The scene came to mind Wednesday when I saw an instantly infamous clip of Eric Fehrnstrom, Mitt Romney’s communications director, comparing his candidate to a children’s toy.

Banter is AEI’s weekly podcast series, where hosts Stu James and Andrew Rugg sit down and talk with leading thinkers and political commentators on a wide range of policy topics. True to its name, Banter keeps the conversation fun, entertaining, and interesting for anyone with an interest in politics and policy.

The TSA should instruct its airport security workers to use common sense and discretion when putting people through the screening process.

Guidelines are what Peter Sims seeks to provide in "Little Bets," an enthusiastic, example-rich argument for innovating in a particular way—by deliberately experimenting and taking small exploratory steps in novel directions. Some little bets will not pay off, of course, in which case little is lost; but others may pay off in big ways.

This week's Moscow meetings may well convince many Americans that their president's "reset button" was a dangerous toy indeed.

Corporationsmust respond quickly anddecisively when their brands come under attack.

Women are joining men as partners in running the world, but they are not replacing men and never will. Yes, women are flourishing in unprecedented and gratifying ways. But men have hardly vanished from the center.

The outcome of the US debt limit crisis is far from clear, but it will inevitably frame the central issue in the 2012 campaign: should the US continue moving towards a more European set of public policies?