Around the Institute

IDEAS: the Magazine of the Aspen Institute Special Issue 2016

September 1, 2016  • Ideas: the Magazine of the Aspen Institute

On the Cover

Clockwise from top left: John Kerry, Mitt Romney, Drew Gilpin Faust, Susan Rice, Caitlyn Jenner, DeRay Mckesson, Joe Biden, Newt Gingrich, Loretta Lynch, Laura Bush, Bryan Stevenson, Christine Lagarde

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Around the Institute
Editor’s Letter
September 1, 2016 • Corby Kummer

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Sports
Game Change
September 1, 2016 • Alison Decker

The Project Play Summit emphasized health, inclusion, and equal access to sports across the nation.

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Gender Equity
Women on Fire
September 1, 2016 • IDEAS: the Magazine of the Aspen Institute

The United State of Women Summit turns inspiration into action.

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National Security
The Security Threat Has Gone Viral
September 1, 2016 • IDEAS: the Magazine of the Aspen Institute

At the Aspen Security Forum: Global in London, FBI Director James Comey spoke about the digitalization of terrorism.

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Around the Institute
Summer at Aspen
September 1, 2016 • IDEAS: the Magazine of the Aspen Institute

This Summer, hundreds of the world’s most exciting medical experts, politicians, business leaders, journalists, academics, and artists flooded the Institute’s Aspen campus to discuss the ideas that are changing the planet.

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Health Care
Summer at Aspen: Spotlight Health
September 1, 2016 • IDEAS: the Magazine of the Aspen Institute

The festival started off with Spotlight Health, which showcased the most exciting developments in health, wellness, and brain science.

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Around the Institute
In Action
September 1, 2016 • Alison Decker

For four years, the newly renamed Resnick Aspen Action Forum has brought together hundreds of determined and creative leaders from across the Aspen Global Leadership Network and the planet and given them heavy doses of inspiration and support—and secured specific promises from each participant to do nothing short of change the world.

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Criminal Law and Justice
The Broken Will Lead Us to Justice
September 1, 2016 • Bryan Stevenson

This year’s Forum, whose theme was Leading Toward Justice, featured remarks by Bryan Stevenson, of the Equal Justice Initiative. Many of the 2016 action pledges addressed justice—from breaking up lawless gangs in Latin America to establishing a truth and reconciliation collaborative focused on America’s history of slavery.

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National Security
Call Security
September 1, 2016 • Zach St. Louis

The Aspen Security Forum is the country’s premier platform to discuss threats to the United States. Officials including White House counterterrorism adviser Lisa Monaco, CIA Director John Brennan, and Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson examined internet radicalization, the surge in European terrorism, Russian cyberattacks, and nuclear foes. Zach St. Louis goes behind the scenes and finds that with national threats dispersed across many mediums, conducted in secret, and often with no particular state backing, it is critical that intelligence agencies and policymakers work together on 60 security policy.

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Nonprofit Organizations
“Through the Lens of Humanity”
September 1, 2016 • IDEAS: the Magazine of the Aspen Institute

Howard and Sheri Schultz led a public conversation about the roles of compassion and principle in leadership. The Starbucks CEO, Howard Schultz, explained how a coffee company could have a conscience. And Sheri Schultz described the responsive-giving model she has created for the Schultz Family Foundation, which is as strategic as it is generous.

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US Government
Destination Unknown
September 1, 2016 • Dan Glickman

The 2016 election cycle has been unprecedented—upending conventional wisdom, bucking trends, and at times defying belief. Social media, extreme voices on cable TV, and intractability in Congress have all polarized the electorate and made politics seem like a blood sport rather than a platform for civil action. And when fear and resentment drive the conversation, we all lose. It’s no wonder more and more Americans consider themselves independents. Dan Glickman looks at what the major parties need to do to resonate with voters—rather than drive them away.

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US Government
One Person, One Vote, No Barriers
September 1, 2016 • Michael Klein

Ever since the Supreme Court effectively gutted the Voting Rights Act, the United States has experienced renewed interest in electoral systems. While some states are experimenting with automatic or online registration to increase voters’ ballot access, many others are throwing up barriers—from strict voter-ID laws to a dearth of polling places—that prevent easy voting access. But Michael Klein says there’s a single, simple solution: a new amendment to the Constitution.

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Health Care
Your Brain on Babies
September 1, 2016 • Sarah Enos Watamura, Ph.D.

New neuroimaging studies reveal the potent changes that occur in new parents’ brains that propel them to care for their infants—often at the expense of their own well-being. But such a fundamental reorganization of adult brain behavior is also a time of distinct vulnerability. Some parents may have the opposite reaction to these changes—and respond poorly, get overwhelmed, or become depressed. Sarah Enos Watamura explores how new science could help those adults by igniting their parenting brains.