Festival Happened: The Atlantic Festival 2023

The Atlantic Festival

Meet Great Minds That Don’t Think Alike

The Atlantic Festival 2023

I have always been a fan of The Atlantic. It has great stories on a variety of topics from all sorts of interesting people. I mean where else can you read a story by Hillary Rodham Clinton on The Weaponization of Loneliness?? Or hear from one of the greats of our time, Clint Smith who writes on everything from American history to America’s pastime, soccer. So of course the line up at The Atlantic Festival was equally phenominal with Hillary expanding on her article but also giving a beautiful tribute to the recently deceased Dianne Feinstein, sharing some stories of their beautiful friendship. We got to enjoy Clint Smith in an awesome conversation with Kerry Washington about her new book, Thicker then Water (which is soo good, reading it now). I’m really glad they were recording since unfortunately I couldn’t be in multiple places at once. (Videos for Kerry Washington and Hillary Clinton linked at the end).

Visit Seattle brought in some incredible poets to share their work like Christian Paige – Emmy-Nominated Spoken-Word Poet, Professional Speaker, and Educator shared a poem about hearing his daughter’s heartbeat that was incredibly moving. All of the poetry was beautiful, I would have loved to hear about their process after hearing their work. I also got a couple of new books from Visit Seattle – “I’m in Seattle, Where are you?” by Mortada Gzar and “I Can Make This Promise” by Christine Day. You know I love a book!!

We got to spend 2 hours “In Pursuit of Happiness” with a forum featuring Atlantic contributing writer Arthur C. Brooks, the author Cheryl Strayed, the Harvard Medical School professor and author Robert Waldinger, the author and poet Cleo Wade, and freestyle+. We explored the science of happiness, the importance of self-love and vulnerability, active mindfulness, and how to build the life you want. Which is so beautifully aligned with the coaching training I just completed and the type of coach I want to be. I sat in because I’m a huge fan of Cleo Wade so I’m super excited that she has a new book coming called “Remember Love: Words for Tender Times”. If you are DC based, make sure you check out her upcoming book discussion with Symone Sanders-Townsend at THEARC: Town Hall Education Arts Recreation Campus powered by MahoganyBooks. Get your tickets here!!

I also got a chance to watch Bad Press which is a documentary about when the Muscogee Nation suddenly begins censoring its free press and a rogue reporter fights to expose her government’s corruption in a historic battle that will have ramifications for all of Indian country. I didn’t know what to expect but it exceeded what I had imagined. It was such an incredible story that I couldn’t believe I was just hearing about it. You should definitely check it out, it’s a story of great importance, especially with eveything going on right now.

The piece de resistance was Jemele Hill in conversation with Spike Lee. I have been a Spike Lee fan for as long as I can remember. He is an incredible artist and his work is amazing. Their convo actually inspired me to go back and revisit some of his earlier work now that I’m older and can appreciate it differently. It was a blast to watch them talk sports, share stories and just be great. It was also a masterclass in interviewing because Jemele did an incredible job of guiding the conversation while also letting Spike be Spike and just talk. It was a wonderful way to close out the day.

The Agenda:

Day One – THU, SEP 28
9:30 AM – Ideas Stage, featuring Nancy Pelosi, Kerry Washington, Antony Blinken, and more
11:45 AM – The Big Story: Preventing Gun Violence
11:45 AM – The Big Story: A Conversation With National Climate Adviser Ali Zaidi
12:15 PM – Leaps by Bayer Presents: Mind to Machine* UNDERWRITTEN BY LEAPS BY BAYER
12:30 PM – The Big Story: The Future of American Conservatism
1:00 PM – Ideas Stage, featuring Joaquin Castro, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Lonnie G. Bunch III, and more
2:30 PM – The Climate Summit: Building a More Sustainable Future – UNDERWRITTEN BY ALLSTATE
3:30 PM – Women of Washington – UNDERWRITTEN BY ELI LILLY
4:00 PM – Visit Seattle Presents: Strength and Poetry—Elevating Diverse Voices* – UNDERWRITTEN BY VISIT SEATTLE
4:30 PM – The Big Story: The Future of Major League Baseball
5:00 PM – Happy Hour
7:00 PM – Atlantic Watch: Big Vape: The Rise and Fall of Juul

Day Two – FRI, SEP 29
9:30 AM – Ideas Stage, featuring Mira Murati, Russell Moore, Spencer Cox, Hillary Clinton, and more
11:30 AM – The Atlantic Reads: Lauren Groff
11:45 AM – Genentech Presents: From Promise to Reality — What Would It Take to Transform Drug Discovery With AI?* – UNDERWRITTEN BY GENENTECH
12:00 PM – The Atlantic Reads: Jake Tapper
12:45 PM – The Small-Business Summit: Scaling Sustainably – UNDERWRITTEN BY GOLDMAN SACHS
1:00 PM – In Pursuit of Happiness
1:00 PM – A New Era of Public Safety: Rehabilitating a Broken System – UNDERWRITTEN BY MACARTHUR FOUNDATION
1:30 PM – The Big Story: Democracy at a Crossroads
3:00 PM – AI + Equity: A Health-Care Revolution
3:15 PM – America’s Race to a Clean-Energy Future – UNDERWRITTEN BY SOUTHERN COMPANY
3:15 PM – Atlantic Watch: Bad Press
5:30 PM – Radio Atlantic: Live
5:30 PM – Happy Hour
7:30 PM – Live Storytelling With Spike Lee and Jemele Hill