Speakers
One of America's Leading Public Intellectuals
When it comes to the most pressing social issues of the day, Kwame Anthony Appiah is a touchstone of reason and inclusivity. Asking—and answering—probing questions on morality, ethnicity, and religion...
Author of Give People Money (July 2018) | Contributing Editor at The Atlantic
How is the economy adapting to profound technological advances, such as A.I. and automation? How are these forces, and many others, redefining the nature of work, the potential of business, even society itself?
Staff Writer at The Atlantic | Author of Russia Girl (Forthcoming)
What does Russia really want? American speculation on Russia’s actions – what it has or hasn’t done, what it might do – is a major political topic; the guesswork is deafening. Is Russia as cohesive a ...
Bestselling Author of The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America
In the wake of the election, The New York Times chose George Packer’s The Unwinding as a key book “To Help You Understand Trump’s Win.” In his articles, Packer explores the notion of ‘unwinding’—the r...
Online News Director, The New Yorker | Winner of the Pulitzer Prize
As News Director of NewYorker.com, David Rohde is at the helm of online news coverage at one of the country’s most respected magazines—a bastion of fact-checked journalism in an era of ‘fake news.’ A ...
#1 New York Times Bestselling Author of This Town
Mark Leibovich is the author of the #1 bestseller This Town, about the elite world of Washington politics. In the wake of the 2016 election results, with its repudiation of so-called insider politics,...
Speaker on the Decline of Democracy & Rise of Populism | Harvard Lecturer | Author of The People vs. Democracy (2018)
Less than a third of young Americans say it’s important to them to live in a democracy. Why? Because the system is a mess: opaque administrations, frustrating political candidates, policies that don’t...
National Correspondent for The Atlantic | Author of The Way of the Strangers
“What ISIS Really Wants.” That’s the title of Graeme Wood’s viral Atlantic cover story, which was the most-read piece on the Internet—the entire Internet—in 2015. Its influence on how we understand ex...
Rolling Stone Writer | Author of Four New York Times bestsellers, including Insane Clown President and The Divide
One of the smartest—and funniest—chroniclers of the rise of Trump, growing inequality, and Wall Street excess, Matt Taibbi is also the author of four New York Times bestsellers: The Great Derangement,...
Author of Dirty Wars, Blackwater, and The Assassination Complex
Jeremy Scahill confronts America’s War on Terror—a campaign of assassinations, drone strikes, surveillance, and covert ops—with rare insight. In talks, he draws from his nearly two decades of investig...
The Atlantic’s First Europe Editor at Its International Bureau | Author of Our Towns (May 2018)
The first-ever Europe Editor for The Atlantic, James Fallows is one of the world’s most respected journalists. Today, he’s reporting on how America is putting itself back together in the wake of reces...
Creator of the Wall Street Global Political Risk Index
Ian Bremmer is the president and founder of Eurasia Group, the leading global political risk research and consulting firm. In 1998, Bremmer founded Eurasia Group with just $25,000. Today, the company ...
Author of Bad Paper: Chasing Debt from Wall Street to the Underworld
What happens when a banker and an armed robber go into business together to buy $1.5 billion worth of bad debt? In his new real-life thriller Bad Paper, acclaimed writer and Fulbright Scholar Jake Hal...
Human Rights Activist, Founding Member of Pussy Riot
As co-founder of Pussy Riot, Nadya Tolokonnikova spent two years in jail for performing an anti-Putin concert in a Moscow cathedral. Her imprisonment sparked global debate about freedom of expression ...
New York Times bestselling author of Without You, There Is No Us, Expert on North Korea
Suki Kim is one of the only writers to ever go undercover in North Korea. An award-winning novelist, Kim’s obsession with the country led her to pursue journalistic assignments there beginning in 2002...
Expert on Modern Terrorism, Security, and Civil Wars
What do armed groups like ISIS and Hezbollah do “when they’re not shooting?” The answer to this question is the focus of Benedetta Berti’s work. A security expert who’s worked with organizations acros...
Painter, Writer, and Author of Drawing Blood
Molly Crabapple is an artist and writer whose work has been described as “God’s own circus posters,” by Rolling Stone. Crabapple’s art engages injustice, subversiveness, and rebellion. The New York Ti...
Former Editor-in-Chief, The Globe and Mail; Author of Mass Disruption
Few Canadians are as acquainted with our nation’s political and business landscape as John Stackhouse. The former editor-in-chief of The Globe and Mail, Stackhouse has been plugged into the country’s ...
Globe and Mail's Senior Political Correspondent and #1 Bestselling Author
No one understands Canada-U.S. relations like John Ibbitson. As a #1 bestselling author, senior political correspondent for The Globe and Mail, and former bureau chief in Washington and Ottawa, Ibbits...
Canada’s former former Minister of Justice and Attorney General
As Canada’s former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of National Defence, and Minister of Justice, The Hon. Peter MacKay has been at the forefront of some the most vital decisions affecting Canada...
Executive Director of the Angus Reid Institute
Where are we heading—culturally, politically, economically? As the Executive Director of the Angus Reid Institute, Shachi Kurl asks important questions and reveals what we really think about them. She...
Bestselling Author and Editor-at-Large at The National Post
Creating a robust agenda for the development of emerging tech isn’t a frill, but a necessity in the 21st century. An award-winning, bestselling author and futurist, Diane Francis argues for a more eff...
Linguist, Author, and China Expert
The author of Dreaming in Chinese, Deborah Fallows spent the last few years absorbing the culture, the politics, and the people of China to offer talks that give a refreshingly different take of the w...
National Post Columnist & CBC “At Issue” Panelist
A columnist at The National Post, and the former National Editor of Maclean’s, Andrew Coyne is thoughtful, intrepid, and never afraid to speak his mind. Coyne is highly sought after by audiences looki...