Everybody is asking, how did the U.S. and most other nations get the coronavirus pandemic so wrong? Taiwan was a rare exception. Health officials and the democratic government of this island state sprang into action in the final days of 2019, and tried to warn the world of COVID danger.
Despite being just 80 miles from the coast of China and with a huge amount of travel back and forth to the mainland, Taiwan was remarkably well prepared. The outbreak was kept to a minimum.
"Taiwan knows that it is on its own," says our guest, Samson Ellis, Taipei Bureau Chief at Bloomberg News. "It does not have the backup of the World Health Organization or the World Bank... and that's why Taiwan backs itself up and is very cautious when it comes to issues like this."
Read moreThe great Alaskan earthquake on Good Friday, March 27th, 1964, was surprising, and the lessons from the response are helpful in understanding how we respond to the COVID pandemic today.
"The earthquake overwhelmed people the way the strongest emotions do," wrote our guest, Jon Mooallem recently in The New York Times. "It was pure sensation, coming on faster than the intellect's ability to register it."
A big theme of Jon's new book, "This Is Chance!" is how the citizens of Anchorage almost instantly became "a wave of unofficial first responders." Despite officials' fears of panic, looting and violence, many people rose to the occasion, with countless acts of kindness. The crime rate plummeted, just as it has in recent weeks in New York.
Read moreThe coronavirus pandemic has lead many to fear, panic, anger, profound loneliness and isolation. Realizing that we are all in this crisis together, how can we cope in a more hopeful and creative way?
"We need to make a fundamental choice that the only way we get through this is if we act and engage as a community together," says Rich Harwood, President and Founder of The Harwood Institute. His group teaches and coaches people in local communities to move forward by bridging divides and creating a culture of shared responsibility.
"The more we step forward to take these kind of actions to reduce polarization and connect with one another, the greater sense of control we will begin to feel again over our ability to shape our lives," says Rich.
The Harwood Institute was called in to help the people of Newtown, Connecticut after the mass shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School.
The group says in its mission statement that "we bring people on the front lines of creating change in communities to challenge conventional assumptions, learn together, inspire one another and strengthen our collective ability to be a force for good."
Read moreWhy did the U.S. and most other nations around the world do such a poor job of preparing for and reacting to the global COVID-19 pandemic? After all, we had earlier outbreaks, from HIV-AIDS to SARS, MERS, H1N1 and the Ebola virus.
This episode looks at why humans are so bad at preparing for the future and how we can improve our thinking. Marketing strategist, Mark Earls, has studied behavior change for many years. He's the author of "Herd: How to Change Mass Behavior by Harnessing Our True Nature", and "Copy Copy Copy". Mark is now writing a new book, "Memories of Our Future."
When we plan for what's ahead "we should consider multiple futures", says Mark. This doesn't usually happen, and "we find it much easier to have a simple story about how we got here. We overstate our confidence in the causality."
Read moreCoronavirus has changed all of our lives. We are in the middle of a massive social experiment. This show is first in a series of episodes that will attempt to make sense of the massive psychological, social, economic and political upheaval the pandemic will have on us all.
We start this week with loving relationships. Social distancing will physically separate us from friends and family members who don't live in our homes, but it will bring us closer to our spouse, partner and children. How will this challenge our loving relationships? To what extent is this crisis an opportunity to draw closer to those we love?
We explore these ideas with Susan Page, a relationship and couples expert. Her Latest book is called “Why Talking Is Not Enough”. She says couples are "going to learn skills of tolerance, acceptance and adapting to each other," especially now while we are in isolation.
Read moreBans on plastic bags and straws and expensive campaigns to recycle plastic waste are popular with voters. They give us a sense that the government is acting to protect the environment.
Our guest, John Tierney, has been a columnist for the New York Times and is a contributor to City Journal. He has been studying wastes and recycling for decades.
His conclusion? “Recycling has turned out to be ruinously expensive, while achieving little or no environmental benefit." John also tells us that “if you think the biggest problem facing the planet is climate change, you shouldn’t be banning plastic grocery bags and causing greenhouse gas emissions to increase.” He argues that bans are distraction from far larger threats to oceans and rivers, such as street litter, dumping trash in the water, and poor waste controls in developing countries.
Read moreThe rapid spread of the coronavirus COVID-19 is a reminder of the vital need for truthful information, co-operation and kindness. Rumors, hype and fear can make a growing crisis much worse than it already is.
We decided to re-release an episode from 2019 on the case for trust: Why designing systems that are based on trust can improve public safety, and lead to better economic, social, psychological and educational outcomes.
"We’ve internalized the assumption that humans can’t be trusted, and therefore, that we all need to be constrained and coerced into doing the right thing, pretty much all the time," wrote our guest, technology consultant, futurist and thinker Jerry Michalski.
Read moreBernie Sanders is the early frontrunner for the Democratic Presidential nomination. In this episode with economist Emily Chamlee-Wright, we look at why support for socialism is on the rise, and where this ideology comes from. According to recent polls of young Americans, ages 18 to 29, they are more likely to have a positive view of socialism than capitalism.
Despite socialist economic failures in Venezuela, Africa and Eastern Europe, today's promises of free health care, college loan debt forgiveness, mandatory stock ownership for employees, and guaranteed income look increasingly attractive to numbers of voters in the U.S.
"Seriously debating socialism gets us talking about a good society really is and the philosophical, economic and political foundations that underlie it," wrote Emily in The Wall Street Journal.
Read moreIt's rare to meet someone who has re-thought some of his deepest convictions. In this episode, we go on a journey with one of America's leading public intellectuals, Jerry Taylor, President and Founder of the Niskanen Center, who describes himself today as a "radical moderate" who has moved away from the libertarianism of his earlier years.
We focus on climate change. Jerry says he used to be a "lukewarmist", but now sees it as an urgent crisis. "The evidence for climate change as a significant, serious problem that requires really aggressive responses has become stronger and stronger over time," he says.
An announcement: "How Do We Fix It?" is a member of The Democracy Group, a new network of podcasts about democracy, civic engagement, and civil discourse. Visit democracygroup.org to learn more about member shows and to receive updates about new episodes and playlists.
Read moreVoter turnout is much lower in the U.S. than in many other democracies around the world. In this episode, we look at an innovative initiative to use the internet to boost the number of voters in every election.
"Our mission" says the non-profit group Democracy Works "is to make voting a simple, seamless experience for all Americans, so that no one misses an election."
A lot of people want to vote but they forget to do it, or they don't get registered to vote. Democracy Works is a team of software developers, policy wonks and civic organizers who say they are working to upgrade the infrastructure of democracy.
In this episode, we speak with the non-profit group's CEO and co-founder. Seth Flaxman.
Read moreWith tens of thousands of cases, hundreds of deaths, and no known cure, the new coronavirus that emerged in China has been declared a public health emergency by the World Health Organization.
In this episode of “How Do We Fix It?” we look at the world’s response to the rapid spread of the 2019-nCoV virus, consider the best ways to deal with the outbreak, and hear the latest about scientific research into a new vaccine.
Infectious diseases epidemiologist Kylie Carville with The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity in Melbourne, Australia, is our guest. She is on the front lines of Australia’s public health response to the virus.
“I think we need to be alert, not alarmed in Australia and The United States," Kylie tells us in this exclusive interview.
Read moreThe potentially ugly nature of the presidential election has many people increasingly concerned about a contested result, and disenchanted with the two-party stranglehold on American politics.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. More voters identify as independents than as Republicans or Democrats. Our guest, Lee Drutman, senior fellow at New America and author of “Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop”, makes the case for a multiparty system, which, he says, would boost compromise, problem-solving, voter turnout and confidence in the political process.
“To try to shoehorn a country this diverse and sprawling into just two parties to me is insanity,” Lee tells us. “It creates an us-against-them zero-sum mentality every political election."
Read moreWhen Detroit went bust in 2013 it was the largest municipal bankruptcy filing in American history. During the Motor City's fifty years of decline, population fell from nearly 2 million people to just under 700,000.
Today, Motown is on the rebound. Media reports called the restructuring of massive debt by a partnership between city and state government, business leaders and the philanthropic community a "stunning success."
In this episode we look at what still needs to be done to improve the lives of residents who live with high crime rates, under-funded schools, and a devastating landscape of abandoned properties. Jodie Adams Kirshner, author of "Broke: Hardship and Resilience in a City of Broken Dreams" is our guest.
Read moreAll too often news headlines and social media are dominated by disasters, wrongdoing and fear mongering: All the stuff that’s going wrong.
How can we nurture the positive side of human nature? Renewing democracy will be impossible unless we start to rebuild trust in each other.
The Convergence Center for Policy Resolution uses deep knowledge and proven methodology to connect people, policymakers and political organizations from different backgrounds and beliefs, helping them work together and co-operate. Our guest is Rob Fersh, the non-profit group's Founder and President.
Read moreThe U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian general Qassem Suleimani sparked immediate fears of war. The risks of a disastrous miscalculation are obvious, from goading Iran into speeding up its nuclear weapons program, to a forced withdrawal of American forces from Iraq and the re-emergence of ISIS.
But the audacious attack against Iran's most experienced military strategist may weaken the regime and force Iranian leaders to curb their aggression. Both may viewed as significant achievements. "Iran appears to be standing down," said President Trump, five days after the killing.
In this episode, Jim and Richard discuss seven tools that help us understand the significance of what happened. They include: Watch out for scare tactics by both sides of the debate; Don't take mass protests at face value; Read a broad range of opinions from different sources; Beware of simple answers; Understand the wisdom of "I don't know", and just because Trump acted doesn't mean he was wrong.
Read moreIf independent podcasts are to prosper and survive in this era of growing commercialization, big media, and multi-million dollar podcast investments, we need to grow our community: Share, collaborate and promote groups, individuals and podcasters who share many of our goals.
In this first "How Do We Fix It?" episode of 2020, we include recent interviews with leaders and supporters of Bridge Alliance, Civic Hall, Heterodox Academy, Solutions Journalism Network and Listen First Project. We support their efforts to strengthen democracy, boost curiosity, find constructive solutions and emphasize the positive.
We've included clips from our 2019 interviews with Debilyn Molineaux, Arthur Brooks, Micah Sifry, Jodie Jackson and Pearce Godwin.
Read moreLiberal democracy, free speech and freedom of the press are under attack in many parts of the world. Two of the most insidious threats are from conspiracy theories and the growing global reach of China's dictatorship.
In this episode we discuss two interviews from "Democracy Works", a podcast series from The McCourtney Institute at Penn State University about what it means to live in a democracy.
Larry Diamond, author of the 2019 book, "Ill Winds: Saving Democracy from Russian Rage, Chinese Ambition and American Complacency" and Russell Muirhead and Nancy Rosenblum authors of the book, "A Lot of People Are Saying: The New Conspiracism and the Assault on Democracy." Jim and Richard discuss the ideas raised in both sets of interviews.
Read moreAnti-semitism is on the rise in the U.S. and other parts of the world. Jews are the targets. Democracy and free speech are also among the casualties.
6 people died this week in Jersey City, New Jersey, in a shootout at a kosher supermarket. The two gunmen appear to have been motivated by anti-semitism and anger against the police. Britain's Labour Party has been rocked by widespread reports of anti-semitism. Labor's second most powerful leader has apologized to the Jewish community and admits the controversy may affect the result of this week's U.K. election.
Our guest in this episode of "How Do We Fix It?" is Bari Weiss, an opinion writer at The New York Times, who covers culture and politics. We discuss her new book, "How to Fight Anti-Semitism."
Read moreMany environmentalists believe that the world needs to use less energy, end the focus on economic growth, and return to a simpler lifestyle. The Breakthrough Institute argues the opposite.
In this episode, we look at the ecomodernist movement that promotes technological solutions to environmental and human development challenges.
Ted Nordhaus is a leading global thinker on energy, environment, climate, human development, and politics. He is the founder and executive director of the Breakthrough Institute and a co-author of An Ecomodernist Manifesto.
Read moreMany of us are spending much of the Thanksgiving holiday with the children we love. In this episode we consider vital role of play, and what it does to expand a child's creativity and resilience.
Urban sociologist Tamara Mose is an Associate Professor at Brooklyn College, and author of "The Playdate: Parents, Children and the New Expectations of Play." She tells us about the strengths and perils of playdates, and the need for children to have unstructured play.
Educational consultant and teacher, Lucy Crehan, is the author of "Cleverlands", an exploration of the lessons learned from the world's top-performing education systems. Her research also highlights the importance of play in the learning process.
Read more