In our final podcast takeover episode, award-winning journalist Michele Norris discusses the legacy of slavery with a US mayor and the necessity of solitude with a best-selling author. In a conversation with New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, Norris asks about Landrieu’s recent decision to remove four Confederate statues. Separately, Norris, who leads a program on race and cultural identity at the Aspen Institute, discusses the writing process with Susan Orlean, author of The Orchid Thief and writer for The New Yorker. Both conversations are held at the Aspen Ideas Festival, where all of our guests are presenting.

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Joshua Johnson, host of WAMU’s “1A,” interviews Simon Sinek in this Takeover episode. Sinek teaches leaders and organizations how to inspire people. His 2009 Ted talk about how great leaders inspire others to take action, is the third most watched talk on TED.com. His books include Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action; Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t; Together is Better; and the forthcoming Find Your Why. In this discussion, Sinek discusses his concept “The Golden Triangle,” and he explains how a difficult period in his life helped inform his work about leadership.

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In this Takeover episode, two comedians and a writer — Pete Dominick, Travon Free, and Wajahat Ali — discuss politics, race, and a changing America. How should citizens and politicians talk about race? What is white privilege? And how can we, as a country, find solutions to the problems minority communities face? This lively and funny conversation touches on serious topics. Travon Free is an actor and comedian who writes for “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee.” Wajahat Ali is a New York Times op-ed contributor, a lawyer, playwright, and former TV host. Pete Dominick hosts SiriusXM’s “Stand Up with Pete Dominick.” Dominick also speaks with Mark Tercek, president of The Nature Conservancy, about the Paris climate accord. This episode contains explicit language.

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Susan Page, Washington Bureau Chief of USA Today, takes over the podcast by interviewing a panel of DC outsiders. Nobody thinks Washington is working well these days. Page turns to unexpected sources — Liz Dozier, an award-winning educator from Chicago; Jeffrey Seller, a celebrated theatrical producer from New York; and Joshua Greene, an exceptional psychologist from Harvard — to brainstorm on what advice other disciplines might have to offer the world of politics. What are the lessons from studying the neuroscience of moral judgement? From Chicago high schools? From Broadway? You won’t want to miss this takeover episode!

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In this Takeover episode, we examine the Supreme Court’s decision Monday to take the case regarding President Trump’s travel ban. The move was discussed at the Aspen Ideas Festival in an onstage panel including former US Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates and former US Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal. The show includes an interview between Katyal and Podcast Takeover Host Perri Peltz. Peltz is a journalist and documentary filmmaker.

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During the week of the Aspen Ideas Festival, going on now through July 1, five Takeover Hosts—Julie Rovner, Michele Norris, Joshua Johnson, Pete Dominick, and Susan Page—will extend the exciting conversations happening at the Aspen Idea Festival by interviewing other speakers right here on the podcast. This episode features Julie Rovner, chief Washington correspondent for Kaiser Health News, speaking with Lanhee Chen of the Hoover Institution, reproductive justice advocate Dr. Willie J. Parker, and Ai-jen Poo, director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance.

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Black Lives Matter, the Occupy movement, the Tea Party, and many other groups have developed in recent years as a response to the age we’re living in — an age of epic political turbulence. Author Eric Liu says people across the political spectrum are reclaiming power. In his book You’re More Powerful Than You Think, he lays out the strategies of reform and revolution. In this episode, Liu uses examples from the right and the left to reveal the core laws of power. He highlights what movements have been most effective and explains why joining a cause digitally —by liking it on Facebook or retweeting it —isn’t effective enough.

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As the second female justice confirmed to the US Supreme Court, Ruth Bader Ginsburg says her experiences as a female give her a unique perspective her male colleagues don’t share. In this episode, Justice Ginsburg talks about her relationships with Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and the late Antonin Scalia. She also explains what it’s like to work with newly-elected Justice Neil Gorsuch. Her discussion with the Aspen Wye Fellows, also touches on her book My Own Words. Ginsburg is interviewed by Elliot Gerson, executive vice president of policy and public programs at the Aspen Institute.

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Thinking about the far-off future isn’t just an exercise in intellectual curiosity. It’s a practical skill that, as new research reveals, has a direct neurological link to greater creativity, empathy, and optimism. In this session from master game designer and acclaimed futurist Jane McGonigal, you’ll learn three practical habits that will increase the power of your imagination—and you’ll have the chance to use your creativity to foresee some of the biggest ways our lives will change by the year 2026.

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Netflix releases the fifth season of House of Cards today (5/30). In this encore episode Katie Couric interviews House of Cards creator Beau Willimon. The interview, from the Aspen Ideas Festival, took place before the show’s third season in 2015. The two have a lively conversation about Willimon’s career (he studied painting in college and later worked on political campaigns), and the turbulent lives of the show’s characters. NOTE: This episode contains explicit language.

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