Event Series

Aspen Ideas Festival

A two-week summer gathering of 500+ thinkers, scientists, journalists, policymakers, and authors hosted by the Aspen Institute in Aspen, Colorado. Sessions span foreign policy, public health, technology ethics, the arts, and democracy. Attracts current and former heads of state, Nobel laureates, and major media figures for high-trust discussion.

Aspen, United States

See the full lineup

Overview Speakers (1204)Talks (1110)

All speakers at Aspen Ideas Festival

1204 speakers across all editions

David Brooks
4 editions
Staff Writer, The Atlantic; Senior Presidential Fellow, Yale University Jackson School of Global Affairs
Katie Couric
4 editions
Journalist; Co-Founder, Katie Couric Media
Anne Mosle
3 editions
Vice President and Founder and Executive Director, Ascend, Aspen Institute; Co-Chair, Aspen Institute Forum on Women and Girls
Damian Woetzel
3 editions
President, The Juilliard School
Dan Porterfield
3 editions
President and CEO, Aspen Institute
David Leonhardt
3 editions
Editorial Director, The New York Times
Fareed Zakaria
3 editions
Journalist; Host, "Fareed Zakaria GPS," CNN; Columnist, The Washington Post; Author · CNN; The Washington Post
Gillian Tett
3 editions
Columnist and Editorial Board Member, Financial Times; Provost, King's College, Cambridge University · Financial Times; King's College, Cambridge University
Ida Rademacher
3 editions
Vice President; Co-Executive Director, Financial Security Program and Co-Chair, Aspen Partnership for an Inclusive Economy; Aspen Institute
Jane Wales
3 editions
Vice President and Executive Director, Program on Philanthropy and Social Innovation, Aspen Institute
Jenn White
3 editions
Journalist; Host, "1A," NPR
Jonathan Capehart
3 editions
Co-Host, MS NOW's "The Weekend" · MS NOW’s "The Weekend"
Laurie Santos
3 editions
Chandrika and Ranjan Tandon Professor of Psychology, Yale University; Podcast Host, "The Happiness Lab"
Matt Helmer
3 editions
Director, Job Quality and Worker Well-Being, Economic Opportunities Program, Aspen Institute
Penny Pennington
3 editions
Managing Partner, Edward Jones
Perri Peltz
3 editions
Documentary Filmmaker, MerriPat Productions; Journalist
Samuel Kimbriel
3 editions
Founding Director, Philosophy and Society Initiative, Aspen Institute · The Aspen Institute
Tamar Gendler
3 editions
Vincent J. Scully Professor of Philosophy; Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Science, Yale University
Tom Farrey
3 editions
Executive Director, Sports and Society Program, Aspen Institute
Tom Wilson
3 editions
Chair, President and CEO, The Allstate Corporation
Vivian Schiller
3 editions
Vice President and Executive Director, Aspen Digital, Aspen Institute
Alberto Gonzales
2 editions
Former U.S. Attorney General; Dean and Doyle Rogers Distinguished Professor of Law, Belmont University College of Law
Alex Hedison
2 editions
Artist; Filmmaker
Amy Harder
2 editions
National Energy Correspondent, Axios · Cipher
Amy Webb
2 editions
Founder and CEO, Future Today Strategy Group; Professor, NYU Stern School of Business · Future Today Institute
Angela Duckworth
2 editions
Rosa Lee and Egbert Chang Professor; Co-Founder · University of Pennsylvania; Character Lab
Anna Deavere Smith
2 editions
Actress; Playwright; University Professor · Tisch School of the Arts, New York University
Arjun Gupta
2 editions
Chief Believer, TeleSoft.AI; Trustee, The Aspen Institute · TeleSoft.AI; The Aspen Institute
Brendan Carr
2 editions
CEO, Mount Sinai Health System
Brian Grazer
2 editions
Founder and Chairman, Imagine Entertainment
Brian Greene
2 editions
Professor of Physics and Mathematics; Director, Center for Theoretical Physics; Co-Founder · Columbia University; World Science Festival
Bryan Doerries
2 editions
Co-Founder and Artistic Director, Theater of War Productions
Carol Quillen
2 editions
Former President and CEO, National Trust for Historic Preservation
Carolyn Tisch Blodgett
2 editions
Founder and CEO, Next 3; Governor, Gotham FC; Co-owner, New York Giants · Next 3; Gotham FC; New York Giants
Catherine Price
2 editions
Speaker; Consultant; Co-Author, "The Amazing Generation: Your Guide to Fun and Freedom in a Screen-Filled World"
Charles Annenberg Weingarten
2 editions
Founder, Explore.org; Vice President and Director, Annenberg Foundation · Explore.org; Annenberg Foundation
Charles W. Scharf
2 editions
President and CEO · Wells Fargo and Company
Chris Womack
2 editions
Chairman, President and CEO, Southern Company
Chuck Sams
2 editions
Director, Indigenous Programs, Yale Center for Environmental Justice; Former Director, U.S. National Park Service · US National Park Service
Cornelius Wills
2 editions
Gang Interventionist and Mentor, Soledad Enrichment Action; Filmmaker, "Nothing to See Here: Watts"
David DeSteno
2 editions
Professor of Psychology and Director, Social Emotions Lab, Northeastern University; Podcast Host, "How God Works: The Science Behind Spirituality"
David French
2 editions
Columnist, The New York Times · The Dispatch; contributing writer, The Atlantic
David Miliband
2 editions
President and CEO · International Rescue Committee
David Petraeus
2 editions
Partner, KKR; Chair, KKR Global Institute; Former CIA Director; Retired Army General
Diane Brady
2 editions
Executive Editorial Director, Fortune
Eden Vardy
2 editions
Founder and Executive Director, The Farm Collaborative
Ehud Olmert
2 editions
Former Prime Minister of Israel
Elizabeth Cohen
2 editions
Contributor, NBC News; Contributor, AtlanticLIVE · NBC News; AtlanticLIVE
Fanny Elahi
2 editions
Associate Professor of Neurology, Neuroscience, and Pathology, Molecular and Cell-Based Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai Health System · Neuroscience, and Pathology, Mount Sinai Icahn School of Medicine; Director of Fluid Biomarker Research, Barbara and Maurice Deane Center for...
Fidel Vargas
2 editions
President and CEO, HSF
Frederick Riley
2 editions
Executive Director, Weave: The Social Fabric Project, The Aspen Institute · Weave: The Social Fabric Project, Aspen Institute
Jared Polis
2 editions
Governor, State of Colorado
Jason Bordoff
2 editions
Professor of Professional Practice and Founding Director, Center on Global Energy Policy, Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs; Co-Founder and Dean E...
Jeffrey Rosen
2 editions
CEO Emeritus, National Constitution Center; Professor of Law, George Washington University Law School; Contributing Editor, The Atlantic
Jennifer Wallace
2 editions
Journalist; Founder, The Mattering Institute; Co-Founder, The Mattering Movement
Jim Baker
2 editions
Senior Fellow for Strategic Competition, Council on Foreign Relations
Jim Farley
2 editions
President and CEO · Ford Motor Company
Jon Clifton
2 editions
CEO, Gallup
Jonathan Haidt
2 editions
Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership · New York University Stern School of Business
Karen Brunwasser
2 editions
Co-CEO, FeelBeit · Mekudeshet; Leader, FeelBeit
Kate Bowler
2 editions
Host, "Everything Happens;" Author, "Joyful, Anyway;" Associate Professor of American Religious History, Duke University · Duke Divinity School
Katie Albright
2 editions
Executive Director, Equity and Excellence in Early Childhood, University of California, Berkeley; Senior Advisor, Alliance for Community Advocacy · Safe and Sound
Kaya Henderson
2 editions
Executive Vice President and Executive Director · Center for Rising Generations
Kelly Corrigan
2 editions
Author; Podcast Host, "Kelly Corrigan Wonders" · PBS / NPR
Kevin Rudd
2 editions
Ambassador to the United States · Embassy of Australia
Kori Schake
2 editions
Senior Fellow and Director, Foreign and Defense Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute
Kris Bowers
2 editions
Composer; Pianist; Filmmaker
Krista Tippett
2 editions
Founder; Podcast Creator and Host · The On Being Project
Kristy Fercho
2 editions
Senior Executive Vice President and Head of Financial Inclusion · Wells Fargo
Lata Reddy
2 editions
Senior Vice President, Inclusive Solutions, Prudential Financial Chair, The Prudential Foundation · Prudential Financial; The Prudential Foundation
Laura Marquez-Garrett
2 editions
Senior Counsel · Social Media Victims Law Center
Lauren Hirsch
2 editions
Reporter, The New York Times
Liba Wenig Rubenstein
2 editions
Director, Future of Work Initiative, Economic Opportunities Program; co-founder, Business Roundtable on Organized Labor, The Aspen Institute
Mary Barra
2 editions
Chair and CEO of General Motors | First female CEO of a 'Big Three' automaker
Melissa Lott
2 editions
Partner, Energy Technology, Microsoft · Energy Technologies, Microsoft
Melissa Murray
2 editions
Frederick I. and Grace Stokes Professor of Law, New York University School of Law
Michael Sandel
2 editions
Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government · Harvard University
Michael Soenen
2 editions
CEO, Nothing to See Here: Productions; Creator, "Nothing to See Here: Watts"
Mike Johnston
2 editions
Mayor, City of Denver
Mitch Landrieu
2 editions
Founder, E Pluribus Unum; Former Senior Adviser, The White House; Former Mayor, New Orleans · E Pluribus Unum and Former Mayor, New Orleans
Natalie Foster
2 editions
President and Co-Founder · Economic Security Project
Nishant Jain
2 editions
Artist; Author, "The Sneaky Artist"
Oskar Eustis
2 editions
Artistic Director, The Public Theater | Championing Groundbreaking Theater
Pascale Charlot
2 editions
Managing Director, College Excellence Program, Aspen Institute
Pete McBride
2 editions
Photographer; Filmmaker; Writer; Speaker · Chasing Water
Peter Thiel
2 editions
Partner, Founders Fund; Founder, Thiel Fellowship and Thiel Foundation
Pico Iyer
2 editions
Author; Essayist
Rich Powell
2 editions
CEO, CEBA · Clean Energy Buyers Association
Rick Hasen
2 editions
Gary T. Schwartz Endowed Chair in Law, Professor of Political Science, UCLA Law; Director, Safeguarding Democracy Project, UCLA Law · University of California, Irvine School of Law
Riman Barakat
2 editions
Co-CEO, Feelbeit; Founder, Experience Palestine · FeelBeit
Ruth Kennison
2 editions
Chocolatier; Director of Chocolate Education, The Gourmandise School; Founder, The Chocolate Project and Santa Monica Chocolate Society · The Gourmandise School; The Chocolate Project
Sadanand Dhume
2 editions
Senior Fellow for India, Pakistan and South Asia, Council on Foreign Relations; Opinion Columnist, The Wall Street Journal · American Enterprise Institute
Saheem Ali
2 editions
Associate Artistic Director and Resident Director, The Public Theater
Sal Khan
2 editions
Khan Academy Founder | Revolutionizing Global Education Through Free Online Learning
Sam Fragoso
2 editions
Writer; Filmmaker; Host, “Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso” Podcast · "Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso"
Santhosh Ramdoss
2 editions
President, Chief Investment Officer, and CEO, Gary Community Ventures
Sarah Longwell
2 editions
Publisher, The Bulwark; President and CEO, Longwell Partners · Longwell Partners; Publisher, The Bulwark
Satya Nadella
2 editions
CEO of Microsoft | Transforming Technology and Leadership Through Innovation
Scott Strazik
2 editions
CEO and President, GE Vernova
Sheila Johnson
2 editions
Founder and CEO · Salamander Collection