Sterlin Harjo, Reservation Dogs
Sterlin Harjo strives to tell the stories of Native and Indigenous people by positioning beauty and triumphs alongside honest frailty and shortcomings. Harjo is an award-winning film maker and he’s…
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Solvable showcases the world’s most innovative thinkers and their proposed solutions to the world’s most daunting problems. The interviews, conducted by Ronald Young Jr., Malcolm Gladwell, Anne Applebaum, and Jacob Weisberg will launch a dialogue that both acknowledges the complexity of the issues while inspiring hope that the problems are, in fact, solvable.
Most Recent Episode
Sterlin Harjo, Reservation Dogs
Sterlin Harjo strives to tell the stories of Native and Indigenous people by positioning beauty and triumphs alongside honest frailty and shortcomings. Harjo is an award-winning film maker and he’s…
Misogyny in Game Design is Solvable
Laila Shabir is the co-founder and CEO of Girls Make Games. Here are some links to learn more about her game design studio, summer camp and quest to welcome more…
Reality TV is Solvable
Lizzy Pace and Chad Kultgen are the hosts of the podcast Game of Roses and they have ideas about how to solve The Bachelor and reality TV more generally.Here are…
Solutions for 2022
The staff of Solvable discuss the problems, big and small, that they’d like to see solved in 2022 and beyond. Special thanks to Maggie Taylor and Pushkin podcast hosts Sam…
Mike Gauyo: Insecure
Mike Gauyo is a TV writer in LA. Credits include Insecure (HBO) and Ginny & Georgia (Netflix) among other projects. He’s the founder of The Black Boy Writes Black Girl…
Kidney Failure is Solvable
Dr. Carmen Peralta is the Chief Medical Officer at Cricket Health. She co-founded the Kidney Health Research Collaborative at University of California San Francisco and the San Francisco Veterans Affairs…
adrienne maree brown: Cancel Culture is Solvable
adrienne maree brown is the author of We Will Not Cancel Us and Other Dreams of Transformative Justice, Holding Change: The Way of Emergent Strategy Facilitation and Mediation, Pleasure Activism…
Mary Aiken: Cybercrime is Solvable
Mary Aiken is a Cyberpsychologist and Chair of the Department of Cyberpsychology Capitol Technology University in Laurel Maryland. She is a member of the Interpol Global Cybercrime Expert Group.Want to…
Wayne Modest: Museum Repatriation
Wayne Modest is the Director of Content for the National Museum of Worldcultures and the Wereldmuseum, Rotterdam and head of the Research Center of Material Culture. He is also professor…
Jade Begay: Indigenous People Were The First Climate Scientists
Jade Begay is the NDN collective’s Climate Justice Campaign Director. She is Diné and Tesuque Pueblo, has a Master of Arts degree in Environmental Leadership and is part of President…
The Ozone Hole Was Solvable, And So Is Climate Change
Dr. Susan Solomon’s research in the 1980’s confirmed that the presence of chlorofluorocarbons was largely responsible for the hole in the ozone and that led consumers, chemical companies and manufacturers…
Malcolm Gladwell on Near Misses
Ronald Young Jr. talks with Malcolm Gladwell (author of David and Goliath and the co-founder of Pushkin Industries) about what we can learn about surviving our current challenges by studying…
Native Erasure and Invisibility is Solvable
Dr. Adrienne Keene is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. She’s an Assistant Professor of American Studies and Ethnic Studies at Brown University, co-hosts a podcast called “All My Relations”…
Government Policy is Solvable (with Behavioral Science)
Dr. Maya Shankar is the founder of the White House’s Behavioral Science Team. She served as a senior advisor during the Obama administration and in 2016, Shankar was the first…
Psychedelics May Help Solve Addiction
Matthew Johnson is a Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins University where research is underway to explore the therapeutic potential of psychedelic drugs to break through the…
Climate Change Despondency is Solvable
Malcolm Gladwell with a Waymo self-driving carHost Ronald Young Jr. sits down with Malcolm Gladwell to talk about climate change: the power of individual choices, cultural shifts and what to…
Consumerism and Celebrity Culture in Faith Organizations are Solvable Problems
Ben Kirby is the founder of PreachersNSneakers, an Instagram account and book, that both ask, “how much is too much” to spend when it comes to presenting a compelling image…
The Lack of Creatives of Color in Positions of Power in Hollywood Is Solvable
Mike Gauyo is a TV writer in LA including work on Insecure (HBO) and Ginny & Georgia (Netflix). He’s the founder of The Black Boy Writes Black Girl Writes Mentorship…
Making Museums Relevant and Reflective is Solvable
Stephanie Cunningham is the director of Museum Hue which supports people of color within the museum field and works to situate and promote culturally informed museum exhibitions and experiences across…
The Scantiness of Mental Health Resources For Black People Is Solvable
Dr. Joy Harden Bradford is a licensed psychologist, author, podcast host and the founder of Therapy For Black Girls – an online resource, and podcast, that supports the mental well-being of…
The Demands of Fighting Racism are Solvable
Dr. Ibram X. Kendi is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Boston University and the founding director of the BU Center for Antiracist Research. He is a…
Disordered Eating and Disconnection From Your Body are Solvable Problems
Bri Campos is a licensed mental health counselor and body image coach. She works with clients to improve their relationships with food and with their bodies and to approach health…
Hating Your Body Is Solvable
Gabi Fresh is a body positive digital content creator. She was formerly an MTV Twitter Jockey and InStyle’s first plus-size editor.
Food Addiction is Solvable
Michael Moss is a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter and author of the books Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us and Hooked: Food, Free Will, and How the…
Mapping Catholic Lands Can Help Solve Biodiversity Loss and Climate Change
Molly Burhans is the founder and executive director of GoodLands an organization that works to map the land holdings of the Catholic Church to encourage socially and ecologically sound decisions…
Making Transportation Systems Eco-friendly is a Solvable Problem
Laura Schewel is the CEO of StreetLight Data which provides data to help mold and monitor transportation systems to be more environmentally friendly.Check out the links below to some of…
Reopening New York Safely and Securely is Solvable
Jason DiGianni is the project lead for the Excelsior Pass. He thinks the free digital tool (which confirms negative COVID-19 tests and positive vaccine statuses) can help New York reopen…
Under-Representation in Robotics and AI is Solvable
Dr. Ayanna Howard is the dean of the College of Engineering of the Ohio State University as well as the founder and president of the board of directors of Zyrobotics,…
Social Isolation is a Solvable Problem for People With Disabilities
If the world has learned one thing in lockdown, it’s that staying isolated and confined to one place is hard. But for some people living with disabilities, a sense of…
Cultural Asymmetry in Music Technology is Solvable
A lot of popular music is dominated by the western musical constructions of scale and time but when it comes to creative work -- why be so limited? Khyam Allami…
Addiction to Fossil Fuels is Solvable
Author and environmental activist Bill McKibben. photo by Nancie BattagliaHost Ronald Young Jr. speaks with Bill McKibben about how to break our destructive climate habits and about why we need…
Introducing Ronald Young Jr., Solvable’s Newest Host
Ronald Young Jr is the newest host of Solvable. Jacob Weisberg and Ronald Young Jr. talk about some of their hosting inspirations from Larry King, Studs Terkel, Terry Gross and…
Being Victimized by Scams is Solvable
Maria Konnikova is the New York Times-bestselling author of The Biggest Bluff, The Confidence Game, and Mastermind: How To Think Like Sherlock Holmes.To learn more about scams and how to…
Setbacks: Global Hunger is Solvable
Abby Maxman is President and CEO of Oxfam America and says “there’s no reason in the 21st century that people should be going hungry.”Want to learn more about how you…
Setbacks: Girls’ Exclusion from Education is Solvable
Angeline Murimirwa is executive director of the Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED). By engaging local communities in their nomination process, young people and their families receive support that makes education…
Setbacks: Global Health Inequity is Solvable
As part of our Setbacks series examining the impact of COVID-19 on global development, Paul Farmer explains why he is still optimistic after working for 40 years to end global…
Surgical Site Infections in Developing Countries Can be Solved
Dasia Taylor is a senior at Iowa City West High School. She’s working to develop and produce medical sutures, dyed with beets, that can detect infections and alert patients to…
Psychological Manipulation is a Solvable Problem
Cults and other manipulative groups are an issue of public health and Diane Benscoter has strategies that may help.Diane Benscoter is the founder of Antidote and the author of Shoes…
Making Medical Deliveries by Drone is Solvable
Keller Rinaudo is the CEO and Founder of Zipline International. Their “sky ambulance” service is delivering medical supplies to hard to reach places via drone delivery. Here are some links…
Racialized Trauma is Solvable
Resmaa Menakem is an author and psychotherapist working in Minneapolis Minnesota. As a specialist focused on racial trauma, Menakem works to help people metabolize intergenerational pain and pay attention to…
Extreme Poverty in New York City is Solvable
Andrew Yang is running for Mayor of New York City and he thinks that extreme poverty is a solvable problem. Here are some links to learn more about universal basic…
The Lack of Basic Sanitation in the United States is Solvable
Catherine Coleman Flowers is the Founder and Director of the Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice. She was awarded a MacArthur Genius Grant in 2020 for her work researching…
The Problems of Regulating Algorithms are Solvable
Nathan Matias is a professor at Cornell University and leads the Citizens and Technology Lab. He believes that the strong tradition of scrappy, responsive, citizen science (which has led to…
Designing Digital Spaces That Bring Us Together Is Solvable
Eli Pariser is a social activist and technology entrepreneur. He sits on the U.S. Programs Board of the Open Society Foundation and the Information and Democracy Commission. He is currently…
Political Polarization is Solvable
Anne Applebaum is a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, contributing writer at The Atlantic and a co-host of Solvable and she believes that political polarization is solvable.Learn more about the topics that…
Civil War is Solvable (Again)
Juan Manuel Santos is credited with ending the long and violent civil war in Colombia. He believes that every conflict can have a solution. This episode originally published in 2019.Want…
Rural Vaccine Distribution is Solvable
Dr. Anne Zink is the Chief Medical Officer for the state of Alaska and has helped to coordinate one of the nation's most successful vaccine distribution efforts to date.Dr. Zink…
Bad Habits Are Solvable
Dr. Wendy Wood is Provost Professor of Psychology and Business at the University of Southern California.Here are some links to the studies referenced in this episode and a few stories:Reducing…
Vaccine Hesitancy is Solvable
Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice is the President and Dean of the Morehouse School of Medicine. Even though systemic racism and a history of medical abuses against people of color are…
Destructive Agriculture is Solvable
Rachel Stroer is the acting president of the Land Institute. She believes that many of the ecological and economic problems stemming from our current dependence on monoculture farming can be…
Identifying Cost Effective Charities is Solvable
With so many worthy causes out there, GiveWell helps donors evaluate charities based on their ability to save and improve the greatest number of lives per dollar donated. Buddy Shah…
The Tech Gender Gap is Solvable (again)
Award-winning technologist Lady Mariéme Jamme is the founder of iamtheCODE. Her organization seeks to educate women and girls about coding and to empower young women with digital skills that allow…
Solvable: The Depression and Anxiety We Can All Expect During This Pandemic
Astronaut Scott Kelly is no stranger to the impacts of social isolation after spending 520 days in space. He talks with Jacob Weisberg about how to confront the depression and…
Remote Music Collabroation Online (in real time) is Solvable
Mike Dickey is co-founder and chairman of the JackTrip Foundation and the creator of Virtual Studio. The awkward and disjointed experience of making music over the internet is a solvable…
Culturally Competent and Financially Sustainable Healthcare
Dr. Lutfi Lokman co-founded Hospitals Beyond Boundaries to provide culturally competent and financially sustainable healthcare. His clinic follows a model pioneered by Muhammad Yunus (founder of the Grameen Bank) which…
Disinformation is Solvable
Emily Bazelon is a staff writer for the New York Times Magazine and the Truman Capote Fellow for Creative Writing and Law at Yale Law School. She believes that disinformation…
Solvable: Stereotypical Refugee Narratives
Ahmed Badr is an Iraqi-American writer, social entrepreneur, former refugee and the founder of Narratio. Narratio is a creative platform and set of initiatives that carve out spaces for displaced…
The Slow Regrowth of Vulnerable Coral Reefs is Solvable
Saving coral reefs will take a lot of teamwork and collaboration across scientists, industries and individuals. One important tool is micro-fragmentation and re-skinning. Sarah Hamlyn is a scientist at the…
Wildfire Ignition is Solvable
Eric Appel is a Professor of Materials Science & Engineering at Stanford University. His lab has designed an improved delivery system for fire retardant to keep fires from starting across…
COVID-19 Transmission is Solvable
Michael Mina is an epidemiologist and immunologist at the Harvard School of Public Health and a physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He believes the transmission of COVID-19 is a…
Cancel Culture is Solvable
John McWhorter is a linguistics professor at Columbia University, contributing writer at The Atlantic and hosts the podcast Lexicon Valley. He believes that “cancel culture” is solvable.
The Decline of Local News is Solvable
Margaret Sullivan is the media columnist for The Washington Post and formerly the public editor with the New York Times. Her new book is called Ghosting the News: Local Journalism…
Election Security is (mostly) Solvable
Photo: Kathy PhamBruce Schneier is an internationally renowned security technologist. He teaches cyber security at the Harvard Kennedy School. Schneier believes that election security risks are solvable.Here are a few…
Voter Suppression is Solvable
Kristen Clarke is the president and executive director of the National Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. The committee was established in 1963 at the request of President John…
A Low-Turnout Election is Solvable (Even During COVID-19)
Michael Waldman is the president of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law. The non-partisan center works to strengthen America’s democracy. Waldman is the author of The…
Lack of Accountability for Police Violence is Solvable
Chiraag Bains is the Director of Legal Strategies at Demos, a think tank focused on strengthening democracy and fighting for racial justice. He previously served as Senior Counsel to the…
Mass Incarceration is Solvable
Insha Rahman is the director of strategy and new initiatives at the Vera Institute of Justice. She believes that mass incarceration is solvable.At Vera, Rahman’s work is focused on prosecutorial…
Unjust Systems of Power are Solvable
Host Anne Applebaum speaks with Srdja Popovic about how strategic nonviolent action can bring about lasting and meaningful social change.Srdja Popovic is the executive director of the Centre for Applied…
The Mental Health Crisis is Solvable
Jacob Weisberg talks to Dixon Chibanda about giving access to mental health care in non-Western nations.
Maternal Mortality is Solvable
Anne Applebaum talks to Dr. Naveen Rao about fostering safe pregnancies and healthy deliveries worldwide.
Widespread Poverty is Solvable
Jacob Weisberg talks to Michael Faye about cutting out the middle man in charitable donations via GiveDirectly.
Extreme Inequality is Solvable
Jacob Weisberg talks with Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz about closing the wealth gap in the United States.
Youth Unemployment is Solvable
Anne Applebaum talks with Nicola Galombik about increasing access to future work for young people in South Africa.
Restriction of Speech Online is Solvable
Jacob Weisberg talks with David Kaye about fostering public understanding of free speech on the internet and who should make the rules about regulation.
Gender-Based Violence is Solvable
Ahmed Ali Akbar talks with Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy about using film to tackle violence against women in Pakistan.
Racial Reconciliation is Solvable
Malcolm Gladwell talks to former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu about mending race relations in the U.S.
Poverty in Marginalized Communities is Solvable
Malcolm Gladwell talks to Saumya Roy about using micro-financing to eliminate poverty amongst marginalized groups.
Global Disease is Solvable
Jacob Weisberg talks to global health advocate Steve Davis about eliminating or eradicating diseases causing great human suffering worldwide.
Climate Change is Solvable
Anne Applebaum talks to Anousheh Ansari about balancing the carbon cycle and fighting climate change through incentivized prizes and innovation.
Child Marriage is Solvable
Jacob Weisberg talks to Mabel van Oranje, Chair of Girls Not Brides, about ending child marriage by 2030.
Educational Inequity is Solvable
Anne Applebaum talks to Dr. Urvashi Sahni--a social entrepreneur, women rights activist and educationist--about redefining education and curricula.
US-China Conflict is Solvable
Jacob Weisberg talks to Kevin Rudd about the need for diplomacy between China and the United States.
Electricity for the Developing World is Solvable
Anne Applebaum talks with Ashvin Dayal about creating worldwide access to electricity.
Global Poverty is Solvable
Malcolm Gladwell talks with Dr. Shashi Buluswar about fighting global poverty with the Institute for Transformative Technologies.
Conflict is Solvable
Jacob Weisberg talks to Victor Ochen, Founder and Executive Director for African Youth Initiative Network, about building peace in Africa.
AIDS is Solvable
Malcolm Gladwell talks to David Baltimore about his work that made a treatment for HIV/AIDS possible.
Basic Education is Solvable
Ahmed Ali Akbar talks to Sal Khan about bringing world class education to everyone, for free.
Cervical Cancer is Solvable
Anne Applebaum talks to Vincent DeGennaro about building cancer programs in developing countries.
Gender Inequality in Leadership is Solvable
Malcolm Gladwell talks to Julia Gillard, the first and only woman to be Prime Minister of Australia, about the underrepresentation of women in leadership around the world.
Civil War is Solvable
Anne Applebaum talks to Juan Manuel Santos, former president of Colombia and Nobel Peace Laureate, about ending more than 50 years of conflict in his country.
Fake News is Solvable
Anne Applebaum talks to Renée DiResta about building a more trustworthy Internet.
The Tech Gender Gap is Solvable
Jacob Weisberg talks to Mariéme Jamme about teaching a million disadvantaged girls to code.
Food Waste is Solvable
Ahmed Ali Akbar talks to activist and author Tristram Stuart about using food scraps to eliminate waste.Watch "The Ugly Carrot" video here.
Refugee Poverty is Solvable
Jacob Weisberg talks to David Miliband about helping refugees stay in work and in school.
Political Demonization is Solvable
Anne Applebaum talks to Flavia Kleiner about how patriotic liberalism can beat xenophobic populists.
Homelessness is Solvable
Malcolm Gladwell talks to Rosanne Haggerty about ending homelessness for everyone. Forever.
Introducing: Solvable
Solvable will be a recurring showcase for the world’s most inspiring thinkers to propose solutions to the world’s most daunting problems.
The Host
Ronald Young Jr.
Ronald Young Jr., host of Solvable, is an audio producer and storyteller based in Alexandria, VA. He is the Senior Producer and Owner of ohitsBigRon studios, which produces such shows…
