Aspen Ideas Now

Why Good People get Caught Up In High Conflict

The type of conflict that’s permeating America today is the intractable kind where normal rules of engagement don’t apply. High conflict is the opposite of useful friction or healthy conflict.

May 20, 2021

Women Changing the Game in Pro Sports

For decades, if not centuries, sports has been built off a very male model — by men for men.

May 6, 2021

Introducing: SOLVERS

Rodney Foxworth says the racial “wealth gap” is a misnomer because it implies something that’s achievable to close.

April 29, 2021

Can We Mitigate the Effects of Climate Change by Putting a Price on Carbon?

There’s no denying the world is already paying for climate change. The price is stronger hurricanes, bigger wildfires, and unpredictable heat waves. So, how can people living on a changing globe literally pay to mitigate the effects of climate change? One solution is to utilize the social cost of carbon, says economist Michael Greenstone.

April 22, 2021

America’s Unspoken Caste System

Race is the metric by which one’s position in the caste system is determined. In her book, “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents,” Isabel Wilkerson describes how these inherited rankings have been passed down through generations from the country’s very founding.

April 14, 2021

Is National Unity Possible?

The United States is facing one of the most difficult tests in its 244-year history. American democracy is struggling, economic and social justice are under interrogation, faith in institutions is declining, and a pandemic is touching us all. Is national unity a far-off dream?

April 7, 2021

How One Woman’s Detective Work Uncovered a Racist Tax System

After more than two decades of research, tax scholar Dorothy A. Brown discovered that America’s tax system is not color-blind. In fact, societal racism is deeply embedded in it. From attending college to getting married to buying a home, Black Americans are financially disadvantaged compared to their white peers.

April 2, 2021

Who Gets to Tell Our History?

When children see themselves and their communities mirrored in school curriculum, they learn better.

March 25, 2021

Finding the Strength to Leave: One Woman’s Story of Domestic Abuse

When Tanya Selvaratnam met then New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman at the Democratic National Convention in July 2016, they seemed like the perfect match.

March 24, 2021

Rolling Back Voting Rights to Jim Crow Era

Voting rights are under assault in America. More than 250 bills that would restrict access to voting are pending in 43 states.

March 19, 2021