How Do We Fix It?

It's tempting to believe that our current moment is the most urgent of all. Yet despite the catastrophic pandemic, and threats from other urgent problems, humankind has faced worse calamities in the past— from global wars and plagues to economic collapse.In this episode, we look at age-old lessons from philosophy and discover how ancient wisdom can be our guide in modern times.Best-selling author, traveler, and former NPR foreign correspondent, Eric Weiner is our guide. He's the author of the recent book, "The Socrates Express: In Search of Life Lessons From Dead Philosophers".This episode is a fun ride,  as we follow in the footsteps of history’s greatest thinkers—from Epicurus to Nietzsche, Thoreau to Gandhi— who show us practical and spiritual lessons for today’s unsettled times. Philosophy helps us during our struggle with disturbing questions raised by the pandemic: How can we remain calm in an uncertain age? How do we endure tough times? There are no easy answers, but philosophy can help us gain a wise sense of perspective, and ask better questions. The age-old lesson from philosophers, says Eric, is that "you can put down your iPhone and close your laptop, and stop acquiring more bits of data."Recommendation: Richard has just finished reading the remarkable novel, "Hamnet" by Maggie O'Farrell. Set in England in 1596, The book is an exploration of grief, marriage, and family life. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

She lived in Seattle and covered science, climate change, and the environment for NPR for more than a decade. Most of her friends and colleagues were liberals or progressives. Then in 2018, journalist Ashley Ahearn made a big jump, moving with her husband to one of the most conservative counties in rural Washington State.  What did this public radio reporter learn from her dramatic change in lifestyle? In this episode, we learn about the profound rural-urban divide in America, and what Ashley discovered about her new neighbors and herself when she switched from the city to the country, now living on a 20-acre property with a horse and a pickup truck. We also discuss how politics and views of the land and climate differ greatly according to where people live.Recently, Ashley Ahearn launched her remarkable 8-part podcast series, Grouse, which looks at life in rural America through the lens of the most controversial bird in the West — the greater sage-grouse. This podcast series is also our recommendation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Too often in our fierce and narrow political debates, we suffer from a poverty of imagination. Seeing a crisis through a narrow lens of "us versus them" is a barrier to creative solutions and vital changes needed to save lives, protect the planet, and grow prosperity.In this episode we discuss the enormous power and potential of framing: mental models that enable us to see patterns, predict how things will unfold, and understand new situations.Our guests are Kenneth Cukier, a senior editor at The Economist in London, and Francis de Véricourt, professor of management science at the European School of Management and Technology in Berlin. They are two of the co-authors of the new book, "Framers. Human Advantage in an Age of Technology and Turmoil."Real-world examples of how framers changed the world include: The rapid rise of #MeToo, which went viral on Twitter after the actress Alyssa Milano tweeted a request to her followers: “If you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted write ‘me too’ as a reply to this tweet.”; Successful responses to Covid-19 by the governments of New Zealand, Taiwan, and Australia, and the framing of U.S. Constitution in the late 18th Century.We also learn why the advice to "think outside the box" is useless, and how to understand the role of mental models in our own daily lives.Recommendation: Jim suggests a puzzle: The New York Times "pangram", Spelling Bee. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the months after George Floyd’s murder, colleges, universities, non-profits, and large corporations across the country embraced anti-racism and diversity training as a way to promote inclusion and racial justice.But do these programs actually work to change minds and achieve their goals? Our guest, associate professor of History at Carleton College, Amna Khalid, argues that while training can improve customer service and knowledge of CPR and Excel spreadsheets, it’s woefully inadequate when confronting complex social problems such as poverty, inequality, discrimination, and racism. Amna grew up under several military dictatorships in Pakistan and came to the U.S. with a passionate commitment to free speech and belief in the power of education to promote curiosity, understanding, and imagination."Through all my journeys what I've come to realize is that people are individuals more than any category that you can put them into," Amna tells us.  "If we really begin to engage with people as individuals then we will do a far better job of diversity and inclusion."While critical race theory (CRT) can be one useful tool in our conversations about race, this episode includes criticism of efforts to promote one all-encompassing view of diversity. Recommendation: Richard enjoyed watching "Soul", which won the Oscar this year for best animated feature movie. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What’s the greatest crisis facing America today? — Racism and hate crimes, exploding government debt, climate change, or the mess at the border?It may be none of these. America and many other countries are trapped in high conflict. Both sides are paralyzed by fear and anger as they demonize the other. The national narrative of "us versus them" is a threat to democracy and stops us from working together to build a better world.Best-selling author and investigative journalist, Amanda Ripley, is our guest. She is well-known for her writing in The Atlantic, Time, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, and many other publications. Her latest book is “High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out."Amanda argues that good conflict involves nuance and complexity. It can teach us to be better people, who are capable of solutions as they move past misunderstandings. Many are trapped in high conflict, which is threatening to tear us apart, creating an even deeper crisis than we have now.We discuss "conflict entrepreneurs"— cable TV personalities, talk radio hosts, and politicians from both left and right — who profit from making us angry and fearful."Most Americans want "out" of this high conflict," Amanda tells How Do We Fix It? "They very much want to see a different way of disagreeing among their politicians and the news media. They are frequently tuning out of politics and the news, which is a big problem, but totally understandable."Recommendation: Jim enjoyed watching "Long Strange Trip", a highly-praised documentary about the rock band, the Grateful Dead. TV viewers can watch it on Amazon Prime. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’ve made it to our 300th weekly episode! While it’s easy to congratulate ourselves for being among the few podcasts to produce this many shows, Jim and Richard are most proud of our extraordinary range of guests.During our first six years together, we've often highlighted out-of-the-box thinkers, who share ideas that are too rarely discussed: People who speak about solutions through an independent lens— neither firmly left nor right. For this episode, we revisit interviews with six guests— or roughly 2% of all the people we've spoken with for "How Do We Fix It?" We begin with the public intellectual and problem solver Philip K. Howard, who was our very first guest. Others featured here are Claire Cain Miller of The Upshot at The New York Times, Mike Rowe, who became famous with the TV show "Dirty Jobs", science evangelist, Ainissa Ramirez, Jerry Taylor, President and Founder of The Niskanen Center, and R&B musician Daryl Davis, who has personally persuaded more than 200 men and women to quit white supremacist groups.As Jim says, it's been a great privilege to spend time with so many remarkable people and listen to their remarkable personal stories and ideas. We have used the intimate, informal medium of podcasting to pull the curtain back and dive into a rich pool of ideas at the deep end. We are also grateful to the Democracy Group podcast network (we are founding members), Solutions Journalism Network for grants and advice, and Heterodox Academy for introducing this show and our listeners to a remarkable range of creative intellectuals. Thank you, all!This week's Recommendation: What else, but listening to our catalog of shows at How Do We Fix It? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Recent mass shootings and the explosion of rage outside the U.S. Capitol on January 6 are reminders of threats posed to us all by anger, fear and loathing. On social media and in the hyper-partisan ways political issues are debated, many of us objectify others. Those who belong to the wrong tribe are often targets of personal scorn.In a Twitter post, our guest, writer and entrepreneur, Chloé Valdary, says: "if you do not possess the power to love, and especially love your enemies, then you don't really have the power."In this episode, first released in 2020, Chloé talks about her antiracism program, Theory of Enchantment, which uses the music and messaging of Beyoncé, Disney movies and pop culture as educational tools, teaching social and emotional learning in schools, and diversity and inclusion in companies and government agencies. The three key principles involve:1. We are human beings, not political abstractions.2. Use criticism to uplift, not tear down.3. Lead with love and compassion.Recommendation: Jim and Richard have the 2020 book, "Utopia Avenue" by British novelist, David Mitchell. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stifle that yawn. Infrastructure just got exciting again.President Biden announced a $2 trillion plan to rebuild roads and rails, repair bridges, modernize airports and seaports, create hundreds of thousands of union jobs in the solar and wind power industries, boost housing, expand broadband access to regions that are poorly served, and speed-up the transition to a climate-friendly economy. Total spending on his proposals could be as much as $4 trillion over the next decade. We explain the President's ambitious plan, which amounts to the biggest spending initiatives in decades, and look at how to pay for it with one of the nation's top experts on the budget and taxes— Maya MacGuineas, President of the non-partisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.Maya MacGuineas praises recent efforts to spend big on COVID relief, and also discusses ways to restore fiscal balance through reducing unproductive tax breaks, and reforming the tax code. "The bad news is that we had a mountain of debt before the crisis and we have a much larger mountain now."In their conversation in the second half of this episode, Jim takes a deeply skeptical look at the Biden infrastructure proposals, while Richard applauds the President for going big and tackling a huge piece of public policy that was usually neglected by prior administrations.Recommendations: Richard calls "Minari" and "The Father" two remarkable new films that are well-worth watching. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our lives depend on it and most of us don't give it a moment's thought. But when the electricity goes off we feel frustrated— powerless.America's grid was an engineering triumph of the twentieth century, but as the recent sudden freeze and severe power outages in Texas have shown, our electricity infrastructure is fragile and in need of basic repair, especially as the world faces the growing reality of extreme weather events and climate change. On their own solar and wind power are not enough to meet rapidly growing electricity demand. What are other viable, carbon-free alternatives?We discuss strengthening the grid, re-imaging it according to modern values, and our relationship with electricity with cultural anthropologist, Gretchen Bakke, author of "The Grid: The Fraying Wires Between Americans and Our Energy Future.""It's not just that electricity is a modern marvel," Gretchen tells us in this episode. "It almost starts to feel like a natural right. With the pandemic, we really feel how important electricity is to being connected with the world. Everything is plugged in."Recommendation: Jim is watching the hilarious French TV series, "Call My Agent" on Netflix. Richard suggests that we watch more movies and TV shows with subtitles from all parts of the world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our obsession with what is normal and acceptable is at the heart of how we view mental health. It is also the source of stigma around many forms of mental illness. In this podcast with anthropology professor, Richard Grinker, we ask how do we fix it? What are successful ways to challenge stigmas, as we help millions of people reach their full potential? Richard discusses the findings in his uplifting new book, "Nobody's Normal: How Culture Created the Stigma of Mental Illness."Social distancing, remote learning, and disruption of social supports during the COVID pandemic are likely to lead to an even greater crisis of mental illness. But Richard sees hope in this moment. "The pandemic provides us with an opportunity to make progress in destigmatizing mental illness," he tells us.Though the legacies of shame and secrecy are still with us today, Richard says that we are at the cusp of ending the marginalization of the mentally ill. In the twenty-first century, mental illnesses are fast becoming a more accepted and visible part of human diversity. We discuss his groundbreaking reserch.Recommendation: Richard has just and much enjoyed "The Quiet Americans: Four CIA Spies at the Dawn of the Cold War — a Tragedy in Three Acts", by Scott Anderson.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.