How Do We Fix It?

Whether it's Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, or Google; internet platforms are a huge force in our daily lives. The recent scandal over the Steven Bannon-affiliated Cambridge Analytica is the most recent example of the downside of data.This episode of "How Do We Fix It?" is about search, and how it can condemn former inmates to a life sentence without work. In their case, the internet is a "help not wanted" sign, preventing them from getting a job and putting their lives back on track. The cost to ex-prisoners and their families is enormous.Three-out-of-four ex-offenders are unemployed at least a year after they finish their jail sentence. Less than half are working five years after their release. At a time of almost-full employment, this is a drag on the economy. "When people get out of jail, their internet profiles can stay with them forever," says business executive, Brian Hamilton, founder of "Inmates to Entrepreneurs," an outreach group that helps ex-offenders start their own businesses. "There is systematic discrimination against these people by employers who always Google people."We discuss the social and economic cost and consider whether people should have the right to have their past removed from their search profile, say after ten years. We hear from Brian how learning entrepreneurial skills can help large numbers of former inmates get a foothold in the jobs market. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What do Mark Zuckerberg, hockey great Wayne Gretzky, and best-selling novelist Lee Child all have in common? They all worked to make luck happen for them.In this episode with award-winning author, editor and journalist, Janice Kaplan, we learn about the exciting ways you can grab opportunities and improve your life.  There is a clear difference between random chance and luck. The case is made in the new book that she wrote with risk-taking expert Barnaby Marsh, "How Luck Happens: Using the Science of Luck to Transform Work, Love and Life ."Luck includes chance, but it is not a one-time event and also involves a combination of talent, open-minded research, and hard work.We learn to how change the odds, why it may be important to move to places where your chances of success improve, and why having a positive outlook boosts your chances of long-term success.Winning the lottery, says Janice, "is not a great example of the kind of luck we're talking about, where you do have an input, where you can change things." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The debate over gun violence is deeply polarized, but almost everyone agrees it's an urgent problem and that far too many people are being killed and injured by firearms in the United States.The toll is more than 100 deaths per day-- a much higher rate than in other wealthy nations. Unlike the appalling killings in Parkland, Florida, Newtown, Connecticut, and at other schools, most gun murders involve a single victim and don't get national media coverage. Mass shootings account for less than 2% of all gun-related deaths.In this episode, we ask: of all the widely-touted proposals to reduce the rate of gun violence, which ones would actually work the best?Our guest James Burnett, Editorial Director of The Trace, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom that shines a light on America's gun violence crisis. We have an estimated 300 million guns in America-- about one for every household. But would banning military-style weapons and bump stocks be more effective than improving the system of federal background checks? Are red flag warnings a smart answer? Weeks after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, in which 17 people were killed, Florida Sens. Marco Rubio (R) and Bill Nelson (D) proposed new legislation that would encourage states to create gun violence restraining orders. Other proposals include improving gun safety education, more spending on research about guns, mental health treatment and public health solutions: recognizing gun crime as a preventable public health problem. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Within four days of the mass shooting at Margaret Stoneman High School in Parkland, Florida that left 17 people dead, Never Again was born.In this episode, we ask whether young millennials, who grew up after 9/11 during a time of school lockdowns, will become effective advocates for lasting social and political change.Digitally savvy students-- survivors of the massacre-- turned to social media with the hashtag #NeverAgain. This activist campaign for sweeping changes in gun control laws became a national phenomenon with a mass following on Twitter and other social media platforms. March For Our Lives is planned for March 24th by kids and families "to demand that their lives and safety become a priority and that we end gun violence and mass shootings in our schools," says the group's statement.  "This generation has become more in tune and in touch with the avenues of political power," says Professor Elizabeth Matto, Director of the Center for Youth Political Participation at the Eagleton Institute, Rutgers University, and the author of "Citizen Now: Engaging in Politics and Democracy." "They understand that there's a difference between simply raising awareness and sharing something on Facebook, and directly linking it to the political process and showing adults how to hold politicians accountable," she tells "How Do We Fix It?" Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The impressive launch of the Falcon Heavy rocket by SpaceX from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and the touchdown of two boosters back at Cape Canaveral minutes later, are the latest milestones in a thrilling comeback story. Space is becoming sexy again and the pace of innovation is remarkably fast.Not since the days of John Glenn,the Apollo moon launch, and the Space Shuttle program has spaceflight been so exciting.In this episode, technology journalist Joe Pappalardo, author of the new book, "Spaceport Earth: The Reinvention of Spaceflight", tells us why the emerging space race is different this time, and includes a vital role played by SpaceX, Blue Origin and other private companies. Their drive may lead to stunning advances in the human quest to explore and understand the universe.The goal of entrepreneur and billionaire visionary Elon Musk, is to put men and women on Mars. In addition to the shining ambition of interplanetary travel, Musk's firm, SpaceX, has already sharply cut the cost of rocket launches. Learn more about current breakthroughs as well as how NASA can play a leading role in this episode of "How Do We Fix It?" Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Wouldn't it be great if consumers could access all their personal medical records quickly and share them with doctors, family members and others they trust?This could lead to revolutionary changes in patient outcomes with less bureaucracy and fewer medical mistakes and unnecessary tests. In recent weeks, major announcements by Apple and Google, plus a new healthcare alliance by Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JP Morgan Chase are signs of accelerated change.No one is better equipped to interpret these changes than physician and entrepreneur, Dr. Joe Habboushe, our expert guest on this episode of "How Do We Fix It?"Joe is CEO of MD Calc--a leading online medical tool for clinical decisions by physicians-- and a specialist in emergency medicine at NYU Medical Center in New York.On this show we look at opportunities and hazards in the changing relationship between doctors and parents. We discuss privacy concerns and examine how data, smartphone apps and other innovations could reduce costs and lead to better diagnosis of common illnesses and physical ailments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's time to put the brakes on the hype about self-driving cars. Despite industry and media forecasts, it may be more than a decade before many fully autonomous vehicles are on the road. Lawsuits and patent disputes are among the many hurdles that face auto manufacturers and tech firms.But this doesn't mean that technology is being thrown into reverse gear. Semi-autonomous cars with vehicle assist and other features are much safer than earlier generations of automobiles. Self-driving delivery trucks and vans are no longer a fantasy. "Fix It" guest Eddie Alterman, Editor-in-Chief of Car and Driver magazine is deeply skeptical about the widely-touted changes proclaimed by major manufacturers. "It's a scary concept anyway you look at it," he tells us. "The autonomous car is a very inelegant, very complex and a very fraught solution to the problem of texting while driving... and of information coming into the car when people should be driving."For Google, Apple, Microsoft and other big data companies, autonomous cars are a big opportunity. Instead of keeping their eyes on the road, motorists would use their driving time to consume more digital media. But Eddie says a mix of self-driving and traditional vehicles on the road would create danger. "People will deal with or accept flawed humans crashing into each other. I don't think people will accept supposedly fail-safe machines crashing into each other." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The U.S. stock market has soared about 40% since the Trump election. But is it over-valued and ready for a meltdown?Shortly before the worst one-day crash in history in November 1987, the market had been charging ahead, with a 40% rise that year. The economy was on a roll, just like today. What would happen if giant investment funds bailed out of stocks at the same time? Would there be another financial crisis, even worse than the events in 2008?"We are more vulnerable to a radical readjustment," says our guest, New York Times journalist, Diana Henriques, author of the widely praised "A First Class Catastrophe: The Road to Black Monday, the Worst Day in Wall Street History.""It is important for us always to remember that markets go up and they go down, says Diana. "What we need to worry about is do they fall apart when they fall.""Even professional money managers today are alarmed at the fragility of market structures on which they rely."In this episode, we look at potential solutions, including streamlined financial regulations, guaranteeing that authorities have a 360 degree view of where financial brushfires are erupting, and scrapping the highly fragmented system that we have today. We also take a second look to the findings of the Brady Commission, the post-mortem report after the "catastrophe" in 1987.Hear more about the financial system and its flaws from our previous guests: Roger Lowenstein on why we need The Federal Reserve; Rana Foroohar, of The Financial Times, on Wall Street's giant threat to the economy; ABC News Chief Business, Technology and Economics Correspondent, Rebecca Jarvis, on fixing everyday money mistakes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From the recent government shutdown to strict partisan votes on taxes and healthcare, official Washington lurches from one fight to the next, with no end in sight.But the American public is not as polarized as the pundits say.While elected Republicans and Democrats appeal to their base, and are more divided than ever, the electorate has not changed dramatically in recent years. According to Pew Research and other pollsters, moderate independents outnumber either liberal Democrats or conservative Republicans.  Stanford University political scientist Morris Fiorina confronts the widespread assumption that voters are neatly split into rival camps, and argues that neither party can hold a majority for more than a few years. His new book is "Unstable Majorities: Polarization, Party Sorting and Political Stalemate." We discuss solutions, including open primaries, weekend voting, easier voter registration and independent redistricting-- all designed to encourage citizen involvement in the political system. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

By overwhelming majorities, human beings have faith in the afterlife. While fewer Americans believe in God, as many as 80% still believe in life after death. Surprisingly, this includes one-in-three agnostics and atheists. According to the Roper Center for Public Opinion the numbers have stayed stable in recent decades.Does this human refusal to accept that all we have is the here-and-now lead to a dangerous belief in religious fantasies and utopia? Do we chase after myths while ignoring practical steps we could take now to improve life for ourselves and others?Our guest, Michael Shermer, is the publisher of Skeptic Magazine and the author of the new book "Heavens on Earth: The Scientific Search for the Afterlife, Immortality, and Utopia." Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson calls him "a beacon of reason in an ocean of irrationality."Michael walks us through efforts by "techno-optimists" to extend life hundreds of years into the future, from cryonic suspension-- efforts to freeze our brains with all of their neural connects and memories in tact-- to transhumanists, who want to transform us into super-humans.He is profoundly skeptical of these well-funded efforts, saying that all we have is the present. "Make today count," Michael tells us. "Make every relationship you have count. Make your interactions with community, strangers and society count in just a tiny little bit." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.