Aspen Ideas to Go

The President’s Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Advisor tells us what keeps her up at night and how she is working to make us all safe. Lisa Monaco, Deputy National Security Advisor and Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism; Moderator: Mike Isikoff, Chief Investigative Correspondent, Yahoo News. For more, visit: www.aspensecurityforum.org- Follow @aspensecurity

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Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) discusses faith and public life with Jim Wallis. The conversation begins from an agreement that the separation of church and state is imperative but that moral values should not be segregated from public life. Coons, who graduated from Yale Law School and Yale Divinity School, has said, "I think it’s foundational to our country that if we allow people to choose their path of faith, they must of course be also free, welcomed, celebrated, to choose not to have faith in a supreme being." Coons was elected to Vice President Biden’s former seat in 2010. He serves on the Appropriations, Foreign Relations, Judiciary, Small Business and Entrepreneurship, and Ethics committees and is the ranking member of two subcommittees. Wallis is president and founder of Sojourners, a nonprofit faith-based organization whose mission is to "put faith into action for social justice." He is a "New York Times" bestselling author, public theologian, speaker, and international commentator on ethics and public life. He recently served on the White House Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships. He is the author of 11 books and the editor of "Sojourners Magazine."

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Scientific evidence suggests that we can change our brains by transforming our minds and cultivating habits of mind that will improve well-being. These include happiness, resilience, compassion, and emotional balance. Each of these characteristics is instantiated in brain circuits that exhibit plasticity and thus can be shaped and modified by experience and training. Mental training to cultivate well-being has profound implications for schools, the workplace, and society as a whole. Richard J. Davidsonis the William James and Vilas Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry and director of the Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Davidson has published over 320 articles and edited 14 books, including The Emotional Life of Your Brain. NOTE: Davidson shared a couple of short video clips during his talk at the Festival. The first shows video games developed for kids to cultivate habits of kindness and pro-social behavior. The second is a demonstration of the preschool kindness curriculum that he refers to in the podcast. Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8BvPl8tylU

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Maajid Nawaz shares his remarkable journey from Islamist extremism to liberal democratic values. Nawaz is the co-founder of Quilliam, a counter-extremism think tank based in London, and engages in counter-Islamist thought-generating, social-activism, writing, debating, and media appearances. He served four years in an Egyptian prison as an Amnesty International "prisoner of conscience" until he became de-radicalized and renounced his extremist views. This talk was recorded live at the Aspen Ideas Festival, July 2015. Learn more about the Festival at www.aspenideas.org.

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Benjamin J. Rhodes, the deputy national security advisor to President Obama, was the chief US negotiator in the secret normalization talks with Cuba and has been a central player in the making of American foreign policy since 2009, both as a key advisor and as the president’s chief foreign policy speechwriter. Rhodes and Jeffrey Goldberg, national correspondent for The Atlantic, discuss the worldview of President Obama, focusing on Cuba, the Iran talks, and the continuing crisis across the broader Middle East.

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Recorded just four days after the SCOTUS ruling, this episode features a wide-ranging discussion of the cases and history behind the Marriage Equality ruling. Featuring the legal dream team that helped make this a reality, former Solicitor General Ted Olson and star litigator David Boies. Neal Katyal, former Acting Solicitor General, moderates the conversation.

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During the Ebola crisis, strong grassroots relationships and homegrown leadership made the difference between life and death. Drawing on that learning, movers and shakers from the Aspen New Voices Fellowship will share their stories about the silo-busting connections that can be forged under stress. From Sierra Leone to Nepal, these kinds of bonds keep our most vulnerable communities healthier and safer in perilous times. Aspen New Voices Fellows: Rubayat Khan, Relebohile Moletsane, Serufusa Sekidde, David Kuria, Kopano Mabaso, Abraham Leno, Samuel Kargbo, ElsaMarie D'Silva, Esther Ngumbi www.AspenNewVoices.org

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In many ways, artificial intelligence has become the norm. From autopilot on airplanes to language translation, we've come to accept once novel concepts as just something thinking machines do. What we have ultimately learned is that human thinking is just one way of thinking. So, how far will artificial intelligence go? This episode features a conversation between Danny Hillis and Alexis Madrigal. Hillis is an inventor, scientist, author and engineer. He is co-founder of Applied Minds, a research and development company that creates a range of new products and services in software, entertainment, electronics, biotechnology, and mechanical design. Madrigal is the Silicon Valley bureau chief for Fusion, where he hosts and produces a television show about the future. He is the tech critic for NPR's "FreshAir," a contributing editor at The Atlantic, and a former staff writer at Wired.

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The discussion of "designer babies" often revolves around gender or hair color, but as Nita Farahany and Marcy Darnovsky explore, the medical debate is far more complicated. Farahany is Professor of Law and Philosophy, Director of Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy, Duke University; Member, Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues. Should we screen embryos for disease? Should we make genetic modifications? These considerations raise ethical concerns and call into question the validity of surrounding research. The lack of regulation and oversight make this particular biotechnology frightening to some, while the potential for disease eradicating techniques excites others. But how far is too far? What are the major scientific and ethical hurdles to assuage the skeptics? Marcy Darnovsky is the executive director of the Center for Genetics and Society. Nita Farahany is professor of Law and Philosophy and director of the Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy at Duke University. She is a member of the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues.

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From co-founding Artists for a Free South Africa, to working in failing schools to turn them around, actor and 2014 Harman-Eisner Artist in Residence Alfre Woodard has played a role in making change as an activist artist. Woodard joins the Aspen Institute's Damian Woetzel in a conversation about her career and work as an artist on the front lines.

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