://as.pn/67

    Additional featured videos can be found at: http://www.aifestival.org/ 

Quotes from the Festival:

“Spray glue is kind of like social media; very fast, very broad. You put it on the paper and it starts to come off on the edges, but if you use Elmer’s glue, with little dots, it takes forever to dry, but it sticks.” —John Maeda, President, Rhode Island School of Design 

“The leak of possibly damaging information is like the world being full of nuclear weapons – if one of them goes off, we’re vulnerable.” – James Fallows, National Correspondent, The Atlantic 

“I believe sugar should be demonized.” —Gary Taubes, Journalist and author 

“If I stood up here and said we should bomb every church in America, it would be blasted all over the world, but when I sit here and talk about moderation, it will not make it into the media.” —Feisal Abdul Rauf, Founder and Chairman, Cordoba Initiative 

“If we think happiness is going to be an endless source of pleasurable experiences, that is a recipe for exhaustion.” —Matthieu Ricard, Author 

“The second largest Muslim country in the world is India.  There are no Indian Muslims in Guantanamo Bay. Why is that?” —Tom Friedman, Foreign Affairs Columnist, The New York Times

“China and some other developing countries take advantage of the global system but do not take responsibility for it.” —Robert Hormats, Under Secretary, US State Department

“There are now more people overweight in the world than malnourished.” —Charles Kenny, Senior Fellow, Center for Global Development

“Ideology isn’t driving the dynamic in Washington, it’s the desire to stay in power.” —David Axelrod, Former Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama 

“Our philosophy at Twitter is, and it always has been, that an open exchange of information can have a positive impact on the world.” —Biz Stone, Co-Founder, Twitter 

The Ideas Report on TheAtlantic.com 

More Festival coverage is also available from The Atlantic, which produces the Aspen Ideas Festival in partnership with the Aspen Institute. The Atlantic’sIdeas Special Report” includes:

  • Video from the Aspen Ideas Festival
  • A “Today at Aspen” photo gallery
  • An #AspenIdeas Twitter feed
  • Blog posts highlighting ideas from all sections of TheAtlantic.com, and responses to a new question they put to their readers each day. 

Today’s Select Highlights:
*all times are MDT 

  • 7:45 am – A Chance to Make History: What Works and What Doesn’t in Providing an Excellent Education for All
    Wendy Kopp, Amanda Ripley (interviewer) 
  • 9:00 am – Does the Supreme Court Follow the People?
    Stephen Breyer, Larry Kramer, Sandra Day O’Connor, Jeffrey Rosen (moderator) 
  • 9:00 am – Game Changers: New Ways to Teach Our Kids
    John Hunter, Salman Khan, Katie Salen, Amanda Ripley (moderator) 
  • 10:30 am – School Lunch: The Next Big Test
    Robert Egger, Kirstin Groos Richmond, Robin Schepper, Corby Kummer (moderator)
  • 10:30 am – The City of Tomorrow
    Chandrakant Patel, Alexis Madrigal (interviewer)
  • 10:30 am – Game Changers: How Do We Design the Learning Environments of the Future?
    Greg Farrington, Sandy Speicher, Graham Wyatt, Linda Tischler (moderator)
    12:00 pm – “Talk of the Nation” Live Show
    Hour 1: Political Junkie
    Hour 2: Where Do Ideas Come From?
    AmitChatterjee, Eric Fischl, Sandy Speicher
    Ender: The Interrupters
    Eddie Bocanegra, Alex Kotlowitz, Neal Conan (interviewer)
  • 12:00 pm – The Modesty Manifesto
    David Brooks
  • 12:00 pm – Defense, Diplomacy… Deficits… Defeat?
    Rye Barcott, Joseph S. Nye, Jr., Stephen J. Adler (moderator)
  • 2:45 pm – The Neuroscience of Happiness
    Kent Berridge, Richie Davidson, Daniel Gilbert (moderator)
  • 4:00 pm – Shell Eco-Marathon: Iron Maiden Vehicle and the Granite Falls High School ShopGirls Team
    Alexis Madrigal (moderator)
  • 4:00 pm – From Argument to Advocacy – Delivering Academic Success Through Urban Debate (Live Debate)
    Opening Remarks: Michele Mayes
    Debaters: Muriel Dorsey, Joshua Rivera
    Moderator: Hanna Rosin
  • 5:00 pm – What Does Real Reform Require?
    Wendy Kopp, Diane Ravitch, James Bennet (moderator)
  • 8:00 pm –The Apple Pushers, Film Screening and Discussion
    Ezekiel Emmanuel, Mary Mazzio, Richard McCarthy, Robin Schepper, Josh Viertel (moderator) 

Full schedule available at http://www.aifestival.org/festival/schedule. Select sessions will be livestreamed; more information available at http://www.aifestival.org/content/watch-live. 

AIF Online:

*Editors note: Video and images from the Aspen Ideas Festival are available upon request.*

For more information about the Aspen Ideas Festival, please contact:  

Natalie Raabe
The Atlantic
202.266.7533
nraabe@theatlantic.com 

Jennifer Myers
The Aspen Institute
202.286.1680
jennifer.myers@aspeninstitute.org

*Special thanks to the Isberian Rug Company of Aspen for furnishing the rug used at the Aspen Ideas Festival.*

 

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