Politics

Representative Liz Cheney discusses her personal experience at the Capitol January 6th.

Featuring Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) in conversation with Eric Schmidt, former chairman and CEO of Google.

Imagine a new kind of democracy — one that puts governance back in the hands of the people.

Featuring Will Hurd, former US representative for Texas’s 23rd congressional district and former CIA clandestine officer.

Featuring Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History” and commentator on environmentalism for The New Yorker, speaking on her new book, “Under A White Sky: The Nature of the Future,” in conversation with the Aspen Institute Energy and Environment Program Executive Director Greg Gershuny.

Speakers will examine President Biden’s efforts to modernize the U.S. military for the conflicts of tomorrow, address its biggest foreign policy challenges including China and Russia, craft a foreign policy for the middle class, and much more.

The US House of Representatives will vote later this month on whether to admit Washington, DC as the 51st state. The mayor of DC talks about the vote.

21st century American democracy is struggling amid deep polarization, and the divisions we see today have undermined trust in the foundational institutions of the United States. While disagreement is the oxygen of democracy, not since the Civil War have so many Americans held such radically different views not just of politics but of reality itself. Months ago, Vanderbilt scholars began to explore how we could play a productive, active and meaningful role in helping heal our national fissures and seek a path towards a more united states. How do we get there?

Just as Americans are grappling with fundamental questions of what it means to live in a multi-religious, multi-ethnic, multi-racial democracy, so are Indians. The farmers protests represent the possibility of an inclusive, multifaith, multigenerational movement for justice in India, in which women and oppressed castes are playing an important role. And, notably, this movement has been led by a religious minority.