2015 Washington Ideas Forum
Hosted in partnership with The Atlantic and currently in its seventh year, the Washington Ideas Forum has established itself as the DC event that identifies the year’s most pressing issues and ideas of consequence. The program hosts an all-star lineup of speakers across two days, covering the biggest news-making topics of the moment.
2015 AGENDA
With thanks to our Presenting Underwriters Athena Health, Comcast and Hitachi; our Supporting Underwriters the American Federation of Teachers and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; and our Contributing Underwriters Allstate, Clear Channel Outdoor and Steelcase.
LOCATION: Harman Center for the Arts (610 F Street, NW, Washington, DC)
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30
BREAKFAST: 8:15 – 9:00 AM
MORNING SESSION: 9:00 AM – 12:15 PM
James Bennet, Editor in Chief and President, The Atlantic Bob Corker, Member (R-TN), United States Senate Interviewed by Susan Page, Washington Bureau Chief, USA TODAY
Ben Rhodes, Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications and Speechwriting, The White House Interviewed by Jeffrey Goldberg, National Correspondent, The Atlantic
Amanda Ripley, Frequent Contributor, The Atlantic
Colin L. Powell, General, US Army (ret.)/former Secretary of State/former Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Interviewed by Walter Isaacson, President and Chief Executive Officer, The Aspen Institute
Penny Pritzker, Secretary, United States Department of Commerce Interviewed by Ron Brownstein, Senior Editorial Director, Atlantic Media
Theo Padnos, Journalist and Author (kidnapped in Syria, October 2012); Nancy Curtis, Mother of Theo Padnos; Amy Rosen, Cousin of Theo Padnos; and Lawrence Wright, Staff Writer, The New Yorker Interviewed by James Bennet, Editor in Chief and President, The Atlantic
David Rubenstein, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, The Carlyle Group Interviewed by Margaret Carlson, Columnist, Bloomberg View
Opal Tometi, Co-Founder, #BlackLivesMatter/Director, Black Alliance for Just Immigration Interviewed by Scott Stossel, Editor, The Atlantic
Arati Prabhakar, Director, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Interviewed by Steve Clemons, Washington Editor at Large, The Atlantic
Mitt Romney, Former Republican Presidential Nominee; Former Governor, Massachusetts Interviewed by James Bennet, Editor in Chief and President, The Atlantic
Steve Clemons, Washington Editor at Large, The Atlantic
LUNCH PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION: 12:15 – 1:10 PM Marc Brackett, Director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, Yale University
AFTERNOON SESSION: 1:10 – 5:30 PM
Elliott Gerson, Executive Vice President of Policy and Public Programs, International Partners, The Aspen Institute Edward Markey, Member (D-MA), United States Senate; and Rev. John I. Jenkins, President, University of Notre Dame Interviewed by Margaret Carlson, Columnist, Bloomberg View
Vanessa Kerry, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Seed Global Health; and Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease, National Institutes of Health Interviewed by Mary Louise Kelly, Contributing Editor, The Atlantic
Martine Rothblatt, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, United Therapeutics/Founder, Sirius XM Interviewed by Derek Thompson, Senior Editor, The Atlantic
Jeh Johnson, Secretary, US Department of Homeland Security Interviewed by Andrea Mitchell, Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent, NBC News Lonnie Bunch, Director, Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture Interviewed by Helene Cooper, Pentagon Correspondent, The New York Times
Jonathan Bush, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, athenahealth Interviewed by Felix Salmon, Senior Editor, Fusion
Mark Warner, Member (D-VA), United States Senate Interviewed by Derek Thompson, Senior Editor, The Atlantic
John McCain, Member (R-AZ), United States Senate/Chairman, Senate Committee on Armed Services
Mick Ebeling, Chief Executive Officer, Not Impossible Labs
Jason Furman, Chairman, White House Council of Economic Advisors; and Laura D’Andrea Tyson, Former National Economic Advisor to President Clinton/Professor of Economics, Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley
Chris Murphy, Member (D-CT), United States Senate Interviewed by Jeffrey Goldberg, National Correspondent, The Atlantic
Tom Cotton, Member (R-AR), United States Senate; and Chris Coons, Member (D-DE), United States Senate Interviewed by Jeffrey Goldberg, National Correspondent, The Atlantic
Stanley Nelson, Emmy Award-Winning Documentary Filmmaker / Founder, Firelight Media Interviewed by James Bennet, Editor in Chief and President, The Atlantic
Molly Ball, Staff Writer, The Atlantic; Ryan Lizza, Washington Correspondent, The New Yorker; Jamelle Bouie, Columnist, Slate; and Maria Teresa Kumar, President and Chief Executive Officer, Vote Latino/Contributor, MSNBC Glynn Washington, Host of Snap Judgment, NPR
RECEPTION: 5:30 – 6:30 PM
THE BLACKLIST SEASON 3 PREMIERE SCREENING: 7:00 – 8:00 PM
THURSDAY OCTOBER 1:
MORNING SESSION: 9:00 AM – 1:30 PM Margaret Low Smith, President, AtlanticLIVE / Vice President, The Atlantic
Al Gore, Former Vice President of the United States / Chairman, The Climate Reality Project Interviewed by Jim Fallows, National Correspondent, The Atlantic
Elizabeth Warren, Member (D-MA), United States Senate Interviewed by Jake Tapper, Chief Washington Correspondent, CNN
Jeff Weiner, Chief Executive Officer, LinkedIn Interviewed by Steve Clemons, Washington Editor at Large, The Atlantic
Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Member (R-WA), United States House of Representatives
Chris Matthews, Host of Hardball with Chris Matthews, MSNBC
Cory Booker, Member (D-NJ), United States Senate; and Mike Lee, Member (R-UT), United States Senate
Anne-Marie Slaughter, President and Chief Executive Officer, New America Interviewed by Mary Louise Kelly, Contributing Editor, The Atlantic
David Miliband, President, International Rescue Committee / Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, United Kingdom
Julián Castro, Secretary, United States Department of Housing and Urban Development Interviewed by Joy-Ann Reid, National Correspondent, MSNBC
Madeleine Albright, Former Secretary of State / Chair, Albright Stonebridge Group Interviewed by Steve Clemons, Washington Editor at Large, The Atlantic
Arne Duncan, Secretary, US Department of Education Interviewed by Judy Woodruff, Host of “PBS NewsHour,” PBS
Bran Ferren, Founder, Applied Minds
Vivek Murthy, Surgeon General, US Department of Health and Human Services Interviewed by Sam Stein, White House Correspondent, The Huffington Post
Loretta Lynch, Attorney General, US Department of Justice
Margaret Low Smith, President, AtlanticLIVE/Vice President, The Atlantic
Visit The Atlantic website for more information about this event.
Related Content:
- 2015 Press Release: Newsmakers Speak to Year’s Most Pressing Issues and Ideas of Consequence
- Read: 2014 Washington Ideas Forum Day 1 Recap
- Read: 2014 Washington Ideas Forum Day 2 Recap
Hosted in partnership with The Atlantic and currently in its seventh year, the Washington Ideas Forum has established itself as the D.C. event that identifies the year’s most pressing issues and ideas of consequence.