Aspen is a place for leaders to lift their sights above the possessions which possess them. To confront their own nature as human beings, to regain control over their own humanity by becoming more self-aware, more self-correcting, and hence more self-fulfilling.

Walter P. Paepcke, Aspen Institute Co-Founder
Search

Aspen Ideas Festival Announces Inspiring Leaders and Thinkers for 20th Year Celebrating Bright Minds for Dark Times

The Festival returns to the Rocky Mountains from June 23-29, guest curated by celebrated editor and author Tina Brown and presented in partnership with NBCUniversal News Group. Passes are on sale and press registration is open now.

April 16, 2024

Satya Nadella, Alex Rodriguez, Admiral William McRaven join previously announced speakers Jane Fonda, Bill Maher, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Kara Swisher, Fareed Zakaria, and Maureen Dowd.  The Festival returns to the Rocky Mountains from June 23-29, guest curated by celebrated editor and author Tina Brown. Passes are on sale and press registration is open now.Featured moderators include NBCUniversal News Group journalists and hosts including Andrew Ross Sorkin, Jenna Bush Hager, Stephanie Ruhle, Laura Jarrett, Antonia Hylton, Julia Boorstin, and Sharon Epperson.Aspen, CO, April 16, 2024 – The Aspen Ideas Festival, the Aspen Institute’s flagship summer convening presented in partnership with NBCUniversal News Group, announces new speakers appearing as part of a bold lineup of global thought leaders, tech and media innovators, artists, authors, policymakers, entrepreneurs, scientists, and explainers of now. Below are some of the 300+ speakers and moderators appearing at the Festival. Many more will be announced in the coming weeks.

  • Former Secretary of State John Kerry, most recently President Biden’s climate envoy, shares candid thoughts about global inaction on the climate crisis, along with Anne Finucane, chairwomen of Rubicon Carbon. 
  • Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella in conversation with Tina Brown about leading in the AI era.
  • Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers talks with CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin about AI’s impact on the economy.
  • Iconic baseball All-Star and entrepreneur Alex Rodriguez on the boom in sports investing, along with David Rubenstein, Carlyle Group co-founder and new owner of the Baltimore Orioles.
  • California Congresswomen Katie Porter, E. Jean Carroll’s attorney Roberta Kaplan, and New York University Law Professor Melissa Murray assess the status of women in post-Roe America, moderated by Katie Couric. 
  • Fannie Mae CEO Priscilla Almodovar speaks with CNBC’s Sharon Epperson on the state of the U.S. housing market.
  • Admiral William McRaven, who just received the $50 million Courage and Creativity Award from Jeff Bezos, discusses leadership in times of crisis with groundbreaking former Pepsi CEO Indra Nooyi and Ford Foundation President Darren Walker.
  • Iranian-American journalist and courageous human rights campaigner Masih Alinejad on how women are fighting for their freedom in Iran.
  • Acclaimed historian Niall Ferguson deep dives into the threat of a China-U.S. crisis over Taiwan with former Trump Deputy National Security advisor Matt Pottinger and three leading China scholars.

Additional headliners will be announced here.NBCUniversal News Group anchors and correspondents from across NBC News, CNBC, MSNBC, NBC News NOW and Telemundo, will moderate conversations throughout the festival.Attendees will find the Festival reimagined for 2024. The action will stay on the revitalized Aspen Meadows campus into the evening, with new nighttime programming, entertainment, and dining. From sunrise to sundown, the festival will explore critical issues and uncover ideas that spark conversation and debate, with attendees gaining exceptional opportunities to interact in a uniquely intimate setting with people shaping the world. Explore this year’s themes.  Underwriters for the 2024 Aspen Ideas Festival are Allstate, Amazon, BP, Comcast, Edward Jones, Meta, Mount Sinai Health System, Prudential Financial, Reuters, Viant Technology, the Walton Family Foundation, and Wells Fargo.For more information on the Aspen Ideas Festival, please visit www.aspenideas.org.

###

Aspen Ideas Festival Sign

Aspen Ideas Festival Releases Agenda for 2025, Setting the Stage for an Incredible Gathering of Minds

Placeholder

Aspen Institute’s 63X30 Roundtable Launches National Effort to Support Sports Parents

Placeholder

Aspen Ideas: Health 2025 Launches Agenda Spotlighting Bold Innovations and Urgent Challenges in Health

Placeholder

Maritime Leaders Urge SBTi to Support Indirect Mitigation Strategies in Net-Zero Guidelines

ZEMBA and Katalist urge SBTi on indirect mitigation to unlock emissions abatement and investment in maritime sector’s clean energy transition.

Placeholder

New NeuroArts Blueprint Analysis Finds Strong Return on Investment from Music Engagement

Groundbreaking report quantifies the economic benefit of improved quality of life for Alzheimer’s patients and their caregivers—showing a $2.40 return for every $1 invested annually.

Placeholder

Aspen Ideas: Climate Partners With University of Chicago Institute for Climate and Sustainable Growth as Academic Thought Partner, Announces New Speakers

The collaboration will involve key elements of Aspen Ideas: Climate Chicago’s programming, integrating the University of Chicago’s global expertise and cutting-edge research into the agenda. Together, they will co-curate sessions on critical topics such as climate finance, carbon removal, and carbon markets, among others.

Placeholder

Bipartisan Problem-solving: Former Governors Sununu and Cooper to Talk Health Policy at Aspen Ideas: Health

Aspen Ideas: Health announced its latest set of experts and practitioners who will come to Aspen this June 22-25 to speak on health opportunities.

Placeholder

The Center for Rising Generations at the Aspen Institute to Host Inaugural National Youth Leadership Summit in D.C.

The Center for Rising Generations at the Aspen Institute (CRG) will host the first-ever Rising Generations Summit (RGS), a powerful youth-led gathering bringing together more than 100 youth delegates (ages 14-18) from across the United States to Washington, D.C. on Saturday, June 7.

Placeholder

The Aspen Institute Business & Society Program Announces the 2025 Economic Mobility Fellows

The group of leaders from major corporations including Google, Zillow, and United Airlines will develop projects that drive economic opportunity and mobility in the US.

Placeholder

Announcing Aspen Ideas: Economy – A New Signature Forum from the Aspen Institute

Held during the Aspen Institute’s 75th anniversary year, hundreds of speakers and attendees will converge at the newest iteration of “Aspen Ideas,” the organization’s signature events brand that brings leading voices together to address the most pressing challenges in our society.