This week’s episode of Aspen Institute Radio looked past partisan commentary following President Barack Obama’s 2015 State of the Union to consider the issues of bipartisanship in American politics, as well as several key issue areas in our country: immigration, economic inequality, and the minimum wage. Our new two-hour radio show airs every Saturday and Sunday on SiriusXM Insight (channel 121). Each episode will dive into the topics that inform the world around you. Here in our weekly Listen Longer posts, we’ll recap each episode and show you where you can read, watch, and listen to more. Don’t have SiriusXM? Try it free for a month here.
What’s Wrong with American Politics?
- Torture in Our Name: Reflections on the CIA Torture Report
- Grassroots Engagement in our Democracy: In conversation with RESULTS Founder Sam Daley-Harris, Edwards discussed how citizens can affect change in the government that represents them.
Can We Get Past Politics to Reform Immigration?
This 2013 Aspen Ideas Festival panel (watch here) brought together politically diverse individuals to explore the impacts of the ongoing immigration reform debate on their own political parties and the future of national politics. Panelists included Thad Allen, executive vice president of Booz Allen Hamilton; Henry Cisneros, founder and chairman of CityView; Al Cardenas, chairman of the American Conservative Union; and Jason Grumet, founder and president of the Bipartisan Policy Center.
Interested in hearing more perspectives on immigration? Watch our videos on the issue:
- US Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson assesses homeland security, immigration, and his visit to the Texas border
- The mayors of Atlanta, GA and Montreal, Canada discuss immigration on a city-wide scale
Robert Reich on Inequality
“One reason that inequality, or at least stagnant wages and the question of where is all the money going, has become so salient is because all those coping mechanisms are now exhausted. If those coping mechanisms are exhausted, the economy is not going to grow, because the middle class and the poor no longer have the purchasing power to keep the economy going.” — Robert Reich, Chancellor’s professor of public policy at UC Berkeley and former US Secretary of Labor (watch video)
Watch more compelling discussions on income inequality and hear from the people who are trying to erase the gap, including the International Monetary Fund’s David Lipton.
Should We Raise the Minimum Wage?
Today, roughly 4 million Americans earn wages at or below the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. Watch our full discussion on how the minimum wage affects American jobs.
And watch more from the Economic Opportunities Program’s “Working in America“ series for discussions on the sharing economy, public transportation, childcare, and more.
Tune in next week to Aspen Institute Radio on Saturday and Sunday, 1-3pm ET on SiriusXM Insight (channel 121) as we tailgate for the Super Bowl and talk about player safety and youth sports.
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