Living a LearningLife

For the past decade, American consumers have been engaged in a credit-fueled spending binge, lured into an inflated sense of wealth by soaring home values and record-breaking stock prices.

By the time of the financial meltdown, personal debt stood at a staggering $13.8 trillion--nearly $125,000 per household. The ensuing economic crisis accelerated two concurrent national trends of frugality and sustainability.

Now, according to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, "The Great Recession" is technically over. Following every recession since World War II, penny pinching quickly fell out of fashion as Americans returned to their previous spending habits. Will this time be different? As the economy recovers, will we continue to practice a sustainable lifestyle that's as good for the planet as it is for our bank accounts?

At the April 1 Headliners, journalist Chris Farrell tackled these topics in "The New Frugality." Listen to the audio online or download the mp3 file.

While the average American worker faces frozen wages, furloughs, plundered retirement funds, and double-digit unemployment, top Wall Street producers stand to reap millions.

In the midst of the biggest economic crisis since the Great Depression, how can investment bankers believe they deserve such princely pay packets? How did short-term shareholder value become such a short-sighted corporate goal? Does today's financial crisis differ from past boom and bust cycles? And what would it take to instigate meaningful reform?

At the March 4 Headliners, Professor Karen Ho explored these topics and more in "The Curious Culture of Wall Street." Listen to the audio online or download the mp3 file.

Since World War II, the U.S. has been locked in a constitutional crisis over the authority and roles of the legislative and executive branches, precipitating intense disputes over the competing priorities of national security and American laws and values. With many crucial challenges facing the country, policy-makers must carefully weigh the consequences of their choice of action--diplomacy, international coalitions, constructive engagement, covert action, military force. But who decides which strategies are in the country's best interest? Who really makes national security policy?

The February 4 Headliners explored this topic in an open forum featuring long-time public servant, Vice President Walter Mondale and Larry Jacobs, director of the Center of the Study of Politics and Governance at the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs.

Listen to the audio online or download an mp3 file of their talk.

While many pundits dissect the American-led war effort in Afghanistan, few understand the region's cultural history, which reflects the country's position as a crossroads for successive waves of invading forces.

At the January 7, 2010 Headliners, professor Iraj Bashiri, who recently returned from the region, discussed what history reveals about a way forward in Afghanistan.
Listen to the audio online or download an mp3 file of his talk.