How Do We Fix It?

In this special episode, Richard and Jim have an extended conversation around six solutions to help us manage the pandemic more successfully, and improve responses to future public health emergencies.1. Have a more realistic view of the virus. This includes understanding that the virus won't go away anytime soon. Clear, honest communication from the media and government health officials will help. 2. Restoring Trust. Greater transparency by public health officials and honesty about what is not known are two ways to improve understanding and trust.3. Improve access to care and medical literacy. 4. Focus on the severe cost of the pandemic to children. 5. Make it Harder for People to be Unvaccinated.Over 95% of new COVID-related hospital cases are among unvaccinated Americans.6. COVID will probably increase life expectancy: The virus has led to advances in mRNA vaccines and viral medicine. The pandemic will speed up and intensify research into other life-threatening illnesses. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

America is facing a reading crisis, and this has profound impacts on how we engage with the world. The number of adults who read books for pleasure fell by more than 30% in less than 15 years. Researchers found that Americans watch TV three hours a day, but spend less than 30 minutes reading. "Reading is seeing the world through someone else's eyes," says our guest, Joseph Luzzi, Professor of Comparative Literature at Bard College. "I think of social media as a mirror. You look into it and your tastes and interests are reflected back on you. Literature is a prism. You look into it and you are engaged." Recent neuroscience research suggests fiction literature helps people develop empathy and critical thinking. The decline in reading and the popularity of social media may have profound impacts on democracy, feeding into our deep partisan division, and reinforcing extreme opinions.In this episode, we also discuss how reading Dante helped save Joseph after he became a widower and a father on the same day. We also learn about his 4-for-45 prescription for how reading literature can bring pleasure enlightenment to our daily lives.Learn more about Joseph Luzzi's monthly book group, books and public lectures here.Recommendations: In this episode, Jim and Richard reveal the books that had a profound impact on them. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our relationship with our stuff is broken. What was once fixed is often tossed into landfills. Repairs today are more expensive than the prices of many new clothes, gadgets, and household appliances.The U.S. has 5% of the world's population, but consumes about 30% of the world's resources and creates almost a third of the world's waste. Large manufacturers restrict the repair of their goods by limiting the availability of parts and repair information. Their policies sparked a consumer backlash and a growing right-to-repair movement. This week, The Federal Trade Commission said it wants to give consumers new rights to fix devices and limit "unfair anti-competitive restrictions" by manufacturers.Our guest, Sandra Goldmark, is a leader in the movement to demand better “stuff.” She doesn’t just want to help us clear away clutter—she aims to move us away from a throwaway culture, to teach us to reuse and repurpose more thoughtfully. We discuss her new book, "Fixation: How to Have Stuff without Breaking the Planet,” and the case for a circular economy. Sandra is a professor at Barnard College in New York and leads its sustainability program. She's also the founder of Fixup, a non-profit group that runs pop-up repair shops and advocates for making sure consumers have the right to fix the things they own— their stuff.Recommendation: Jim is an enthusiastic cyclist, and is impressed by rail-trail pathways— paved trails that follow the routes of old railways lines— and the movement that created them. He enjoys riding on the 750-mile Empire State Trail. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Democracies around the world are under threat from populist movements, demagogues, and dogmatic extremists who use disinformation, conspiracy theories, shaming, cancel culture, and other tactics to weaponize social media and challenge our ability to distinguish fact from fiction and truth from falsehood.In his new book, our guest, best-selling author, journalist, scholar, and public intellectual, Jonathan Rauch, offers a stirring defense of the constitution of knowledge— our social system of checks and balances that is crucial for turning disagreement into truth."This global network of people hunting for each others' errors is far and away the greatest human technology ever invented," Jonathan tells us in this episode of "How Do We Fix It?" The constitution of knowledge, he says, "is a global conversation of people looking for truth, and more especially, looking for the error."With a deep knowledge of history and politics, Jonathan arms listeners and readers with a better understanding of what they can do to protect truth and free inquiry from threats as far away from Russia and as close as your laptop and smartphone.Here's one of our favorite reviews of "The Constitution of Knowledge".Recommendation: Richard watched and much enjoyed "The Leopard", the 1963 Italian period drama by director Luchino Visconti, starring Burt Lancaster, Claudia Cardinale, and Alain Delon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The spread of the Delta Variant is a rapidly growing threat to public health, especially in states with low vaccination rates. But cases of COVID-19 are still holding steady in regions where more than 60% of the adult population had at least one shot.The disparity comes at a time of triumph with increasing evidence that the vaccines offer extremely high rates of protection. Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warned that regional differences in coronavirus vaccination rates could create "two types of America."Vaccine hesitancy is high in rural red states, in Black and Latino communities, and among many young people. In this episode, we hear again from Dr. Wrenetha Julion, professor and Associate Dean for Equity and Inclusion at Rush University College of Nursing in Chicago. We also review the latest research on the Delta Variant and warnings of rising hospitalizations among unvaccinated Americans.Vaccine hesitancy "is a significant problem," says Wrenetha. "It stems from a long history of mistrust and mistreatment of African-Americans and other groups in healthcare systems and research. Unfortunately, those things stick in people's minds."We examine the impact of the Tuskegee experiment and look at Wrenetha's suggestions for building vaccine trust in marginalized communities.Recommendation: Jim is reading "Bag Man", by Rachel Maddow and Michael Yarvitz. The book and her podcast tell the astounding story of Vice President Spiro Agnew— his crimes, cover-ups, and downfall. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Much of the West has just lived through one of the worst June heatwaves in decades. Many states could be in a drought all this summer. From California and Arizona to the mountain West, dangerous heatwaves are almost becoming the norm.The threat of more devastating wildfires prompted calls for reforms of the nation's fire management policies, and are a clear sign that the impacts of climate change are now being felt.We discuss the causes of raging wildfires, including forestry management, climate, and the movement of people, as well as practical steps that can be taken now to reduce the destruction to property and people's lives. Our guests are Guardian journalists Alastair Gee and Dani Anguiano, authors of the book, “Fire In Paradise: An American Tragedy", a harrowing account of the most destructive wildfire in a century. Both Dani and Alastair reported extensively on the Camp Fire in 2018, and this year's megafires in California, Oregon, and Washington.Recommendation: Jim continues to feed his passion for birdwatching, reading "A Season On The Wind: Inside the World of Spring Migration" by Ken Kaufman. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Why I Let My 9-Year-Old Ride the Subway Alone" was a 2008 newspaper column that turned into a national campaign to help parents raise their children with less anxiety while pushing back against our culture that has become obsessed with kids' fragility.Our guest, Lenore Skenazy, founded free-range kids in the years after she first described making the decision to let her son, Izzy, take the New York City subway home alone. Her column resulted in a flood of media coverage and mixed reactions from parents— from accusations of child abuse to fond memories of childhood freedom. She hosted a TV series, "World's Worst Mom".This week, the second edition of her best-selling book, "Free-Range Kids: How Parents and Teachers Can Let Go and Let Grow", is published. In this episode, we discuss how parents and educators can step back so kids step up. We also look at the resilience of children and why the rest of the world is laughing at us scaredy-cat Americans.   "There's so much intelligence and cognition building going on when kids are figuring out rules, and trying to figure out who's going to play with them," Lenore tells us. This form of learning about the world "doesn't look like learning because it's playing. We really have a hard time believing that you can be playing and learning at the same time."Lenore believes our kids are stronger and smarter than our society assumes. Her work with the Let Grow Project and Let Grow Play Club is built on the principle that children think and act for themselves when adults don't get involved every step of the way.Recommendation: Richard is watching two seasons of the Israeli TV series, "False Flag" on Hulu. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

America's remarkable experiment in a pluralist democracy is under threat from toxic polarization. In this episode, we discuss two current nationwide campaigns to tackle this crisis head-on,America Talks, on Saturday-Sunday, June 12-13, is a powerful conversation event that invites thousands of Americans to connect one-on-one on video across our political divides. By doing so, we remind ourselves that the “other” is – just like us – a person with family, friends, hopes, fears, values, beliefs, and intrinsic worth.The fourth annual National Week of Conversation, June 14-20, organized by #ListenFirst Coalition and over 300 organizations, invites Americans of all views and backgrounds to listen and discover common interests. Sign up for both events at AmericaTalks.us.Our guests are Kristin Hansen, Executive Director of Civic Health Project, Director at AllSides, and 17-year-old Zoë Jenkins, a civic activist who founded DICCE — diversity, inclusion, cultural competency, and equity.Recent polling found that more than 9-in-10 Americans recognize that polarization is a problem, while 7-in-ten say democracy is in danger.This podcast looks at the crisis and the opportunity for changing and strengthening democracy. We also discuss Moral Foundations Theory, Open Mind Platform for schools and workplaces, student-led BridgeUSA, and the work of Bridge Alliance.Recommendation: Jim is watching "Our Planet" on Netflix, narrated by David Attenborough, who recounts his life, and the evolutionary history of life on earth. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The word “peacebuilding” evokes a story we’ve all heard over and over: Violence breaks out, foreign nations react, peacekeepers and million-dollar donors come rushing in, warring parties sign a peace agreement, and, sadly, within months the situation is back to where it started—sometimes worse. But peace can grow in the most unlikely circumstances. What are some strategies that work?Our guest is an award-winning researcher and peacebuilder, Séverine Autesserre, author of the new book, "The Frontlines of Peace". She shares success stories — innovative grassroots initiatives led by local people, at times supported by foreigners, often employing methods shunned by the international elite. In this episode, we look at examples of local initiatives that build lasting peace. We examine how they differ from the top-down "Peace Inc." approach that can waste billions of dollars in aid and involve massive international interventions.Séverine shows the radical changes we must take in our approach if we hope to build lasting peace around us—whether we live in Congo, the United States, or elsewhere. We also learn how these approaches could help all of us, and discuss the work of moms in Chicago who work against gun violence in their neighborhoods.Featured sound bite: "Let's say you don't care about the rest of the world and you only care about your own community: The lessons we learn from conflict zones can help us improve the situation around us."Recommendation: Richard is watching comedy as a constructive form of escape. The TV series "Better Things" is an example. On earlier shows we recommended "Never Have I Ever" and "Call My Agent". Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"We should be humble all the time," says Veronique de Rugy of her study of economics. "There's always something I realize that I didn't understand."  In this episode, we discuss the rigorous questions economists need to ask themselves when analyzing the likely impacts of public policies: Questions rarely asked by politicians and others in the public square. We look at the perils of cronyism, the shortcomings of the Ex-Im Bank, growing federal budget deficits, and the unfairness of the highly complex U.S. tax system.Veronique is a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. She writes a syndicated column looking at economics from a free market, libertarian perspective.Featured quote: "People don't go to the barricades to fight for distortions and economic inefficiency but they should go to the barricades to fight unfairness and cronyism that is unfair."Recommendation: Jim is listening to "The Moment", a podcast with interviews about the pivotal moments that fueled fascinating creative careers, hosted by Brian Koppelman.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.