AIF Blog - Society
April 18, 2012
Each year TIME magazine recognizes "the people who inspire us, entertain us, challenge us and change our world." We congratulate these Aspen Ideas speakers who were named to this year's TIME 100 list of most influential people in the world:Salman Khan, founder of the Khan Academy.Pete Cashmore, founder and CEO of Mashable.Hillary Clinton, secretary of state, joined us at the 2005 festival as senator of New York. She...
February 28, 2012
Next up in our series, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa champions education as the key issue that will make America stronger.“This is the economic issue of our time, this is the civil rights issue of our time, and this is the democracy issue of our time,” stresses Villaraigosa.The achievement gap and number of children not graduating from high school is devastating to our country. And it’s a problem we all...
February 27, 2012
What's the happiest state in the U.S.? Aloha, Hawaii! For the third year in a row, Hawaii topped Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index released today. Western states still top the idex, while Southern states rate poorly in comparrison. The top ten also includes: North Dakota, Minnesota, Utah, Alaska, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Hampshire, and Montana. TIME's Healthland blog covers the survey in more detail.We...
February 21, 2012
Continuing our series, Jamie Bechtel, founder, president and CEO of New Course, an organization focused on changing the course of women’s lives through conservation and sustainable development.In this 3-munte talk, Betchtel tells the moving story of visiting slave quarters in Tanzania where she learned from a 16 year old that we should use the tools that are available to us. In this case, she is advocating the use...
February 03, 2012
Kicking off our new blog series, here's Wes Moore telling a story about his experience in military school and a colonel who gave the students advice that Moore thinks about to this day: "When it’s time for you to leave, make sure that it mattered that you were ever here.”In this 3-minute video from the closing ceremony of Aspen Ideas, Moore outlines how each of us can actively make a difference. Here's how Moore...
January 23, 2012
Rolling Stone magazine recently published a list of leaders who make a difference by making things happen, "The Quiet Ones: 12 Leaders Who Get Things Done." Among the impressive dozen are several standouts from Aspen Ideas.Attorney General of California Kamala Harris is known for combatting violence and fighting too-big-to-fail-banks on mortgage fraud. She presented at Aspen Ideas in 2010, while she was still the DA...
January 04, 2012
Nicholas Kristof is seemingly tireless when it comes to promoting the cause of equality and opportunity for women worldwide. This is frequent topic of his column in the New York Times as well as an ongoing discussion on his Facebook and Twitter feeds. In the video below, he and his wife, journalist Sheryl WuDunn enlightened Aspen Ideas attendees about their work around the world.Kristof caught our attention again...
December 07, 2011
Aspen Winter 11 12 IssueThe Aspen Idea is a magazine published twice yearly by the Aspen Institute. The most recent issues devotes several pages to the Aspen Ideas Festival. Coverage of the Festival starts on page 52 (scroll down or type "52" into the number box.)Most of the full-length sessions can be found here on our website. Seach by category or speaker name.
September 19, 2011
Aspen Ideas speakers are at the forefront in their fields. We hope you’ll be inspired to read their books, which are available in our Bookstore. Here are some new titles to add to your reading list:Making Our Democracy Work: A Judge’s ViewAssociate Justice Stephen Breyer examines the course of the Supreme Court throughout history and how its role is largely related to how the public accepts its decisions. Watch...
July 28, 2011
In preparation for our Happiness track at this year's Festival, we asked incoming Aspen Ideas speakers the following question: What makes you most happy? We received an outpouring of great answers, and we plan to share them here periodically. Happiness for me is playing with my children, traveling and exploring new places, cooking, riding my bike or hiking a mountain or swimming in the sea. Having the time to enjoy...
