How Do We Fix It?

With tens of thousands of cases, hundreds of deaths, and no known cure, the new coronavirus that emerged in China has been declared a public health emergency by the World Health Organization.

In this episode of “How Do We Fix It?” we look at the world’s response to the rapid spread of the 2019-nCoV virus, consider the best ways to deal with the outbreak, and hear the latest about scientific research into a new vaccine.

Infectious diseases epidemiologist Kylie Carville with The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity in Melbourne, Australia, is our guest. She is on the front lines of Australia’s public health response to the virus.

“I think we need to be alert, not alarmed in Australia and The United States," Kylie tells us in this exclusive interview. “Every time something happens, we learn and are better prepared for the next time.” 

“We will have to wait and see” if it becomes a global pandemic, she says. “We are seeing some degree of transmission outside of China, but at this point, the cases are all linked to someone who has come back and been ill.”

Recommendations: Richard, now traveling in Australia, has been reading "A Shorter History of Australia" by Geoffrey Blainey, and "The Fatal Shore", by Robert Hughes.

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The Iowa caucuses and forthcoming Presidential primary season are another reminder that the two big parties have a stranglehold on American politics.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. More voters identify as independents than as Republicans or Democrats. Our guest, Lee Drutman, senior fellow at New America and author of “Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop”, makes the case for a multiparty system, which, he says, would boost compromise, problem-solving, voter turnout and confidence in the political process.

“To try to shoehorn a country this diverse and sprawling into just two parties to me is insanity,” Lee tells us. “It creates an us-against-them zero-sum mentality every political election."

We discuss solutions, including ranked choice voting, multi-seat congressional districts, and expanding representation in the House of Representatives.

This episode is part of our renewing democracy series, covering constructive proposals for improving our politics and civic infrastructure. We received a grant from Solutions Journalism Network.

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When Detroit went bust in 2013 it was the largest municipal bankruptcy filing in American history. During the Motor City's fifty years of decline, population fell from nearly 2 million people to just under 700,000. 

Today, Motown is on the rebound. Media reports called the restructuring of massive debt by a partnership between city and state government, business leaders and the philanthropic community a "stunning success." 

In this episode we look at what still needs to be done to improve the lives of residents who live with high crime rates, under-funded schools, and a devastating landscape of abandoned properties. Jodie Adams Kirshner, author of "Broke: Hardship and Resilience in a City of Broken Dreams" is our guest. 

She investigates the impact of job losses, cuts in state aid and limited resources, closely following the lives of seven Detroiters. We discuss with her what bankruptcy can and cannot do to solve the problems of cities facing underfunded pension liabilities and other forms of distress.

Jodie is a research professor at New York University. Previously a law professor at Cambridge University, she also served as the deputy director of the Cambridge Center for Corporate and Commercial Law. 

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All too often news headlines and social media are dominated by disasters, wrongdoing and fear mongering: All the stuff that’s going wrong. 

How can we nurture the positive side of human nature? Renewing democracy will be impossible unless we start to rebuild trust in each other.

The Convergence Center for Policy Resolution uses deep knowledge and proven methodology to connect people, policymakers and political organizations from different backgrounds and beliefs, helping them work together and co-operate. Our guest is Rob Fersh, the non-profit group's Founder and President. 

"Convergence works to bring together people who can make a difference in big national policy issues," Rob tells us. "Our goal is to include a wide diversity of views, because the product, if we get agreement, is going to be all the stronger."

This week's reading, viewing and listening recommendations on the show from Richard and Jim:

- Novels by Paulette Jiles - "News of the World" and "The Color of Lightning."

- Podcasts about country and roots music: "Cocaine and Rhinestones" with Tyler Mahan Coe, and "America Podcast: The 51st State" with Robert Earl Kean.

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The U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian general Qassem Suleimani sparked immediate fears of war. The risks of a disastrous miscalculation are obvious, from goading Iran into speeding up its nuclear weapons program, to a forced withdrawal of American forces from Iraq and the re-emergence of ISIS.

But the audacious attack against Iran's most experienced military strategist may weaken the regime and force Iranian leaders to curb their aggression. Both may viewed as significant achievements. "Iran appears to be standing down," said President Trump, five days after the killing. 

In this episode, Jim and Richard discuss seven tools that help us understand the significance of what happened. They include: Watch out for scare tactics by both sides of the debate; Don't take mass protests at face value; Read a broad range of opinions from different sources; Beware of simple answers; Understand the wisdom of "I don't know", and just because Trump acted doesn't mean he was wrong.

Neither Richard nor Jim are experts on the Middle East, and they can't predict how this crisis will change the world. But as longtime journalists, they are experts at how to organize information and do research. 

This week's recommendations: Both Jim and Richard often read editorials and opinion pieces by writers they disagree with. Jim pays attention to the left-wing magazine, Mother Jones and the progressive writer Matt Taibbi, while Richard's daily read includes the editorials in The Wall Street Journal. 

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If independent podcasts are to prosper and survive in this era of growing commercialization, big media, and multi-million dollar podcast investments, we need to grow our community: Share, collaborate and promote groups, individuals and podcasters who share many of our goals.

In this first "How Do We Fix It?" episode of 2020, we include recent interviews with leaders and supporters of Bridge Alliance, Civic Hall, Heterodox Academy, Solutions Journalism Network and Listen First Project. We support their efforts to strengthen democracy, boost curiosity, find constructive solutions and emphasize the positive.

We've included clips from our 2019 interviews with Debilyn Molineaux, Arthur Brooks, Micah Sifry, Jodie Jackson and Pearce Godwin. 

As we celebrate collaboration and sharing, we also want to give a shout-out to three more vital groups that we will be working with in 2020: The McCourtney Institute for Democracy at Penn State University, Common Ground Committee, and New Books Network. All are working hard to promote the work of those who seek to make the world a better place.

This week's recommendations from Jim and Richard...

Book to read: "The Years That Matter Most" by Paul Tough.

NiemanLab blog: "Podcasting Unsilences the Silent" by Joni Deutsch.

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Liberal democracy, free speech and freedom of the press are under attack in many parts of the world. Two of the most insidious threats are from conspiracy theories and the growing global reach of China's dictatorship.

In this episode we discuss two interviews from "Democracy Works", a podcast series from The McCourtney Institute at Penn State University about what it means to live in a democracy. 

Larry Diamond, author of the 2019 book, "Ill Winds: Saving Democracy from Russian Rage, Chinese Ambition and American Complacency" discusses the threat China's model of authoritarian capitalism poses to democracy in the United States and around the world. The Chinese government is using its growing military, technological, and economic to change the direction of the world.

Conspiracies are becoming increasingly prominent in the public discourse. Democracy Scholars  Democracy scholars Russell Muirhead and Nancy Rosenblum call the current version “conspiracy without the theory” and unpack the concept in their book "A Lot of People Are Saying: The New Conspiracism and the Assault on Democracy."

In this episode Jim and Richard discuss the ideas raised in both sets of interviews.

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Anti-semitism is on the rise in the U.S. and other parts of the world. Jews are the targets. Democracy and free speech are also among the casualties. 

6 people died this week in Jersey City, New Jersey, in a shootout at a kosher supermarket. The two gunmen appear to have been motivated by anti-semitism and anger against the police. Britain's Labour Party has been rocked by widespread reports of anti-semitism. Labor's second most powerful leader has apologized to the Jewish community and admits the controversy may affect the result of this week's U.K. election. 

Our guest in this episode of "How Do We Fix It?" is Bari Weiss, an opinion writer at The New York Times, who covers culture and politics. We discuss her new book, "How to Fight Anti-Semitism."

"When anti-semitism is rising it is the number one sign that a society is dying or maybe is already dead," Bari tells us. "The proximate victims are Jews themselves, but the bigger and overlooked victim, if you look at history, is the surrounding society."

Bari mentions this article by the anti-racist scholar and activist Eric Ward: "Skin in the Game. How Anti-Semitism Animates White Nationalism."

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Many environmentalists believe that the world needs to use less energy, end the focus on economic growth, and return to a simpler lifestyle. The Breakthrough Institute argues the opposite.

In this episode, we look at the ecomodernist movement that promotes technological solutions to environmental and human development challenges.

Ted Nordhaus is a leading global thinker on energy, environment, climate, human development, and politics. He is the founder and executive director of the Breakthrough Institute and a co-author of An Ecomodernist Manifesto.

Reducing carbon emissions "matters and is important not necessarily for human survival, but for a world that I would like to leave for future generations," Ted tells us. "Bio-diversity... tropical rainforests and savannahs: I care about all of those things, and the debate with environmentalists is how you get them."

The Breakthrough Institute offers a different kind of framework for thinking about climate change. We discuss solutions in this episode.

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Many of us are spending much of the Thanksgiving holiday with the children we love. In this episode we consider vital role of play, and what it does to expand a child's creativity and resilience.

Urban sociologist Tamara Mose is an Associate Professor at Brooklyn College, and author of "The Playdate: Parents, Children and the New Expectations of Play." She tells us about the strengths and perils of playdates, and the need for children to have unstructured play.

Educational consultant and teacher, Lucy Crehan, is the author of "Cleverlands", an exploration of the lessons learned from the world's top-performing education systems. Her research also highlights the importance of play in the learning process.

In Finland, where math and reading scores are among the highest in the world, "they don't start education formally until seven-years-old," says Lucy. Instead of meeting academic targets in kindergarten or first grade, "they're focusing on a much broader educational and social development before they start formal learning."

Solutions discussed include: The need for diversity during playdates and in children's lives, and the developmental role played by unsupervised play. The importance of high academic expectations for older children, and the creative role of play during the school year.

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