How Do We Fix It?

The American worker is in crisis and faces a very uncertain future. The COVID-19 pandemic led to a deep recession and millions of layoffs. Even before coronavirus— despite a decade of continuous economic growth— the percentage of Americans with jobs was well below normal levels. Many people had dropped out of the labor force, and gave up looking for work. For the first time in modern memory, life expectancy started to fall as substance abuse and obesity rates rose. Our guest, conservative author Oren Cass, argues that we've abandoned the American worker, and pushed four-college at the expense of more effective solutions.In his widely-praised book, "The Once and Future Worker", Oren argues that government policy should emphasize production, not consumption. His arguments were summarized in The Atlantic."We've become obsessed with consumerism-- measuring everything in terms of consumers and living standards... In the process, we've forgotten that producing stuff is important too.”Oren Cass is Executive Director of the new conservative think tank, American Compass. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

28 Aug 202025min

Most people reject facts that cause them discomfort or don't line up with their view of the world. All too often emotion, not reason, informs our beliefs. Despite social media claims that #factsmatter, it's surprisingly difficult to use rational arguments to change minds."It's surprising how much we still put faith in rational argument," says our guest, Australian writer and philosopher, Eleanor Gordon-Smith. In this summer re-run episode from November, 2019, we take a fun, fascinating journey to the limits of human reason. Eleanor's book "Stop Being Reasonable. How We Really Change Our Minds," includes personal stories of successful persuasion that illustrate what most of us get wrong about rationality she says. Her latest book is, Illogical Stories: how to change minds in an unreasonable world."Hearing the story of how somebody changes their mind is hearing the story of how they change their life," Eleanor tells us. "Why, when we know that changing our minds is as tangled and difficult and messy as we are, do we stay so wedded to the thought that rational debate is the way to go about it?"The book and our podcast begin with Eleanor interviewing men who catcalled her in the street and made obscene gestures. Did she convince these guys to change their behavior? Find out what happened... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

21 Aug 202028min

Joe Biden's selection of Kamala Harris to be his vice-presidential running mate is a reminder that the fall election season is about to start in earnest.In this episode, we discuss solutions for America's voting crisis. People of all political persuasions have expressed concerns about holding an election in the COVID pandemic. President Trump made unsubstantiated claims about voter fraud. Many have protested the barriers faced by voters who find it difficult or nearly impossible to have their say in elections. In Georgia this summer, some voters waited in line for 5 hours to make their voices heard, while New York election officials took many weeks to count absentee ballots and get the results from congressional primary elections.This podcast is produced with assistance from the Democracy Group podcast network. We feature groundbreaking interviews from "Democracy Works" podcast with elections expert, MIT political science professor, Charles Stewart, and former Obama speechwriter David Litt, who appeared recently on "Democracy Matters" podcast.David Litt is the author of the new book, “Democracy in One Book Or Less: How It Works, Why It Doesn’t, and Why Fixing It Is Easier Than You Think.”Charles Stewart has spoken with election officials across the country about election security, and how to successfully implement voting-by-mail, while ensuring that in-person voting during COVID is safe. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

14 Aug 202024min

At a time of social distancing, limited travel and other restrictions to protect public health, we get a nostalgic reminder of the joy of journeys, and infinite variety of America's small cities and towns.This episode was first published in 2018. Our guest, Dar Williams, has been called "one of America's very best singer-songwriters" by The New Yorker. A remarkably well-traveled musician, she tells us how towns and cities can turn themselves around. "What I Found in a Thousand Towns: A Traveling Musician's Guide to Rebuilding America's Communities" is an impassioned account of the fall and rise of small American towns she cherishes. Dar chronicles practical success stories and challenges, delivering her message with hope and love."The opposite of division is not unity. It is collaboration," says Dar.We discuss the power of positive proximity and how working on local projects together can bring different parts of a community together. Dar speaks of the strength of weak ties and why they help build networks of people who act as stewards for the places that they love. From improving police-community relations in Gainesville, Florida, to the revival of Beacon, New York, we learn of many examples of how communities can succeed and thrive. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

7 Aug 202025min

Climate change is real, but it's not the end of the world, says our guest, science writer, Michael Shellenberger.He argues in the controversial new book, "Apocalypse Never", that activists use alarmism to describe threats posed by rising levels of carbon in the atmosphere, and are harming the cause of environmentalism. His proposed solutions include support for carbon-free nuclear power, agricultural industrialization, urbanization, and technological innovation. This episode provoked a lively debate. Richard disagrees with the tone and some of the arguments made here. Jim is more supportive. But both of our hosts agree that discussing tough issues with plenty of room for conflicting opinions is an important part of what we do. A self-described eco-modernist, Michael Shellenberger is an author, environmental policy writer, co-founder of Breakthrough Institute, and founder of Environmental Progress. Recommendation: Richard is reading "In This Together" by Bill Shireman and Tramell Crow, and is following the work of EarthX, a series of conferences that bring together environmental activists, corporate leaders and researchers interested in a more sustainable future. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

31 Juli 202026min

One of the many impacts of COVID-19 is a sharp decline in travel. In many parts of the world, the virus led to a temporary hold on one of the greatest trends of the modern age: the mass movement of people— from tourists to migrants, expats, asylum seekers, refugees, and IDP’s, internally displaced people. An estimated 244 million people, or about 3.3% of the world’s population, were born in one country and now live in another.Even before COVID hit, The Trump Administration reversed decades of US policy on immigration and refugees, imposing sweeping restrictions on admitting foreign workers, refugees, and students. Business groups sued the Administration over new limits on work visas. Universities and colleges objected to restrictions on foreign students. House Democrats passed a bill to reverse the restrictions.Many see migration as a threat. But for others it’s an opportunity. On this show we re-visit interviews with advocate Tolu Olubunmi, Leonard Doyle the UN migration agency, IOM, and podcaster Ahmed Badr.Tolu Olubunmi, hosted the podcast series, "A Way Home Together: Stories of the Human Journey". She is a global advocate for migrants, refugees, and displaced people. She is a Dreamer, born in Nigeria, who now lives in The United States.Leonard Doyle is a former journalist, and head of media and communications at the UN migration agency IOM. He spoke with Richard about global migration trends, and the need for a better understanding of immigrants and refugees.Ahmed Badr is a 21-year-old author, social entrepreneur and former Iraqi refugee. He is the host of the new podcast series, "Resettled", and founder of Narratio, a digital platform that highlights the creative work of young people across the world.Recommendation: Jim is watching the TV series, Never Have I Ever, airing on Netflix. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

24 Juli 202025min

We’ve all canceled something. Whether it’s a subscription, a vacation, or a date, cancelling or erasing a person? It seems so brutal. So unforgiving and final.It’s no surprise that cancel culture began on social media. Supporters say they are targeting people, companies and institutions for endorsing systems of racism, inequality, and bigotry. Opponents of cancel culture argue that this form of shaming causes personal injury, stifles debate and is a chilling threat to free speech.In this episode, we speak with opinion columnist Megan McArdle of The Washington Post, who wrote the recent article, "The Real Problem With Cancel Culture." She is also the author of "The Up Side of Down: Why Failing Well Is the Key to Success.” We also discuss the Harper's Letter on open debate, signed by more than 150 academics, journalists and intellectuals, and the resignation of opinion journalist Bari Weiss from The New York Times."One of the arguments you get into is that cancel culture isn't real because there've always been things you couldn't say," Megan tells us. "But now the things you couldn't say are in a much wider range of topics, and a much broader range of things about those topics that you can't say."Recommendation: Richard recommends the news website allsides.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

17 Juli 202036min

Gerrymandering, the partisan process of redrawing political maps to favor one political party over the opposition, is often used unfairly to take power away from many voters. Voters Not Politicians is a highly successful grassroots campaign against gerrymandering in Michigan that began with a simple Facebook post by its young founder, Katie Fahey. The group took on party bosses, won a ballot initiative, and changed state law. This episode discusses how this campaign could be a model for others. In 2018, Michigan voters overwhelmingly approved a citizen-led ballot initiative to create an independent commission to draw up the state’s congressional and legislative maps. This week, a federal court threw out a second attempt by the state Republican Party to over-turn the result. Months from now a new state redistricting commission will be given the job of fairly drawing a legislative map.This episode of "How Do We Fix It?" received funding from Solutions Journalism Network, a non-profit group that trains and connects journalists to cover what's missing in today's news: solutions, and how people are responding to problems. Recommendation: Jim is reading "Midnight In Chernobyl" by Adam Higginbotham. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

10 Juli 202026min