Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
IN MODERATION
ASPEN SEMINARS’
EXPERT CORPS
THE
AMERICAN
WEST
ASPEN ON
THE PRAIRIE
ACROSS
THE AISLE
THE
CONGRESSIONAL
PROGRAM
TACKLES
PARTISANSHIP
Great minds drink alike.
DEPARTMENTS
8 | W H AT I S T H E I N S T I T U T E ?
1 3 | A R O U N D T H E I N S T I T U T E
The Institute hits the streets of Detroit for CityLab, we
kick-start a project to cure the flu, psychiatrists debate the
25th Amendment, we dive into an ocean initiative, the
Brian Skerry
McNulty Prize laureates are revealed, and much more.
14
3 0 | A S P E N L I B R I S
Four authors step onto the Institute stage to discuss their
latest books. Stuart Eizenstat remembers working with
Jimmy Carter, Doris Kearns Goodwin rediscovers the
presidency, Arne Duncan looks at the future of education,
and David Sanger warns of rising cyber insecurity.
3 2 | A S H E A R D AT
US Representatives Mike Rogers and Jim Cooper
explain why a space corps is vital for national defense;
James Kilsby, Morgan Sword, Keith Whyte, and Laila
Riccardo Savi
Mintas discuss the legalization of sports betting.
32
40 | I M PA C T
Aspen Words provides a space for writers to find their
voices; a former Henry Crown fellow launches the
Finance Leaders Fellowship.
6 4 | FA C E S
Behind the scenes at Institute events.
6 8 | FA C T S
Get to know the Institute’s programs.
7 2 | PA R T I N G S H O T
Dan Bayer
The Aspen Institute has a close encounter in Detroit.
40
ON THE COVER
THE
AMERICAN WEST
ASPEN ON THE PRAIRIE
72
FEATURES
42 | EVERYTHING IN MODERATION
The Institute’s seminars are unique: they rely on great texts and
superlative moderators who infuse the room with intellectual
rigor and trust. Nicole Corea discovers that just as the
Aspen seminar can be life-changing for participants, it can be
transcendant for the moderator.
Dan Bayer
N
42
52 | LEFT, RIGHT, & CENTER
For many Americans, Washington, DC, would not be the first
place they would look for collaboration and goodwill. But
Carrie Rowell finds the Institute’s Congressional Program is
changing that perception, one member of Congress at a time.
58 | STRONG MEDICINE
Six former FDA commissioners met in Aspen, agreed the
agency should become independent, and decided to do
something about it. Ruth Katz explains how the Institute
helped them create a plan to untether the FDA.
62 | VOICE OF EUROPE
Nationalist ferver is spreading across the Western world,
threatening democratic values. Mircea Geoana explains why
the Institute’s European branches must activate their leadership
STRONG MEDICINE
Six former FDA heads met at Spotlight Health and agreed the FDA should
be an independent agency. The Health, Medicine and Society Program
networks and map out a more inclusive continent. jumped on the idea. Now, the program and commissioners have a plan
to liberate the FDA. By
60 62
62 IDEAS WINTER 2018/19
NBC’s Mary Carillo and Skateboarding Pioneer Tony Hawk The Stanley Cup! Olympic Champion Jackie Joyner-Kersee
International Trailblazers Where in the World Have You Played? Exercise Break!
Illustrations by Kissane Viola Design
THEHORNER
F O U N D A T I O N
WHAT IS THE ASPEN INSTITUTE?
Tricia Johnson
The Aspen Institute's mission is to foster leadership based on enduring values and to provide a
nonpartisan venue for dealing with critical issues. The Institute is headquartered in Washington,
DC, and has campuses in Aspen, Colorado, and on the Wye River on Maryland’s Eastern
Shore. It also maintains offices in New York City and has an international network of partners.
Inspiring Surroundings
Exceptional Meetings
Our thoughtfully designed,
40 acre campus, is the perfect place
for your organization to connect
Dan Bayer
AMY DeMARIA
Executive Vice President, Communications and Marketing
ELLIOT F. GERSON
Executive Vice President, Policy and Public Programs; International Partners
NAMITA KHASAT
Executive Vice President, Finance and Administrative Services;
Chief Financial Officer; Corporate Treasurer
DAVID LANGSTAFF
It should go without saying but somehow it doesn’t: the Interim Executive Vice President, Leadership and Seminars
range of people the Institute draws in, and who are drawn to the ERIC L. MOTLEY, PhD
Institute, is year to year a source of constant surprise. Week to Executive Vice President, Institutional Advancement; Corporate Secretary
week, I should say. At the annual New York City Awards Dinner JAMES M. SPIEGELMAN
(see “Faces,” page 64), a very large and grand event, I listened Vice President and Chief of Staff
to Darren Walker, the visionary head of the Ford Foundation EDITOR-IN-CHIEF AND PUBLISHER CORBY KUMMER
who is laser-focused on dismantling inequality of many EXECUTIVE EDITOR SACHA ZIMMERMAN
MANAGING EDITOR AND ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER NICOLE COREA
kinds, talk with his longtime friend Sarah SENIOR EDITORS PHERABE KOLB, JAMES M. SPIEGELMAN
Jessica Parker about their shared values, DESIGN DIRECTOR KATIE KISSANE-VIOLA
including creating and nuturing CREATIVE DIRECTOR PAUL VIOLA
deeply connected communities. DESIGNER MICHAEL STOUT
EDITOR EMERITUS JAMIE MILLER
Just a few nights later, I had ADVERTISING CYNTHIA CAMERON, 970.948.8177, adsales@aspeninstitute.org
dinner with two friends who CONTACT EDITORIAL ideas.magazine@aspeninstitute.org
had invited Clare Byarugaba, a GENERAL The Aspen Institute,
2300 N Street NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20037
Ugandan human-rights activist
202.736.5800, www.aspeninstitute.org
who had bowled them over at
“Undaunted,” an annual event BOARD OF TRUSTEES CHAIRMAN
in Aspen where the Institute’s New James S. Crown
always turned down awards, but *Chairman Emeritus **On Leave of Absence
so admired the Institute’s work she LIFETIME TRUSTEES CO-CHAIRMEN
just had to be there. It’s people Berl Bernhard, Ann Korologos*
like Byarugaba, whose LIFETIME TRUSTEES
calls to action are heard Keith Berwick, James C. Calaway,* Lester Crown, Tarun Das, William H. Donaldson, Sylvia A. Earle,
Richard N. Gardner, David Gergen, Alma L. Gildenhorn, Jacqueline Grapin, Gerald Greenwald,
globally thanks to New Irvine O. Hockaday Jr., Nina Rodale Houghton, Anne Frasher Hudson, Jérôme Huret, William N. Joy,
Voices, who keep Henry A. Kissinger, Leonard A. Lauder,* Frederic V. Malek, Olivier Mellerio, Sandra Day O’Connor,
drawing us in—and Hisashi Owada, Thomas R. Pickering, Charles Powell, Jay Sandrich, Lloyd G. Schermer, Carlo Scognamiglio,
Roman Cho
Albert H. Small, Andrew L. Stern, Paul A. Volcker, Leslie H. Wexner, Frederick B. Whittemore, Alice Young
drawing us together.
—Corby Kummer *Chairman Emeritus
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Carrie Wells
VISION, INNOVATION, LONGEVITY.
Those are a few of the qualities of a
great resort. Likewise, a great Realtor.
Which probably explains why Carrie Wells
is currently Top 7 in the world
for Coldwell Banker and has been the
leading Coldwell Banker broker in Colorado
for over eighteen years. She has
the dedication needed to help you
find your Aspen dream, and the tenacity
necessary to turn that dream into a reality.
If you’re interested in Aspen, give Carrie a call.
She’s dedicated to creating a space
where your spirit can flourish.
Roman Cho
Carrie Wells •
970.948.6750
Coldwell Banker Mason Morse Real Estate
514 East Hyman Avenue • Aspen
carrie@carriewells.com
www.carriewells.com
Allstate is a We care about our communities and take our role
as corporate citizens very seriously. That’s why
we encourage and support civic engagement and
different kind
mentoring through our Good Starts Young program.
of company.
emotional learning skills they need to become active
leaders in their schools and neighborhoods –
giving them a giant leap forward to ensure their
own prosperity.
SEA CHANGE
The ocean affects everyone no matter where we live: it produces copepod doesn’t care whether it’s in water regulated by the United
half the oxygen we breathe. Unfortunately, the ocean also serves as States, Canada, Palau, or no one at all.” The latest High Seas event
a wastebasket for enormous amounts of plastic trash, and it absorbs took place in October in Nusa Dua, Indonesia, at the fifth annual
about half of the planet’s carbon emissions. That’s why, last May, the Our Ocean Conference. There, the initiative joined forces with
Institute launched the Aspen High Seas Initiative, a program focused the Institute’s Energy and Environment Program to host a scoping
on protecting the planet’s last unregulated frontier. Individual meeting with global ocean leaders to discuss how to work together to
countries control waters extending out 200 nautical miles from design, establish, and manage marine protected areas. Sylvia Earle,
Courtesy NOLABA
land; that leaves nearly two-thirds of the world’s oceans (roughly 40 an Institute lifetime trustee and National Geographic explorer-in-
percent of the Earth’s surface) beyond any one nation’s jurisdiction residence, will provide expertise as co-chair of the initiative. “Taking
in an area known as the “High Seas.” “The ocean and its inhabitants action to protect our ocean,” Earle says, “is still the best hope for
don’t recognize arbitrary political boundaries,” Michael Conathan, maintaining the integrity of our human existence.”
the initiative’s new executive director, says. “A whale, tuna, or aspeninstitute.org/aspen-high-seas-initiative
Laurence Genon
Brian Skerry
A deep-water submersible
DUTY TO WARN?
Drafted in the aftermath of President John
F. Kennedy’s assassination, the 25th Amendment
to the US Constitution augmented the
presidential succession provisions of Article II.
It provides for a temporary transfer of power if
the president undergoes a medical procedure
or becomes incapacitated. Its Section 4 also
provides for situations when the president cannot
or will not recognize his or her own inability. That last
section has largely been overlooked—until recently, when
it captured the public imagination despite not being well
understood. The Institute’s Justice and Society Program
hosted a discussion with two psychiatrists to get a better
idea of this never-used provision with Dr. Bandy Lee, the
co-founder of Yale’s Violence and Health Study Group and the
organizer of a conference on President Donald Trump’s mental
health that resulted in the book The Dangerous Case of Donald
Trump, and Dr. Sally Satel, a resident scholar at the American
Enterprise Institute and a lecturer at the Yale University School
of Medicine. aspeninstitute.org/justice-and-society
Mental-health issues are very familiar to us, but interventions observing the public figure, diagnosis is irrelevant. What’s the
at a national scale are not. Politicians, who have the power to prognosis? We want to know the diagnosis from the standpoint of
intervene at a national scale, by contrast do not know much the individual patient because we have to treat that person. But
about mental health. When doctors issue a warning or take from the standpoint of whether that patient can discharge their
steps to protect public health, we’re actually responding to our responsibilities, that is based on the symptoms, manifestations,
professional responsibility to society—and here that can mean or behaviors we see in front of us—which in the case of character
calling on Congress or the Cabinet, who have the power to act. pathology and the media these days is on display for the world to
So I do believe that doctors have a role—and it is not a role that see. No one needs a psychiatrist to come along and say the same
we can abandon—to address our concerns when they get to the things that frankly the public has observed.
point of affecting public well-being and public health and to meet
All transcripts have been lightly edited for
a constitutionally designated responsibility. A public figure is not length and clarity.
our patient, and we don’t approach the situation as we would a
patient but rather as our responsibility to society.
Dan Bayer
Sirleaf
Lecture on November 7, 2018, the Aspen Global Innovators
Group honored Her Excellency Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a Nobel
Laureate and the former president of the Republic of Liberia (see
“Faces,” page 66). Each year, the lecture recognizes an individual
whose bold vision has led to ideas that tackle the challenges of
global development. The first democratically elected president
in Africa, Sirleaf has been recognized globally for securing peace
in Liberia and promoting women’s rights and safety. More than
200 Institute board members, trustees, partners, and Madeleine
Albright herself gathered at the Metropolitan Club in New York
City as Sirleaf shared her vision for incremental reforms that
will lead to transformative change in Africa. She celebrated the
tremendous progress in Liberia and across Africa in economic
prosperity, education reform, social services, and women’s
political participation. Nevertheless, Sirleaf urged the audience
not to sit still. “We are in a race against time in keeping up with the
population growth and the rising expectations of Africa’s youth,”
she declared. “We must meet their impatience with action.”
Clint Spalding
aspenglobalinnovators.org
20 IDEAS WINTER 2018/19
Murphy
A SHOT IN THE ARM FOR VACCINES
Over the last few years, vaccines have made headlines. Polio is on Sabin Vaccine Institute, launched the Sabin-Aspen Vaccine Science
the cusp of global eradication, advances in technology offer the and Policy Group. Modeled on the Aspen Health Strategy Group,
promise of new vaccines, and social media have contributed to the initiative is co-chaired by Harvey Fineberg, the president of
the spread of pseudoscience and conspiracy theories. And despite the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and former Princeton
vaccine safety and efficacy, some parents have refused to vaccinate University president Shirley Tilghman, a professor of molecular
their children. But vaccinations have been and continue to be one biology and public affairs. The group—a who’s who from the world of
of the greatest public-health achievements in history—and there vaccines as well as a range of other big thinkers, like mathematicians,
are huge opportunities to do even better. That’s why the Institute’s ecologists, and venture capitalists—focuses on one priority a
Health, Medicine and Society Program, in partnership with the year. For its first, in commemoration of the 1918 flu pandemic,
the group took a fresh look at vaccine research
and development, setting its sights on a universal
influenza vaccine. At its inaugural meeting, the
group agreed that the effort should be a concerted,
coordinated, and integrated “end-to-end” effort with
Courtesy Business and Society Program
Azeda
Dave Gilboa
Pupils Project
Henry Crown Fellowship
Through his company, Warby Parker, Dave Gilboa has created a
public-private partnership with New York City and Baltimore public
schools to provide free in-school eye exams and glasses to students
who cannot afford them, bridging the vision gap and giving kids an
indispensable tool for effective, lifelong learning. What’s more, Gilboa is
working with Johns Hopkins University to conduct a longitudinal study
to better understand the correlation between the intervention of vision
treatment and reading scores, and the benefits of ensuring access to
glasses for children in urban settings.
warbyparker.com/pupils-project
Gilboa
Govindraj Ethiraj
IndiaSpend, BOOM, and FactChecker
Kamalnayan Bajaj Fellowship
Journalist and executive Govindraj Ethiraj is transforming India’s media
landscape by using a trio of ventures to improve public discourse and
transparency. IndiaSpend publishes critical, data-based, public-interest
Courtesy Aspen Global Leadership Network
Sales that Latino firms Latino GDP in the United Latinos start businesses at One out of every two new
generate, versus what they States is $2.13 trillion—if that three times the rate of the workers entering the labor
would generate if on par with were a nation’s economy, it rest of the US population. force by 2025 will be Latino.
the average non-Latino-owned would be the seventh-largest
business, create a $1.38 trillion in the world.
opportunity gap for the US
economy.
for Special Surgery; it’s the first one-stop resource to assess the ESPN and Under Armour, will publish a “Teamwork Toolkit” in early
benefits and risks of playing in the 10 most-popular boys and girls 2019 to help community leaders build up youth sports in their own
high-school sports. The State of Play: 2018 (as.pn/play2018) areas. Finally, 20 organizations were named Project Play champions
and State of Play: Mobile County (as.pn/SOPMobile) reports (as.pn/PPChampions) in recognition of their commitment to sports
were released at the summit, and new State of Play partnerships and exemplary programming. ProjectPlay.us
leadership.” Next up, the series will host a collaboration with the
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art to discover what China
can teach America through technological and cultural exchanges.
Jennifer Pahlka, Hoffman, Morris
aspeninstitute.org/morrisseries
Bill Manning
www.amphealth.org
Big-City Legal Services, Small-Town Practice Attorneys in Litigation & Transactional Law
Garfield & Hecht, P.C. is a proud sponsor of the Sandra Day O’Connor Conversation Series
Brainard
Dean Koepfler
Alexander Cronin
APPEALING TO BETTER JUDGMENT
Fourteen judges from the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and its trial courts recently headed to the Institute’s
Wye River campus for the third Justice and Society Program custom seminar for the federal courts. The seminar has been
offered to judges in three of America’s 13 appellate courts. “Our goal,” Meryl Chertoff, the program’s executive director,
says, “is to touch judges in every circuit around the nation with our text-based course.” This special seminar asks, “How
does the law know?”; offers a session on finding facts in an era of online research; examines the so-called “CSI problem”
among juries; and looks at the challenges of crowd-sourced justice, as in podcasts like Serial that revisit the facts of a trial.
With guidance from Georgetown Law’s Dean Bill Treanor and Harvard Law’s Vicki Jackson, the judges dug into classic
readings, like Crito, and newer works by Richard Posner and Michelle Alexander. The seminar is different from those offered
at conferences and Bar Association meetings, which emphasize career development and case law. Instead, at the Institute,
busy judges reread classic texts and connect with the moral and ethical underpinnings of the law—and with one another.
aspeninstitute.org/justice-and-society
Duncan Sanger
Riccardo Savi
Rogers, Cooper
GARRETT GRAFF: What made you so concerned about this area? and Congress and the Air Force have done almost nothing
about it.
JIM COOPER: The first duty of Congress is to protect the
nation, and we’re all more dependent on space than any of MIKE ROGERS: I want everybody to understand, we’re not
us recognize. With GPS, we have a global asset. Other nations talking about Star Wars stuff. These are national security
have not only posed a threat to our assets but are also trying satellites. A lot of folks are making fun of this because President
to develop their own rival to GPS. That way, if our assets were Trump got behind it, but this is national security—satellites that
taken out, they could still communicate. It’s a vulnerability we depend on, that we’re trying to protect. We aren’t talking
that could render us deaf, dumb, and blind within seconds. about George Jetson getting on a rocket that comes out of his
Our primary responsibility in Congress is to prevent war, suitcase.
which means you have to acknowledge your national interests
and vulnerabilities, and do something about it. There have JC: The president’s unexpected intervention in this issue
been 20 years of government reports about this vulnerability, needlessly politicized it, because it shouldn’t be political. Then
satellites. In the last decade, we’ve been made aware of an the decade when we could get things done. Now we can’t even
alarming vulnerability with them. But our country has become field a single satellite with existing technology inside of a decade.
heavily dependent on these satellites to fight and win wars, to We’ve bureaucratized ourselves into inferiority.
the point that our adversaries have recognized that and stepped
up their game. Because Russia and China cannot compete MR: We cannot let this continue or let China and Russia go
with us head-on in a tactical war, they have to be smart. They unchecked. We watch for intercontinental ballistic-missile launches
with satellites. We use the cyber system to watch for
the heat signature that comes from a launch.
For example, North Korea was testing
aggressively for years. And we were watching.
It’s incredible that even with lots of Now, according to published reports, North Korea
has the capability to get an ICBM through reentry
unproven technologies, the 1960s were and hit California or Alaska. Let’s assume that
when we could get things done. Now we North Korea wants to launch against California
and that it will take 24 minutes for that missile to
can’t even field a single satellite with hit. A US satellite would detect the heat signature
existing technology inside of a decade. from the launch and immediately notify all of
our radar systems to look at that location and get
We’ve bureaucratized ourselves the trajectory so that we could respond. There
into inferiority. are three parts to a launch: the boost phase, the
midcourse phase in space, and the terminal phase
back in Earth’s atmosphere. By the time a missile
gets to the terminal phase, it’s going super-fast—
and hard to hit. You need the trajectory so you
recognize that space is where they can compete with us. That’s can get to it with anti-ballistic missiles while it’s still in midcourse.
exactly what they’re doing. Both countries have deployed a We also know that China has the ability to “dazzle” our satellites,
much larger percentage of their defense budgets to space than which basically means blind them. Let’s say that China wants
we have. China set up their separate space force two years ago. to help North Korea attack us. If they were to dazzle our cyber
Russia had already done so before that. And both have become satellite that’s watching North Korea, just for 10 minutes, by the
more agile and effective at getting capabilities into space— time we saw the missile, it would be too late. That is not acceptable.
whereas we have just gotten slower and slower. Literally, it can We cannot let that continue.
take anywhere from six to 10 years for the US government to get The threat is not going away, and what we’ve been doing for
a new satellite up. Meanwhile, the private sector can get one up the last 20 years is not getting it done.
in 18 to 24 months. So we’ve got to be smarter. And what the
Air Force is doing with this problem—well, the bureaucracy All transcripts have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Laurence Genon
Sword, Whyte, Mintas, Kilsby
JAMES KILSBY: The major pro-sports leagues have traditionally both sides of the sports-betting question. But what we realized
been opposed to lawful wagering. But there has been a significant is that it no longer matters what our position is, because betting
shift in how Major League Baseball considers sports betting. How is here. Rather than hand-wringing about whether we are for it
have you evolved on this position? or against it, we decided that we would do everything we could
to study the countries around the world that offer sports betting
MORGAN SWORD: At Major League Baseball, we are and find the absolute best way to do it.
custodians of this sport that means so much to our country and
citizens. That obligation informs a lot of the decisions about JK: Much has been written about the MLB’s and the NBA’s desire
the way the league operates. There are legitimate arguments on for a so-called “integrity fee” or a “royalty fee” from sports betting,
for the states or other stakeholders; there’s no consumer protection gambling participation and problems put in place prior to the
or transparency. So, from an integrity standpoint, offshore betting is expansion of sports betting, so there can be a good public-policy
very hard to monitor. Sportsradar, our company, provides integrity discussion about this. If those five principles seem very common
services to the industry, and what’s really needed is to convert the sense, they are. Yet not a single state that has legalized sports
whole illegal market and illegal betting. Overseas, the regulator betting has put every one of those five principles in place so far.
sees an account-level monitoring of every bet that comes through We’ve had very good discussions with the leagues, with the
casinos, with government. We’re not there yet, but
the potential is there. America is going to break the
mold; we’re not going to do it like it’s been done
in the United Kingdom. During the World Cup,
70 percent of the ads in the United Kingdom were
Almost all of the betting activity on baseball for betting shops. There are ads on the youth club
websites, even though the kids on the youth clubs
right now happens illegally, either offshore are by definition not of legal age. The United States
or with your corner guy at the bodega. As a is going to have sports bidding on steroids, but that
also offers an opportunity to get out ahead of it
result, Major League Baseball has no visibility and try and think about better ways to do harm
into the betting going on in baseball. minimization.
Here, four recent residents share the impact the touring, interviews, and book signings are finally done, first-time
authors are faced with the need to reorient their time and think
program had on their writing.
GEETA KOTHARI
A month to write! Alone! In the mountains! My residency in purpose in Aspen was to write—everything else was secondary.
August 2018 sounded so fabulous, and it was—the space, the Working at home after I returned to Pittsburgh, at the same
solitude, and the silence. Time passed differently in Aspen. I desk where I read manuscripts, respond to student stories, and
wrote, I read, and I stared out the window a lot. Some days, I prep for class, I missed the intense focus I’d experienced in
lost all track of time and place until a sharp bark at the door Aspen. Everything and nothing mattered. I wasn’t just having
(thank you, Luna) reminded me to hand over a treat. bad writing days. I was having no writing days.
I realized pretty early on that what I took away from the Once you become aware of your own resistance, it’s hard to
residency would be just as important as the time I spent there. ignore it. Two weeks of struggling to work at home went by. I had
When I took a break from writing, I read. I did yoga. I went for to find a way to bring Aspen to Pittsburgh. A chance to join a
a walk. A friend compared the residency to a meditation retreat. coworking space with several other writers came up and I took it.
I struggled with waves of resistance, boredom, and frustration; This is the opposite of solitude, but this is a space that demands
there were days where I felt like giving up. I became aware of nothing of me. I show up with my computer and notebook, say
my rhythm as a writer, the good and the bad days, and in my hi to whoever’s there, and get to work. The view out the windows
last week, a solution to an intractable problem revealed itself is of an old police station, a potholed parking lot, a McDonald’s.
and I saw the road ahead very clearly. My only reason for being there is to write. And that’s what I do.
When you leave home to write, the stakes are high. I worried
so much that I wouldn’t use my time well that I barely left the Kothari is the author of the story collection I Brake for Moose and
apartment. I stayed off the internet as much as possible. My only Other Stories.
Kothari
Obioma
CHIGOZIE OBIOMA
Writing is living in perpetual naivete. With each project, you by looking out my window. I tapped into the powerful view of
become surprised by the new vistas that open up to you and by the mountain ranges as I drew portraits of the Igbo cosmos.
fresh possibilities of experience that speak to you with unfamiliar But what I benefited from the most was the serenity. Almost
eloquence. This was my experience when, at the end of 2016, I never can I recall a place being more quiet. Sometimes in the
finished the first full draft of my novel An Orchestra of Minorities. I evenings, as the cosmic space of the novel unfolded before my
knew I needed a change of environment, to see something new eyes and gods and creatures moved about on the pages of my
to enhance my revisions. The Aspen residency was a real choice. book, I felt that I could hear the voices of the dead. It felt as
In Aspen, one is forced to be re-educated about the world. though Aspen was at the border between the Earth and some
You become reacquainted with the varieties of nature and sublunary world. One night, I awoke to the sound of something
with the lushness of life. Things you’ve read about come to seeming to walk on the roof, and I realized that the window was
life. Although not given to much adventure, or too lazy to go open and the sound might actually be of some animal walking
anywhere adventurous, I have often hoped to encounter more in the adjoining bush. I believe that it was these experiences,
wildlife in America by happenstance. In Aspen, I encountered these ululations, this feeling of serenity that fed my revisions
my first snake and saw bears. These encounters helped me of Orchestra and continued to inspire me even long after my
in no small measure as I wrote, daily, for hours at a stretch, residency had ended.
two drafts of my new novel. Because the novel is set at various
Courtesy Aspen Words
times, including 300 years back into postcolonial West Africa, An Orchestra of Minorities will be released in January 2019. For
the natural landscape in my imagination was enhanced just more about the Writers in Residence program, visit aspenwords.org.
Dan Bayer
SMART MONEY
Ranji Nagaswami knew the finance industry could be a compelling force for good with
more effective and enlightened leaders as part of the equation. So she looked to her
own experiences at the Institute—and created the Finance Leaders Fellowship.
By Jennifer Simpson
The 2007–2008 financial crisis led to devastating global improve its connection with society and design its products and
economic fallout, human dislocation, and an erosion of business models to explicitly account for human foibles. The
trust in the finance industry—for a reason. Many of the Aspen Global Leadership Network’s theory of change would
unsustainable business practices of the US banking and be put to work: select influential industry leaders to build a
credit sectors led to the crisis. Yet over time, the finance community of trusted peers, engage them in thought-provoking
industry has also provided many people a shot at prosperity, dialogue, and—most important—inspire them to act.
progress, and stability. With innovations like pensions, mutual In October 2018, the inaugural class of 22 Finance Leaders
funds, savings accounts, mortgage credit, and insurance, the fellows completed the two-year active phase of the fellowship.
finance industry—when its tools are used responsibly—can Fellows hail from around the world and across the finance-
be a force for good. industry ecosystem, including financial services, pensions
This was the paradox that Henry Crown fellow Ranji and endowments, and regulatory posts. In addition to active
Nagaswami was contemplating. Deeply believing in the dialogue at four weeklong seminars, each fellow designed a
Aspen fellowship experience and the notion that leaders venture project focused on her or his industry and put into
Courtesy Finance Leaders Fellowship
shape industries and companies, Nagaswami launched practice leadership lessons learned. Here are four of the 63
the Finance Leaders Fellowship program at the Institute, Finance Leaders fellows on how the fellowship inspired them
with lead founding support from Christopher Varelas of to act.
Riverwood Capital and the CFA Institute, a nonprofit global
association of chartered financial analysts. Her premise: with Jennifer Simpson is the managing director of the Aspen Finance Leaders
enlightened leaders, the financial-services industry could Fellowship.
TOKUNBOH ISHMAEL
Founder of Alitheia Capital, a private-equity firm based in Nigeria, and a CFA Institute charter holder
The fellowship inspired me to think big about what I could do to help my region of the
world through finance. For a long time, I have seen the need for Nigerians to be able to
save money for their futures, but there is no great way to do it. I’ve been inspired by the
Dan Bayer
other fellows and our readings and discussions, and I also relied a bit on the architecture
that the fellowship has provided for venture development. I also collaborated with the
CFA Society of Atlanta to learn more about what they do in the area of financial literacy
and have launched my first step in the process of producing a card game designed to
educate folks on why it is important to save for the future or for a rainy day. The next step
will be to develop a technology solution to enable savings in a low-cost way.
Ishmael participates in a team-building activity with her
fellowship class.
TIM FAZIO
Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Atlas Holdings, a private-equity firm based in Connecticut
I’ve learned so much through debating our readings and talking with other fellows
from around the world about things like the business climate in Asia that have a real
impact on my current business. But on top of that, issues like the challenge of opioid
use for employers, how automation is going to affect the workforce, and diversity and
inclusion. For my venture, I’ve established a company called Industrial.Exchange to
bring together operators and investors in middle-market manufacturing companies
to explore some of these issues. I’ve been able to collaborate with other fellows and
Institute programs to have a robust and effective agenda for our first gathering,
happening in May 2019. Fazio rehearses for his class’s interpretation of Antigone at the
Aspen Executive Seminar.
APARNA RAMESH
Senior Vice President and CFO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
How do we make even the smallest amounts of money work for people who feel they
have too little to save or invest? I can remember vividly a small-group venture discussion
during our second seminar when one colleague shared how he was working on impact
investments focused on the environment. Another talked about his venture that enables
Courtesy Finance Leaders Fellowship
access to reasonably priced loans for foreign domestic workers in Southeast Asia and
provides free debt counseling and low-interest loans. Hearing their passion sparked me
to organize a conference on financial inclusion and fintech to expand thought leadership
within the Boston Federal Reserve and financial and technology community. It was really
powerful to be part of inspiring action. Doing the right thing is also right for business.
Ramesh leads a conference at the Federal Reserve Bank of
Boston with the Institute’s Financial Security Program.
SKIP BATTLE
“When you’re inside the seminar room, you want to first create a feeling
of safety so people can raise any reasonable point without a fear of being
categorized as inappropriate. With that sense of safety, you have to cre-
ate an environment where people are willing to be challenged, so their
ideas and thoughts are burnished by other peoples’ responses. Almost
everything we read in the typical Aspen seminar is about the conflict of
ideas. Most of the issues we deliberate have justifiable positions against
each other. One hopes that as a result of these discussions peoples’
points of view get amended, enhanced, deepened. What you’re trying to
do is have an open, caring, and rigorous review of issues, where people
don’t necessarily feel threatened but there is the kind of liberating dis-
cussion we don’t find much in the public arena anymore.”
Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham City Jail,” and Chimamanda they co-moderate seminars offered by the Institute before
Ngozi Adichie’s “The Danger of a Single Story.” being chosen to enter the corps.
“The texts are read not as mere historical artifacts nor as Aspen seminars break most societal norms. Professional
conclusive blueprints to be followed but as living partners status and background are left behind. Religion, politics, and
in a conversation about what it means to be human,” Todd sex are on the table. Questions on these topics are asked not for
Breyfogle, the Institute’s director of seminars, says. the sake of being provocative but to allow for deeper exploration
Integral to this conversation is the moderator. Moderators of our place in the world.
help seminar participants grapple with unfamiliar ideas and “It is the moderator’s responsibility to create a safe space where
exercise their moral and intellectual muscles. They are neither participants feel comfortable voicing not only their opinions, but
teachers nor experts, but rather act like orchestra conductors who more important their doubts and their uncertainties,” David
help participants interpret the texts and gently coax responses. Langstaff, a moderator and the interim executive vice president
Moderators start as students. They learn by being for leadership and seminars, says. This is what makes an Aspen
participants in a seminar and observing how the Aspen seminar unlike other professional environments or situations.
Method is practiced. Later they participate in one of a series The seminar room sees joy, laughter, tears, regret. Participants
of moderator workshops (generously supported by trustee share deeply personal experiences, including failures. They
Paul Anderson and his wife, Mary) in which the theory and walk in as individuals and leave as a collective. Each cohort is
practice of moderating are examined. Here prospective endowed with a unique personality. Almost everyone says that
moderators have an opportunity to practice and be observed. the Aspen seminar experience is transformative. Many call it
Many moderators then undergo apprenticeships in which life-changing. Moderators facilitate that process.
KEITH BERWICK
“The key is trust. Trust in people who you might not trust in the every-
day world. A moderator has to get people to be accessible, take off the
masks we all wear in the roles we play in the world, and be thoroughly
accessible to everybody else in the room. It’s not a science; it’s magic.
The magic really has to do with the unspoken actions between and
among people. The role of the moderator is to be sensitive to each per-
son in the room and establish a field of trust. That becomes a reciprocal
process: as trust is offered, trust is given in return.”
JAMES ABRAHAM
“I started moderating as a challenge. I stayed with it, because as much
as I was giving, I was getting 10 times back. I experienced all these texts,
ideas, and thoughts at a different level of depth. The questions I was
asking each person at the table, I was asking myself. I’ve noticed that
at some of the most critical points in my life over the last decade, a
seminar has been vital in guiding me to make choices.”
ADRIA GOODSON
“Being a moderator means you must be willing to have your
heart broken over and over again in sessions with people who
share what is true for them, their life experiences, all of their
heartbreaks, all of their joys. Your task is to be fully willing to
come alongside them and listen with all of yourself.”
IDEAS WINTER 2018/19 47
Left page, clockwise:
panning in the California
Gold Rush; Kit Carson;
Wells Fargo Wagon;
Ute Chief Ouray and
his wife, Chipeta;
Buffalo Bill Cody.
Illustration by Katie
Kissane-Viola
Blackhawk
In some ways, today’s stark divides mirror the Wild West: westward expansion,
long considered the project that made the United States a great power, involved
conflicting stories, antiheroes, and many lives lost.
H
is voice rising and falling with dramatic effect, The myths of the 19th-century American West—cowboys
historian Roger McGrath told the story of the versus Indians, black-hatted outlaws versus white-hatted
1848 discovery of gold in California in sharp lawmen—became stubbornly entrenched in popular culture
detail. From the chill of that January morning with the pulp novels of the day, called “blood and thunders,”
in the Sierra Nevada foothills at Sutter’s Mill, and spread worldwide (especially in Europe) through the works
when a mill employee noticed a glint that turned out to be of best-selling German author Karl May and, later, Hollywood.
gold nuggets, to the ensuing rush that made some men rich But the reality is more complicated.
and flooded California with American settlers, McGrath’s “A big part of the story of the American West is that it’s
listeners relived history. where reality and myth collided—sometimes gently, sometimes
That discovery at Sutter’s Mill ushered in “50 years of grand head on,” Michael Wallis, the author of 19 books and hundreds
adventure in the wildest, woolliest phase of the American of articles on the American West, told the group. “There were
frontier,” McGrath said. The American West was the theme some white hats and some black hats—but there were many,
of the Society of Fellows’ second annual summer symposium, many gray hats, and some of those were dark gray.”
a three-day program held at the Institute’s Aspen campus. Native Americans, in particular, have seen their stories
Panel discussions and presentations by two dozen academics, simplified and flattened. The program explored the cultures
historians, writers, and other experts let participants explore and values of the numerous tribes that had inhabited the
the West’s history as well as its villains and heroes, myths and region some 10,000 years before the arrival of Europeans—
realities, values and vices, and legacy and lessons. busting the myth of an empty landscape—as well as their
“The imagined West is such a dominant component of struggle to survive during the American westward expansion.
the American national character,” Ned Blackhawk, a Western The attention to that culture brought forth a much more
Shoshone and a Yale history professor, said at the opening nuanced history than most have learned.
discussion. “Some scholars say it is the most imagined region Author Hampton Sides uncovered plenty of nuances
of the American landscape. And that’s affected us. Frames while researching his epic history of the American West,
help us imagine a landscape.” Blood and Thunder, told largely through the life stories of
Limerick
“A big part of the story of the American West is that it’s where reality
and myth collided—sometimes gently, sometimes head on.”
American frontiersman Kit Carson and Navajo chief and found their way into politics and policies that continue even
Narbona. The Navajos, for example, were a semi-nomadic now. In some ways, today’s stark divides mirror the Wild West:
agricultural tribe that adopted the use of sheep and horses expansion into the American West, long considered the project
from Spanish settlers and were best known for their intricate that made the United States a great power, has since proved to
rugs and textiles. During a public lecture as part of the include conflicting stories, antiheroes, and many lives lost.
Society of Fellows program, Sides called the Navajo “the The challenge now becomes, according to the director
most American of American Indians because of their unique of the Center for the Southwest, Virginia Scharff, “How do
talent for ushering new ideas and new concepts wherever we tell stories about our common past when we come to our
they roamed across the Southwest.” past from so many different places?”
Kit Carson, a central character of early blood and Perhaps one answer is gatherings like the American West
thunders, epitomized the clash of myth and reality, conflicting program, which allowed attendees to explore the stories and
values, and how manifest destiny was shaping the American values that shaped US history in “a shared experience that’s
West. According to Sides, Carson was happiest during his fun and engaging,” Peter Waanders, the director of the Society
years as a mountain man, married to an Arapaho woman of Fellows, says. “Getting people together to talk about ethical
and living among the tribe. Later, as a guide for and member decision-making in the 19th century gives them a chance to
of the US Army, he played a key role in opening the West to step outside of today’s debates along political divides and to
American settlement and “participated in the destruction of see both sides of an issue and perhaps find common ground.”
the world he loved,” Sides said, fighting and killing Indians. Or even more simply, as American West historian and
To some, Carson became a “wonderful folk hero,” while to professor Patty Limerick put it, “Rather than say, ‘Let’s
others, he was “a genocidal maniac.” The truth, Sides noted, do some fact checking,’ can we invite people into the
was somewhere in the middle. conversation and say the story is more interesting if you put
Why the 19th-century West matters today was the theme of the complexity into it?”
the final day of the conference. American ideals of self-reliance,
individuality, and direct democracy strengthened in that era Catherine Lutz is a writer living in Aspen.
“Partisan darts, the inability to agree on any basic facts, and director of the Congressional Program, describes the design
the nastiness level surpasses anything I have ever witnessed on he has fine-tuned over his 31-year tenure at the program.
Capitol Hill,” Dan Glickman, the executive director of the Members of Congress tell the program’s directors exactly
Aspen Institute’s Congressional Program, says. As a former how its conferences shape their relationships with other
Cabinet secretary and US representative, Glickman is well participating members, and how its relationship-building
educated in how government works. “The perception of most and thorough analysis of policy options help their decision
Americans is that our government is not working.” making. “These conferences provide a deep dive into issues
Political discourse is a cornerstone of democracy, and at I have no other way to become so immersed in,” is how one
its most effective form is both information-based and civil— Republican congressional participant describes the impact.
and that is the heart of the Congressional Program, which “The opportunity to interact with other members and the
builds deeper relationships between members of Congress. superb subject-matter experts is invaluable.” This member of
For 35 years the program has brought together experts Congress compiles a thorough summary of each conference
with Democratic and Republican members of the House with key points by each expert and takeaways that become
and Senate and their spouses to discuss specific issues. The required reading for his staff.
program often designs visits for the congressional participants “The first day of the conference, I said to myself, ‘Why
to see firsthand the impact of US-taxpayer dollars. am I here?’ ” a first-time congressional participant says. “The
“It’s incredibly refreshing to see members of Congress second day, as more ideas developed, I realized, ‘I can’t miss
discuss and challenge the ideas and potential solutions put forth this!’ ”
by experts at our conferences,” Glickman says. “Especially in The intent of the conferences is not to advocate for a
the current political environment, it’s remarkable to watch particular outcome. Rather they provide the resources and
discussions unfold at our roundtables. And it is a reminder the venues necessary for members of Congress to really engage
Photos: Jon Benjamin Photography
that our federal legislators are real and hard-working people with one another on policy discussions in the national interest.
looking for the best solutions—though they may disagree on As a result of conversations during previous Congressional
the best approaches.” Program conferences, members of Congress have introduced
A small roundtable, a balance of Rs and Ds, the inclusion legislation, invited conference scholars to meet with their
of spouses, assigned seating at dinners, all meetings off the constituents, built coalitions with other congressional
record—these are the “secret sauce,” as Bill Nell, the deputy participants, and reexamined long-held political beliefs.
Clockwise from left: Colette Honorable, the former commissioner at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and Representative Jerry McNerney; Kelly Sims Gallagher, the former
senior China advisor in the Special Envoy for Climate Change office at the US State Department, and Representative Bradley Byrne; Glickman
www.aspenideas.org/health
formerly Spotlight Health
STRONG MEDICINE
58
STRONG MEDICINE
Six former FDA heads met at Spotlight Health and agreed the FDA should
be an independent agency. The Health, Medicine and Society Program
Six former FDA commissioners
jumped on the idea. Now, the program and commissioners have a plan
to liberate the FDA. By
met in Aspen, agreed the agency
60 STAKE YOUR CLAIM
Americans’ earnings are
stagnating as the cost of living
62 VOICE OF EUROPE
Nationalist ferver is spreading
across the Western world,
62 IDEAS WINTER 2018/19
should become independent, and rises. Could giving employees a threatening democratic values.
decided to do something about stake in their company be the Mircea Geoana explains why
it. Ruth Katz explains how the answer? Maureen Conway the Institute’s European branches
Institute helped them create a makes the case for capital share must activate their leadership
plan to untether the FDA. strategies, arguing they are networks and map out a more
good for earnings, productivity, inclusive continent.
women, minorities, the economy,
and even democracy.
Bill Browder
Bob Steel, Jim Crown
Lynda Resnick, Darren Walker
Apu Gupta, Yana Peel, Lani Hay, Jean Brownhill Sarah Jessica Parker, Laurie Tisch
Santos
, William Heldfond, Santiago Roel
Becky Heldfond, Diana Heldfond Francis Hoffman, Andy Cun
ningham
64 IDEAS WINTER 2018/19
FACES: John P. McNulty Prize Johnny McNulty
lty
Roya and Mehrdad Baghai, Anne Welsh McNu Bill Bynum, Olara Otunnu
Laurie Tisch, Laurie
Chock
Jaclyn Williams
Peggy Clark
Stephanie Haven
Madeleine Albright
Larry Thomas
Lauren Elston
Michael Steele
Dan Bayer, Courtney Collins, Riccardo Savi, Nick Tininenko
Roy Bostock
IDEAS WINTER 2018/19 67
FACTS
Dan Bayer
Dan Bayer
SEMINARS LEADERSHIP
EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP SEMINARS THE ASPEN GLOBAL LEADERSHIP NETWORK
Executive leadership seminars explore the tensions among The Institute cultivates entrepreneurial leaders and encourages them
values that form our conception of a Good Society and effective to tackle the great challenges of our time through social ventures.
leadership. Using moderated, text-based dialogue, groups of 18–20 Each Aspen Global Leadership Network program encourages a
hold interactive roundtable discussions to identify and explore new generation to move from success to significance by addressing
their professional values and leadership styles. Themed and custom the foremost challenges of their organizations, communities, and
seminars are also available. countries. Today, there are 14 different fellowships with over 2,700
aspeninstitute.org/seminars fellows in more than 60 countries.
aspeninstitute.org/agln
THE SOCRATES PROGRAM
The Socrates Program provides a forum for emerging leaders
from a wide range of professions to explore contemporary issues
through expert-moderated roundtable dialogue. ADVANCEMENT
aspeninstitute.org/socrates
THE SOCIETY OF FELLOWS
The Society of Fellows is a community of Institute friends whose
tax-deductible support advances the mission of the Aspen Institute.
Fellows enjoy unparalleled access to Institute programs, including
exclusive receptions, luncheons, and multiday symposia. Fellows
are the first to know of Institute offerings, and they receive special
invitations to events across the country.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THESE SEMINARS,
PLEASE CONTACT KALISSA HENDRICKSON AT aspeninstitute.org/society-fellows
KALISSA.HENDRICKSON@ASPENINST.ORG.
POLICY PUBLIC
POLICY PROGRAMS EVENTS
Policy programs and initiatives serve as nonpartisan forums for The Institute hosts hundreds of public conferences and events to
analysis, consensus-building, and problem-solving on a wide variety provide a commons for people to share ideas. Flagship annual events
of issues. They span nine overarching themes: Business and Society, like the Aspen Ideas Festival, Aspen Ideas: Health, Aspen Words,
Communications and Culture, Education, Energy and Environment, the Arts Program, and the Aspen Security Forum occur side by side
Health and Sport, Justice and Civil Identity, Opportunity and with ongoing year-round programs in New York, Washington, San
Development, Philanthropy and Social Enterprise, Security and Francisco, and Aspen.
Global Affairs. aspenideas.org
aspeninstitute.org/policy-work aspenideas.org/health
aspenwords.org
aspeninstitute.org/arts
POLICY FELLOWSHIPS
aspensecurityforum.org
Born from the Institute’s policy programs, Policy Leadership Programs
aspeninstitute.org/community
empower exceptional individuals to lead in their chosen fields. The
aspeninstitute.org/events
New Voices Fellowship cultivates compelling development experts.
The Ascend Fellowship targets diverse pioneers who are breaking the
cycle of intergenerational poverty. The First Movers Fellowship helps
corporate “intrapreneurs” give financial value to their companies and INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS
positive outcomes to the world. The Colorado Children & Families The Aspen Institute has international partners in Prague, Czech
Health & Human Services Fellowship invests in leaders who are Republic; Paris, France; Berlin, Germany; Rome, Italy; Bucharest,
making the state the best place to have a thriving family. Romania; Madrid, Spain; New Delhi, India; Tokyo, Japan; Mexico City,
aspennewvoices.org Mexico; and Kyiv, Ukraine. These centers host seminars, workshops,
aspeninstitute.org/ascend conferences, and policy programs for high-level leaders to encourage
discussion and debate on foreign policy, defense, and trade issues.
aspeninstitute.org/firstmovers
aspeninstitute.org/colorado-fellows aspeninstitute.org/international
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THE ONCE AND FUTURE CITY
When CityLab participants hit the streets of Detroit this fall, they toured with Bedrock Detroit, a local commercial
real-estate firm that has already made a big footprint there, with nearly 100 completed projects so far. The tour gave
CityLab-goers a peek into Detroit’s reimagined spaces, including architectural treasures like a bank vault, the old train
station, and a regal theater—as well as a look into the future. At Bedrock's headquarters, CityLab participants poked around
as a space suit stood vigil in a corner. It was a telling symbol of all that can be achieved when inspired people put their minds
to a great task. Like the space program, redesigning a city means first imagining the future—and then heading straight for it.
IDEAS: The Magazine of the Aspen Institute is published three times each year by the A
spen Institute and distributed to Institute constituents, friends, and supporters.
To receive a copy, call (202) 736-3541. Postmaster: Please send address changes to The Aspen Institute C ommunications Department, Ste. 700, 2300 N St NW, Washington, DC 20037
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The opinions and statements expressed by the authors and contributors to this publication do not necessarily reflect opinions or positions of the Aspen Institute, which is a nonpartisan forum. All rights reserved.
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