067 | Playing Global War Games
Does the daily news ever make you wonder how the government actually works? Civics classes used to teach us how our country’s laws and constitution work. Today, in the US, most students don’t have a single civics class in school. What amazes me is not how so few people know how the government works, but how few seem curious about how it works—despite how much it impacts lives. There are so many things we can learn about other countries’ governments, and we can apply those lessons to ourselves.
In this episode, I discuss what drove my interest in civics and the lack of civic education in US schools. I describe how many people aren’t curious about how the government works. I also share the time I played a global war game in the US Naval War College, discuss what I learned from playing the simulation, and explain how to apply these lessons to everyday life.
“Own your role and your responsibility at the moment. Play your part well, and you’re sure to be invited back — probably with a promotion.”
- Kathy Sullivan
This week on Kathy Sullivan Explores:
What drove my curiosity about civics and how countries make decisions
Watching two momentous events in politics and world affairs as a 12-year-old
How The Making of a President and the Cuban Missile Crisis impacted me
My work as Chief Scientist at NOAA
Playing a global war game
Resources Mentioned:
Book: The Making of the President 1960 by Theodore White
Our Favorite Quotes:
“The scary moments of the Cuban Missile Crisis made me realize how the workings of national governments could affect my life and my whole world.” - Kathy Sullivan
“Step up to the responsibility of deciding the content and delivering the information, whether the topic is what the President should do on the world stage, or why an investor should back your project.” - Kathy Sullivan
Spaceship Not Required
I’m Kathy Sullivan, the only person to have walked in space and gone to the deepest point in the ocean.
I’m an explorer, and that doesn’t always have to involve going to some remote or exotic place. It simply requires a commitment to put curiosity into action.
In this podcast, you can explore, reflecting on lessons learned from life so far and from my brilliant and ever-inquisitive guests. We explore together in this very moment from right where you are… spaceship not required.
Welcome to Kathy Sullivan Explores.