Ideas in Action with Jim Glassman

A debate on the future of the American economy and the role of intelligent computers and robots. Will rapid technological innovations aid American workers, or will it render large numbers of American workers obsolete?

The video game business has grown into a 50 billion dollar industry world-wide. Video games are now being used to teach soldiers how to fight, surgeons how to operate, and children how to read. Colleges and universities have responded to the demand by offering classes, and even graduate-level degrees in video game development. Dr. Peter Raad founded a master’s degree program for video games at Southern Methodist University. He and Jim discuss the positive and negative effects the spread of video games will have in our lives.

Is investing in women 'smart economics?' World Bank President Robert Zoellick thinks so. The Bank has programs in Afghanistan, the Middle East and elsewhere that help women become educated, gain better access to health care, and start small businesses. In this one on one interview, Jim asks Zoellick why the empowerment of women is crucial to the overall wellbeing of these regions. Will the turmoil in the Arab World help or hinder women? And how can the World Bank - and the U.S. - ensure women's rights are protected?

A college education is still considered key to the American dream. But is that dream hollow? “Academically Adrift” a new book by two college professors contends that a surprising number of today’s college students show little-to-no improvement in critical thinking or written communication throughout their time at college.  So why aren’t our college students learning more – and are any schools getting it right?

Amy Chua is the author of the best selling book “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother” – a memoir relating her experience raising two daughters using strict parenting techniques similar to the ones used by her Chinese immigrant parents. Amy Chua is the John M. Duff Professor of Law at Yale Law School. She specializes in the study of international business transactions, law and development, ethnic conflict, and globalization and the law. She is the author of two other books: “World on Fire: How exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability” and “Day of Empire: How Hyperpowers Rise to Global Dominance – and Why They Fall.”

A new book of essays, "The Next Digital Decade: Essays on the Future of the Internet," by some of the most insightful observers of the internet age, asks what the next decade will bring in technological innovation, cultural change, regulation and the role of the government in the next phase of the evolving internet. Two guests who contributed essays to the book discuss their views about the effect of innovation and the role government will play in the evolution of the internet.

In his new book, Nye writes, "It is currently fashionable to predict a decline in the United States' power. But the United States is not in absolute decline, and in relative terms, there is reasonable probability that it will remain more powerful than any other state in the coming decades." Forty years ago Nye formulated the term "soft power" to describe diplomacy, communications and cultural influence as a force equal to and at times more desirable than the hard power of military dominance. Given the economic changes and the threat of terrorism in the world today, two eminent scholars debate the best way for the United States to wield its power now.

State and municipal government leaders across the country are coming face-to-face with a reality they - and the public employees they work with - have long sought to delay. Public pension obligations - for teachers, police officers, firefighters and other civil servants are beginning to break the bank. Pension plans that provide unlimited health care, set benefits for life and the option to retire at an early age are no longer sustainable as the work force shrinks along with budgets. How can local and state government leaders provide benefits that were promised to current retirees while cutting pension promises to current workers?

Over the past decade, the Internet has expanded enormously, changing the lives of Americans. Unlike other forms of communication, like telephones and television, the Internet has expanded largely without regulation. But that may be changing. As the use videos increases, the companies that provide the pipelines for Internet access may be running out of space. Many people and businesses worry that these companies will begin to limit their access to the Internet in a way it’s never been limited before. How to resolve this issue is a high-stakes Washington question, with billions of dollars and some very important principles – like free speech and free enterprise – at stake.

With uprisings in Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen, the political landscape of the Middle East has seemingly changed overnight. Millions are marching for freedom and democratic government: some leaders are fleeing, others are fighting to stay in power. Can this unrest be traced to Iran's Green Movement of 2009 that was so violently suppressed, and will the spark of democracy find its way back to Iran?

Opinions vary about how close Mexico is to becoming a failed state. Drug cartels control the municipal workings of entire areas of the country; the police, elected officials and the judiciary, and corruption is rampant. The US and Mexico share a significant border and huge amounts of goods and people flow between them. What are the risks to the US if Mexico sinks into anarchy and what should we be doing now to prevent it?

British leaders are adopting a plan to cut public spending in that country by $131 billion dollars. The revolutionary plan will cut public housing subsidies by 80% and could cost the jobs of as many as 750,000 public sector employees. By cutting public spending and raising some taxes, government leaders are hoping to avoid a second recession and whittle down the budget deficit. With the US facing record budget deficits, and the last election seen as a referendum on overspending by the federal government, what can US leaders learn from the British?

British leaders are adopting a plan to cut public spending in that country by $131 billion dollars. The revolutionary plan will cut public housing subsidies by 80% and could cost the jobs of as many as 750,000 public sector employees. By cutting public spending and raising some taxes, government leaders are hoping to avoid a second recession and whittle down the budget deficit. With the US facing record budget deficits, and the last election seen as a referendum on overspending by the federal government, what can US leaders learn from the British?

Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee, an oncologist and medical researcher at Columbia University, has written a comprehensive book examining the history of cancer. Through the stories of several cancer patients and researchers who have made great strides in understanding and fighting the disease, Mukherjee sounds an optimistic note about future medical advances in understanding and fighting cancer.

Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee, an oncologist and medical researcher at Columbia University, has written a comprehensive book examining the history of cancer. Through the stories of several cancer patients and researchers who have made great strides in understanding and fighting the disease, Mukherjee sounds an optimistic note about future medical advances in understanding and fighting cancer.