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---
description: Health infrastructure &amp; Ebola, elite schools failing to bring in poorer students, &amp; battling social media propaganda w/ #ISISmediablackout.
title: These Are the Best Ideas of the Day
image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production
---

* [Ideas](/section/ideas/)  
## Ideas  

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* [Innovation](/tag/innovation/)  
## Innovation  

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# Five Best Ideas of the Day: August 26


by 

[The Aspen Institute](/author/the-aspen-institute/)


## The Aspen Institute


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Aug 26, 2014 4:29 PM CUT

by 

[The Aspen Institute](/author/the-aspen-institute/)


## The Aspen Institute


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Aug 26, 2014 4:29 PM CUT

**1\.** [**“This is a reflection of long-standing and growing inequalities of access to basic systems of healthcare delivery.” –Partners in Health co-founder Paul Farmer on the Ebola outbreak.**](http://www.democracynow.org/2014/8/22/dr%5Fpaul%5Ffarmer%5Fon%5Fafrican%5Febola "undefined")

By Democracy Now!

**2\.** [**Despite commitments to the contrary, elite colleges are still failing to bring poorer students into the fold.**](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/26/education/despite-promises-little-progress-in-drawing-poor-to-elite-colleges.html?smid=tw-share "undefined")

By Richard Pérez-Peña in the New York Times

**3\.** [**#ISISMediaBlackout: Tuning out Islamist rhetoric and taking out their powerful propaganda weapon.**](http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/menasource/shut-up-isis "undefined")

By Nancy Messieh at the Atlantic Council

**4\.** [**What makes income inequality so pernicious? The shocking odds against moving up the income ladder for some Americans.**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2XFh%5FtD2RA&list=PLrI3Iy0dqgpQxTGty-LiMFTvVR3GCjzry "undefined")

By Richard Reeves at the Brookings Institution

**5\.** [**The specter of Iraq’s looming collapse is inflaming concerns about Afghanistan’s electoral crisis. But the two countries are very different.**](http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-08-25/afghanistan-isn-t-iraq "undefined")

By The Editors of Bloomberg View

![The Aspen Institute logo next to text: “The Five Best Ideas Today is produced jointly by TIME and The Aspen Ideas Institute”](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf784fa5d1d2a824e/69869105f983e74bc304dfdf/aspen6.png?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp)

[_The Aspen Institute_](http://www.aspeninstitute.org/ "undefined") _is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, D.C._

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