The Atlantic Festival Returns to The Wharf in D.C., September 19 and 20, and Announces First Headliners

Meet great minds who don’t think alike. The Atlantic is releasing tickets and revealing the first slate of conversations that will take place at The Atlantic Festival, its annual live event in Washington, D.C., on the ideas shaping a changing nation. The festival will run Thursday, September 19, and Friday, September 20, and feature dozens of events across four stages at The Wharf. Both days will close with evening entertainment, to be announced along with the festival’s full schedule of events.

Passes to the festival are on sale today. A select number of events will also be streamed to subscribers and audiences who register for a free virtual ticket.

The Atlantic Festival, now in its 16th year, is the preeminent live exploration of The Atlantic’s journalism. Each year, more than 100 speakers take part in events examining the state of politics and democracy; climate and health; race, education, culture, and technology—alongside film premieres, book talks, and live podcast tapings––all moderated by Atlantic journalists.

Being announced today are interviews with Senator John Fetterman; House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries; political strategists Karl Rove and David Axelrod; actress, playwright, professor, and Atlantic contributing writer Anna Deavere Smith; CNN anchor and Chief Washington Correspondent Jake Tapper and C. J. Rice, who was convicted of attempted homicide as a teenager in 2011 and exonerated this year, after Tapper’s Atlantic cover story shed light on his case; best-selling author of The Anxious Generation and social psychologist Jonathan Haidt; journalist and founder of birthFUND Elaine Welteroth; award-winning filmmaker and storyteller Noah Hawley; and The Bulwark’s Sarah Longwell, Tim Miller, and Bill Kristol; with additional speakers to be announced.

Leading the conversations will be many of The Atlantic’s writers and editors, including editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg and staff writers and contributors Elaina Plott Calabro, Jemele Hill, Hanna Rosin, and Derek Thompson, with additional names to be announced.

The 2024 Atlantic Festival is underwritten by Eli Lilly and Company, Microsoft, Southern Company, and W.K. Kellogg Foundation as Presenting Level Underwriters; Allstate and Evernorth Health Services as Supporting Level Underwriters; and Arnold Ventures, Calm, Genentech, Goldman Sachs, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and Visit Seattle as Contributing Level Underwriters.

Press should request a credential by emailing [email protected]; in-person seating will be limited and will need to be reserved in advance.

The Atlantic Festival
September 19–20, 2024
The Wharf, D.C., and Virtually
For Passes: https://theatlanticfestival.com