How to Achieve Happiness In One of America’s Least Happy Times

Plus, what’s the deal with the Infrastructure Deal?

Plus the UK’s Secretary of State and RNA is in the spotlight July 15, 2021 |Presented in Partnership with the Walton Family Foundation POLICY VIDEO Building Bridges to Restructure America From roads and bridges to electrical grids and internet provision, infrastructure systems across America are in dire need of maintenance — putting everything from the country’s economic performance to public health at risk. Following the passage of the first hurdle to an infrastructure deal last month, US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg talked with CNN senior correspondent Abby Phillip about the importance of the bipartisan effort. Now, Democrats are working to advance a $3.5 trillion budget alongside the infrastructure deal, which calls for about $600 billion in new spending on infrastructure projects. Here’s a look at what Buttigieg says can and must be done to fortify the nation’s physical foundation. Watch HAPPINESS PODCAST How the Pandemic Can Build Resilience The coronavirus pandemic has taken a toll on mental health. As lockdowns were enacted, loneliness, isolation, and depression increased. Concerns of loved ones dying and fear of contracting the virus affected our well-being. Since April of 2020, about 40 percent of US adults have reported symptoms of depression and anxiety. The previous year, that figure was just 11 percent, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association. Arthur Brooks, a Harvard business professor and behavioral social scientist, says it's possible to turn post traumatic stress from pandemic into post traumatic growth. He shares how to emerge from the pandemic happier, stronger, and more resilient. Listen EDUCATION VIDEO The Classroom of the Future: Better Education for All How can we use this moment of post-pandemic reawakening and reinvention to ensure every young person in America is ready for the future? Join this session to participate in an immersive discussion about the future of K–12 learning — one in which opportunity and a self-determined life are within reach for every child, no matter their background. Four leaders confront the issues and opportunities facing American students. WatchPresented by Walton Family Foundation COMING UP THIS MONTH July Events to Cover Politics, Food, Coming Together, and Canines Whether or not you're local, Aspen Community Programs has you covered with a slate of exciting discussions in July. Some are in-person on our Aspen campus, and all will stream online. Register to receive reminders and links. July 16 Why Politics Are Getting in the Way of Having Real Discourse Will Hurd, former US representative for Texas’s 23rd congressional district, in conversation with David Sanger, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and chief Washington correspondent for The New York Times. Register July 21 Animal, Vegetable, Junk: A History of Food, from Sustainable to Suicidal The Bittman Project Founder Mark Bittman, in conversation with the Glynwood Center for Regional Food and Farming President Kathleen Finlay.Bittman will explore how history has been shaped by humanity’s appetite for food, farmland, and the money behind it all — and how a better future is within reach. Register July 26 The Upswing: How America Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again The Upswing co-authors Robert Putnam and Shaylyn Romney Garrett, in conversation with Aspen Institute President and CEO Dan Porterfield. Putnam and Romney Garrett will discuss how we have gone from an individualistic “I” society to a more communitarian “We” society and then back again, and how we can learn from that experience to become a stronger, more unified nation. Register July 28 Our Dogs, Ourselves: The Story of a Singular Bond Alexandra Horowitz, adjunct associate professor of psychology and director of the Horowitz Dog Cognition Lab at Barnard College of Columbia University, and author of Our Dogs, Ourselves, will illuminate her research on canine cognition and how examining the ways we treat, talk to, and see our dogs can teach us about ourselves. Register COMING UP IN OCTOBER Register for the Global Inclusive Growth Summit October 14 A collaboration between the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth and the Aspen Institute, the Summit brings together leaders from across sectors to catalyze new partnerships and shine a spotlight on solutions that advance inclusive and sustainable economies around the world. Join us for this virtual summit to take collective action towards rebuilding economies that work for everyone, everywhere. 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