In Defense of Misfits: Alok on Breaking the Bonds of Conformity

The quest for work-life balance is neverending for many of us. The advice in this talk from the 2023 Aspen Ideas Festival still holds a lot of relevance, so we’re bringing it back for a refresher. In today’s world, we tend to switch jobs more frequently than previous generations, and are more likely to have multiple jobs. Side gigs where we express passions or find meaning are also common, and many juggle additional roles as caregivers and community members, as people always have. In short, many of us are focused on a lot more than just climbing a corporate ladder. Our careers and lives aren’t linear, although a lot of the traditional advice about them is. Where do we look for updated guidance? In this panel discussion, three authors withbooks on finding our way in the world come together for a discussion on making life choices in modern times. Writer and speaker Bruce Feiler interviewed hundreds of people across the country for “The Search: Finding Meaningful Work in a Post-Career World.” Wired Magazine co-founder and co-chair of the Long Now Foundation, Kevin Kelly, compiled his lessons and experiences into a book inspired by his children called “Excellent Advice for Living: Wisdom I Wish I’d Known Earlier.” And journalist Joanne Lipman moderates the conversation and shares what she learned writing “Next! The Power of Reinvention in Life and Work.” aspenideas.org

Today’s boys and young men are having a tough time. By several measures of success and happiness, they’re struggling to keep up and turning to the internet for help, where many end up hooked by extremists. We need to find better ways to frame the problem, support them and push them in the right direction. The solution starts with a frank conversation about what’s really going on, according to the experts on this panel from the 2024 Aspen Ideas Festival. Richard Reeves founded the American Institute for Boys and Men and wrote “Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male is Struggling, Why It Matters and What To Do About It,” in 2022. He’s joined by Michael Strautmanis of the Obama Foundation and My Brother’s Keeper Alliance, along with Maryland Governor Wes Moore. NBC News correspondent Stephanie Ruhle moderates the conversation. aspenideas.org

Some musicians start with formal lessons and daily practice and some get hooked by picking up a washboard between hopping train cars across the country. Alynda Segarra is the latter type, and it led them to a new life dedicated to music and community in their adopted home of New Orleans. As the band Hurray for the Riff Raff, Segarra has been making music beloved by critics and fans since 2008 and is still going strong. Their most recent album, “The Past is Still Alive,” came out last year. They sat down with poetry professor and host of the PBS series “Poetry in America,” Elisa New, at the 2024 Aspen Ideas Festival to talk about writing lyrics, making music and finding their place in America. We’re bringing you the conversation for National Poetry Month. aspenideas.org

Julia Louis-Dreyfus has kept us laughing for years in her roles as Elaine Benes in “Seinfeld” and Selina Meyer in “Veep.” But her most recent work has her shifting from comedy to drama. She plays Zora in the film “Tuesday” about a mother battling to accept the impending death of her terminally ill daughter. “I really love being an actor, so even the hard stuff has a grip on me,” she tells podcast host Sam Fragoso. A master interviewer, Fragoso is known for eliciting emotions his guests don’t expect. His wide-reaching conversation with Louis-Dreyfus touches on ambition, frustration in showbusiness, Louis-Dreyfus’s battle with breast cancer, and much more. This talk was recorded at the 2024 Aspen Ideas Festival. (Explicit language is included.) aspenideas.org

Living as a trans person in America comes with its share of challenges, which are sometimes even life-threatening. But some say it can also open up access to incredible freedom. What lessons can we all learn from people who’ve transitioned and transformed? Alok Vaid-Menon is a comedian and writer with remarkable patience and compassion for everyone and their inner journey – even the people sending them hate and death threats. “I am trying to look in their face and say ‘I want you to live,’” they say in a documentary short about them titled “Alok.” Artist and filmmaker Alex Hedison got to know Alok while directing the film, which she took to the Sundance Film Festival. The two reunite on stage at the 2024 Aspen Ideas Festival for a conversation about confronting our fears and defying the boxes we find ourselves in. aspenideas.org

The rapid development of the Covid-19 vaccine and the ramp-up of manufacturing and global distribution were unprecedented feats of medical coordination. But those on the inside say it could have gone even smoother and faster, and if we implement the lessons learned we’ll be in much better shape if another pandemic hits. Unfortunately, most global leaders seem to want to just move on and prioritize other issues, according to Adar Poonawalla, the CEO of vaccine company Serum Institute of India. His firm is one of the only family-owned medical manufacturers, and they were able to scale up production dramatically to help provide the Covid vaccine to people in developing and lower-income countries at an affordable cost. He talks with author and journalist Michael Lewis at the 2024 Aspen Ideas Festival about what it was like to have such a pivotal role in a global health crisis and what it would take to keep facilities like his ready to jump into action again. aspenideas.org

It’s a tough time to try and express the complexity of life honestly. Writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie doesn’t shy away from truth-telling and believes we should all step up and do more of it. She thinks there’s more of a political “middle” in the general public than is generally represented in media, and she keeps that group in mind in her work. An essayist, poet and novelist, Adichie published her first novel in 12 years, “Dream Count,” on March 4, 2025. Last summer, she joined podcast host Kelly Corrigan of “Kelly Corrigan Wonders” on stage for the closing session of the 2024 Aspen Ideas Festival. The two meandered through polarization, cancel culture, grief and parental love in a heartfelt conversation. aspenideas.org

Few working technology reporters have been around as long as Kara Swisher. The start of her career coincided with the emergence of the internet, and she’s interviewed almost all of the major tech players between then and now. She’s still known today for making billionaire founders sweat in the hot seat. But she’s not just a technology critic, she’s also an ardent cheerleader. As she explains in her memoir, “Burn Book: A Tech Love Story,” and in this episode, her tough questions aim to be in service of better technology and a better world. The co-founder and CEO of Airbnb, Brian Chesky, interviews Swisher at the 2024 Aspen Ideas Festival in June about her book and her latest thoughts on this often-controversial sector. “Burn Book” was released in paperback with a new afterward on March 4, 2025. aspenideas.org

Creativity is as intrinsic to our species as any of our basic instincts, says Debbie Millman, designer and curator. But for millions of people in the United States, the ability to create has been thwarted. This basic human need, as important as love and shelter, Millman says, isn’t available for people serving time at the nearly 2,000 correctional facilities across America. In this discussion, moderated by Millman, a group of artists and activists share how they’re working to bring creative outlets to people who are incarcerated. Turns out ushering creativity into these dark and lonely spaces not only increases hope for the incarcerated, it makes our country safer. Common, a hip hop artist and actor, launched the nonprofits Imagine Justice and the Common Ground Foundation. Hank Willis Thomas is a conceptual artist who co-founded For Freedoms. Claudia Peña is an artist and founding co-director of the Center for Justice at UCLA. Michael Murphy is an architect, artist, educator, and writer. This talk was recorded at the 2024 Aspen Ideas Festival. aspenideas.org

The entertainment industry has had to pivot and refresh time and again to adapt to constant changes in format, business models and attention spans. Somehow, producer Brian Grazer has been able to keep up. The storyteller, who has received multiple nominations and wins at the Oscars, Emmys and Golden Globes, manages to find what people connect with and turn it into a hit – and he does this over and over. In this talk from the 2024 Aspen Ideas Festival, Grazer and the entertainment leader and former Disney CEO Michael Eisner discuss what makes something work and how to go from an idea to winning content. Grazer shares the sometimes unconventional rules and guidelines that have served him well over the past 40 years while making classics like “Apollo 13” and “A Beautiful Mind.” aspenideas.org