Your Custom Text Here
Improving America's high schools is an exceptionally complex and difficult task. But all across the country, the most enlightened educators are working to narrow the gap between student achievement and the needs of an evolving workplace.
Our guest, Liz Willen, is editor-in-chief of the groundbreaking Hechinger Report. Using solutions journalism, data, stories, and research from classrooms and campuses, Hechinger looks at how education can be improved and why it matters.
Read moreWhen is the last time you called a big company or government agency and after two or three rings, a real live human being answered the phone and said: "Hello, how can I help you?"
From big data, automation, complex algorithms, and giant corporations to massive government bureaucracy, we've lost the human touch. Everyday life often seems increasingly impersonal.
Our guest, Steve Hilton, argues for radical change. The former senior policy advisor to ex-British Prime Minister David Cameron has co-authored "More Human: Designing a World Where People Come First." The book is a clarion call for reform of government, law, education, welfare and business systems.
Read moreAre opinion polls accurate? Did they miss the rise of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders? Do they properly measure America's increasingly sharp political and cultural divisions? What's the difference between a well-designed poll conducted with careful methodology and a sloppy opt-in online survey?
Our guest is Gary Langer, an internationally recognized opinion researcher and longtime director of polling at ABC News. He has overseen and analyzed more than 750 surveys on a broad range of topics.
Gary has a passion for numbers and explains what listeners should know about polls. He tells us that surveys were taken at least a year ago - when many pundits dismissed Trump as an outlier - clearly showed that his views on banning overseas Muslim visitors and building a wall along the border with Mexico had substantial support among Republican voters. Trump led the GOP field throughout the lead-up to the primary season.
"The news media have for far too long indulged themselves in the lazy luxury of being both data-hungry and math-phobic," Gary tells us. "I would suggest polls are anti-pundit. A good quality poll ... holds a pundit's feet to the fire "
In this episode, we get some vital takeaways on how well-researched randomized polls are conducted and what changes have been made recently to ensure that a representative sample is reached.
This show may very well save you money, boost your career and help you make smarter decisions.
It's about risk.
Our guest is Karen Firestone - author of the new book “Even The Odds - Sensible Risk-Taking in Business Investing and Life." She is President and CEO, of Aureus Asset Management, an asset management firm she co-founded after 22 years as a fund manager and research analyst at Fidelity Investments. Karen is a contributor to the Harvard Business Review blog.
Read moreWould Britain face lasting economic and political harm if it votes to quit the European Union in June 23rd's referendum? Our show looks at the case for Brexit.
Steve Hilton, one of David Cameron's closest friends and a former senior political advisor to the Prime Minister, is a leading member of the Vote Leave campaign. He tells us in this episode that a bureaucratic, over-centralized EU has become far too entangled in British life and is incapable of reform.
Richard and Jim disagree on the best outcome for Britain and Europe. They discuss some of the arguments for and against.
Read moreHow many times have heard somebody say that the political campaign has reached a new low? How much worse is the 2016 race compared to previous elections?
We asked Princeton University Professor, Sean Wilentz, to give us a history lesson.
In his latest book, "The Politicians and the Egalitarians" Sean makes the case for pragmatism, arguing that politicians serve the country best through the art of compromise.
Read moreThis podcast is all about how to have better habits and use them to be more productive in our projects, careers and everyday lives.
We talk about to-do lists, email, mental models and making the most of our time with best-selling author, Chares Duhigg. His latest book is "Smarter, Faster, Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and In Business." Charles is also the author of "The Power of Habit."
Read moreMedical errors are America's third-largest cause of death. Only heart disease and cancer have a higher body count.
A new report estimates that about 250,000 Americans die each year because of screw-ups in hospitals, doctors' offices and other medical settings. In 2013, research by NASA's chief toxicologist put the number at as many as 440,000.
In this episode of "How Do We Fix It?", Pittsburgh-based lawyer James Lieber brings a passion for practical solutions to a widespread problem. James has spent more than a decade researching medical errors after his friend and mentor died from a prescription overdose following a lung transplant. Last month, his provocative and practical op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, "How To Make Hospitals Less Deadly", caught our attention. (Note: readers can get behind the Journal's paywall by pasting the link at news.google.com).
His recent book is "Killer Care: How Medical Error Became America's Third Largest Cause of Death, And What Can Be Done About It"
Read moreIt's the biggest issue of the Presidential campaign that the candidates are not talking about: bloated government and the poor delivery of services.
From very long TSA airport security lines to the dysfunction at your local DMV, our interactions with government can be extremely frustrating. Exceedingly complex rules and laws make things even worse.
For decades, Philip K. Howard has been a leading voice on how to streamline government and make it work for all of us. His latest book is "The Rule of Nobody: Saving America From Dead Laws and Broken Government." He's the founder of the good-government group, Common Good.
In this 12-minute episode of "Fix It Shorts," Philip gives alarming examples of how regulations have programmed officials and politicians of both parties to follow rigid rules that often leave very little room for human judgement.
Read moreWith technology in overdrive, self-driving cars are no longer a fantasy. The first autonomous cars and trucks made by major auto manufacturers could be on the road within several years.
But "Fix It" guest Eddie Alterman, Editor-in-Chief of Car and Driver magazine says not so fast. "It's a scary concept anyway you look at it," he tells us.
Read moreThe numbers are alarming. A 2015 Gallup poll found nearly 70% of U.S. employees say they're either bored or disengaged at work.
The cost to employers has been put at more than $500 billion in lost productivity. The cost to workers is incalculable - in human misery, unnecessary stress, and lost opportunity.
Workplace psychologist Ron Friedman is the author of "The Best Place to Work: The Art and Science of Creating an Extraordinary Workplace." Ron says there's an astonishing gap between the latest science and most of the modern workplace. He has some great tips for both employers and employees.
Read more"Stuff happens," says homeland security expert, and mom of three, Juliette Kayyem.
The government has got to find a better way to talk about the threat of terrorism and natural disasters. Most of us need to have a better plan to prepare.
"We talked in a way when people would either tune out or freak out," says Juliette of her time as a top official at The Department of Homeland of Homeland Security. "We are all in this together," she tells on this episode of "How Do We Fix It?"
Her new book is "Security Mom: An Unclassified Guide to Protecting Our Homeland And Your Home." The book is packed with common-sense ways to think about positively about a difficult subject.
Read more"At the end of the day everybody is biased," says our guest, John Gable, founder CEO of AllSides. "You're biased by what you know. You're biased by what you know and you're biased by your entire human existence before then."
AllSides is unique in how it covers the news - displaying stories on its front page - from different points of view. It urges readers to "engage in civil dialog and discover a deeper understanding of the issues."
Read moreIn this episode, we interview David Bornstein, who writes for the Fixes blog of The New York Times and is co-founder of SolutionsJournalismNetwork.org.
"The news tends to focus far more on what's wrong than on the credible efforts around the world of people who are trying to fix things, whether they are successful or not." David tells us.
"I think the main thing is that the problems scream and the solutions whisper. The problems are always clamoring for attention. Solutions, you really do have to be proactive and go look for them."
Read moreWith the approach of Earth Day, this show looks at the clean air, carbon-free case for nuclear power. And it challenges the view held by many environmentalists that the only way to save the planet is for all of us to get by with less.
Guest Michael Shellenberger is coauthor of An Ecomodernist Manifesto, which argues that human prosperity and an ecologically vibrant planet go hand-in-hand. In 2007, Michael received the Green Book Award and Time magazine's "Hero of the Environment." His recent TEDx talk is "How Humans Save Nature."
Read moreYou can't have too much of a really good thing. That's why we decided to invite Lenore Skenazy,founder of Free Range Kids, to make a welcome return to "How Do We Fix It?" She was a guest on an earlier show.
Lenore is the passionate and playful campaigner, who says most American kids don't have nearly enough unstructured free time, when they can be curious and engage the world on their own terms.
"Free time is unsupervised time," Lenore tells us. "It's not a parent sitting there saying 'oh, that was really good, or try it this way.' Sometimes you've got to do things that are really bad and try it the wrong way, because that's the creative process."
Lenore says parenting styles have changed in the past 30 years, especially for many urban and upper-middle classes Moms and Dads. Risk avoidance seems more important than stimulating a child's imagination.
"Think back on your own childhood. Your parents loved you and they let you go. And it's a new thing not to give children any freedom."
From the Free Range Kids statement of where it stands: "Fighting the belief that are children are in constant danger from creeps, kidnapping, germs, grades, flashers, frustration, failure, baby snatchers, bugs, bullies, men, sleepovers and/or the perils of the non-organic grape."
Read moreWe have a problem in our society. Too many people don't understand science or the importance of the scientific method.
Many children aren't learning the basics of math and science, which closes off a broad range of career opportunities.
It's also a problem in our civil society. A broader understanding of how science works would help parents know why they need to vaccinate their kids or what's going on with climate change.
Science evangelist Ainissa Ramirez has some great fixes. She's the author of "Save Our Science" and "Newton's Football," a lively book about the science of America's favorite sport. Ainissa is dedicated to making science fun for people of all ages. Her excellent two-minute podcast, "Science Underground," helps spread the word.
Read moreThis episode looks at the simple, highly personal way that living room conversations allow people of different viewpoints to really hear each other.
A progressive activist, Joan Blades was deeply involved in starting MoveOn.org in the late 90's. More recently she has also worked on ways to encourage respect and dialog among liberals, independents and conservatives. She is the co-founder of LivingRoomConversations.org.
In part one last week (episode 43), we looked at why Americans need to find new ways to speak about our differences, such as visiting websites with opposing political opinions and having conversations that are not vindictive.
Read moreThis show is another response to the deep partisan divide in America - part one of a fascinating conversation with Joan Blades.
Much of our political campaign has been dominated by personal insults, name-calling and dogma. Voters have rewarded politicians who use anger and blame others for the country's problems. Individual citizens are part of the problem and the solution.
"We live with the dysfunction of partisan behaviors and believe we must and can do better," says Joan, co-founder of Living Room Conversations She makes the case for personal dialog across party lines, arguing that it's a key part of changing the way all of us think about politics.
A strong progressive, who co-founded the liberal activist group, MoveOn.org in the late 90's, Joan makes the case for listening to those you don't agree with.
Read moreLet's face it. Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders have won far more votes than almost any "expert" forecast.
The reason may well be that emotions and learned behavior from others play a far bigger role in our decision-making than most of us realize.
Our "Fix It" guest Mark Earls - the HERDMeister - is an award-winning British writer and consultant on marketing, communications and human behavior. In his latest book, "Copy, Copy, Copy," Mark shows how we vote and buy stuff by copying others - our friends, family and our neighbors.
"Donald Trump is "much smarter than we give him credit for," says Mark.. "He gets that people need to feel stuff rather than think about it.
Read more