Politics Keynote Speakers: On Society, Justice and More

Clint Smith

#1 New York Times Bestselling Author of How the Word Is Passed and Above Ground | The Atlantic Staff Writer

The legacy of slavery still shapes our cities, roads, and stories today. Understanding our history will help us make sense of our world—and fight for a better one.

Kwame Anthony Appiah

Author of Cosmopolitanism | One of America's Leading Public Intellectuals | President of the American Academy of Arts & Letters

Honor and shame can be used to change the world for the better.

Naomi Klein

Internationally Bestselling Author of Doppelganger, This Changes Everything, The Shock Doctrine, and No Logo

AI, misinformation, and polarization have made everything familiar feel slightly off. But we can still reclaim our democracy—and ourselves.

Nikole Hannah-Jones

Pulitzer Prize-Winning Creator of The 1619 Project | Executive Producer of the Emmy Award-Winning 1619 Project Hulu Docuseries | MacArthur Genius

Black history is American history.

Heather McGhee

Author of New York Times Bestseller The Sum of Us

Racism has a cost for everyone—so when we fight it together, we all win.

Jonathan Metzl

Director of the Center for Medicine, Health, and Society at Vanderbilt University | Award-winning author of Dying of Whiteness and What We've Become

What happens to the soul of a nation—and the meanings of safety and community—when we normalize mass shootings?

Stephen Marche

Author of the First AI-Generated Novella, Death of an Author | Writer on AI for The New Yorker, The Atlantic

ChatGPT is blurring the line between human and machine—which means uniquely human creativity is more important now than ever before.

Robb Willer

Prof. of Social Psychology & Organizational Behavior at Stanford | Director of the Polarization and Social Change Lab

Trying to get someone to see your side? Start by connecting it to their underlying moral values.

Jay Van Bavel

Professor of Psychology & Neural Science at NYU | Award-Winning Author of The Power of Us

To build powerful teams, you need to harness the power of a shared team identity.

David Wallace-Wells

Bestselling author of The Uninhabitable Earth | New York Times columnist

The most important driver of climate change is human action. We have our hands on those levers.

Andrew Marantz

New Yorker Writer | Author of Antisocial

Social media is what we make it—here’s how we can use it to create a kinder, more imaginative world.

Jared Diamond

Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Guns, Germs, and Steel, Collapse, and Upheaval

Nations and individuals share the same techniques to survive a crisis—and thrive beyond it.

Wajahat Ali

Author of Go Back to Where You Came From

When we share our stories, we create an inclusive world—and build a multicultural coalition of the willing.

Danielle Wood

Director of MIT’s Space Enabled Research Lab | Associate Prof. of Media Arts and Sciences

Space technology is imperative for sustainable development on Earth—and for the benefit of all.

James Robinson

2024 Nobel Prize Winner in Economics | Famed Economist and Political Scientist | Co-author of Why Nations Fail

A nation's prosperity relies on its institutions: the more inclusive, the better.

Emily Bazelon

New York Times bestselling author of Charged | New York Times Magazine staff writer | Political Gabfest co-host

Justice in America is at a crossroads. We have the opportunity to forge a better, fairer future.

Derek Thompson

Host of Plain English | Bestselling author of Hit Makers and On Work | Staff writer at The Atlantic

The nature of work is evolving—now is the time to embrace it and equip yourself with the knowledge to thrive well into the future.

Adam Harris

Author of The State Must Provide: The Definitive History of Racial Inequality in American Higher Education | Staff Writer at The Atlantic

Higher education could be a powerful force for equity and democracy—but it must face up to its history of racial injustice first.

George Packer

Bestselling author of The Unwinding and Last Best Hope | The Atlantic staff writer

The passion for equality is the "hidden code" that will drive us toward a unified America.

Yascha Mounk

Author of The Identity Trap, The Great Experiment and The People vs. Democracy | Contributing Editor at The Atlantic | Professor at Johns Hopkins

If we want a truly equal democracy, we must reject the obsession with group identity—and acknowledge that what we have in common is greater than what divides us.

Graeme Wood

National Correspondent for The Atlantic | Author of The Way of the Strangers

What does ISIS want? What’s it going to do next? And how do we stop it?

Anand Giridharadas

Internationally bestselling author of Winners Take All and The Persuaders | Former New York Times foreign correspondent | MSNBC political analyst

In an age of division, we can still come together in solidarity.

Eric Klinenberg

Author of Palaces for the People and 2020 | Award-Winning Sociologist | Director of NYU's Institute for Public Knowledge

To save our democracy, we must invest in our cities, our people, and our institutions today.

David Rohde

Two-Time Pulitzer Prize Winning Foreign Correspondent and Author | NBC News National Security Editor | Award-Winning Investigative Reporter

Hyperpartisanship is weakening our trust in our democracy. We can change that.

Chuck Klosterman

Renowned Cultural Critic | New York Times Bestselling Author of 10 Books, Including Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs

The goal of being alive is to figure out what it means to be alive.

Charles Booker

Author of From the Hood to the Holler | Founder of Hood to the Holler | Kentucky State Director of Faith Based & Community Initiatives

Building coalitions starts with seeing the humanity in others. Our issues aren’t really partisan—we can lift our voices together.

Sarah Lewis

Founder of Vision & Justice | Harvard Associate Professor | Bestselling Author of The Rise and The Unseen Truth

What is the role of art and culture for racial justice?

Abdul El-Sayed

County Public Health Director | Author of Healing Politics and Medicare for All | Host of America Dissected

A great leader needs to find their unifying story—one that explains who they are to three key stakeholders: themselves, their team, and their future allies.

Matt Taibbi

New York Times bestselling author of Hate, Inc., Insane Clown President and The Divide | Rolling Stone Writer

We can counter the spread of misinformation in a post-truth era—if we’re smart about it.

Anthony Wilson-Smith

CEO of Historica Canada | Former Editor-in-Chief at MacLean's

To find out how to best move towards the future, we must look to the past.

Rick Mercer

Host of The Rick Mercer Report for 15 years | Bestselling Author of Talking to Canadians and Rick Mercer Final Report | Winner of the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour

Canada is a nation worth loving—and ranting about.

Steven Pinker

One of the world's top public intellectuals | Author of Rationality: What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why it Matters and Enlightenment Now | Harvard Professor

The world is getting better, not worse. The Enlightenment ideals of reason and science are a major reason why.

Stephanie Rawlings-Blake

Former Mayor of Baltimore | Founder, SRB & Associates

Someone is going to step up and make a change in your community. There's no reason it couldn't be you.

James Fallows

National Correspondent for The Atlantic | National Book Award Winner | Co-Author of Our Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey into the Heart of America

To fight false narratives and hyperbole, we must meet people where they live. Literally.

Deborah Fallows

Co-author of Our Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey Into the Heart of America

Firsthand stories of America’s strength, ingenuity and grassroots growth.

Politics & Society

Lavin’s politics and society speakers are chosen for their ability to cut through spin, bridge the left-right divide, and deliver informed, comprehensive commentary: what are the political trends, how do they affect your industry, and what’s next?