Braver Angels Truth & Trust. Francis Collins and Wilk Wilkinson

No other issue has greater potential for common ground than America's housing affordability crisis. Progressives and conservatives alike agree that for far too many Americans there is a critical shortage of available homes.Since COVID erupted in 2020 the costs of apartment rentals and homes to buy have soared. According to the real estate firm Zillow, average U.S. home prices doubled in the past decade. In recent months mortgage rates went up to levels not seen in nearly two decades. With the growing possibility of a recession in the near future, there is no shortage of pessimism in the housing market today.We discuss solutions to the housing mess with Harvard University economist Ed Glaeser, author of "Rethinking Federal Housing Policy: How to Make Housing Plentiful and Affordable", "Survival of the City: Living and Thriving in an Age of Isolation" and many other books. Among the topics raised: The role played by zoning and environmental regulations in limiting homebuilding, Long-standing local resistance to new housing, The potential for pre-fabricated building to sharply reduce the cost of construction, Why giant companies face far few hurdles to business growth than many small neighborhood firms, and recent moves by some urban politicians on the left to support plans by developers to build new homes, even if much of it is neither subsidized nor fully affordable. "The whole COVID era has been a spectacular time for housing price increases," Glaeser tells us. The shortage of homes for sale is one reason. So is rising demand for additional space as millions more people work from home. Another cause is "the longer-term dysfunction of our housing markets in failing to produce enough supply."Recommendation: Jim is reading "How The World Really Works" by Canadian professor Vaclav Smil, author of more than forty books on topics including energy, environmental and population change, food production and nutrition, technical innovation, and public policy.A special thank you to The Manhattan Institute and Director of Marketing Aaron Ricks for help with producing and recording this episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

3 Nov 202228min

For much of the past fifty years, American political leaders of both parties have assumed that globalization and free trade would lead to more opportunity, higher living standards and increased business efficiency.But our guest, author and Financial Times columnist, Rana Foroohar, argues that with supply chain disruptions and growing economic insecurity in much of the world, the long reign of globalization is coming to end. A shift to more resilient and local businesses is now at hand. We discuss the reporting and findings in the brand new book, "Homecoming: The Path to Prosperity in a Post-Global World.""I think the pendulum of the old way is tapped out," Rana tells us. "Cheap money is over. Cheap labor from China is largely over. Cheap energy from Russia is definitely over."The war in Ukraine and the political and economic chaos that followed have brought the fragility of the global economic and political system into sharp relief. We discuss the argument that our economy is far too financialized and that this is leading to greater mistrust, vast inequality and more populist autocrats. As we do in all of our shows, we hear potential solutions. Rana argues that place-based economics and a wave of technological innovations now make it possible to keep investment and wealth closer to home. She makes the case that our economic system needs to be transformedRecommendation: Jim is thoroughly enjoying "Fly on the Wall", a podcast with Saturday Night Live alumni Dana Carvey and David Spade. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

20 Okt 202230min

How do you tell the difference between truth and lies? The answer involves a careful process of seeking knowledge that may contradict our long held beliefs. In this episode, our hosts share two conversations with expert guests who changed Jim and Richard's minds about how they approach topics central to our understanding of politics, science, and society.Journalist and scholar Jonathan Rauch is the author of the best-selling book, "The Constitution of Knowledge". He makes a stirring case for the social system of checks and balances used by scientists, lawyers, business leaders, and researchers to turn disagreements into verifiable facts. Alina Chan is a Canadian molecular biologist specializing in gene therapy and cell engineering at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, where she is a postdoctoral fellow. Chan is the co-author of "Viral: The Search for the Origin of COVID-19."When she and several other scientists raised the possibility that the SARS CoV2 could have escaped from a lab, Chan's research was dismissed by many leading scientists and mainstream journalists. Some declared that her work was "a conspiracy theory." But Chan continues to ask crucial questions. The world needs to know the true origins of the pandemic in order to prevent the next dangerous virus from causing a future pandemic. A full and open investigation was never done.Both of our interviews underline the need for nuance, curiosity and open-minded approaches to the world's great problems. The "global network of people hunting for each others' errors is far and away the greatest technology ever invented," Rauch tells us. The constitution of knowledge, he says, "is a global conversation of people looking for truth, and more especially, looking for error."Recommendation: Richard is reading "Broken News" by political journalist Chris Stirewalt. This new book provides a crisp, passionate, well-judged argument of how the media rage machine divides America. Reporters in newsrooms are incentivized to write news stories that are full of emotion and anger. These reports very often get the most clicks and social media attention. This emphasis on anger and rage has polluted journalism, Stirewalt argues. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

14 Okt 202228min

No one will ever know how many innocent people have been sent to prison because of junk science and flawed forensics. In this episode, we hear from Innocence Project attorney M. Chris Fabricant about how America’s broken and racist criminal justice system often relies on bogus scientific evidence for convictions. Chris is the author of the new book, “Junk Science and the American Criminal Justice System.” Best-selling writer John Grisham calls it an “intriguing and beautifully crafted book that …illustrates how wrongful convictions occur.”We explore the urgent need to fix the system and improve the quality of evidence presented in courtrooms. Independent crime labs are among the solutions that we discuss.“Jurors go into court with the expectation that there will be scientific evidence available, and that this evidence will be conclusive. This is just not the reality at all,” Chris tells us.We learn that forensic “experts” call themselves scientists but the current system lacks safeguards that keep science objective. Worse, this very questionable discipline has been corrupting the American justice system since at least the 1970s.Chris Fabricant is the director of strategic litigation for the Innocence Project— a remarkable legal organization that works to free prisoners jailed for crimes they did not commit. Over three decades, the Innocence Project has freed more than 300 unjustly convicted prisoners. And more than 40% of those cases involved the misuse of forensic evidence.In this episode, we hear about cases of people wrongly convicted, many of them on death row. The interview begins with the remarkable and tragic case of Eddie Lee Howard, who spent 26 years in prison insisting that he was innocent. He was finally freed early last year after his murder conviction was overturned after a years-long legal defense by The Innocence Project.Recommendation: Richard and Jim both read and recommend “Land: How the Hunger for Ownership Shaped the Modern World”, by Simon Winchester. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

29 Sep 202230min

Energy prices have skyrocketed this year. Rolling blackouts are still a threat in California, and as winter approaches Europe is facing a full-blown crisis that may cause widespread suffering, factory closures and a deep recession.Angered by the West's support of Ukraine, Russia has shut down supplies of natural gas that European nations had relied on for decades to heat homes and run industry. The EU, United Kingdom and others are now scrambling to find new supplies and reassure their citizens that the crisis can be contained. In this episode we discuss efforts to reduce carbon emissions and consider why the outlook for affordable energy has deteriorated.Our podcast co-host Jim Meigs is the expert source for this episode. He argues that shutting down nuclear power plants, having unrealistic expectations of solar and wind production, and ignoring years of threats from Russia have all contributed to the energy crisis.Earlier this year, Jim joined the Manhattan Institute as a senior fellow and a contributing editor of City Journal. His recent commentary for the magazine, "The Green War on Clean Energy", makes the case that progressives and socialists in the environmental movement have waged a fight against technology that would cut carbon emissions.Jim says that "nuclear energy is the only technology to dramatically reduce America's carbon footprint." We consider the case for and against this view. We examine promising new technologies such as carbon capture and improved battery storage. And we look at the Republican ridicule of ambitious attempts to fight climate change, and consider whether conservative views about the need for action are fundamentally changing.Recommendation: Richard has just read "Land: How The Hunger For Ownership Shaped The Modern World", by Anglo-American author and journalist, Simon Winchester. This 2021 book received glowing reviews.may Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

16 Sep 202231min

Starting this week we will publish new shows every other Thursday. After seven plus years of being a weekly podcast, Jim and Richard decided that we need a little more time and love to make and share each new show.We will also be sharing more details on our newsletter sent to friends and free subscribers of our podcast. You can sign up for regular updates right here on the website. Unlike substack and other independent publications, our solutions journalism podcast is entirely free. If you'd like to support us, please go to our funding page at Patreon. Since we started "How Do We Fix It?" seven years ago both hosts have become even busier. Richard works as a consultant, producer or host of other podcasts and writes a column for The Fulcrum, a daily online newsletter about bridging divides and democracy.Jim was recently given the honor of being a senior fellow and contributing editor of City Journal at the Manhattan Institute. Next week we'll release a new podcast episode based on some of his latest research and reporting on energy.As always, thanks for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

9 Sep 20222min

The recent controversy about the seizure of classified government documents at Mar-a-Lago is only the latest example of outrage over former President Trump's behavior, and the responses to it. But the forces shaking American democracy didn't begin with Trump's arrival on the political scene. We learn why populism, polarization and other threats to public institutions will likely last for the foreseeable future. Our guest, Darrell West, vice president of Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution in Washington D.C., is the author of "Power Politics: Trump and the Assault on American Democracy." He's the author of 19 books on American politics and has won several prestigious awards for his writing. In this episode we discuss why the grievances exploited by Trump that existed well before he became president, the threat of extreme authoritarianism, the role played by technological and social media, and Darrell West's constructive advice for protecting people, organizations and the country from challenges to democracy. Our lively conversation also looks at the systemic causes of current threats to American democracy, procedural justice, and a reason-based society. Jim and Richard also debate Darrell West's analysis of the challenges that we all face.Recommendation: Jim is reading "The Facemaker: A Visionary Surgeon's Battle to Mend the Disfigured Soldiers of World War 1" by Lindsey Fitzharris. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2 Sep 202235min

Ranked-choice voting (RCV) is a promising way to boost electoral turnout, reduce polarization, and cut the public cost of running elections. This relatively new reform is now being used in 55 states, cities and counties. In August, Alaska implemented ranked-choice voting for the first time since a 2020 referendum revamped its elections. Our guest, Rob Richie, President and CEO of FairVote, makes the case for how it works and why RCV is a viable way to improve electoral politics. Right now, he says, we are in this "incredibly intense winner-take-all environment" in most states. Ranked-choice voting could change the equation. Instead of picking just one candidate, voters rank as many candidates as they want in order of choice: first, second, third and so on. If your first-choice candidate is in last place, your vote counts for your highest-ranked candidate who can win by getting more than 50%. RCV removes voters' concerns that their favored candidate could split the vote. Alaska and Maine now use RCV for all presidential and congressional elections. Beginning in 2023, Hawai will use it for some federal and local elections. Open primaries and ranked-choice voting will be on the ballot this November in Nevada. The vast majority of Americans live in landslide districts. To make elections more competitive, Rob is also calling for multi-member congressional districts. Both reforms, he tells us, would lead to "a more representative and functional Congress" that would "regain legitimacy" with voters.RCV is now winning support among Democrats and Republicans. In 2021 it was used for the first time to elect Eric Adams, the Mayor of New York City and in the Republican primary for the Governor of Virginia, Glenn Youngkin. Numerous cities, counties and states are actively considering Ranked Choice Voting.In their conversation, Richard and Jim debate the merits and drawbacks of RCV. Richard embraces it wholeheartedly, while Jim cautiously supports using it in primaries, where the current system can lead to more extreme candidates being selected by their parties. Recommendation: Richard urges voters to read and share The 2022 Midterm Elections Participation Guide, just published by Citizen Connect. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

26 Aug 202228min