Aspen Ideas Festival

Historian Jon Meacham has written extensively about the presidency, with acclaimed books on Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Franklin Roosevelt, and most recently, George H. W. Bush. He is currently working on a book on James and Dolly Madison. What does his research into these presidents suggest about the nature of the office?

Is the internet loosening our collective grasp on the truth, and if so, how do we solve it? Pioneers of digital news once argued that new online sources and lower barriers to entry would bring us new perspectives about the world.

Big philanthropy can contribute to a democratic society by addressing problems that neither government nor the private sector will take on. Yet philanthropic institutions and foundations are institutional oddities within a democracy: exercises of power by the wealthy with little accountability, donor-directed preferences in perpetuity, and generous tax subsidies.

The America I Have Come to Know through StoryCorps

After 40 years, the internet has begun to corrode, both itself and us. It is still a marvelous and miraculous invention, but now there are bugs in the foundation, bats in the belfry, and trolls in the basement. Nowadays, nobody can tell if you’re a troll. Or a hacker. Or a bot. Or a Macedonian teenager publishing a story that the Pope has endorsed Trump.

Time to start listening to the growing set of young entrepreneurs who are actually making things in America — they might be driving a renaissance in manufacturing right here at home. How is this possible? Technology makes design and production more efficient now, labor is available, and yes, governing principles stand for a lot. For many young leaders, “making it in the USA” — making it loca

Like cities around the country, Chicago has been plagued by an epidemic of nearly constant bloodletting. What strategies have been most promising? What insights can we take from the local leaders who are losing friends, students, and community members with horrifying regularity? What do they think it will take for meaningful change to happen?

Lying, Bullshitting, and Truth Telling: When is the Truth the Truth

Managing Through Disruption

Against a backdrop of rising populism, weakening of traditional political parties, and a rejection of establishment politics in the United States and Europe, how are the twin political earthquakes of Trump’s election and Brexit remaking the world?

What Would Madison Think

It is no surprise that trust in institutions, be they private, government, nonprofit, or media, has suffered huge declines globally and throughout the United States. According to the 2017 Edelman Trust Barometer, we are suffering a crisis of trust not seen in recent memory. How do we reverse the trends? What can leaders of institutions do to restore faith in institutions?