A Quarter Century of Impact
For twenty-five years, we have honored and promoted the legacy of Robert H. Jackson, U.S. Solicitor General, U.S. Attorney General, U.S. Supreme Court Justice, and Chief U.S. Prosecutor of the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg.
Visit the Jackson Center in Jamestown this summer for programs or a tour and engage with a unique kind of historical museum with unexpected modern relevance for students of all ages, educators, explorers... and you.
Only at Chautauqua does an audience engage in critical conversations on the matters that shape our world in 45 installments across nine weeks. I’m of course talking about our signature Chautauqua Lecture Series, “the 10:45” in the Amphitheater, which I have had the honor and privilege to steward for four cycles now. There is truly no other place — no speakers series, no conference or seminar, no elite mountaintop gathering — that even approaches the breadth and depth of the work we do together each summer. Thank you for your engagement each weekday morning, and for continuing the conversations over lunch and on porches through the rest of the day — and for taking the words and lessons you hear from our lecturers and putting them into action in your lives and home communities. That’s where the rubber meets the road in terms of Chautauqua’s true impact.
In 2026, wow, do we have an embarrassment of riches, and some truly Only at Chautauqua opportunities across our nine weeks:
— Renowned journalists Norah O’Donnell and Deborah Roberts will launch our 2026 season and our week on “Women Who Change the World” on June 29, in a Chautauqua-exclusive conversation on their
new books celebrating women.
— Joanna Stern, the rockstar former Wall Street Journal tech columnist turned media mogul, will join us on July 6 to open our week on “Charting a New Media Landscape” with remarks based on her just-released book on AI, I Am Not a Robot. (Joanna is also herself a Chautauquan!)
We’re proud once again to partner with the highly regarded think tanks American Enterprise Institute and Brookings Institution for a full week of conversations, July 13–17, on the issues shaping America’s upcoming midterm elections.
— Mark Wenzler and the Chautauqua Climate Change Initiative joined in the planning for the week on “Our Era Disposability,” July 20–24, and we can’t be happier to host luminaries such as Katharine K. Wilkinson (July 23) and Rainn Wilson (July 24).
— You’ve already heard from Deborah about some OAC cross-platform collaborations in our week celebrating artists, July 27–31 — and don’t miss best-selling author Fredrik Backman on July 31!
— What to say about our “America at 250” week? You already know about Ken Burns, Aug. 3 and 4. I should note and celebrate that our co-curator for this week has been Jeffrey Rosen, CEO emeritus of the National Constitution Center, and our 2025–26 Chautauqua Perry Fellow in Democracy — he is endlessly enthusiastic about Chautauqua and has been a critical partner.
— Amna Nawaz, also now a dear friend of Chautauqua, will convene a timely conversation on Iran during our week on “Global Power,” Aug. 11, with British Iranian actress Nazanin Boniadi and Karim Sadjadpour of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Stay tuned for more opportunities to engage with Amna in the very near future!
— You may remember “Food Week” from a few years back — in 2026 we are blessed with Food Weeks, plural! See the full plan for our 2026 Food Festival here. The lecture component features conversations on “The Future of Food,” and we’re honored to host “Next Level Chef” co-host Nyesha Arrington for a residency centered around her Aug. 18 appearance on the Amp stage.
— We close our time together by celebrating togetherness, exploring “The Importance of Gathering,” Aug. 24–28. Join us for a rich and meaningful week that we’ve been proud to plan in collaboration with the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, including the Chautauqua debut of renowned historian Henry Louis Gates Jr. (Aug. 26).
In just a matter of weeks, we will actively demonstrate and feel the importance of gathering, as we sit shoulder-to-shoulder on the Amp benches to take part in these timely and critical conversations. All our lecturers leave Chautauqua raving about all of you — thank you for your engagement.
— Jordan Steves
Across generations and geographies, women have sparked revolutions, reshaped norms and reimagined the possible. Chautauqua Institution itself has amplified many of their voices over its 150-plus years. In this week we celebrate iconic changemakers and unsung trailblazers alike — women whose courage, vision and defiance have rerouted history and continue to shape the future. What drives societal transformation, and what role have we seen women uniquely play in catalyzing it? How do we continue to empower and support girls, young women and emergent women leaders, and demonstrate that their success is not zero-sum — meaning at the expense of their male counterparts — but rather clearly beneficial to all?
Norah O’Donnell and Deborah Roberts
Monday, June 29th 2026 @ 10:45 am |$40
Two of America’s most respected television journalists help launch Chautauqua’s 2026 Summer Assembly and a week on “Icons and Instigators: Women Who Change the World” with a conversation based on their careers, and in particular new books by each that lift up and celebrate the strength, stories and bonds of women today as well as throughout American history.
Norah O’Donnell is an Emmy Award-winning “60 Minutes” contributing correspondent, with nearly 30 years of experience covering the most pivotal moments of our time. She has interviewed world leaders, reported from conflict zones and shaped national conversations on politics, global affairs and gender equity. As one of the most respected voices in journalism, with an exceptional ability to connect with leaders across industries, O’Donnell has earned a reputation for insightful, thought-provoking conversations that clarify complex issues. She has covered eight presidential elections, interviewed every living U.S. president, and, in 2024, conducted a historic interview with Pope Francis — his first-ever with an American journalist.
In February 2026, O’Donnell released We the Women: The Hidden Heroes Who Shaped America, a groundbreaking book that uncovers the hidden heroines of American history — women who shaped the nation’s path but were long overlooked.
A trailblazer in her own right, O’Donnell is one of only three women to ever solo anchor an evening network news broadcast, “CBS Evening News,” from 2019 to 2025. Previously, she co-hosted “CBS This Morning” and served as CBS News’ chief White House correspondent, covering the Obama administration. She began her career at NBC News, reporting from the Pentagon on 9/11 and later covering Congress and the White House. A champion for women in media, O’Donnell serves on the board of the International Women’s Media Foundation. Raised in a military family, she grew up across the U.S., Germany and South Korea.
O’Donnell’s investigative journalism has led to significant policy changes, particularly in her reporting on sexual assault in the U.S. military, which earned her a duPont-Columbia Award and Scripps Howard Award. She has also received multiple Edward R. Murrow Awards, a Sigma Delta Chi Award, and several Gracie Awards for her work in broadcast journalism.
Deborah Roberts is co-anchor of the venerable ABC news magazine “20/20” and an award-winning network correspondent. A media veteran who is celebrating her 30th anniversary at ABC News, Roberts regularly reports across ABC News programs and digital platforms. She hosts a weekly podcast, “20/20 The After Show,” and serves as a frequent correspondent and substitute anchor for “Good Morning America” and an occasional guest co-host on “The View.”
Roberts is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Sisters Loved and Treasured: Stories of Unbreakable Bonds and Lessons Learned and Cherished: The Teacher Who Changed My Life. She also coauthored a book with her husband, NBC anchor Al Roker, titled Been There, Done That: Family Wisdom for Modern Times.
At ABC News, Roberts plays a significant role in the network’s coverage of breaking news events. She reported from Vatican City for the death of Pope Francis and the historic election of the first-ever American Pope Leo XIV. She also reported from London, England for Queen Elizabeth II’s Jubilee and death in 2022, the funeral of President Jimmy Carter and the inauguration of President Donald Trump and Joe Biden reporting live from Washington, DC.
Roberts wide-ranging newsmaker interviews include former First Lady Michelle Obama; Grammy Award-winning superstars Elton John and Celine Dion; supermodel Brooke Shields, as well as Hollywood superstars Timotheé Chalamet, Elle Fanning, Amy Adams, Colin Farrell, Vanessa Williams, Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, and the casts of Hulu’s popular streaming programs “Only Murders in the Buildings” and “The Bear.”
Her reporting on “20/20” has taken her across the country investigating true crime stories where she regularly interviews the families of victims, law enforcement officials and the individuals at the center of national headlines like Gypsy Rose Blanchard.
Prior to joining “ABC News,” Roberts was a correspondent at “NBC News” where she reported for various NBC broadcasts.
Her in-depth coverage of current events has earned her a Peabody Award for the “20/20” special “Say Her Name: Breonna Taylor.” Additionally, Roberts has been awarded multiple Emmy Awards for international and national coverage of world events, including the AIDS crisis in Africa and maternal mortality in Bangladesh.
This program is made possible by Week One Presenting Sponsor Erie Insurance. This program is also supported by The Emily and Richard Smucker Lectureship Fund, The Barbara A. Georgescu Lectureship Endowment, and The Louise Roblee McCarthy Memorial Lectureship. Alyse Nelson with Vital Voices Fellows Tuesday, June 30th 2026 @ 10:45 am |$40
Continuing a week celebrating “Icons and Instigators: Women Who Change the World,” Chautauqua proudly welcome Alyse Nelson, CEO of Vital Voices, a non-profit founded on the simple idea that nations and communities cannot move forward without women’s voices in leadership positions. In addition to her solo remarks, Nelson will be joined onstage by several women leaders whose work Vital Voices has supported and championed; several of those leaders will also provide more in-depth presentations in separate engagements during the week as part of the Institution’s Masters Series.
Alyse Nelson is president and CEO of Vital Voices Global Partnership. As the co-founder, she has been with the organization
for more than 28 years, also serving as vice president and senior director of programs before assuming her current role in 2009. Under Nelson’s leadership, Vital Voices has directly served nearly 50,000 women leaders across 188 countries. Previously, Nelson served as deputy director of the State Department’s Vital Voices Global Democracy Initiative and worked with the President’s Interagency Council on Women at the White House. She is a regular speaker on leadership and global women’s issues, having spoken before the United Nations General Assembly, the Clinton Global Initiative, Fortune Most Powerful Women, Oxford Student Union, Forbes 30/50 and Women in the World, among others. She has conducted leadership training with women at the Central Intelligence Agency, DFID, the UK Development Agency, Fortune 1000 companies and at numerous conferences.
Nelson is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and served as an official Observer for the World Bank’s We-fi Initiative for Women Entrepreneurs. She serves on advisory boards of Chime for Change and Global Citizen. Fortune named Nelson one of the 55 Most Influential Women on Twitter and she was featured as one of Newsweek’s 150 Women Shaking the World. She is a recipient of the 2022 David Rockefeller Bridging Leadership Award, and, in 2018, Apolitical named her one of the most influential people in global gender policy. She was also honored in 2015 with a Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Award.
Nelson is the author of the best-selling book Vital Voices: The Power of Women Leading Change Around the World, and the editor of Vital Voices: 100 Women Using Their Power to Empower. She has been featured in various international and national media. She holds a B.A. from Emerson College and an M.A. from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.
Breeze Liu is a globally recognized activist and entrepreneur reshaping the global response to online abuse. She is the founder and CEO of Alecto AI, a groundbreaking company building AI-powered infrastructure to combat online image abuse. Through her nonprofit, the Alecto Foundation, she also leads survivor-centered policy reform and international coalition building.
As a survivor of both child sexual abuse material and deepfake abuse, Liu transformed personal trauma into structural change — spearheading the historic “Take It Down Act,” the first U.S. federal law to criminalize non-consensual intimate imagery and deepfake exploitation. Her leadership has redefined the legal and technological boundaries of digital human rights.
Liu has been invited by two U.S. presidents, Congress, the U.S. Department of Justice and the United Nations to speak on technology-facilitated gender-based violence. She serves as a key advisor to global coalitions on AI regulation and digital safety, and is widely recognized as a pioneering voice demanding accountability from some of the world’s most powerful platforms. Prior to founding Alecto AI, Liu led trust and safety initiatives in big tech and built a successful career in venture capital. A graduate of UC Berkeley in peace and conflict studies, she combines legal foresight, technical innovation and philosophical depth to build scalable systems of justice.
Leah Lizarondo is the vice president of global network and issue advocacy at Vital Voices with over 15-year of experience of entrepreneurship and global product/brand leadership in social enterprise, technology and consumer products. She has expertise in taking complex ideas to effectively message, mobilize and drive mass movement with a focus on climate action.
Prior to joining Vital Voices, Lizarondo co-founded 412 Food Rescue and founded Food Rescue Hero, a technology-enabled, peoplepowered movement against food waste, hunger and sustainability change. Her work at Food Rescue Hero has been recognized with the WE Empower UN SDG award and the Global Leadership award at Vital Voices. Her career has spanned global experience in technology, consumer goods and nonprofits.
Kakenya Ntaiya founded Kakenya’s Dream to educate girls, end harmful traditional practices including female genital mutilation and child marriage, and transform her community. In 2009, the Kakenya Center for Excellence boarding school opened its doors, serving 30 vulnerable Maasai girls. Today, Kakenya’s Dream reaches thousands of young girls, boys and community members across rural Kenya each year through three holistic, girl-centered programs.
Ntaiya is featured in Melinda Gates’s first book, The Moment of Lift. She is a proud Top Ten CNN Hero and National Geographic Emerging Explorer. She also received the Feminist Majority Global Women’s Rights Award from the Feminist Majority Foundation in 2013 and the Vital Voices Global Leadership Award in 2008. She was recognized by Women in the World as a “Woman of Impact,” and named one of Newsweek Magazine’s “150 Women Who Shake the World.”
When she was accepted to college in the United States, she promised her community she would use her education to serve her rural Kenyan village in exchange for their support. Ntaiya went on to earn her Ph.D. in education from the University of Pittsburgh and returned to her community to fulfill her promise.
Aline Sara is the co-founder and CEO of NaTakallam, an awardwinning social enterprise that hires displaced and conflict-affected persons as online tutors, teachers and translators. With a background in journalism, conflict resolution and human rights, Sara is leveraging technology to disrupt humanitarian aid and promote sustainable solutions to crises. Under Sara’s leadership, since 2015, NaTakallam has distributed more than $3.2 million in self-earned income to conflict-affected populations, enabling 500-plus translators and tutors to impact more than 16,000 users in 110-plus countries and more than 300 organizations, worldwide. NaTakallam not only creates sustainable income and meaningful employment but also promotes inclusive and equitable quality education, decent work and economic growth and reduced inequalities.
Sara’s work is inspired by her parents’ journey, as Lebanese immigrants who left their homeland in the midst of a fierce civil war and were welcomed to America, where they raised her and her brothers, safe and away from the violence. She is determined to help those unjustly impacted by conflict and persecution, all while helping those who are far from it to better comprehend it through dialogue, transformative education and cross-cultural understanding.
Sara is a Cartier Women’s Initiative, Summit and Halcyon fellow, and has been a speaker at numerous high-level events, including TechCrunch Berlin and several OECD, UN and World Bank conferences. She was named Woman Entrepreneur of the Year at the Elle Impact Awards and is a WE Empower Awardee for 2021. NaTakallam is the winner of several MIT, World Bank, Seedstars and other startup and social entrepreneur competitions.
Ariela Suster is the founder of SEQUENCE, a handcrafted accessories company that exclusively employs young people who are most vulnerable to gang recruitment and focuses on programs that support their personal and professional development.
Born and raised in El Salvador, Suster has lived a life tainted by the unexpected having grown up during the Salvadoran Civil War. No
stranger to violence, she saw firsthand the harrowing effects of war during a period that included the kidnapping of her brother, military invasions, shootings in her home, and car bombs in her neighborhood. Rocked to the core at an early age, Suster made a conscious decision to change the sequence of events that kept her country and its people in a pervasive cycle of violence and destruction.
Suster has successfully taken SEQUENCE beyond El Salvador using her unique brand of collaboration that has allowed her to form advantageous partnerships with entities like Microsoft, MAC Cosmetics, Universal Pictures, Bank of America, Deloitte and Vital Voices.
Suster graduated from Skidmore College and completed a Graduate Certificate Program at Harvard University.
This program is made possible by our generous sponsor Erie Insurance, and with support from The Richard W. and Jeannette D. Kahlenbergy Lectureship Fund and The June and Albert Bonyor Lectureship Fund.
Kerri Walsh Jennings and Tara VanDerveer
Wednesday, July 1st 2026 @ 10:45 am |$40
Continuing a weeklong celebration of “Icons and Instigators: Women Who Change History,” Chautauqua welcomes two Olympic gold medalists for a conversation on the state of women’s sports, and the outlook for emerging generations of women and girls in amateur and professional athletics.
Kerri Walsh Jennings is a five-time Olympian, three-time gold medalist, and one of the most accomplished athletes in beach volleyball history. A standout at Stanford, she was a four-time First Team All-American and helped lead the team to two NCAA championships, before making the jump to the U.S. indoor Olympic team in 2000.
After that, Jennings shifted to beach volleyball — and the game shifted with her. Partnering with Misty May-Treanor in 2001, the duo went on an unprecedented run: three Olympic gold medals, three World Championships, and a 112-match win streak that set a new standard for excellence in the sport.
Though she stepped away from Olympic competition in 2023, Jennings’ commitment to the sport is far from over. As a co-founder of Platform 1440 and a key stakeholder in the launch of Major League Volleyball, she’s working to grow the game and expand opportunities for athletes at every level. She is deeply invested in creating systems that push people to grow — on the court and beyond.
Tara VanDerveer is the second-winningest coach in NCAA basketball history, having cemented herself over a 45-year career as one of the top coaches in the sport, both collegiately and internationally. She is a member of both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. An ambassador for both Stanford University and the sport of college basketball, VanDerveer enjoyed an unprecedented level of success through an energetic and positive approach to the game. Prior to coming to Stanford, she served as head coach for Idaho and Ohio State.
Perhaps one of VanDerveer’s most notable attributes was her ability to connect with student-athletes and adapt to the ever-changing landscape of college athletics. Considered one of the nation’s premier recruiters, VanDerveer and her staff routinely brought top classes to The Farm. VanDerveer led her Stanford teams to three NCAA Championships. She built Stanford into a national power almost
immediately upon arrival and maintained an unparalleled level of success for over three and a half decades. Many of her players went on to have success at the professional level, winning numerous games and awards while playing in the WNBA.
In 1995–96 VanDerveer served as head coach of the USA Basketball National Team, leading the team to a 52-0 exhibition record and then to the Olympic gold medal with a perfect 8-0 run at the 1996 Atlanta Games. In 1997, she released her book Shooting From The Outside, which chronicled her 1996 Olympic and National Team experience. VanDerveer is a graduate of Indiana University and held one of the starting guard positions for three years on the women’s basketball team.
This program is made possible is made possible by our generous sponsor Erie Insurance, and with support from The Kathryn Sisson Phillips Memorial Lectureship Fund.
Sutton Foster and Kelli O’Hara
Thursday, July 2nd 2026 @ 10:45 am |$40
Continuing a weeklong conversation dedicated to “Icons and Instigators: Women Who Change the World,” the Chautauqua Lecture Series is proud to welcome Sutton Foster and Kelli O’Hara, two legendary stars of stage and screen, for a conversation on their lives and careers. The joint appearance and discussion will serve as a preview of the pair’s performance with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra later that evening.
Sutton Foster is a Tony Award–winning actress, singer, and dancer who most recently starred in an acclaimed turn as Princess Winnifred in the Broadway revival of Once Upon a Mattress at the Hudson Theatre. Foster reprised the role after leading the critically adored adaptation at New York City Center Encores!, and traveled with the show for a limited run at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles. Foster previously starred as Mrs. Lovett opposite Aaron Tveit in the Tony Award–winning Broadway revival of “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre.
The two-time Tony-winning actress appeared as Marian Paroo in the 2022 Broadway revival of The Music Man at the Winter Garden Theatre; her performance earned her seventh Tony award nomination and the 2022 Drama League Distinguished Performance Award. In 2021 she reprised the role of Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes at London’s Barbican Theatre, earning an Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical. That same year she released her debut memoir, Hooked: How Crafting Saved My Life.
Foster’s Broadway credits include Violet, Anything Goes (Tony Award), Shrek, Young Frankenstein, The Drowsy Chaperone, Little Women, Thoroughly Modern Millie (Tony Award), Les Misérables, Annie, The Scarlet Pimpernel and Grease. Her Off-Broadway appearances included Sweet Charity, The Wild Party, Trust and Anyone Can Whistle. On television, she led the critically acclaimed TV Land series “Younger” for seven seasons, making it the longestrunning original series in the network’s history. Additional television credits include “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and “Bunheads.” Her solo recordings include Take Me to the World, Wish and An Evening with Sutton Foster: Live at the Café Carlyle. She holds an honorary doctorate from Ball State University, where she teaches.
Kelli O’Hara is a Tony Award winner, and Emmy-, SAG- and Grammy-nominated actress. She has appeared in 12 Broadway shows for which she has garnered eight Tony Award nominations. O’Hara
starred in the critically acclaimed, limited Broadway engagement of the new musical “Days of Wine and Roses.” Most recently, she starred opposite Tom Hanks in the world premiere of the Off-Broadway play “This World of Tomorrow” and can be seen in the new CBS series “Sheriff Country.” Spring 2026 marks the Broadway return of O’Hara in the revival of “Fallen Angels.”
O’Hara won the 2015 Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical, along with Grammy, Drama League and Outer Critics nominations for The King and I. O’Hara’s other Broadway credits include Kiss Me Kate, The Bridges of Madison County, Nice Work if You Can Get It, South Pacific, The Pajama Game, The Light in the Piazza, Sweet Smell of Success, Follies, Dracula and Jekyll & Hyde.
O’Hara received an Emmy Award nomination for Topic’s “The Accidental Wolf,” and can currently be seen on HBO’s SAG award nominee “The Gilded Age.” Additional film and television credits include “Master of Sex,” “13 Reasons Why,” “Blue Bloods,” “All My Children,” “All the Bright Places,” “Peter Pan Live!,” “Sex & The City 2,” Martin Scorsese’s “The Key to Reserva,” “The Good Fight,” “Numb3rs” and “Car Talk.” In 2015, she was the first artist to make the crossover from Broadway to opera when she made her Metropolitan Opera debut in Lehar’s The Merry Widow, returning later in Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte as well as Kevin Puts’ The Hours, which earned a Grammy nomination.
O’Hara is a frequent performer on PBS’s live telecasts and the Kennedy Center Honors, and performs often alongside the New York Philharmonic and the New York Pops. Along with her two Grammy nominations, her solo albums, Always and Wonder in the World, are available on Ghostlight.
This program is made possible by our generous sponsor Erie Insurance, and with support from The Carnahan-Jackson Lectureship.
Friday, July 3rd 2026 @ 10:45 am |$40
Sylvia Earle is the president and chairman of Mission Blue, an explorer at large at the National Geographic Society, founder of Deep Ocean Exploration and Research Inc. (DOER), chair of the Advisory Council for the Harte Research Institute and former chief scientist of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). A legendary marine biologist and trailblazer for women in science, “Her Deepness” is considered the grande dame of the oceans. She closes Chautauqua’s week on “Icons and Instigators: Women Who Change the World,” with stories and insights from her remarkable, singular career.
The author of more than 225 publications and leader of more than 100 expeditions with over 7,500 hours underwater, Earle has focused her life’s research on the ecology and conservation of marine ecosystems and development of technology for access to the deep sea. She was one of the first people to adopt scuba diving equipment in the U.S. and pioneered submersibles in the ocean.
Through her organization, Mission Blue, Earle has fostered a global network of marine protected areas called Hope Spots. Working beyond borders and ideologies, she has advised heads of state on marine protection legislation and water crisis response. Earle is the subject of the Emmy Award-winning Netflix documentary “Mission Blue,” and is the recipient of more than 100 national and international honors and awards.
Earle was named Time Magazine’s first Hero for the Planet, a Living Legend by the Library of Congress, 2014 UNEP Champion of the Earth, Glamour Magazine’s 2014 Woman of the Year, member of the Netherlands Order of the Golden Ark, winner of the 2009 TED
Prize, the Walter Cronkite Award, the 1996 Explorers Club Medal, the Royal Geographic Society 2011 Patron’s Medal, and the National Geographic 2013 Hubbard Medal. Earle is a graduate of Florida State University, with master’s and doctoral degrees from Duke University, along with 32 honorary degrees. This program is made possible by our generous sponsor Erie Insurance, and with support from The Sue Hammond Innes Lectureship in Science and The Ethel Paris and Theodore Albert Viehe Lectureship.
The way we produce and consume news is changing fast — shaped by established and emerging digital platforms, evolving audience consumption habits and rapidly shifting business models. As trust in traditional media declines and misinformation rises, how do we ensure a healthy press — and an informed public? During a summer in which we celebrate the 150th birthday of our beloved community newspaper, The Chautauquan Daily, Chautauqua in this week brings together journalists, media entrepreneurs and analysts to explore what’s next for news: from independent outlets and nonprofit models to the role of AI and algorithms in shaping public discourse. Our conversation will dive into how the news is framed, who gets a platform, and how emerging storytellers are reshaping what journalism looks like. From TikTok newsrooms to longform investigations, it’s a new media moment.
Joanna Stern
Monday, July 6th 2026 @ 10:45 am |$40
Joanna Stern is an Emmy Award-winning technology journalist. She opens Chautauqua’s week of “Charting a New Media Landscape” with remarks inspired by her new book I Am Not a Robot: My Year Using AI to Do (Almost) Everything and the launch of her own new media company. Drawing on a year of real-world experiments with AI tools — and the practical results — she will explore how generative AI is changing reporting, storytelling, editing, audience growth and the business of journalism. Stern will look at what’s gained, what’s at risk and what new rules and skills media organizations and individual journalists will need as AI blurs the lines between fact and fiction.
Previously, Stern spent 12 years at The Wall Street Journal, where her personal technology columns and video series made her one of the most-watched voices in consumer tech. Now running her own new media company, she produces videos and newsletters that help people navigate the tech reshaping daily life.
Stern’s 2021 documentary “E-Ternal” won an Emmy for Outstanding Science, Technology or Environmental Coverage. A two-time Gerald Loeb Award winner and Pulitzer finalist, she often appears on national television, radio, and podcasts such as “The Vergecast.” She previously served as a technology editor at ABC News and The Verge. Stern lives in New Jersey with her wife, sons, dog, and more gadgets than a Best Buy.
This program is made possible by The Kevin and Joan Keogh Family Fund.
Chuck Todd
Tuesday, July 7th 2026 @ 10:45 am |$40
Chuck Todd is one of America’s foremost experts on American politics. A seasoned political journalist and analyst known for his sharp insight, he is the host of “The ChuckToddCast,” a weekly podcast offering indepth interviews with political figures, experts, and thought leaders. He is currently the head of politics and host of “Sunday Night with Chuck Todd” for the Noosphere app, where he aims to continue his legacy of delivering impactful political analysis and fostering engaging conversations with leaders shaping the future of American politics. He is also the inaugural Scholar-in-Residence for the University of Southern California’s Capital Campus, in Washington, D.C., where he teaches about how Washington works. Todd joins Chautauqua’s week “Charting a New Media Landscape” to help survey the landscape of legacy national media institutions, and how forces both within and beyond their control are shaping their news-gathering operations, values and standards, and overall business models.
A six-time Emmy Award winner, Todd was NBC News’s chief political analyst and moderator of “Meet the Press” from 2014 to 2023. Known for his sharp insight and knowledge of politics, Todd has co-moderated multiple presidential debates, including the recordbreaking 2019 and 2020 Democratic debates. He previously served as NBC News’s chief White House correspondent from 2008 to 2014 and hosted “The Daily Rundown” on MSNBC. In 2007, he joined NBC News as political director after 15 years at The Hotline, where he served as editor-in-chief. Todd was also the founding managing editor for The Sports Business Daily in 1994, now known as The Sports Business Journal.
Todd is the author of two books: How Barack Obama Won, coauthored in 2009, and The Stranger: Barack Obama in the White House, released in 2014. He has contributed to The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Atlantic.
This program is made possible by the generous support of The George and Julia Follansbee Family Fund.
Jason Riley Wednesday, July 8th 2026 @ 10:45 am |$40
Jason Riley is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and the “Upward Mobility” opinion columnist for The Wall Street Journal, where he has written about politics, economics, education, immigration and social inequality for more than 25 years. He’s also a frequent public speaker and provides commentary for television and radio news outlets, and he joins the 2026 Chautauqua Lecture Series for the Week Two theme “Breaking the News: Charting a New Media Landscape.”
Riley is the author of six books. In 2008 he published Let Them In, which argues for more legal immigration. His second book, Please Stop Helping Us, is about government efforts to help the Black underclass and was published in 2014. In 2017 he published False Black Power?, an assessment of why Black political success has not translated into more economic advancement. In 2021 he published Maverick, a biography of the iconic economist and social theorist Thomas Sowell and narrated the documentary film “Thomas Sowell: Common Sense in a Senseless World.” In 2022 he published The Black Boom, an analysis of Black economic progress prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. His most recent book, The Affirmative Action
Myth: Why Black Don’t Need Racial Preferences to Succeed, was published in 2025.
Riley earned a bachelor’s degree in English from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He has also worked for USA Today and the Buffalo News.
This program is made possible by the generous support of The John M. Wadsworth Lectureship on Free Market and Libertarian Principles and Hirtle & Co.
Paula Kerger Thursday, July 9th 2026 @ 10:45 am |$40
Paula Kerger is president and chief executive officer of PBS, the nation’s largest noncommercial media organization representing more than 330 member stations throughout the country. She also serves as president of the PBS Foundation, which provides a significant source of revenue for projects that benefit the entire public television system. Kerger joins Chautauqua’s series on “Charting a New Media Landscape” to share thoughts on the state of public media in the United States nationally, regionally and locally.
As the longest serving president and CEO in PBS history, Kerger has led the transformation of PBS from a broadcaster to a multiplatform digital media organization which delivers on public television’s essential mission of education, inspiration and service to the American public. Under her leadership, PBS has grown its audiences across genres and platforms. Kerger has also deepened PBS’ impact, from providing universal access to early learning resources through the PBS KIDS broadcast and streaming channels, to empowering educators with digital resources through PBS LearningMedia. Programs on PBS are consistently recognized with the industry’s most prestigious honors, including Peabody, Emmy and Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University awards.
Kerger is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Women’s Forum. Prior to joining PBS, Kerger served for more than a decade at the Educational Broadcasting Corporation (EBC), the parent company of Thirteen/WNET and WLIW21 New York, where her ultimate position was executive vice president and chief operating officer. Kerger received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Baltimore. She has received numerous honorary doctorates. At the University of North Carolina Asheville, she received the Chancellor’s Medallion and at the Darden School at the University of Virginia, she served as a DC Fellow.
This program is made possible by the generous support of The Eleanor Fund Leadership Endowment and the Susie Leibowitz Kuhn Endowment Fund for Chautauqua.
Neil deGrasse Tyson and Scott Hamilton Kennedy
Friday, July 10th 2026 @ 10:45 am |$45
World-renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and filmmaker Scott Hamilton Kennedy have twice joined forces to confront the twin crises of misinformation and science denial. Their documentaries — “Food Evolution,” which resets the GMO debate, and “Shot in the Arm,” begun in 2019 as measles resurged and transformed by COVID-19 — show how narrative can rescue facts from the fog of controversy and rekindle public trust in science. The pair will close the Chautauqua
Lecture Series week dedicated to “Breaking the News: Charting a New Media Landscape” with a conversation on trust and media literacy, with lessons and tips on how to be a good consumer of information and news.
Neil deGrasse Tyson is an astrophysicist and the director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History, where he has served since 1996. Collaborating with Scott Hamilton Kennedy of Black Valley Films, Tyson is the executive producer of “Shot in the Arm” and narrator of “Food Evolution.”
He is the author of 19 books, including the New York Times bestsellers Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization and Astrophysics for People in a Hurry. His latest work, Just Visiting This Planet, was released in October 2025.
Tyson is the two-time host of the beloved TV series “Cosmos” — rebooting the original 1980 series hosted by Carl Sagan. He is also the host and cofounder of the popular Emmy-nominated podcast “StarTalk,” which combines science, humor, and pop culture. 2026 marks the 17th anniversary of “StarTalk.”
Tyson is a recipient of 28 honorary degrees, the Public Welfare Medal from the National Academy of Sciences, and the Distinguished Public Service Medal from NASA. Asteroid 13123 Tyson is named in his honor. He lives in New York City.
Scott Hamilton Kennedy is an Academy Award–nominated filmmaker, director, journalist and educator. He founded the production company, Black Valley Films. In addition to “Shot in the Arm” and “Food Evolution,” Kennedy’s other work includes the Oscar-nominated documentary “The Garden,” the Independent Spirit–nominated “OT: Our Town” and the fan-favorite “Fame High.”
With “Food Evolution” and “Shot in the Arm,” Kennedy focused on the collision between scientific evidence and public perception, beginning his collaboration with Tyson. “Food Evolution” mapped the early contours of science denialism around food, while “Shot in the Arm” captured vaccine hesitancy and the social fractures revealed by COVID-19. Together, the films anticipated the rise of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement. The filmmaker Kennedy’s work continues this trajectory with “Toxic,” investigating the machinery of disinformation, and “A More Perfect Union,” a civic-literacy initiative designed to help audiences navigate the information ecosystem and rebuild trust. Kennedy approaches all his work with the belief that storytelling is a public service—one of humanity’s most powerful tools for understanding and repairing the world.
This program is made possible by the generous support of the Selina and Walter Braham Lectureship and the David and Joan Lincoln Family Fund for Applied Ethics.
THE 2026 ELECTION: WHAT’S AT STAKE?
A Week in Partnership with American Enterprise Institute and Brookings Institution
As voters prepare for an election year, the American political landscape is shifting beneath our feet. With all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and a third of the Senate on the ballot — and early signals emerging about the 2028 presidential race — this week explores the issues galvanizing voters across the ideological spectrum. AEI and Brookings experts show the way, in the Chautauqua tradition of sharing diverse and divergent perspectives in good-faith, goodhumored conversation.
Marcela Escobari and Charles Lane Monday, July 13th 2026 @ 10:45 am |$40
Marcela Escobari and Charles Lane are two of the nation’s leading experts in immigration, migration and asylum policy. The pair will present in tandem, building on the Chautauqua Lecture Series theme of “The 2026 Election: What’s at Stake?,” with an examination of our national dialogue on immigration as the election approaches — and, ultimately, the impact of immigration politics and policies on real people. The program opens a five-part weeklong series presented at Chautauqua in partnership with the American Enterprise Institute and Brookings Institution, each program featuring experts from both organizations.
Marcela Escobari is a senior fellow in the Global Economy and Development program at Brookings. She has been twice confirmed by the U.S. Senate under Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and most recently served in the White House National Security Council as special assistant to the president and coordinator for the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection. In this role, Escobari led efforts to promote safe, orderly and humane migration and advance a collaborative, regional response to the displacement of more than 8 million people across Latin America and the Caribbean. This regional response contributed to a more-than-70% decrease in irregular migration at the U.S. border in 2024, helping stabilize and integrate over 4.5 million migrants and refugees within Latin America.
From 2021 to 2024, Escobari was assistant administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean, a position she also held from 2016 to 2017 as the first woman to serve in this role. Previously, as a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, she launched the Workforce of the Future initiative focused on identifying policies to restore opportunity and enable inclusive growth in U.S. cities and states in the wake of globalization and COVID-19.
Before joining government, Escobari was the executive director of Harvard’s Center for International Development. Her honors include Freedom House’s 2024 Mark Palmer Prize for diplomats and civil servants whose work has advanced democracy and human rights.
Charles Lane is a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he focuses on American politics, American culture, and asylum policy. He also serves as a columnist for The Free Press. Before joining AEI, Lane held several positions at The Washington Post, where he was a staff writer covering the United States Supreme Court, an editorial board member and columnist, and the deputy opinion editor. He was previously the editor of The New Republic and the Berlin bureau chief, the general editor, and a San Salvadorbased correspondent for Newsweek.
Lane’s writing has appeared extensively in the popular press, including in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, City Journal, National Affairs, The Atlantic, Los Angeles Times and The Wall Street Journal. He is also the author of Freedom’s Detective: The Secret Service, the Ku Klux Klan and the Man Who Masterminded America’s First War on Terror; Stay of Execution: Saving the Death Penalty from Itself; and The Day Freedom Died: The Colfax Massacre, the Supreme Court, and the Betrayal of Reconstruction.
Lane has a master’s degree in law from Yale University and a bachelor’s degree in social studies from Harvard University. This program is made possible by the generous support of the Dr. Edwin Prince Booth Memorial Lectureship Fund.
James C. Capretta and Matthew Fiedler
Tuesday, July 14th 2026 @ 10:45 am |$40
The Chautauqua Lecture Series continues its theme dedicated to “The 2026 Election: What’s at Stake?” with scholars James Capretta and Matthew Fiedler in conversation, sharing their expertise on the state of health care and health policy in the United States. The program is the second in a five-part weeklong series presented at Chautauqua in partnership with the American Enterprise Institute and Brookings Institution, each featuring experts from both organizations.
James C. Capretta is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute where he studies and comments on U.S. health care, entitlement, and fiscal policy. He also serves as a senior adviser to the Bipartisan Policy Center. He previously held senior staff positions at the Office of Management and Budget and in Congress, primarily at the Senate Budget Committee. He is the author of US Health Policy and Market Reforms: An Introduction, published by AEI Press in 2022, along with numerous other book chapters, papers, and articles.
Matthew Fiedler is the Joseph A. Pechman Senior Fellow in Economic Studies and a senior fellow with the Center on Health Policy at Brookings. His research examines a range of topics in health care economics and health care policy. Prior to joining the Brookings Institution in January 2017, Fiedler served as Chief Economist for the Council of Economic Advisers, where he oversaw the Council’s work on health care policy, including implementation of the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance and health care payment reforms. Fiedler holds a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University and a B.A. in mathematics and economics from Swarthmore College.
This program is made possible by the generous support of the Donald West King, Sr. and Francis Lila Lee King Lectureship and The Thomas L. Hagner and Linda Ulrich-Hagner Lectureship Fund.
Ben Harris and James Pethokoukis
Wednesday, July 15th 2026 @ 10:45 am |$40
The Chautauqua Lecture Series continues a weeklong exploration of “The 2026 Election: What’s at Stake?” with scholars Ben Harris and James Pethokoukis, sharing their expertise on the state of the economy and economic policy in the United States. The program is the third in a five-part weeklong series presented at Chautauqua in partnership with the American Enterprise Institute and Brookings Institution, each featuring experts from both organizations. Ben Harris is the vice president and director of Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution, where he also holds the Bruce and Virginia MacLaury Chair. As a scholar, Harris focuses on public finance and macroeconomics, and is widely published in academic journals, policy outlets and the popular press — including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post — and is a regular guest on cable television. With Martin Baily, he is the author of the book The Retirement Challenge: What’s Wrong with America’s System and a Sensible Way to Fix It.
Harris has extensive experience in senior public sector roles. Most recently, he was assistant secretary for economic policy and chief economist at the Treasury Department, chief economist and economic adviser to the Vice President of the United States, and a
senior economist with the Council of Economic Advisers during the Obama administration. Harris was also the senior economist with the U.S. House of Representatives Budget Committee.
In addition to his public service, Harris has worked extensively in think tanks, academia and the private sector. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from George Washington University, a Master’s degree in economics from Cornell University, a master’s degree in quantitative methods from Columbia University, and a bachelor’s degree from Tufts University. He was also a Fulbright Scholar to Namibia in 2000. For his Treasury Department service, Harris was awarded the prestigious Alexander Hamilton Award by Secretary Janet Yellen.
James Pethokoukis is a senior fellow and the DeWitt Wallace Chair at the American Enterprise Institute, where he analyzes U.S. economic policy, writes and edits the “AEIdeas” blog, and hosts AEI’s “Political Economy” podcast. He is also a contributor to CNBC and writes the “Faster, Please!” newsletter on Substack. Before joining AEI, Pethokoukis was the Washington columnist for “Breakingviews,” the opinion and commentary wing of Thomson Reuters. Earlier, he was the business editor and economics columnist for U.S. News & World Report.
Pethokoukis is the author of The Conservative Futurist: How to Create the Sci-Fi World We Were Promised. He has also written for many publications, including The Atlantic, Commentary, Financial Times, Investor’s Business Daily, National Review, the New York Post, The New York Times, USA Today and The Week. His numerous broadcast appearances include CNBC, CNN, Fox Business, Fox News, MSNBC, and PBS.
A graduate of Northwestern University and the Medill School of Journalism, Pethokoukis is a 2002 Jeopardy! champion.
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This program is made possible by the generous support of the David and Wendy Barensfeld Lectureship Fund.
Christine Emba and E.J. Dionne, Jr.
Thursday, July 16th 2026 @ 10:45 am |$40
Leading the fourth installment of a five-part weeklong deep dive into “The 2026 Election: What’s at Stake?,” renowned scholars E.J. Dionne, Jr. and Christine Emba join in conversation for a deeper look into the role of culture in American public and political life, particularly addressing the generational differences and divides that show up in these deeply intertwined components of our national dialogue. The program is presented at Chautauqua in partnership with the American Enterprise Institute and Brookings Institution, each featuring experts from both organizations. Later in the day at 2:00 p.m., Dionne will be speaking at the Hall of Philosophy for the Interfaith Lecture Series.
E.J. Dionne, Jr. is a senior fellow and the W. Averell Harriman Chair in American Governance in the Governance Studies program at Brookings. He is also a Distinguished University Professor in the Foundations of Democracy and Culture at Georgetown University, affiliated with the McCourt School of Public Policy, and a contributing columnist to The New York Times.
Dionne began his career with The New York Times, reporting on state and local government, national politics, and from around the world, including stints in Paris, Rome, and Beirut. In 1990, Dionne joined The Washington Post as a reporter covering national politics, and was a columnist for The Post from 1993 to 2025, when he became a Times contributor. He was an NPR commentator for two decades.
His 1991 best-selling book, Why Americans Hate Politics, won The Los Angeles Times book prize, and was a National Book Award nominee. He is the author and co-author of eight other books, editor and co-editor of six volumes published by the Brookings Institution Press and co-editor of a collection of the speeches made by Barack Obama.
Dionne has received numerous awards, including the American Political Science Association’s Carey McWilliams Award, Volunteers of America Empathy Award, the National Human Services Assembly’s Award for Excellence by a Member of the Media and the Sidney Hillman Foundation’s Hillman Award for Career Achievement. He has been named among the 25 most influential Washington journalists by the National Journal and among the capital city’s top 50 journalists by the Washingtonian magazine. He was elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Dionne grew up in Fall River, Mass. He graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. from Harvard University and received his doctorate from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.
Christine Emba is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where her work focuses on gender and sexuality, feminism, masculinity, youth culture and social norms. She is concurrently a contributing writer at The New York Times and a senior fellow at the Georgetown University Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life.
Emba is a contributing editor at Comment Magazine, a board member at the American Institute for Boys and Men and an editor-at-large at Wisdom of Crowds. She is the author of Rethinking Sex: A Provocation.
Before joining AEI, Emba was a staff writer at The Atlantic, a columnist and editor at The Washington Post, a Hilton Kramer Fellow in Criticism at The New Criterion and a deputy editor at The Economist Intelligence Unit.
Emba has a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University. She was named one of the world’s top-50 thinkers by Prospect Magazine in 2022 and received the National Press Club’s Nell Minow Award for Cultural Criticism in 2024.
This program is made possible by the generous support of The Dr. Robert R. Hesse Lectureship and the H. David Faust Leadership Fund.
Kevin R. Kosar and Kathryn Dunn Tenpas Friday, July 17th 2026 @ 10:45 am |$40
Kevin R. Kosar and Kathryn Dunn Tenpas, two of the nation’s leading experts in the workings of the U.S. federal government, governance, and interbranch relations, will present in tandem on the state of the federal government, federalism and U.S. elections. The program concludes the Chautauqua Lecture Series weeklong exploration of “The 2026 Election: What’s at Stake?,” a fivepart series at Chautauqua in partnership with the American Enterprise Institute and Brookings Institution, with each program featuring experts from both organizations.
Kathryn Dunn Tenpas is a visiting fellow in Governance Studies and director of the Initiative on Improving Interbranch Relations and Government. She also serves as a practitioner senior fellow at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center and on the Advisory Board of the White House Transition Project. Tenpas’ research addresses the intersection between the presidency and politics, focusing on presidential personnel, Senate-confirmed appointments, transitions, re-election campaigns and trends in presidential travel and polling. Her studies of White House staffing include an original database that tracks turnover rates among senior staffers. In addition, she has written or coauthored pieces on key units within the White House (Office of Political Affairs, Staff Secretary, Counsel’s Office, Faithbased and Community Initiatives and the Office of the First Lady).
Tenpas is author of Presidents as Candidates: Inside the White House for the Presidential Campaign, and has published articles, book chapters, blog posts, op-eds and papers on a variety of presidencyrelated topics. Her insights on the presidency have been quoted in major newspapers, and she has appeared on numerous television and radio outlets in the United States and abroad.
Tenpas’ academic positions have included the directorship of the University of Pennsylvania’s Washington Semester Program, senior fellow at the Weidenbaum Center at Washington University in St. Louis, and an associate professorship in the Department of Government and International Affairs at the University of South Florida. While there, she won an undergraduate teaching award, directed the Political Science Honors Program and the Washington, D.C. internship program. Tenpas earned her bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University in 1985, and her master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Virginia.
Kevin R. Kosar is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he studies the U.S. Congress, the administrative state, American politics, election reform, and the U.S. Postal Service. He edits UnderstandingCongress.org and hosts the “Understanding Congress” podcast. Before joining AEI, Kosar was at the R Street Institute, where he served as vice president of policy, vice president of research
partnerships, and senior fellow and director of the Governance Project. He also cofounded the Legislative Branch Capacity Working Group, a transpartisan project to strengthen the legislative branch. Earlier, Kosar spent more than a decade working for the Congressional Research Service, where he focused on a wide range of public administration issues. He has also taught public policy at New York University and lectured on public administration at Metropolitan College of New York. His books include Congress Overwhelmed: The Decline in Congressional Capacity and Prospects for Reform; Unleashing Opportunity: Policy Reforms for an Accountable Administrative State; Moonshine: A Global History; Ronald Reagan and Education Policy; Whiskey: A Global History; Failing Grades: The Federal Politics of Education Standards; and Bridging the Gap: Higher Education and Career-Centered Welfare Reform. He also wrote the prefaces to the recently republished The Unheavenly City Revisited and Government Project by Edward C. Banfield.
Kosar has testified before Congress and has been widely published in scholarly journals; his articles and opinion pieces have appeared in a number of popular press outlets and he has made a number of broadcast appearances. He earned a doctorate and a master’s in politics from New York University and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Ohio State University. This program is made possible by the generous support of the Gwin Family Fund.
In a world where phones are upgraded yearly, appliances aren’t built to last, and new cars are essentially rolling computers that require a manufacturer willing to continue providing software updates, even our most expensive possessions are treated as disposable. In this week in partnership with the Chautauqua Climate Change Initiative, Chautauqua convenes a timely exploration of the cost of convenience. We will explore how disposability has crept into every corner of modern life, from fast fashion and single-use plastics to electronics, vehicles and furniture. What are the economic, environmental and ethical costs of this mindset — and what would it take to reverse course? Join designers, economists and environmental advocates for a conversation about durability, repair culture and reimagining value in a throwaway age.
David
Monday, July 20th 2026 @ 10:45 am |$40
David Wallace-Wells is an acclaimed columnist and staff writer for The New York Times. Neither a scientist nor an environmental activist per se, Wallace-Wells is a celebrated climate change speaker and journalist who uses the power of storytelling to move the needle on climate action. He also writes a weekly newsletter on climate change, technology and the future of the planet, themes that will frame his lecture opening Chautauqua’s Week Four theme, “Wasted: Our Era of Disposability.”
Wallace-Wells is the author of The New York Times bestselling book about the consequences of global warming, The Uninhabitable Earth. His book looks beyond what needs to be done, to consider what the world will actually look like if we don’t move fast. It predicted much of the dizzying, disorienting situation we’re in now — not just the growth of pandemics, but the cascading way that multiple climatefueled crises undermine our ability to respond effectively to any single
one. He highlights that stabilizing the world’s climate is the underlying solution that also can achieve prosperity, justice and equality of all kinds.
He has also written widely on the Covid-19 pandemic, bringing vital reporting and analysis to science and policy coverage. Wallace-Wells was previously the deputy editor at New York magazine, where he wrote a column on climate change, and where his viral cover story “The Uninhabitable Earth” was met with widespread acclaim, paving the way for his book. Formerly the deputy editor of The Paris Review, and a National Fellow at the New America Foundation, he was the co-host of the podcast “2038,” which interrogated predictions about the next two decades.
This program is made possible by the generous support of the Barbara R. Foorman Science Literacy Endowment.
Aja Barber
Tuesday, July 21st 2026 @ 10:45 am |$40
Aja Barber is a writer and sustainability consultant focusing on the intersections of sustainability, fashion, and the textile industry. Her work explores the traditions of privilege, wealth inequality, racism, feminism, colonialism, and how these systems of power affect our buying habits.
Consumed is her debut book, a treatise on the state of fashion, climate change, and social justice. The book reveals the endemic injustices in our consumer industries, the uncomfortable history of the textile industry, and how oppressive systems help create a lack of diversity and equality in the fashion industry. Independent booksellers across the UK and Ireland voted to include Consumed on the nonfiction shortlist for the Indie Book Awards 2023.
Barber has written for The Guardian, CNN, Selfridges, Eco-Age, and a host of other sites. She contributed to “No Offence But…” by Gina Martin. She is currently working on a novel acquired by Brazen Books. Originally from Reston, Virginia, Barber currently lives in South East London. In addition to her other work, Barber is a contributing editor for Elle UK. Her Patreon newsletter has been going since 2018 and was the first slow fashion newsletter of this type.
This program is made possible by the generous support of the Marjorie and Frank Sterritte Memorial Lectureship and the Travis E. and Betty J. Halford Lectureship Endowment.
Ron Gonen
Wednesday, July 22nd 2026 @ 10:45 am |$40
Ron Gonen is the founder and CEO of Closed Loop Partners, a firm at the forefront of building the circular economy. Closed Loop Partners is comprised of an asset management business, innovation center and operating group that builds and operates circular economy infrastructure, including the largest privately held recycling company in the U.S. It is this work that will inform his presentation during Week Four of the Chautauqua Lecture Series, themed “Wasted: Our Era of Disposability,” with thoughts on how industry can embrace sustainability to chart a path for a healthier planet — and immense business opportunity.
Gonen is the author of the book, The Waste Free World: How the Circular Economy Will Take Less, Make More, and Save the Planet, in addition to several technology and environmental science patents. Prior to founding Closed Loop Partners, he served as the deputy
commissioner for sanitation, recycling and sustainability in New York City during the Bloomberg administration. In this role, he oversaw the collection and processing of paper, metal, glass, plastic, textile waste, electronic waste, organics and hazardous waste, as well as public policy. During his tenure, he was recognized by the Natural Resources Defense Council/Earth Day NY as the Public Official of the Year.
Gonen founded his first recycling company in 2002. The companies he has led have been recognized as innovators in sustainable business practices. Awards include The Conference of Mayors Public/ Private Partnership of the Year, Technology Pioneer from the World Economic Forum and The Wall Street Journal’s No. 1 Venture Backed Cleantech Company of The Year. He earned an MBA from Columbia Business School and later served as an adjunct professor. This program is made possible by the generous support of The Crawford N. and May Sellstrom Bargar Lectureship in Business and Economics and the Robert S. Bargar Memorial Lectureship.
Katharine K. Wilkinson
Thursday, July 23rd 2026 @ 10:45 am |$40
Katharine K. Wilkinson is a human on Earth.
As a bestselling writer, teacher and climate expert, she has inspired hundreds of thousands of climate journeys through transformational projects that shift our cultural narratives about what’s possible and nurture engagement in renewing our world. Her books include Climate Wayfinding — called “invaluable” by frequent Chautauqua lecturer Bill McKibben — the bestselling anthology All We Can Save and the New York Times bestseller Drawdown. Her remarks contributing to Chautauqua’s exploration of “Our Era of Disposability” will draw from Climate Wayfinding, which was released in May 2026.
Wilkinson co-founded and leads The All We Can Save Project, where she shaped the much-beloved programs All We Can Save Circles and Climate Wayfinding. She also co-hosts the podcast “A Matter of Degrees” and writes the newsletter “Human on Earth.” Previously, Wilkinson was the principal writer and editor-in-chief at Project Drawdown. With a singular blend of warmth and rigor, she facilitates and speaks widely — including a TED Talk with more than 2 million views — and periodically teaches as a visiting professor.
Wilkinson holds a Ph.D. in geography and environment from the University of Oxford, where she was a Rhodes Scholar, and a B.A. in religion from Sewanee: The University of the South. In 2019, Time Magazine named her one of fifteen “Women Who Will Save the World.”
This program is made possible by the generous support of The Boyle Family Lectureship Fund.
Rainn Wilson
Friday, July 24th 2026 @ 10:45 am |$45 Drawing on his experience as a cultural commentator and advocate for spiritual renewal, Rainn Wilson closes Chautauqua’s Week Four theme “Wasted: Our Era of Disposability” in conversation, weaving humor with a sense of moral urgency to discuss how disposability affects not only our environment but also erodes our sense of meaning, relationships and community.
Wilson is an Emmy-nominated and SAG Award-winning actor best known for playing Dwight Schrute on NBC’s “The Office.” A longtime environmental activist, Wilson co-founded Climate Basecamp in 2022. With the organization, he has been working on
climate communications and serves as a member on the advisory board.
On his podcast, “Soul Boom,” Wilson hosts a series of intimate conversations with some of the most brilliant and heart-felt artists, thinkers and doers to bring the listener toward transformation on both a personal and spiritual level. In 2009, he founded the digital media company Soul Pancake. He is the author of four books including The Bassoon King, SoulPancake: Chew on Life’s Big Questions, Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution, and Soul Boom Workbook: Spiritual Tools for Modern Living.
Wilson is also known for “Lessons in Chemistry”; the unscripted travel series “Rainn Wilson and the Geography of Bliss”; “Jerry & Marge Go Large”; “Utopia”; Roger Michell’s “Blackbird”; “The Meg”; “Star Trek: Discovery”; “Hesher”; “Super”; “Cooties”; “Juno”; “Galaxy Quest”; and “Almost Famous.” He has an MFA from New York University. On Broadway, Wilson was in The Tempest” and the Tony nominated “London Assurance.” He performed “Thom Pain (Based on Nothing)” at The Geffen and was the lead role in the political farce “The Doppelganger” at Steppenwolf Theater.
Later that afternoon, Wilson will host a Masters Series workshop engaging the Chautauqua community with his journal-style Soul Boom Workbook: Spiritual Tools for Modern Living — based on his New York Times bestselling book and hit podcast Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution.
This program is made possible by the generous support of the Berglund-Weiss Lectureship Fund and The Watters Family Ecological Impact Fund.
ART
Behind every celebrated work of art is a story of persistence. In this week, Chautauqua spotlights the uphill journeys of artists who’ve carved out visibility and voice in a world where creative paths are rarely straight or simple. What systems shape which artists rise and which are overlooked? We’ll explore the realities of the art world — from the influence of gatekeepers and geography to how race, class and access impact who gets seen and supported. Through the lens of Chautauqua’s proud history as an incubator of emerging artistic talent, we’ll celebrate the grit, imagination and community that fuel creative expression — and ask what it takes to keep making meaningful work in an ever-shifting cultural landscape.
The Crossover Panel with Kwame Alexander, Candrice Jones, Christopher Jackson and Jade King Carroll Monday, July 27th 2026 @ 10:45 am |$40
The highly anticipated musical adaptation of Kwame Alexander’s Newbery medal-winning novel, The Crossover, was commissioned and is being developed for the stage by the Chautauqua Theater Company. Hosted by Jade King Carroll, the producing artistic director of the Chautauqua Theater Company and director of The Crossover musical, the dynamic creative team behind the musical will gather on
the Amphitheater stage for a conversation about the creative process, collaboration and what it means to be generative artists. The musical adaptation is being developed and workshopped both in Chautauqua and New York City, with Tony Award-winner Thomas Kail as creative consultant.
Kwame Alexander is a #1 New York Times bestselling author of 45 books, including Why Fathers Cry at Night; The Mighty Macy; Black Star, a Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book; J vs. K, an illustrated novel he penned with Jerry Craft; the motivational primer for graduates, creatives and professionals entitled Say Yes; and The Crossover, his Newbery Medal-winning novel turned Emmy Awardwinning Disney+ TV series and forthcoming musical. Alexander is a 2026 Sine 250+ Fellow at American University and the founder of the literacy non-profit One Word at a Time
He is also the co-creator and executive producer of the Emmynominated “Acoustic Rooster and His Barnyard Band and Acoustic Rooster: Jazzy Jams,” a PBS KIDS special and series of shorts produced by GBH Kids based on his beloved children’s book of the same name.
Alexander regularly shares his passion for literacy, books and the craft of writing around the world, including Ghana, West Africa, where he opened the Barbara E. Alexander Memorial Library and Health Clinic. He is the recipient of the 2025 NAACP Image Award.
Candrice Jones is a playwright and educator from Dermott, Arkansas. As a rising voice in American theater, she brings her poetic sensibility and powerful storytelling to the adaptation of The Crossover. She serves as a board member and educational outreach specialist of The Weekend Theater as well as Ozark Living Newspaper.
Jones’ primary goal as a writer is to write love letters for and to
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women of the American South. She is best known for writing “FLEX,” a play developed while she was a resident at the Voices of Our Nations Arts Foundation (VONA) Playwrights Festival, Ground Floor. FLEX premiered at Lincoln Center Theater in New York and Penumbra Theatre in St. Paul, Minnesota. Jones is also the author of the full-length play, “Crackbaby.” She has received virtual commissions from the People’s Light and Actors Theatre of Louisville.
Jones is a CalArts Critical Studies MFA recipient. She was a fellow at Callaloo for poetry at Brown University. She was also a former resident at MacDowell’s Colony of the Arts.
Christopher Jackson is a Tony Award- nominated actor, as well as a Grammy and Emmy Award-winning songwriter/composer best known for starring as George Washington in the critically acclaimed, award-winning musical “Hamilton” on Broadway and Disney+. As the creator of “The Crossover” musical score, he incorporates highenergy jazz and hip-hop to reflect the world full of dreams, melodies and rhythms.
In 2021, Jackson starred in Freestyle Love Supreme on Broadway alongside Lin-Manuel Miranda. His other Broadway credits include Holler if Ya Hear Me, After Midnight, The Bronx Bombers, In the Heights, Memphis and The Lion King. Off Broadway credits include Bronx Bombers, The Jammer, In the Heights, Cotton Club Parade, and Lonely, I’m Not.
Jackson’s TV and film credits include “And Just Like That,” “Bull,” “Freestyle Love Supreme,” “Person of Interest,” “A Gifted Man,” “Fringe,” “Gossip Girl,” “Tracers,” “Afterlife” and the 2021 film adaptation of “In the Heights.” Jackson voiced “Where You Are” for the Disney film “Moana,” and served as composer/songwriter for “Sesame Street,” garnering seven Emmy nominations and one win. He was also the co-music supervisor and writer for “The Electric Company” on PBS.
In 2018, “One Last Time (44 Remix)” was released which featured Jackson alongside President Barack Obama and BeBe Winans. Jackson won an Emmy Award for his song with Will.I.Am, “What I Am.” Jackson has performed sold-out concerts all over the United States, including Carnegie Hall and Kennedy Center, and a command performance at the White House in 2023.
Jade King Carroll is a distinguished director specializing in new play development, and the Producing Artistic Director of Chautauqua Theater Company (CTC).
She has directed over 60 classical and contemporary productions nationwide at renowned venues. Most recently, she directed Chisa Hutchinson’s “Amerikin” at Primary Stages. Notable credits include “Proof of Love,” “Detroit ’67,” “Having Our Say,” “Red Velvet,” and multiple productions of August Wilson’s work—she is one of the few directors to have worked on every play in Wilson’s Century Cycle.
At CTC, Carroll is programming innovative new works, including the world premieres of “tiny father” by Mike Lew (a co-production with Barrington Stage Company) and commissioned pieces, “The Light and The Dark (the Life and Times of Artemisia Gentileschi)” by Kate Hamill (co-produced with off-Broadway’s Primary Stages in NYC) and the world premiere of “The Witnesses” by C.A. Johnson. Under her leadership, CTC has secured three NYSCA grants and partnered with the Telsey Office for casting and the Drama League to expand its directing fellows’ program, with the new addition of playwrighting fellows in 2026.
As a director of audio plays, Carroll’s work can be found with Audible, Marvel, and Broadway Podcast Network. She is also an educator that has guest lectured and directed at Juilliard, Rutgers, NYU, Princeton,
and many more schools. She has an award from the August Wilson Estate as well as from her alma mater, SUNY New Paltz.
Stephanie Elizondo Griest
Tuesday, July 28th 2026 @ 10:45 am |$40
Stephanie Elizondo Griest is a globetrotting author from the Texas-Mexico borderlands. Currently a professor of creative nonfiction at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, she has performed on five continents in capacities ranging from a Moth storyteller to a literary ambassador for the U.S. State Department.
Her six books include Around the Bloc: My Life in Moscow, Beijing, and Havana; Mexican Enough; All the Agents and Saints; and Art Above Everything: One Woman’s Global Exploration of the Joys and Torments of a Creative Life. Widely anthologized, Elizondo Griest has written for The New York Times, Washington Post, The Believer, BBC, Orion, VQR, and Oxford American, among others.
Griest’s work has won a Margolis Award for Social Justice Reporting, an International Latino Book Award, a PEN Southwest Book Award and two Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism prizes. She has been supported by the Henry Luce Foundation, Lannan Foundation, and the Hodder Fellowship at Princeton University.
Natalie Merchant
Wednesday, July 29th 2026 @ 10:45 am |$40
Natalie Merchant has earned recognition among America’s most respected recording artists, drawing audiences with her captivating performances and intentional songwriting over her 40-year career. Her music blends folk, rock and world music influences, and she continues to be regarded as a pioneering figure in alternative music. She joins the Chautauqua Lecture Series during our week on “Art and Artists Against the Odds” to speak on her passion for arts education for young people.
Her latest record, “Keep Your Courage” (released in 2023 on Nonesuch Records), finds Merchant in peak form. The album dives into love and human connection in its many forms—with Merchant’s voice to keep you hanging on every word.
Merchant has also distinguished herself as a social justice and environmental activist through her work with a wide variety of nonprofit organizations, and by creating documentary films and large-scale community arts projects.
Merchant began her musical career as the lead vocalist and lyricist of the pop music band 10,000 Maniacs in 1981 and released two platinum and four gold records with the group. She left the band in 1993 and has subsequently released nine albums as a solo artist with combined sales of seven million copies.
In 2007, Merchant was appointed by Governor Elliot Spitzer to serve on the New York State Council on the Arts, and in 2022 Senator Chuck Schumer appointed her to the board of trustees of The American Folklife Center at The Library of Congress. Merchant’s awards for artistic excellence and philanthropic work include: the ASCAP Champion Award, The Library Lion Award from the New York Public Library and The John Lennon Real Love Award. In 2025 the National Head Start Association made Merchant their national artist-in-residence.
A few days following her lecture, at 3 p.m. on Sunday, August 2, 2026, Merchant will be joined by the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra for
a free family concert, “Cabinet of Wonder Live!” Under the baton of Principal Pops Conductor Stuart Chafetz, the concert will be a joyful reimagining of Mother Goose developed in collaboration with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and will also include classic children’s poetry that she adapted to music for her highly praised double-album release, Leave Your Sleep.
Micah Hendler Thursday, July 30th 2026 @ 10:45 am |$40
Micah Hendler is the founder and artistic director of the Jerusalem Youth Chorus (JYC), an Israeli-Palestinian music and dialogue project he has brought from a dream to the global stages of TED and “America’s Got Talent” to The New York Times and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” JYC’s work and mission will frame Hendler’s contributions to the Chautauqua Lecture Series weeklong celebration of “Art and Artists Against the Odds.”
Through the co-creation of music and the sharing of stories, JYC empowers young singers from East and West Jerusalem to speak and sing their truths as they become leaders in their communities and inspire singers and listeners around the world to join them in their work for peace, justice, inclusion and equality. Even in times of war, JYC continues to meet, and its singers’ commitment to each other, and the power of their voices raised in harmony, has only grown. In addition to his ongoing bridge-building work in Jerusalem, Hendler has brought his JYC experience to the U.S. and around the world, collaborating with several organizations working to depolarize America (including Braver Angels, the One America Movement,
Convergence, New Pluralists, and Constructive Dialogue Institute), and global organizations including the United Nations, Abu Dhabi Festival, El Sistema Greece, and the first World Congress of Music and Social Change.
Hendler has a degree in music and international studies from Yale and has decades of musical experience from different global traditions. He has also been involved in dialogue work for 20 years and has written and presented in many local and global fora about his work with JYC. Selected for the Forbes “30 Under 30” list for Music in 2017, Hendler has written extensively for Forbes.com on music, society and social change in a global context, using this platform to uplift marginalized voices that are not often heard in mainstream media. He currently lives in Washington, D.C., where he leads regular community sings.
Fredrik Backman
Friday, July 31st 2026 @ 10:45 am |$40 Fredrik Backman is the No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Ove, My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry, Britt-Marie Was Here, Beartown, Us Against You, Anxious People, and The Winners. In 2025, he released his latest book, My Friends, which features an unforgettably funny, deeply moving tale of four teenagers whose friendship creates a bond so powerful that it changes a complete stranger’s life 25 years later. It is this tale of the transformative, timeless power of friendship and art that frames this capstone presentation of the Chautauqua Lecture Series week on “Art and Artists Against the Odds.” This program is presented in collaboration with the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle, and My Friends is a 2026 CLSC selection.
Backman has also written two novellas and one work of nonfiction. His books are published in more than 40 countries. In 2021, he engaged with the Chautauqua audience through its online platform to speak about his novel, Anxious People. That Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle book selection explores the nature of humanity through the lens of comedy and failed bank robbers.
The term semiquincentennial has entered the zeitgeist as the United States of America prepares to commemorate its 250th birthday in 2026. Such a milestone anniversary offers an opportunity to survey the previous quarter-millennium — how a collection of upstart British colonies became the world’s pre-eminent constitutional democracy, with major successes, failures and continued struggles along the way. In this week, Chautauqua partners with The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation to celebrate, debate and commemorate the American idea at 250. Thought leaders of diverse perspectives will gather to explore the principals of the Declaration and the Constitution — including Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness — and to discuss America’s efforts to live up to our founding ideals from 1776 to today.
Ken Burns and Jeffrey Rosen Monday, August 3rd 2026 @ 10:45 am |$45
Tuesday, August 4th 2026 @ 10:45 am |$45
Celebrating the United States semiquincentennial, Chautauqua presents Week Six, “America at 250: In Partnership with The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.” The milestone anniversary offers an opportunity to survey the previous quarter millennium – how a
collection of British colonies became the world’s pre-eminent constitutional democracy, with major successes, failures and continued struggles along the way – alongside world-renowned leaders in historical education. To begin this weeklong commemoration, Chautauqua welcomes Ken Burns and Jeffrey Rosen back to the Amphitheater stage for a two-day conversation on themes and threads from the pair’s latest projects: for Burns, the November 2025 PBS documentary “The American Revolution,” and for Rosen, his October 2025 book The Pursuit of Liberty: How Hamilton and Jefferson Ignited the Lasting Battle Over Power in America.
Ken Burns has been making documentary films for almost fifty years. Since the Academy Award nominated “Brooklyn Bridge” in 1981, Burns has gone on to direct and produce some of the most acclaimed historical documentaries ever made, including “The Civil War”; “Baseball”; “Jazz”; “The War”; “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea”; “Prohibition”; “The Roosevelts: An Intimate History”; “The Vietnam War”; “Country Music”; “The U.S. and the Holocaust”; “The American Buffalo”; “Leonardo da Vinci”; and, most recently, “The American Revolution.”
Future film projects include “Emancipation to Exodus” and “LBJ & the Great Society,” among others.
His films have been honored with dozens of major awards, including seventeen Emmy Awards, two Grammy Awards and two Oscar nominations. In September of 2008, at the News & Documentary Emmy Awards, Burns was honored by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences with a Lifetime Achievement Award. In November of 2022, he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame.
Jeffrey Rosen is chief executive officer emeritus of the National Constitution Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization whose mission is to educate the public about the U.S. Constitution. His latest book, The Pursuit of Liberty: How Hamilton and Jefferson Ignited the Lasting Battle Over Power in America, was released in October 2025. It highlights how the opposing constitutional visionaries continue to drive the debate over the power of government today. Rosen appeared as part of the 2025 Chautauqua Forum on Democracy, where he was publicly announced and recognized for the first time as the newly appointed 2025–26 Chautauqua Perry Fellow in Democracy.
Rosen is currently a professor of law at the George Washington University Law School and a contributing editor of The Atlantic. He was previously the legal affairs editor of The New Republic and a staff writer for The New Yorker. In his former role at the National Constitution Center, he was the host of “We the People,” a weekly podcast of constitutional debate.
Rosen is the author of seven other books, including the New York Times bestseller Conversations with RBG: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Life, Love, Liberty, and Law, as well as biographies of Louis Brandeis and William Howard Taft. He is a graduate of Harvard College; Oxford University, where he was a Marshall Scholar; and Yale Law School.
David W. Blight and Tiya Miles Wednesday, August 5th 2026 @ 10:45 am |$40
Continuing Chautauqua’s weeklong commemoration of “America at 250,” two of the country’s preeminent historians present a mainstage conversation about the
moral foundations of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, and how they have been interpreted and reinterpreted throughout American history.
David W. Blight is Sterling Professor of History and Director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition at Yale University. In 2020, Yale President Peter Salovey appointed him as chair of the Yale and Slavery Working Group. With his Working Group colleagues, Blight authored the book Yale and Slavery: A History, a narrative study of Yale’s historic involvement and associations with slavery and its aftermaths, published by Yale University Press in February of 2024.
Blight is the immediate past president of the Organization of American Historians. He previously taught at North Central College in Illinois, Harvard University and Amherst College. He is the author or editor of a dozen books, including Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom; American Oracle: The Civil War in the Civil Rights Era; Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory; and annotated editions of Douglass’s first two autobiographies. Blight has worked on Douglass much of his professional life, and been awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the Bancroft Prize, the Abraham Lincoln Prize, and the Frederick Douglass Prize, among others. He writes frequently for the popular press, including The Atlantic, The New York Times, and many other journals.
In 2020, Blight was elected to the American Philosophical Society and awarded the Gold Medal for History by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. At the beginning of his career, he spent seven years as a high school history teacher in his hometown of Flint, Michigan. Tiya Miles is a public historian and the author of eight books
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that explore Black, Indigenous and women’s history; place and environment; and contemporary uses of the past. These works include four prize-winning histories and one prize-winning novel about slavery and its legacies. Her 2021 National Book Award winner, All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, a Black Family Keepsake, was a New York Times bestseller that won eleven historical and literary prizes.
Miles’ latest work is Night Flyer: Harriet Tubman and the Faith Dreams of a Free People, which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography. Her other books include Wild Girls: How the Outdoors Shaped the Women Who Challenged a Nation; The Dawn of Detroit: A Chronicle of Slavery and Freedom in the City of the Straits; The House on Diamond Hill: A Cherokee Plantation Story; Ties That Bind: The Story of an Afro-Cherokee Family in Slavery and Freedom; Tales from the Haunted South: Dark Tourism and Memories of Slavery from the Civil War Era; and the novel The Cherokee Rose.
Miles publishes frequently in national periodicals, and her work has been supported by the MacArthur Foundation (“genius award”), the Guggenheim Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and she currently serves as the Michael Garvey Professor of History at Harvard University.
Melody Barnes
Thursday, August 6th 2026 @ 10:45 am |$40
Melody Barnes is the founding executive director of the University of Virginia’s Karsh Institute of Democracy, where she leads the Institute on an action-oriented path to realizing the promise of democracy in both principle and practice. She joins Chautauqua’s weeklong exploration of “America at 250” with remarks reflecting on the foundations of democracy and justice, tracing throughlines from the country’s founding to the work of democracy today.
In addition to her leadership at the Karsh Institute, Barnes is the W.L. Lyons Brown Family Director for Policy and Public Engagement in the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences’ Democracy Initiative, a professor of practice at UVA’s Miller Center of Public Affairs, and a distinguished fellow at UVA’s School of Law. She is also co-founder of the domestic policy strategy firm MB2 Solutions. In 2024–25, Barnes was an inaugural recipient of the Chautauqua Perry Fellowship in Democracy alongside New York Times columnist David French; she is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and serves on the boards of several corporate, nonprofit, and philanthropic organizations.
A committed public servant, Barnes brings more than 25 years of experience shaping public policy at the highest levels of government and the non-profit sector. She served as assistant to the president and director of the White House Domestic Policy Council under President Barack Obama. Previously, she was executive vice president for policy at the Center for American Progress and chief counsel to the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. She began her career in law as an associate at Shearman & Sterling in New York.
Barnes holds a B.A. with honors in history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a J.D. from the University of Michigan.
Robert P. George
Friday, August 7th 2026 @ 10:45 am
Robert P. George is McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and director of the James Madison program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University. Currently, he also chairs the New Jersey Advisory Committee of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. George is general editor of New Forum Books, a Princeton University Press series of interdisciplinary works in law, culture and politics. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is of counsel to the law firm of Robinson & McElwee. He will help close Chautauqua’s week commemorating “America at 250” with his perspective on the significance of “freedom of conscience” in the American founding and ongoing experiment.
George has frequently been a visiting professor at Harvard Law School, teaching philosophy of law and related subjects. In addition, he has served as chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, on the President’s Council on Bioethics, as a presidential appointee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights, and as the U.S. member of UNESCO’s World Commission on the Ethics of Science and Technology.
George is the author of several books; his most recent is Seeking Truth and Speaking Truth: Law and Morality in Our Cultural Moment. He has written numerous academic articles and review essays along with pieces for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post.
A graduate of Swarthmore College, George holds the degrees of J.D. and MTS from Harvard University and the degrees of PhD, BCL, DCL, and D.Litt. from Oxford University, in addition to 23 honorary doctorates. He is a recipient of the U.S. Presidential Citizens Medal, the Honorific Medal for the Defense of Human Rights of the Republic of Poland, the Canterbury Medal of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, and Princeton University’s President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching.
For decades, the United States has been the anchor of a liberal world order shaped by shared institutions, military alliances and economic leadership. As the Trump administration’s “America First” agenda takes root, new powers continue to rise — and the rules of global engagement are shifting. In this week we examine the impact of America’s evolving posture toward its international allies and adversaries, examining how the international order is likewise evolving in real time, from security alliances and trade blocs to diplomatic norms and great-power competition. What are the ripple effects of these major global shifts, from regional conflicts and migration to climate diplomacy and human rights?
Nancy Youssef Monday, August 10th 2026 @ 10:45 am |$40
Nancy Youssef is a staff writer at The Atlantic. Before that, she was a longtime national security correspondent for The Wall Street Journal and also worked at BuzzFeed News and The Daily Beast. Youssef spent much of her career at McClatchy Newspapers where she served as national security correspondent and Middle East bureau chief based in Cairo covering the Middle East and the
Islamic world. Prior to that she was McClatchy’s chief Pentagon correspondent, focusing on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. She traveled frequently to those two nations to see how the policies crafted in Washington reached Afghans, Iraqis and the troops alike. She is also the founder of the Pentagon Press Association.
Before covering the Pentagon, Youssef spent four years covering the Iraq war, including a stint as Baghdad bureau chief. Her pieces focused on the everyday Iraqi experience, civilian casualties and how U.S. military strategy was reshaping Iraq’s social and political dynamics. She began her career at the Detroit Free Press, covering legal issues. While at the Free Press, she traveled throughout Jordan and Iraq for Knight Ridder, covering the Iraq war from the time leading up to it through the post-war period. Her journalism career started at The Baltimore Sun.
A Washington, D.C.-area native, Youssef earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from University of Virginia and master’s degree in security studies from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. Youssef’s parents are from Egypt, and she speaks Arabic. Throughout her life, she has been a frequent visitor to the region. She is currently based in Washington, D.C. and is an advocate for supporting neurodiverse children.
Nazanin
Boniadi, Karim Sadjadpour and Amna Nawaz
Tuesday, August 11th 2026 @ 10:45 am |$40
Continuing Chautauqua’s exploration of “Global Power and Our Evolving International Order,” “PBS News Hour” co-anchor Amna Nawaz hosts a special onstage conversation between actress and activist Nazanin Boniadi and Carnegie Endowment for International Peace senior fellow Karim Sadjadpour. Both have Iranian roots and Nawaz will engage them on their lives and their families, their respective areas of work, and, whatever the status of world events at that moment, their perspectives on the state of Iran, the Iranian people, and what comes next.
Nazanin Boniadi is an Iranian-born, SAG and AACTA Awardnominated actress, producer and human rights advocate. Her television credits include “Homeland,” “How I Met Your Mother,” “Counterpart,” and the first season of “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.” In film, Boniadi won acclaim for her memorable role in “Bombshell” and leading role in “Hotel Mumbai.” Her producing debut, “A Mosquito in the Ear,” in which she stars alongside Jake Lacy, won the Panavision Spirit Award at the 2026 Santa Barbara International Film Festival. She is most recently seen in “The Saviors,” opposite Adam Scott and Danielle Deadwyler.
As an activist, Boniadi has campaigned for the rights of the Iranian people since 2008, with a focus on the unjust conviction and treatment of youth, women and political prisoners. She is also a Council on Foreign Relations member and serves on the board of the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center. Appointed an Amnesty International UK ambassador in 2020, Boniadi has spoken at esteemed institutions, including the Oxford Union, Munich Security Conference and World Economic Forum, and she has addressed the U.S. Capitol, the U.K., German, Australian, Canadian parliaments and the U.N. Her numerous recognitions include the 2023 Sydney Peace Prize.
Karim Sadjadpour is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where he focuses on Iran, Gulf security, and U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. He is a contributing writer at The Atlantic, a CNN Global Affairs Analyst and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. He has testified numerous times before Congress for both Democratic and Republican leadership.
Sadjadpour is currently writing a book on radicalism for Random House/Knopf and appears frequently on media outlets such as the “PBS News Hour,” NPR and CNN. Recognized for his sharp analytical prose, his work was selected as a Foreign Affairs “Best Essay of the Year” in both 2025 (for “The Autumn of the Ayatollahs”) and 2024 (on the battle between Saudi “Vision 2030” and Iran “Vision 1979”). In 2023, he received an Emmy Award as consulting producer for the HBO documentary Hostages. Previously an analyst with the International Crisis Group based in Tehran and Washington, he has lived in Latin America, Europe and the Middle East. He speaks Persian, Italian and Spanish, and is proficient in Arabic.
Karim holds degrees from the University of Michigan and the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).
Amna Nawaz is an Emmy, Peabody and Cronkite award-winning journalist who currently serves as co-anchor and co-managing editor of the “PBS News Hour.” In addition to anchoring PBS News’ flagship national news broadcast, Nawaz co-hosts the podcast “Settle In,” featuring thought leaders from all walks of life. She has also hosted a primetime arts show and documentaries on everything from America’s childcare crisis to global plastic pollution to life after incarceration.
Nawaz’s reporting ranges from politics and foreign affairs, to immigration and education, to culture and sports. She has anchored the show from the U.S. Southern border, Israel after the Oct. 7 attacks and Kyiv, Ukraine, during its war with Russia. Nawaz has interviewed presidents and heads of state, White House officials and lawmakers, professional athletes and musicians, and citizens around the world in the communities they call home.
Prior to joining PBS, Nawaz was anchor and correspondent at ABC News, anchoring breaking news coverage and leading the network’s livestream coverage of the 2016 presidential election. She also hosted the “Uncomfortable” podcast and reported a documentary on the Texas county with the highest rate of support for Donald Trump in the 2016 election. Before ABC, Nawaz was a foreign correspondent and Islamabad Bureau Chief for NBC News, where she regularly reported on the war in Afghanistan and the broader region.
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Robert Chatterton Dickson
Wednesday, August 12th 2026 @ 10:45 am |$40
Robert Chatterton Dickson is an international affairs consultant based in London. Until June 2026 he was a senior member of the British Diplomatic Service. His 36-year career combined leadership in complex and dangerous environments with London-based appointments at the heart of U.K. foreign policy and national security. His remarks as part of Chautauqua’s probe into “Global Power and Our Evolving International Order” will provide “a view from across the Atlantic,” and in particular on the state of relations among geopolitical powers including the U.K., U.S., European Union, Russia and NATO.
Chatterton Dickson served overseas as ambassador to the Republic of North Macedonia, consul general in Chicago, deputy ambassador in Afghanistan during the Afghan Republic, high commissioner in Bangladesh and chargé d’affaires of the U.K. Mission to Afghanistan following the return of the Taliban. In London, he was head of the Foreign Office Counter Terrorism Department and a director in the Cabinet Office National Security Secretariat. In all these roles he worked closely with American colleagues.
Chatterton Dickson’s early diplomatic career included working at HQ on Iraq, NATO, UN peacekeeping, arms exports and nuclear arms control and postings to the British embassies in Manila and Washington. Before joining the Diplomatic Service, he worked in investment management and was educated at Cambridge University.
Chatterton Dickson knows the U.S. well: besides diplomatic postings in Washington and the Midwest he has been married to an American artist for over 30 years and has four dual-citizen children and family across the country. He first experienced the U.S. at 19, when a crosscountry road trip in an unreliable car introduced him to American kindness and hospitality. At Chautauqua he is speaking in a strictly personal capacity.
Miles Yu
Thursday, August 13th 2026 @ 10:45 am |$40
Miles Yu is a senior fellow and director of the China Center at Hudson Institute. He is also a professor of East Asia and military and naval history at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Yu specializes in Chinese military and strategic culture, U.S. and Chinese military and diplomatic history, and U.S. policy toward China. He joins Chautauqua’s weeklong exploration of “Global Power and Our Evolving International Order” to offer an up-to-the-minute assessment of the global ambitions and actions of China and other East Asian countries, and how the U.S. and the West are responding. Previously, Yu served in the first Trump administration as the China policy adviser to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. In that capacity, he advised the secretary on all China-related issues, helped overhaul U.S. policy toward China, and participated in key U.S. government interagency deliberations on major policy and government actions with regard to China and other East Asian countries, including Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.
From 2011 to 2016, Yu wrote the weekly column “Inside China” for The Washington Times; since 1996, he has been an editorial consultant to Radio Free Asia, and a contributor to various media outlets including The Wall Street Journal and “PBS News Hour.” His books include OSS in China: Prelude to Cold War and The Dragon’s
War: Allied Operations and the Fate of China, 1937–1947. Yu’s numerous awards include the U.S. Naval Academy’s top researcher award, U.S. Navy Special Action Awards, and U.S. Navy Meritorious Service Award. He received a doctorate in history from the University of California, Berkeley, a master’s degree from Swarthmore College, and a bachelor’s degree from Nankai University.
Robert Kagan
Friday, August 14th 2026 @ 10:45 am |$40
Week Seven (August 8–15)
Robert Kagan is the Stephen & Barbara Friedman Senior Fellow with the Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology in the Foreign Policy program at Brookings, and a contributing writer for The Atlantic. Until recently, he also served as a contributing columnist at The Washington Post. Kagen served in the State Department from 1984 to 1988 as a member of the policy planning staff, as principal speechwriter for Secretary of State George P. Shultz, and as deputy for policy in the Bureau of Inter-American Affairs. He will conclude Chautauqua’s weeklong examination of “Global Power and Our Evolving International Order” with remarks providing up-to-the-minute analysis, based on his decades of experience in shaping and studying foreign policy, national security and statecraft.
Kagan’s latest book, Rebellion: How Antiliberalism Is Tearing America Apart — Again, was released in April 2024. One of his previous books was The New York Times bestseller, The World America Made. He is also the author of The Ghost at the Feast: America and Collapse of World Order, 1900-1941; The Jungle Grows Back: America and Our Imperiled World; Return of History and the End of Dreams; Dangerous Nation: America’s Place in the World from its Earliest Days to the Dawn of the 20th Century; Of Paradise and Power; and A Twilight Struggle: American Power and Nicaragua, 1977-1990.
Politico Magazine named Kagan one of the “Politico 50” in 2016, recognizing the “thinkers, doers and visionaries transforming American politics in 2016.” He is a graduate of Yale University and Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and holds a doctorate in American history from American University.
Food is universal — it sustains us, connects us, defines us. But how we grow it, share it, and celebrate it is changing fast. As climate pressures mount, technologies advance and cultural traditions evolve, we find ourselves at the edge of a new agricultural revolution. This week at Chautauqua explores the future of food systems through the lenses of sustainability, technology, culture, justice and joy. From vertical farms and climate-smart crops to food sovereignty movements and the science of flavor, we’ll meet chefs, farmers, scientists and changemakers working to reimagine what and how we eat — and what it means for our planet, our communities and our sense of connection around the table.
Monday, August 17th 2026 @ 10:45 am |$40
Danielle Nierenberg is a world-renowned researcher, speaker and advocate, on all issues relating to our food system and agriculture. She is president of Food Tank, the think tank for food, and an expert on sustainable agriculture and food issues. She has written extensively
on gender and population, the spread of factory farming in the developing world and innovations in sustainable agriculture. Nierenberg founded Food Tank with Bernard Pollack in 2013. It is a global convener, thought leadership organization and unbiased creator of original research impacting the food system. Matching innovative ideas to today’s most pressing challenges, Food Tank bridges domestic and global partners to build sustainable agriculture and food systems. Hope, success and innovative ideas in our food system are highlighted through original daily publications, research articles, a chart-topping podcast, interviews and events, and summits in major cities around the world. Food Tank has more than 250 major institutional partners including The Rockefeller Foundation, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, the Christensen Fund, Oxfam America, Slow Food USA, U.N. FAO, the Crop Trust, the Sustainable Food Trust, and academic institutions in all 50 states.
Prior to starting Food Tank, Nierenberg spent two years traveling to more than 35 countries across sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Latin America, meeting with farmers, scientists, researchers, policymakers, government leaders, students, academics and journalists, documenting what is working to help alleviate hunger and poverty, while protecting the environment. She is the recipient of the 2020 Julia Child Award. She has an M.S. in Agriculture, Food and Environment from Tufts University and spent two years volunteering for the Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic.
Nyesha Arrington
Tuesday, August 18th 2026 @ 10:45 am |$40
Nyesha Arrington is the dynamic co-star of FOX’s hit culinary competition series “Next Level Chef,” where she brings her signature blend of mentorship, humor and fierce expertise to millions of viewers each season. She also hosts and produces the acclaimed digital series “Plateworthy” for Eater, celebrating the craft, culture and creative spirit of cooking. Drawing inspiration from the seasons, global travel and contemporary art, Arrington’s cooking is a soulful fusion of heritage, curiosity and California expression, a style uniquely her own. Beyond the kitchen, she is deeply passionate about functional fitness, wellness and building community through intention and storytelling. These passions will inspire Arrington’s Chautauqua Lecture Series remarks, which serve as the centerpiece of her multiday Chautauqua residency during Week Eight, “The Future of Food: Climate, Technology and the Next Agricultural Revolution.” Beyond the Amphitheater stage, she will bring her cutting-edge cooking skills, experience and expertise to other food-centered engagements as part of the 2026 Chautauqua Food Festival.
A fan favorite since her breakout season on “Top Chef,” Arrington has become one of the industry’s most recognizable and respected voices. Her television credits span “MasterChef,” “Tournament of Champions,” “Guy’s Grocery Games,” “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” and “Next Level Chef U.K.,” showcasing her versatility, creativity and leadership across multiple platforms.
Arrington began her culinary journey in Michelin-starred kitchens, including Mélisse in Santa Monica, California, as well as L’Atelier and The Mansion in Las Vegas. She went on to make her mark on the Los Angeles dining landscape with her restaurants Leona and Native by Arrington, earning national recognition for her commitment to farmfresh, local and ethically sourced ingredients. Her work has landed her on Zagat’s 30 Under 30, Eater’s LA Chef of the Year and countless lists celebrating chefs shaping the future of food.
A true multi-hyphenate creative, Arrington is expanding her voice across media, lifestyle, philanthropy and product design, championing representation and empowerment in every space she inhabits.
Brian Frank
Wednesday, August 19th 2026 @ 10:45 am |$40
Brian Frank is the founder and general partner of FTW Ventures, bringing decades of experience in building transformative technology that impacts the way people work, play and live. In 2015, Frank turned his attention to how technology can improve the lives of every person on the planet by building a better food system. He raised two early-stage funds for investments into food and agriculture technology businesses with FTW, partnering with the leading executives and corporations in the field.
Now at FTW, Frank continues to build a more sustainable, resilient, productive and profitable food system through leveraging advanced science and technology in the $10 trillion food and agriculture sectors. He cultivates urgent, essential technology that reshapes the global food and agriculture industries. To support the company’s three core values — preserving and amplifying nature’s offerings, modernizing science, and nurturing humankind — Frank and his team support the innovators who think beyond the box and have a unique perspective on improving the food system.
Prior to founding FTW, Frank led the creation of industry-defining products in mobile communication, social media and AI at numerous startups and Fortune 500 Companies over his 25-year career. As an entrepreneur, he directed three venture-backed businesses to successful exits, returning more than $100 million in capital to investors. Frank is a graduate of Cornell University with dual degrees in computer science as well as science and technology studies with a concentration in human-computer interaction (HCI).
Michael Grunwald
Thursday, August 20th 2026 @ 10:45 am |$40
Michael Grunwald is an award-winning journalist and bestselling author who has written about U.S. public policy and politics for three decades. He is best known for his coverage of climate change and the environment. His latest book, We Are Eating the Earth: The Race to Fix Our Food System and Save Our Climate, is a groundbreaking piece of reportage on the fight to fix our food system. In the book, Grunwald argues that humanity has started to recognize the magnitude of its food and climate problem and is making it worse; it is also a hopeful account of the brilliant researchers and entrepreneurs devising new ways to produce more food with less impact. This reporting in We Are Eating the Earth will inform his remarks to continue Chautauqua’s week on “The Future of Food.”
Grunwald is a New York Times contributing opinions writer and former staff writer for The Washington Post, Time and Politico Magazine. He is also the author of The Swamp, a widely acclaimed book about the Everglades, and The New New Deal, about the Obama Administration’s economic policies. Grunwald wrote The Washington Post’s lead news story about the attacks of September 11, 2001, covered the last eight presidential campaigns, and has written cover stories about everything from the failure of U.S. transportation policy to the marketing of Barack Obama to his own family’s daily reliance on the power of government.
Grunwald has won numerous honors for his work, including the George Polk Award for national reporting and the Worth Bingham Prize for investigative reporting.
Anna Lappé
Friday, August 21st 2026 @ 10:45 am |$40
Anna Lappé is the executive director of the Global Alliance for the Future of Food, a strategic alliance of philanthropic foundations working for food system transformation around the world. Before joining the Global Alliance in July 2023, Lappé had worked for more than 25 years as an internationally renowned expert on food systems and a respected advocate for sustainability and justice along the food chain. She has conducted research on food and sustainability across the United States and in countries worldwide. She will share her experiences and expertise in remarks closing Chautauqua’s weeklong discussion on “The Future of Food: Climate, Technology and the Next Agricultural Revolution.”
Lappé is the founder or co-founder of three national organizations. In 2012, she founded Real Food Media, a communications strategy initiative housed within the non-profit Corporate Accountability. She is also the co-founder of the Small Planet Fund and in 2016 launched the Food Sovereignty Fund of the Panta Rhea Foundation. Named one of Time magazine’s “eco” Who’s-Who, Lappé is the co-author or author of three books on food, farming and sustainability, including the national bestseller Hope’s Edge and the critically acclaimed Diet for a Hot Planet: The Climate Crisis at the End of Your Fork and What You Can Do About It. Most recently she helped edit the U.S. edition of The Pesticide Atlas and relaunch her mother’s 1971 classic Diet for a Small Planet with a new introduction and all new recipes from celebrity chefs, including Padma Lakshmi and Jose Andres.
A recipient of the James Beard Leadership Award, Lappé’s work has been translated internationally and features on Lappé and her opinion writing can be found in a variety of prominent outlets. She holds a master’s in international affairs in economic and political development from Columbia University and also graduated from Brown University. From 2004 to 2006, she was a Food and Society Fellow, a program of the WK Kellogg Foundation. She is an active board member of the Rainforest Action Network and the Castanea Fellowship.
For more than 150 years, the essence of Chautauqua, the most fulsome expression of its mission and work, has been a stretch of summertime in which thousands of people gather on our verdant, rural 220-acre grounds. These folks gather to learn, to feel, to pray, to play, and much more — and each of these experiences is made
all the more rich because they are experienced together. This week, in collaboration with the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Chautauqua investigates and celebrates togetherness as a critical component of what it means to be human. Why is it so important that we remember, harmonize, move and grow together? The week serves as a capstone of sorts to the Festival’s supersized commemoration of America’s semiquincentennial, which is based on those themes of togetherness. We’ll close our time together — capping both this week and the 2026 Summer Assembly — with a joy-filled celebration inspired by Obon, the Buddhist “Festival of Lanterns.”
Priya Parker Monday, August 24th 2026 @ 10:45 am |$40
Priya Parker opens Week Nine of the 2026 Chautauqua Lecture Series and the theme of “The Importance of Gathering” by helping us take a deeper look at how anyone can create collective meaning in modern life, one gathering at a time. She is a facilitator, strategic adviser, acclaimed author of The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why it Matters, and the host of The Art of Gathering Digital Course. She writes and teaches on Group Life, her Substack publication aimed to make “group help” as normal as “self help.”
Drawing from her diverse training in conflict resolution, business management, public policy and community-building, her talks dive into the anatomy of gathering with purpose. Whether she is talking about gathering as a 21st-century leadership skill, fostering belonging among remote teams, the art of hosting meetings everyone wants to attend, or connecting people across identities, backgrounds and hierarchies, Parker gives her audiences the skills they need to succeed. Parker has helped numerous clients develop better in-person and virtual gatherings, including tech and Fortune 500 companies, leading non-profits, education groups and government agencies, among others.
Parker has spoken on the TED Main Stage and her sessions have been viewed over 3 million times. The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters was named a Best Business Book of the Year by Amazon, Esquire Magazine, NPR, the Financial Times, 1-800-CEOREADS and Bloomberg. In 2023, The Wall Street Journal tapped Parker as their work expert for their “Future of Everything” series. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes.com, Oprah.com, Real Simple Magazine, Glamour, “The Today Show” and “Morning Joe,” among others.
Lara Downes and John McWhorter Tuesday, August 25th 2026 @ 10:45 am |$40
Visionary American pianist and scholar Lara Downes is joined by fellow American scholar and linguist John McWhorter for a musical-conversation to discuss the role of American music as a joyful noise, even in the hardest times — the songs that have chased our cares away even in times of hardship, crisis and wartime, to remind us of the importance of “harmonizing together.” This program is part of Downes’ series, “America in Pursuit,” developed for NPR’s “All Things Considered,” and continues Chautauqua’s weeklong exploration of “The Importance of Gathering,” in collaboration with the Smithsonian Folklife Festival.
At 8 p.m. the same evening, vocalist Kurt Elling joins Downes in a special concert called “Get Happy,” inspired by the morning’s conversation and celebrating 250 years of American music. The duo will share beloved songs that remind us that “the sun will come up
tomorrow!” The performance features music by Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, H.T. Burleigh, Louis Armstrong, and more.
Lara Downes, a visionary trailblazer and American pianist occupies a unique position of visibility through her dynamic work as a soughtafter soloist, a Billboard Chart-topping recording artist, and a beloved NPR personality. She seeks inspiration from the legacies of history, family and collective memory, creating performances and recording projects that serve as gathering spaces for her listeners to find common ground and shared experiences.
Downes has recently launched “The Declaration Project,” a national initiative marking the 250th anniversary of the United States by gathering together American communities to find common ground in exploring the core essence of our founding promise: the unalienable rights of “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” Engaging with multigenerational communities in the form of round-table conversations, generative writing workshops, and collaborative creative practice, Downes encourages reflection and expression that actively reimagines the promise of our future, reflecting on the magic and mystery of life, the ongoing quest for freedom and equality, and the radical power of joy.
Downes is the creator and host of the NPR Music video series “Amplify with Lara Downes,” which features intimate, profoundly personal video conversations with visionary artists and cultural leaders who are shaping our creative present and future. Downes’ fierce commitment to citizenship and advocacy has led to her role as an Artist Ambassador for Headcount, a non-partisan organization that uses the power of music to register voters and promote participation in democracy. A cultural visionary with a firm finger on the pulse of tomorrow, Downes is increasingly active as a curator and creative partner with institutions including Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the Aspen Ideas Festival, Mass MoCA, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and as Resident Artist for Classical California (formerly KDFC and KUSC).
Downes’ uniquely insightful approach to concept and curation have created an extensive and acclaimed series of chart-topping recordings, including her latest release “Rhapsody in Blue Reimagined,” featured on NPR’s “Morning Edition,” in The Wall Street Journal and Downbeat Magazine. Her 2023 release “Love at Last” was featured as an NPR Tiny Desk Concert, and her groundbreaking 2016 release “America Again” was called “a balm for a country riven by disunion” by the Boston Globe.
John McWhorter is not just a linguist — he’s a storyteller of language, a cultural critic and a fearless commentator on the social issues of our time. As a professor in the Slavic Department at Columbia University, McWhorter has spent his career dissecting the ways in which language evolves, adapts and reflects the human condition. His research into
creole languages, dialects and sociolects offers a window into the everchanging tapestry of human communication.
McWhorter’s work extends far beyond the classroom. Known for his bold, unorthodox views on race and society, he has become a prominent public intellectual, challenging the status quo and encouraging us to rethink our assumptions. Through his writing, speaking and media appearances, McWhorter brings a fresh, incisive perspective that is both enlightening and accessible, making even the most complex topics approachable for all.
McWhorter is an author of more than 20 books, including The Power of Babel: A Natural History of Language, Losing the Race: Self Sabotage in Black America and Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold History of English. In 2016 he published Words on the Move: Why English Won’t — and Can’t — Sit Still (Like, Literally), while in 2021, he published Nine Nasty Words and Woke Racism. He also writes a weekly column for The New York Times and hosts the language podcast “Lexicon Valley.” He earned his B.A. from Rutgers, his M.A. from New York University and his Ph.D. in linguistics from Stanford.
Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Wednesday, August 26th 2026 @ 10:45 am |$45
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is the Alphonse Fletcher University professor and director of the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research at Harvard University. The Emmy and Peabody Award-winning filmmaker, literary scholar, journalist, cultural critic and institution builder has produced and hosted an array of documentary films and published numerous books. Gates joins the Chautauqua Lecture Series during this week on “The
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Free admission and free parking all day for residents of Chautauqua County*
Discover a day of inspiration, music and ideas — right in your backyard! Enjoy full access to:
• Amphitheater and Hall of Philosophy events
• CLSC Author Presentation: Maria Arana (2026 Chautauqua County Book Read Selection)
• Beaches, grounds and so much more!
Tickets are available by calling 716-357-6250
Free Gate Pass may not be combined with a long-term pass. Please bring proof of residency for entry. Youth 12 and under are always free at Chautauqua!
*Free parking with ticket reservations made before July 17. Free admission excludes select performances requiring separate ticket.
Importance of Gathering,” in collaboration with the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, to reflect on the importance of sharing collective histories and memories, based on his extensive work and scholarship exploring the connections that bind us.
Nominated for a 2024 Primetime Emmy, and in its 12th season this year, is Gates’s groundbreaking genealogy and genetics series “Finding Your Roots.” His latest history series for PBS are “Black and Jewish America: An Interwoven History” and “Great Migrations: A People on the Move.” He also served as executive producer of PBS’ “The Black Church” and HBO’s “Frederick Douglass: In Five Speeches,” which each received Emmy nominations as well.
Gates’s latest book is The Black Box: Writing the Race. Published in 2024, it was named one of the New York Times 100 Best Books of the Year. Other recent titles include The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song and Stony the Road: Reconstruction, White Supremacy, and the Rise of Jim Crow. A former chair of the Pulitzer Prize board, he is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and serves on a wide array of boards, including the New York Public Library, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the Aspen Institute, the Whitney Museum of American Art, Library of America and The Studio Museum of Harlem.
Gates earned his B.A. in history from Yale University, and his M.A. and Ph.D. in English literature from Clare College at Cambridge. He was a member of the first class awarded “genius grants” by the MacArthur Foundation in 1981, and in 1998 he became the first African American scholar to be awarded the National Humanities Medal.
Conor Knighton Friday, August 28th 2026 @ 10:45 am |$40
“CBS News Sunday Morning” correspondent and best-selling author Conor Knighton returns to Chautauqua to close out the 2026 Chautauqua Lecture Series and our week on “The Importance of Gathering: A Collaboration with the Smithsonian Folklife Festival” with stories of the unconventional conventions, fascinating festivals, and passionate subcultures and communities he’s encountered around the country. From the “balloonatics” at the World Balloon Convention to the “high pointers” who gather to swap strategies for summiting every state’s peak, Knighton has seen first-hand how wildly different interests have a similar power to bring people together.
Knighton’s debut nonfiction book, the New York Times bestseller Leave Only Footprints: My Acadia-to-Zion Journey Through Every National Park, is an account of the year he spent wandering through America’s “best idea,” exploring the threads that tie our national parks together and that tie us to nature. He has won five Daytime Emmys as part of the “Sunday Morning” team and has won a Los Angeles Area Emmy for his work on KCET’s SoCal Connected. He’s been nominated for two additional Los Angeles Emmys and his feature reporting has been honored with a National Headliner Award and an LA Press Club Award.
A graduate of Yale University, Knighton is a native of Charleston, West Virginia, and is regular guest-host for the live music program “Mountain Stage,” heard on hundreds of NPR stations across the county.
Across religious traditions, women have shaped spiritual imagination, moral courage and communal resilience — often without recognition. This week explores the sacred leadership of women who have transformed their faith communities and the world. How do religious traditions empower or constrain women’s leadership? And how might interfaith communities better support a rising generation whose ethics and imagination are reshaping our shared future?
Diana Butler Bass
Monday, June 29th 2026 @ 2:00 pm |$20
Diana Butler Bass, Ph.D., is an award-winning author, popular speaker, inspiring preacher, and commentator on religion and contemporary spirituality. Her latest book, A Beautiful Year, won the 2026 Wilbur Prize, her unprecedented third.
Diana’s passion is sharing great ideas to change lives and the world—from informing the public about spiritual trends, challenging conventional narratives about religious practice, and entering the fray of social media with spiritual wisdom and smart theology, to writing books to help readers see themselves, their place in history, and God differently. She does this with intelligence, joy, and a good dose of humor as noted by Glennon Doyle, John Fugelsang and the late Marcus Borg among other admirers.
Diana is the author of twelve books, and her bylines include The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, The Atlantic, USA Today, Huffington Post, Spirituality and Health, Reader’s Digest, Christian Century, and Sojourners. She has been seen on CBS, CNN, PBS, NPR, CBC, FOX, Sirius XM, and in TIME, Newsweek and Rolling Stone among many international outlets. Her weekly religion column (19932003) was distributed nationally by The New York Times Syndicate. Diana currently co-hosts “The Convocation Unscripted,” a podcast on religion and politics, and writes The Cottage, a top-five Substack newsletter in “Faith & Spirituality.”
Diana holds a doctorate in religious studies from Duke University and her work has received numerous awards across many organizations and universities including Publishers Weekly’s Best Religion Book of the Year. She and her husband live in Alexandria, Virginia, with their dog, Paddy, and their sometimes-successful backyard garden.
Diana Butler Bass and Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde
Tuesday, June 30th 2026 @ 2:00 pm |$20
Diana Butler Bass kicks off the 2026 Interfaith Lecture Series, beginning the Summer Assembly season with a solo lecture on Monday, June 29, 2026. The following day, on Tuesday, June 30, 2026, Bass will return to the Hall of Philosophy for a conversation with Bishop Miriann Edgar Budde, the Chaplain during Week One, “Women of Spirit: Leadership, Courage, and the Work of Transformation.”
Diana Butler Bass is an award-winning author, speaker, inspiring preacher and commentator on religion and contemporary spirituality. Bass’ passion is sharing great ideas to change lives and the world — from informing the public about spiritual trends, challenging conventional narratives about religious practice and entering the fray of social media with spiritual wisdom and smart theology, to writing books to help readers see themselves, their place in history and God differently. She does so with intelligence, joy and a good dose of humor. Bass currently co-hosts “The Convocation Unscripted,” a podcast on religion and politics, and writes The Cottage, a top-five Substack newsletter in “Faith & Spirituality.”
Her latest book, A Beautiful Year, won the 2026 Wilbur Prize, her unprecedented third. Bass has authored twelve books in total, and her bylines include The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, The Atlantic, USA Today, Huffington Post, Spirituality and Health, Reader’s Digest, Christian Century and Sojourners. She has been seen on CBS, CNN, PBS, NPR, CBC, FOX, Sirius XM, and in TIME, Newsweek and Rolling Stone among many international outlets. Her weekly religion column, running from 1993-2003, was distributed nationally by The New York Times Syndicate.
Bass holds a doctorate in religious studies from Duke University and her work has received numerous awards across many organizations and universities including Publishers Weekly’s Best Religion Book of the Year.
Susannah Heschel
Wednesday, July 1st 2026 @ 2:00 pm |$20
Susannah Heschel serves as the Eli M. Black Distinguished Professor and chair of Jewish studies at Dartmouth College and the Gerard Weinstock Visiting Professor of Jewish Studies at Harvard University.
Heschel’s scholarship focuses on Jewish thought in Germany during the 19th and 20th centuries, including the history of antisemitism. Her books include Abraham Geiger and the Jewish Jesus; The Aryan Jesus: Christian Theologians and the Bible in Nazi Germany; Jüdischer Islam: Islam und Jüdischdeutsche Selbstbestimmung; and Jewish Studies and the Woman Question, written with Sarah Imhoff. Additionally, she has several edited and coedited books, including Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity: Essays of Abraham Joshua Heschel; Insider/Outsider: Multiculturalism and American Jews; Betrayal: German Churches and the Holocaust; The Muslim Reception of European Orientalism; and The Hasidic Sermon.
A Guggenheim Fellow, Heschel has received research grants from the Ford Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation and the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture. Several of her residential fellowships are from the National Humanities Center, the Institute for Advanced Study in Berlin, and the Maimonides Institute in Hamburg. She has been a visiting professor at the Universities of Cape Town, Frankfurt, Edinburgh, Lucerne, Princeton and Harvard. She holds five honorary doctorates from universities in the United States, Canada, Germany and Switzerland. Recently, last November, she delivered the Yosef Yerushalmi Lecture at the University of Munich, and this fall she will deliver the Franz Rosenzweig series of Lectures at Yale University.
Yolanda Pierce
Thursday, July 2nd 2026 @ 2:00 pm |$20
Yolanda Pierce is a scholar, writer, womanist theologian and accomplished administrator in higher education. She currently serves as University Distinguished Professor of Religion and Literature and dean of the Vanderbilt Divinity School.
Pierce’s newest book is The Wounds Are the Witness: Black Faith Weaving Memory into Justice and Healing, which explores how Black faith traditions hold memory, confront injustice and cultivate healing. Pierce’s research specialties include literature and religion, womanist theology and African American religions. A widely-published author, she has written several essays and articles for academic and trade journals including: Time Magazine; The Christian Century; Theology Today; and Christianity & Literature. Her previously published books include Hell Without Fires: Slavery, Christianity, and the Antebellum Spiritual Narrative and In My Grandmother’s House: Black Women, Faith, and the Stories We Inherit.
Pierce is the creator and curator of “Touching the Sacred,” an exhibit on material religion and the Black Church. She was appointed the founding director of the Center for African American Life at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. She is a member of various professional organizations, including the Modern Language Association, the Society for the Study of Black Religion and the American Historical Association. Pierce has also been the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including fellowships from the Ford Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, and
the Pew Foundation. In 2023, she received the Martin E. Marty Award for the Public Understanding of Religion from the American Academy of Religion.
As a first-generation college student, Pierce earned degrees from Cornell University and Princeton University. She is a native New Yorker, mentor, community activist, daughter of the Black Church, ordained minister and proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
In an age of misinformation, fractured narratives and contested truth, religious communities face profound questions: What does it mean to bear witness to truth? How do traditions cultivate discernment, trust and moral clarity? This week examines how moral and spiritual frameworks can help rebuild trust in public life, strengthen media literacy and foster communities capable of deep listening. We explore the ethics of speech, the power of storytelling and the responsibility of faith leaders in a rapidly evolving media landscape.
Rabbi Joshua Stanton
Monday, July 6th 2026 @ 2:00 pm |$20
Rabbi Joshua Stanton is associate vice president for Interfaith and Intergroup Initiatives at Jewish Federations of North America, where he empowers leaders from 141 Jewish Federations across the continent to become bridge-builders in their regions. He also serves as spiritual coleader of East End Temple in Manhattan.
Stanton puts Jewish learning, pastoral care, and social justice first. He loves connecting with people individually and supporting their spiritual journeys and pursuit of meaning. Stanton is coauthor with Rabbi Benjamin Spratt of Awakenings: American Jewish Transformations in Identity, Leadership, and Belonging and the forthcoming book, Revival: Portraits of America’s Spiritual Builders.
Stanton’s passion for religious pluralism and interfaith dialogue has led to his involvement and leadership internationally. His articles, media appearances, and interviews have appeared in more than a dozen languages, and he has spoken at the United Nations, White House and interfaith conferences around the world.
This Interfaith Lecture Series program is presented in collaboration with the Everett Jewish Life Center at Chautauqua.
Elizabeth Dias
Tuesday, July 7th 2026 @ 2:00 pm |$20
Elizabeth Dias is the national religion correspondent for The New York Times. She has reported on faith and politics for 15 years, covering religion in four presidential elections and reporting from more than 30 states and the Vatican. She writes about the shifting expressions of belief and power in American society, including the conservative Christian political movement as well as life’s biggest questions at the heart of our shared humanity.
Dias is the co-author of The Fall of Roe: The Rise of a New America, a book chronicling the political and religious campaign to end federal abortion rights, along with her New York Times colleague Lisa Lerer. Previously, she was a reporter for Time Magazine, where she traveled with Pope Francis and interviewed the Dalai Lama.
She has a Master of Divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary.
Naomi Riley
Wednesday, July 8th 2026 @ 2:00 pm |$20
Naomi Schaefer Riley is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where she focuses on child welfare and foster care issues. Specifically, her work analyzes the role of faithbased and community organizations in changing the foster care and adoption services landscape. She also studies how race, class and family structure affect foster care placement and services and the impact of the drug crisis on child welfare. She is concurrently a senior fellow at the Independent Women’s Forum.
Riley’s books include No Way to Treat a Child: How the Foster Care System, Family Courts, and Racial Activists Are Wrecking Young Lives and Be the Parent, Please: Stop Banning Seesaws and Start Banning Snapchat: Strategies for Solving the Real Parenting Problems. Her book, Til Faith Do Us Part: How Interfaith Marriage Is Transforming America, was a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice. She was interviewed by Brian Lamb on C-SPAN about her book The Faculty Lounges: And Other Reasons Why You Won’t Get the College Education You Paid For.
Riley is a frequent contributor to a variety of publications, including The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. She was previously a columnist for New York Post and an editor and writer for The Wall Street Journal. Her work has also appeared in Bloomberg Opinion, The Boston Globe, Commentary, First Things, Los Angeles Times, National Review, and
the Chronicle of Philanthropy, among others.
A regular guest on television, Riley’s appearances include C-SPAN, Today on NBC News, Fox News Channel, Fox Business, and CNBC. Rev. Nicole Martin
Thursday, July 9th 2026 @ 2:00 pm |$20
The Rev. Nicole Martin is the president and chief executive officer of Christianity Today. She has been with the magazine since 2023, previously holding the positions of chief operating officer and chief impact officer. Martin currently serves on the executive council of the National Association of Evangelicals, the Board of Trustees at Fuller Theological Seminary, and on the National Advisory Council for the Salvation Army. She is a founding board member of the Center for Christianity and Public Life and has been inducted into the esteemed Board of Preachers at Morehouse College. Martin is the founder and executive director of Soulfire International Ministries which accelerates thriving for pastors, churches, and younger leaders. She has decades of executive leadership experience in the church and Christian non-profits. Martin is very active at Kingdom Fellowship AME Church, her local congregation in Maryland.
In addition to writing numerous articles, Martin is also the author of two books titled, Made to Lead: Empowering Women for Ministry and Leaning In, Letting Go: A Lenten Devotional.
Martin was born and educated in Baltimore. She graduated magna cum laude from Vanderbilt University with a triple major in Human and Organizational Development, Educational Studies and French. Martin received her Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological
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Seminary and earned a Doctor of Ministry from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.
As the nation approaches another pivotal election, this week invites an interfaith exploration of how religious and ethical traditions shape civic life. What does it mean to vote, advocate and disagree with integrity? How do communities sustain courage and compassion amid polarization? Drawing on diverse traditions, we consider how practices such as lament, hope, justice-seeking and peacemaking can guide us through political uncertainty and toward more meaningful civic dialogue.
Randall Balmer
Monday, July 13th 2026 @ 2:00 pm
|$20
Randall Balmer, an Episcopal priest, is the John Phillips Professor in Religion at Dartmouth College. A prize-winning historian and Emmy Award nominee, he has published eighteen books, including Bad Faith: Race and the Rise of the Religious Right, Redeemer: The Life of Jimmy Carter and The New York Times bestseller, America’s Best Idea: The Separation of Church and State.
His second book, Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: A Journey into the Evangelical Subculture in America, now in its fifth edition, was made into a three-part documentary for PBS. His commentaries on religion in America appear in newspapers across the country, including The Los Angeles Times, The Santa Fe New Mexican, The Concord Monitor, and The Des Moines Register.
Najeeba Syeed
Tuesday, July 14th 2026 @ 2:00 pm
|$20
El-Hibri Endowed Chair and executive director of the Interfaith Institute, Augsburg University
2:00 p.m. Tuesday, July 14, 2026 · Hall of Philosophy
Najeeba Syeed is the Inaugural El-Bibri endowed chair and executive director of the Interfaith Institute and is a tenured and full professor of religion at Augsburg University. She is also a senior fellow at the Oxford Interfaith Forum.
Syeed has served as a visiting professor at Yale and Mercer University. She is an expert on Muslim-Jewish relations and has worked extensively on Evangelical Christian and Muslim relations throughout
the country. She served as associate professor of interreligious education and director of the Center for Global Peacebuilding at Claremont School of Theology from 2010-2020.
Syeed also brings significant executive experience with organizations as an executive director focused on conflict resolution in community, higher education and government settings, including the Western Justice Center Foundation and the Asian Pacific American Dispute Resolution Center. In 2021, she served as chief of staff to an elected member of the Los Angeles City Council. She holds a law degree from Indiana University.
Terrence Johnson
Wednesday, July 15th 2026 @ 2:00 pm |$20
Terrence L. Johnson is Charles G. Adams Professor of African American Religious Studies, professor of African and African American studies, and director of religion and public life at Harvard Divinity School. He is also a faculty associate of the Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard and a member of the Corporation at Haverford College. His research interests include African American political thought, ethics, American religions and the role of religion in public life. Johnson’s interdisciplinary research agenda is historical, critical and constructive. He weaves together African American religions, political theory and American history to paint broad conceptual schemes for imagining religion, democracy, ethics, liberalism, justice and freedom.
In 2024-25, he was an inaugural Steven M. Polan Fellow in constitutional law and history at the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan law and policy institute. The Polan Fellows program provides a platform for debates on the meaning and promise of the U.S. constitution.
He is the co-author of Blacks and Jews in America: An Invitation to Dialogue, winner of the 2023 Outstanding Book award by the Association for Ethnic Studies; We Testify with Our Lives: How Religion Transformed Radical Thought from Black Power to Black Lives Matter; and Tragic Soul-Life: W.E.B. Du Bois and the Moral Crisis Facing American Democracy. He also serves as co-editor of the Duke University Press Series “Religious Cultures of African and African Diaspora People.” He is currently completing a manuscript entitled Torn Asunder: Race and Religion in the Shadow of Law and Justice, which is under contract with Columbia University Press. He is also co-writing a book on ethics and law with M. Cathleen Kaveny tentatively entitled Christian Ethics and the Trump Court.
A graduate of Morehouse College, Johnson received his M.Div. from Harvard Divinity School and Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Brown University.
E.J. Dionne, Jr.
Thursday, July 16th 2026 @ 2:00 pm |$20
Dionne is a senior fellow and the W. Averell Harriman Chair in American Governance in the Governance Studies program at Brookings. He is also a Distinguished University Professor in the Foundations of Democracy and Culture at Georgetown University, affiliated with the McCourt School of Public Policy, and a contributing columnist to The New York Times.
Dionne began his career with The New York Times, reporting on state and local government, national politics, and from around the world, including stints in Paris, Rome, and Beirut. In 1990, Dionne
joined The Washington Post as a reporter covering national politics, and was a columnist for The Post from 1993 to 2025, when he became a Times contributor. He was an NPR commentator for two decades. His 1991 best-selling book, Why Americans Hate Politics, won The Los Angeles Times book prize, and was a National Book Award nominee. He is the author and co-author of eight other books, editor and co-editor of six volumes published by the Brookings Institution Press and co-editor of a collection of the speeches made by Barack Obama.
Dionne has received numerous awards, including the American Political Science Association’s Carey McWilliams Award, Volunteers of America Empathy Award, the National Human Services Assembly’s Award for Excellence by a Member of the Media and the Sidney Hillman Foundation’s Hillman Award for Career Achievement. He has been named among the 25 most influential Washington journalists by the National Journal and among the capital city’s top 50 journalists by the Washingtonian magazine. He was elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Dionne grew up in Fall River, Mass. He graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. from Harvard University and received his doctorate from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He will also be speaking at the 10:45 a.m. Chautauqua Lecture Series platform earlier the same day.
Many faith traditions teach stewardship, restraint and reverence for creation — values often at odds with a culture of disposability. This week explores how religious wisdom can help us rethink consumption, repair, waste and our relationship to the material world. What practices cultivate gratitude and sufficiency? How do communities confront environmental injustice? And how might faithful collaboration inspire a shift from disposability to durability?
Bill McKibben
Monday, July 20th 2026 @ 2:00 pm |$20
Bill McKibben is a contributing writer to The New Yorker and a founder of Third Act, which organizes people over the age of 60 to work on climate and racial justice. He founded the first global grassroots climate campaign, 350, and serves as the Schumann Distinguished Professor in Residence at Middlebury College in Vermont.
He has written more than twenty books about the environment including, The End of Nature and The Flag, the Cross, and the Station Wagon: A Graying American Looks Back at his Suburban Boyhood and Wonders What the Hell Happened. His latest book is titled Here Comes the Sun.
In 2014, he was awarded the Right Livelihood Prize, sometimes called the “alternative Nobel,” in the Swedish Parliament. He also won the Gandhi Peace Award and honorary degrees from 19 colleges and universities.
Rita Nakashima Brock
Wednesday, July 22nd 2026 @ 2:00 pm |$20
Rita Nakashima Brock is a scholar, editor and writer. From 2017-2025, she was senior vice president and director of the Shay Moral Injury Center at Volunteers of America and the coauthor of Soul Repair: Recovering from the Moral Injury after War with Gabriella Lettini.
In 2012 she co-founded, with Col. (Chaplain) Herman Keizer, Jr., and directed the Soul Repair Center at Brite Divinity School. She is the co-author, with Rebecca Ann Parker, of Proverbs of Ashes: Violence, Redemptive Suffering and the Search for What Saves Us and Saving Paradise: How Christianity Traded Love of This World for Crucifixion and Empire.
From 2005-2008, she was senior editor in religion at The New Press book publisher in New York. Her first book is Journeys By Heart: A Christology of Erotic Power and her second, with Susan Thistlethwaite, is Casting Stones: Prostitution and Liberation in Asia and the U.S. She is also author of many essays and blogs.
Leah Naomi Green
Thursday, July 23rd 2026 @ 2:00 pm |$20
Leah Naomi Green is writer-in-residence at Washington and Lee University. She is the author of The More Extravagant Feast, selected by LiYoung Lee for the Walt Whitman Award of the Academy of American Poets and named “one of the best books of 2020” by The Boston Globe. Green teaches English and environmental studies at Washington and Lee University as well as online creative writing workshops for Orion Magazine.
Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in The Paris Review, The Nation, Tin House, The Kenyon Review, “Poem-a-Day,” VQR, The Southern Review, Orion, The Georgia Review and Ecotone, among other journals.
Green has been featured on NPR’s “All Things Considered” and supported by fellowships and awards from the Civitella Ranieri Foundation, the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, the Sewanee Writers’
Conference, the Guilford College Sherwood Anderson Visiting Writer Program and the Lucille Clifton Legacy Award for compassion, courage, truth-telling and commitment to justice.
Art has long served as a vessel for spiritual expression, resistance and healing. This week celebrates artists whose work emerges from struggle, faith and resilience. How do religious narratives inspire creative courage? How do marginalized artists draw on spiritual resources to persist? And what does it mean to understand creativity as a sacred calling?
Peter Lawson Jones Monday, July 27th 2026 @ 2:00 pm |$20
Peter Lawson Jones is a professional actor, former elected official, acting instructor, master of ceremonies and dramatist.
Jones, a member of SAG-AFTRA and Actor’s Equity, can be seen later this year playing the lead in the feature-length indie, “The Last Shop on Walnut.” Jones has appeared in well over twenty films including “A Man Called Otto,” “White Boy Rick,” “Alex Cross,” “The Assassin’s Code” and “Starve.” On network television he can be seen on NBC’s “Chicago Fire” and ABC’s “Detroit 1-8-7.” He received the 2025 Hard Faith Fest NYC Best Actor Award for his performance in the short film, “Unexpected,” and the 2016 Indie Gathering International Film Festival Best Ohio Supporting Actor Award for his work in the feature-length film, “How to Change the World.” He has also been inducted into the Karamu House Hall of Fame, the oldest multicultural theatre in the country.
From February 2002, through December 2010, Jones was a member of the Board of Cuyahoga County Commissioners, and its president for three of those years. He previously served two and one-half terms in the Ohio House of Representatives, where he was the ranking member of the House Finance and Appropriations Committee and second vice president of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus. Jones was formerly the vice mayor and a councilman in the City of Shaker Heights, Ohio.
Jones’s play, The Bloodless Jungle, enjoyed a regional premiere last year at the Black Repertory Group Theater in Berkeley, California and two full productions at The Ensemble Theatre in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. The drama has enjoyed staged readings at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Dallas Convention Center, the National
Black Theatre Festival, Duquesne University and in Harlem. Jones’s most recent play, The Phoenix Society, enjoyed its world premiere in 2022 at Playwrights Local in Cleveland, Ohio. Jones is a graduate of Harvard College with a degree in government, and Harvard Law School.
Natalie Wigg-Stevenson
Wednesday, July 29th 2026 @ 2:00 pm |$20
Natalie Wigg-Stevenson is a theologian, minister, author and associate professor of contextual education at Emmanuel College (Victoria University, University of Toronto). Natalie brings to her teaching a spirit of play alongside rigorous theological thinking and deep pastoral attentiveness.
Based out of Toronto, she is the author of Ethnographic Theology: An Inquiry into the Production of Theological Knowledge and Transgressive Devotion: Theology as Performance Art, as well as numerous scholarly articles. A creative non-fiction writer, she is a frequent contributor to Sojourners Magazine and has created the open-access, interactive devotional website, Transgressive Devotional.
Micah Hendler
Thursday, July 30th 2026 @ 2:00 pm |$20
Micah Hendler is the founder and artistic director of the Jerusalem Youth Chorus (JYC), an Israeli-Palestinian music and dialogue project he has brought from a dream to the global stages of TED and “America’s Got Talent” to The New York Times and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” JYC’s work and mission will frame Hendler’s contributions to the Chautauqua Lecture Series weeklong celebration of “Art and Artists Against the Odds.”
Through the co-creation of music and the sharing of stories, JYC empowers young singers from East and West Jerusalem to speak and sing their truths as they become leaders in their communities and inspire singers and listeners around the world to join them in their work for peace, justice, inclusion and equality. Even in times of war, JYC continues to meet, and its singers’ commitment to each other, and the power of their voices raised in harmony, has only grown. In addition to his ongoing bridge-building work in Jerusalem, Hendler has brought his JYC experience to the U.S. and around the world, collaborating with several organizations working to depolarize America (including Braver Angels, the One America Movement, Convergence, New Pluralists, and Constructive Dialogue Institute), and global organizations including the United Nations, Abu Dhabi Festival, El Sistema Greece, and the first World Congress of Music and Social Change.
Hendler has a degree in music and international studies from Yale and has decades of musical experience from different global traditions. He has also been involved in dialogue work for 20 years and has written and presented in many local and global fora about his work with JYC. Selected for the Forbes “30 Under 30” list for Music in 2017, Hendler has written extensively for Forbes.com on music, society and social change in a global context, using this platform to uplift marginalized voices that are not often heard in mainstream media. He currently lives in Washington, D.C., where he leads regular community sings.
WEEK SIX • AUGUST 1–8, 2026
As the United States marks its semiquincentennial, this week examines
the religious and ethical dimensions of the American experiment. How have religious communities shaped — and been shaped by — the nation’s ideals and contradictions? What does it mean to pursue liberty, justice and flourishing for all? Through reflection and multireligious dialogue, we explore how memory, repentance, celebration and civic faith can guide us in telling a more complete national story.
Rosemarie Zagarri
Monday, August 3rd 2026 @ 2:00 pm
|$20
Rosemarie Zagarri is Distinguished University Professor and professor of history at George Mason University. A specialist in Early American political and women’s history, she is the author of a numerous articles and several books, including The Politics of Size: Representation in the United States, 1776-1850, A Woman’s Dilemma: Mercy Otis Warren and the American Revolution, and Revolutionary Backlash: Women and Politics in the Early American Republic.
She has contributed several amicus briefs to the Supreme Court and is a member of the Brennan’s Center’s Historians Council on the Constitution. She has been a historical consultant for the Statue of Liberty Museum as well as on various digital projects, such the Mapping Early American Elections project and When Women Lost the Vote. A former president of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic (SHEAR), she is also an elected member of the American Antiquarian Society and the Society of American Historians.
Zagarri has received numerous scholarly awards, including fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Philosophical Society, and the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon. She received her Ph.D. from Yale University.
Manisha Sinha
Tuesday, August 4th 2026 @ 2:00 pm |$20
Manisha Sinha is the Draper Chair in American History at the University of Connecticut and immediate Past President of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic. She received her Ph.D from Columbia University where her dissertation was nominated for the Bancroft Prize. She was nominated to the OAH Distinguished Lecture Series in 2003. A Guggenheim fellow for 20222023, she has received several other fellowships from the NEH and the Mellon foundation. She is the author of The Counterrevolution of Slavery: Politics and Ideology in Antebellum South Carolina which was cited in the New York Times’ 1619 project and named one of the ten best books on slavery in Politico. She is also the author of the multi award winning The Slave’s Cause: A History of Abolition, which was long listed for the National Book Award for Non-Fiction and translated into Chinese in 2025. She taught at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst for over twenty years where she received the Chancellor’s Medal, the highest honor bestowed on faculty. She was a visiting Professor at the University of Paris, Diderot in 2018 and at the University of Heidelberg in 2022, where she received the 2021 Pennington award. She has published widely in the mainstream press, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The New York Review of Books, The Times Literary Supplement, The Boston Globe, and The Nation, to name a
few and has been interviewed in the national and international press. Her recent book The Rise and Fall of the Second American Republic: Reconstruction, 1860-1920 won the President’s Book Prize from the Society for Historians of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era in 2026.
Jane Kamensky
Thursday, August 6th 2026 @ 2:00 pm |$20
Jane Kamensky is president and CEO of Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. A leading historian of early America and the United States, she worked for three decades as a professor and higher education leader, most recently as Jonathan Trumbull Professor of American History at Harvard University and Pforzheimer Foundation Director of the Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America at Harvard Radcliffe Institute.
A former Commissioner of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery and past Trustee of the Museum of the American Revolution, Kamensky is a member of the National Advisory Council of More Perfect as well as on the executive committee of the national historycivics initiative Educating for American Democracy, among many other public history roles. From 2018 through 2025, she served as a scholarly advisor and on-camera expert for the Florentine Films/Ken Burns documentary, “The American Revolution.”
Kamensky is the author or editor of numerous books spanning four centuries of American history, including A Revolution in Color: The World of John Singleton Copley, which won four major prizes and was a finalist for several others. Her most recent book, Candida Royalle and the Sexual Revolution, was a finalist for the National
Book Critics Circle Award for Biography.
As global power shifts and international norms evolve, religious communities play complex roles in diplomacy, conflict, humanitarian response and cultural identity. This week examines how faith traditions shape global ethics. What responsibilities do nations and religious actors share in promoting peace? How do spiritual worldviews influence responses to migration, climate change and human rights? And how can interfaith cooperation strengthen a fragile international order?
Jeremy Ben-Ami
Tuesday, August 11th 2026 @ 2:00 pm |$20
Jeremy Ben-Ami is the president of J Street, bringing to the role both deep experience in American politics and government and a passionate commitment to the state of Israel. Ben-Ami’s family connection to Israel goes back 140 years to the first aliyah when his great-grandparents were among the first settlers in Petah Tikva. His grandparents were one of the founding families of Tel Aviv, and his father was an activist and leader in the Irgun, working for Israel’s independence and on the rescue of European Jews before and during World War II.
July 24th & 25th, 2026
Ben-Ami’s political resume includes serving in the mid-1990s as the deputy domestic policy advisor in the White House to President Bill Clinton and working on seven presidential and numerous state and local campaigns, including helping to manage a mayoral campaign in New York City in 2001. For nearly three years in the late ’90s, he lived in Israel, where he started a consulting firm working with Israeli nonprofit organizations and politicians. Ben-Ami received a law degree from New York University and is a graduate of the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.
Wednesday, August 12th 2026 @ 2:00 pm |$20
Naaborle Sackeyfio is an associate professor of global and intercultural studies at Miami University of Ohio. She focuses on energy and resource politics, gender and sustainable development in Sub-Saharan Africa and is the author of Energy Politics and Rural Development: The Case of Ghana.
Her publications have appeared in the journals such as New Political Science and African Affairs. She was a Science Communication Fellow with The University of Rhode Island’s Metcalf Institute, Michigan State University’s Knight Center for Environmental Journalism, and the URI Science and Story Lab in 2023.
Food is more than sustenance — it is ritual, memory, identity and community. This week explores the spiritual dimensions of food in a time of ecological strain and technological innovation. How do religious traditions shape our understanding of nourishment, hospitality and justice? What wisdom can faith communities offer as we rethink agriculture, food systems and our relationship to the world around us? And how might growing gardens and sharing meals become paths to healing, belonging and connection?
Adrienne Krone
Monday, August 17th 2026 @ 2:00 pm |$20
Adrienne Krone is associate professor of environmental science and sustainability and religious studies at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania. Her work focuses on religious food justice movements in North America.
She is the author of Free-Range Religion: Alternative Food Movements and Religious Life in the United States. The book offers a critical ethnographic exploration of religious engagement in food justice work through four case studies, which provide insight into religious food justice organizations as they complicate our understanding of American religion. Her current research project is an ethnographic and historical study of the Jewish community farming movement.
She holds a Ph.D. in American religion from Duke University.
Derrick Weston
Tuesday, August 18th 2026 @ 2:00 pm |$20
Derrick Weston is the Director of Theological Education and Formation, Creation Justice Ministries. Derrick is a writer, filmmaker, podcaster, speaker and educator whose most recent work has focused on the intersection of food and faith. He is the co-host of the “Food and Faith” podcast and producer of “Spoon, Spade, and Soul,” a podcast highlighting food and land-based ministries in the Episcopal church. Additionally, he is the producer of the short film series “A Wilderness Like Eden” highlighting the work of churches engaged in food justice work. Derrick is co-author of the book The Just Kitchen: Invitations to Sustainability, Cooking, Connection, and Celebration.
After two decades of being a pastor and community organizer, Weston is a strong believer in the potential of local congregations to enact change in their communities. Weston received his B.A. in film studies from the University of Pittsburgh and his Master of Divinity from San Francisco Theological Seminary. He also has a certification in health ministry from Wesleyan Theological Seminary and was a part of the Re:Generate fellowship on food, faith, and ecology though Wake Forest Divinity School.
Karen Florini
Wednesday, August 19th 2026 @ 2:00 pm |$20
Karen Florini is a strategic advisor with C-Change Conversations, which educate audiences throughout the country about how climate change will impact them personally, why there is urgency to address it and how to forge consensus for action. She also serves as a senior fellow with the Climate Democracy Initiative.
Previously, she held multiple leadership roles at Climate Central, a non-profit climate science research and communication organization that creates highly localized information on climate impacts and solutions. In 2024 with the Council on Foreign Relations, Florini completed a residency at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center for her project on Disenfranchised by Climate Change, which
examines impacts of extreme weather on electoral processes around the globe.
Prior to joining Climate Central in 2017, Florini served as deputy special envoy for climate change at the State Department for the final two years of the Obama Administration. She led the Department’s engagement with businesses, state and local governments, and civil society in the climate negotiations context. She also headed the State Department’s portfolio on short-lived climate pollutants such as methane and black carbon. Previously, she spent more than two decades at the Environmental Defense Fund, working both on environmental health and climate change.
She earned a J.D. at Harvard, where she was editor-in-chief of the Harvard Environmental Law Review.
Norman Wirzba
Thursday, August 20th 2026 @ 2:00 pm |$20
Norman Wirzba is Gilbert T. Rowe
Distinguished Professor of Christian Theology & Senior Fellow at the Kenan Institute of Ethics at Duke University. His research and teaching interests are at the intersections of theology, philosophy, ecology, and agrarian and environmental studies. He is the author of Love’s Braided Dance: Hope in a Time of Crisis and Food and Faith: A Theology of Eating. Raised on a farm in Southern Alberta, Norman went on to study history at the University of Lethbridge, theology at Yale University Divinity School, and philosophy at Loyola University Chicago. Since then he has taught at Saint Thomas More
College/University of Saskatchewan, Georgetown College (KY), and Duke University Divinity School. He’s the father of four children and is married to Gretchen Ziegenhals. He likes to bake, cook and make things with wood. He also enjoys playing the guitar. He used to be a good athlete! He enjoys being outdoors and spending time with his family and friends. He tries to grow some food.
Leaders from multiple faith traditions explore how intentional gathering — in sacred spaces and beyond — strengthens bonds of compassion and justice. What practices nurture belonging and mutual care across difference? How can these traditions help heal division, foster civic engagement and build resilience in times of uncertainty? As we reflect on the nation’s semiquincentennial, we consider the Beloved Community as both a spiritual aspiration and a practical framework for a more inclusive future.
Jose Arellano
Monday, August 24th 2026 @ 2:00 pm |$20
Jose Arellano is an organizational leader and entrepreneur with a proven record of driving transformation, building high-performing teams and delivering sustainable growth. He began his career at Homeboy Industries in 2013 as a trainee and advanced to vice president of operations, where he leads organizational initiatives, workforce development, integrates departments, and implements strategies that strengthen systems and scale impact. In addition to his executive role, Arellano is the co-owner of Tepito Coffee, where he successfully uplifted the company into profitability by restructuring operations, refining strategy and driving disciplined execution.
Arellano’s leadership on the executive team of Homeboy Industries led to the prestigious Hilton Humanitarian Prize, the world’s highest honor for humanitarian organizations. Earlier, he was recognized with the I Have a Dream Award in 2022. He has also spoken nationally and internationally on organizational development and transformation, including moderating a landmark 2021 conversation between Father Greg Boyle and Pema Chödrön. He previously co-hosted the Without Your Permission Podcast and continues to share insights on leadership, resilience, and social impact across multiple platforms.
Amy Bruton Bluemel
Wednesday, August 26th 2026 @ 2:00 pm |$20
As the great-granddaughter of Eastman Kaney (an original Dawes Commission enrollee), Bluemel is a proud member of the Chickasaw Nation. She is an award-winning storyteller and educator, artist, and stomp dancer.
Bluemel is the 2023 recipient of the Coleen Salley Storytelling Award for her commitment to the art of storytelling, by The University of Southern Mississippi. She shares Chickasaw and Southeastern tribal customs with audiences of all ages through lively programs at schools, museums, libraries, and festivals across the country. She also performs with the dance troupe Hithla at events and festivals around the nation.
Bluemel is also an accomplished artist. Her artwork is sold at several museums and stores and sells her creations at powwows and festivals throughout the United States. She was also one of 36 Native American artists chosen to show and sell her art at the Smithsonian
of the American
By John Whittaker jwhittaker@ post-journal.com
Josh Groban, left, and Natalie McQueen pose during a ceremony honoring Groban with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Wednesday, May 6, 2026, in Los Angeles.
(Photo by Richard Shotwell/ Invision/AP)
Josh Groban joins the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra for Josh Groban: Stage, Screen and Symphony on Thursday, Aug. 13, at Chautauqua Institution.
Groban released a new album on Friday. Titled CINEMATIC, the album is a tribute to the world of the silver screen. Its 10 tracks include songs from such movie classics as The Godfather, Casablanca, The Lion King, Stand By Me and Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
In addition to his performance at Chautauqua Institution this summer, Groban announced in December that he will embark on a North American tour with special guest Jennifer Hudson.
Groban has sold more than 35 million albums worldwide. His catalog spans a series of chart-topping blockbuster albums, including his debut album Josh Groban, which has been certified five times platinum; Closer, certified six times platinum; Noël, certified seven times platinum; Awake, certified two times platinum; Illuminations, All That Echoes, Stages, Bridges, and Harmony.
Groban made his Broadway debut in 2016 with a starring role in Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812. He garnered a Tony Award nomination for Best Lead Actor In A Musical. He has expanded his presence with appearances on Glee, The Simpsons, The Office, CSI: NY, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and The Crazy Ones as well as in the feature films Coffee Town, Muppets Most Wanted, and Crazy, Stupid, Love. In addition, he starred in the Netflix series
In 2022, he returned to Radio City Music Hall for a residency of his Great Big Radio City Show and launched a nationwide live tour. Groban also starred in ABC’s special Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration as the Beast in December 2022.
In the spring of 2023 Groban took to Broadway once again, performing in the revival of Sweeney Todd, playing the title role which earned him Tony and Grammy nominations.
Institution officials also announced recently that Kenny G will perform Thursday, Aug. 27, at 8 p.m. in the Chautauqua Amphitheater. Kenny G’s professional career began with Barry White’s The Love Unlimited Orchestra at age 17. He played with the Seattle funk band Cold, Bold & Together before joining the Jeff Lorber Fusion in 1980. His solo career took off after signing with Arista Records in 1982. His debut album, Kenny G, was recorded with members of the Jeff Lorber Fusion and released in 1982. Kenny G’s fourth solo album, Duotones (1986), marked the start of his most commercially successful period, featuring the hit single “Songbird”. His 1992 album, Breathless, became the best-selling instrumental album ever, and his
first holiday album, Miracles: The Holiday Album, sold over 13 million copies. He has worked on soundtracks for films such as The Bodyguard and collaborated with artists, including Andrea Bocelli and Frank Sinatra. In 2021, HBO released a documentary on Kenny G, Listening to Kenny G.
Performing artist Kenny G stands on the sideline before the Seattle Seahawks take on the New England Patriots in the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026 in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Doug Benc)
“If you’re going to criticize me, I’m just not going to go with that because I already know that I’m doing my very, very best. So, there’s where the confidence comes from,” Kenny G said in a 2021 interview with the Associated Press when the documentary was released. “Did it ever really hurt me? Honestly, no. Because I’ve got my armor of knowing I’m doing my very, very best. That’s why I practice every day… I’m never a little rusty — ever.”
Amy Grant will perform Friday, July 31, in the amphitheater, featuring songs from her first new album in over a decade, “The Me That Remains,” dropping this May.
Grant is a six-time Grammy winner and the wife of country music star Vince Gill. The singer — also known for “Every Heartbeat” and “That’s What Love is For” — has her roots in gospel music but found a larger audience with the release of her 1991 record “Heart in Motion.”
“I’ve always been compelled by curiosity and I think sometimes a potential listener can lose interest because of how something is pegged,”
Singer Amy Grant poses for a portrait in New York on Thursday, April 16, 2026.
Grant told The Associated Press last week. “Sometimes the way I’m introduced, I’m on the side of the stage waiting to go out and just the verbiage, I’d go, “Whew, I wouldn’t stay for that show.” Nothing about that interested me. Curiosity is such a great thing. Curiosity makes us lean in. Everybody’s faith journey is unique. I am staking everything on the fact that it’s God who finds us. And I trust that. And I think how we let that exhibit in our lives might make somebody else curious to lean in. As a person of deep faith, I have stood outside under stormy skies, under a full moon at different times in my life and said, “Am I just talking to the ceiling? Are you really there?” And I don’t know, I come away and go, “I don’t know where else to turn.” But that’s my journey.”
(Photo by Andy Kropa/ Invision/AP)
Wynonna Judd and Melissa Etheridge: Raised On Radio Saturday, June 27th 2026 @ 6:30 pm |$72 – $177
Grammy Award winning icons, Melissa Etheridge and Wynonna Judd, have just announced dates for their co-headlining Raised On Radio Tour. These two musical trailblazers are teaming up for an unforgettable tour, bringing fans their chart-topping hits and signature sounds that made them two of the most celebrated artists of all time.
“I’ve spent my entire adult life onstage, but before any of that, I was just a girl sitting close to a radio speaker, hanging on every word. That’s where it all started for me,” says Judd. She continues, “Raised On Radio isn’t just a tour name—it’s my roots and wings. It’s late nights with the dial turned low, chasing distant stations through the static. It’s songs that felt like they understood me before I understood myself. The radio was my teacher, my comfort, my escape. The songs playing through that radio shaped me as a dreamer and an artist. This tour is about going back to that feeling and sharing it with you.” Etheridge adds, “I was literally raised on the radio, growing up in Leavenworth I listened to WHB. They played every kind of music from rock and soul to R&B and country music. It helped shape me to become the versatile writer and musician that I am today.”
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Nominee, Etheridge stormed the rock scene with her confessional lyrics and signature vocal rasp on “Bring Me Some Water,” “Come to My Window,” “Bein’ Alive” and “The Other Side of Blue” with Chris Stapleton from her new album Rise (2026).
Judd, a five-time Grammy winner and Country Music Hall of Fame Member, first rose to fame as one-half of the legendary Country music duo, The Judds. She cemented her stardom through countless chart-topping solo hits in the ‘90s and 2000s, including “No One Else on Earth,” “I Saw The Light,” and “She Is His Only Need.”
Fans can sign up for early access to tickets for the Raised On Radio Tour, including exclusive VIP packages, by visiting Wynonna.com and MelissaEtheridge.com. Artist presales start Tuesday, March 10th at 10:00am local time, with public on-sale to follow on Friday, March 13th at 10:00am local.
Mike Thornton & The Midnight Quartet Monday, June 29th 2026 @ 10:00 pm |$25
Mike Thornton, jazz vocalist of grit and sophistication, takes center stage with The Midnight Quartet in a performance charged with high-octane energy and deep blues soul. Blending hard-swinging standards with electrifying improvisation, Thornton’s commanding voice rides effortlessly over the band’s tight, driving rhythms. Each
tune ignites with hot, explosive solos, delivering a night where smoky storytelling meets virtuosic fire—classic jazz reborn with urgency, swagger, and unmistakable style.
Alicia Olatuja: “Dear Lisa”
Tuesday, June 30th 2026 @ 8:00 pm |$55 – $65
When St. Louis native vocalist, composer, educator Alicia Olatuja sings, the world listens. Her aural artistry is a wondrous weave of jazz, blues, gospel, classical, pop and Afropop musical genres. Olatuja’s embrace of those sonic stylings have enabled her to work with a wide variety of musicians – from jazz superstars Chris Botti, Christian McBride and Michael Olatuja, to R&B and gospel legends Chaka Khan and BeBe Winans.
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Olatuja grew up immersed in a kaleidoscope of musical influences in St. Louis. Inspired by Whitney Houston, Olatuja started singing at the age of 5. She sang in the Berean Seven Day Adventist Church, listened to a wide variety of Black music including jazz, R&B and soul and was classically trained as an opera mezzo-soprano singer. After double majoring in Veterinary Medicine and Music at the University of Missouri, Olatuja moved to New York City in 2005, and later earned her Masters degree in Classical Voice/Opera from the Manhattan School of Music. She made her recital debut at Carnegie Hall and her professional debut as Sacagawea at Opera Memphis.
It was at the Manhattan School of Music where she met African jazz/Afrobeat bassist Michael Olatuja. “I started working with him and some other musicians as well,” Olatuja says, “We got married in 2007, and we decided to merge our visions, as far as working together and creating music that we felt would impact people in a positive way.” She recorded on his 2009 debut recording Speak, and they collaborated as The Olatuja Project on their 2013 release, The Promise. “In 2015 we decided to go our separate ways,” Olatuja recalls, “but we always respected and loved each other, and we always believed that we were supposed to be in each other’s lives. We stayed in touch for several years… He started working on Broadway, and I started my solo career.”
In 2013 Olatuja sang “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” with the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir at President Obama’s Second Inauguration. The New York Daily News praised her as “a new musical star,” and the award-winning jazz vocalist Dianne Reeves also took notice of her performance.” I think about her as like a fairy godmother of the industry because she really championed for me,” Olatuja fondly remembers. “She saw that performance and we met. She recommended me to other musicians and artists, and that led to touring and all kinds of things.”
Reeves recommended Olatuja to her friend, multiple Grammy award winning pianist-composer Billy Childs. In 2014, he released Map to the Treasure: Reimagining Laura Nyro, which also featured Reeves. Olatuja sang with Child’s touring ensemble performing music from that recording. Olatuja would go on to work with many other artists. She recorded on bassist Christian McBrides’ recording, The Movement Revisited: A Portrait of Four Icons; as well as, Gregory Porter’s Grammy award winning 2016 album, Take Me to the Alley. Olatuja has also worked with Hammond B-3 organist Dr. Lonnie Smith, drummer Ulysses Owens, Jr. on his Songs of Freedom, a Jazz at Lincoln Center commissioned project, which featured the music of Abbey Lincoln, Joni Mitchell and Nina Simone, Osvaldo Golijov’s Oceana, under the musical direction off Marin Alsop, and Carnegie Hall’s NYO Jazz Orchestra, led by trumpeter Sean Jones. Olatuja released her debut recording, Timeless, which earned her a 4-star review from Down Beat, and featured McBride, harmonica virtuoso Grégoire Maret, pianist Christian Sands and alto saxophonist Jaleel Shaw, and it also featured Olatuja’s inventive take on Michael Jackson’s “Human Nature.” Olatuja’s second release, Intuition: Songs from the Minds of Women, featured selections composed by women including Sade, Linda Creed, Kate Bush, Tracy Chapman and Angela Bofill. In 2023 Olatuja also recorded The Parsonage: True Tales of Love and Anarchy at 64 East 7th St., featuring vocalist Theo Bleckmann.
In addition to her career as a performing artist, Olatuja is also an exceptional educator. She’s taught at several schools including, The University of Texas, The University of Illinois, Baylor University, Snow College, and at several schools in Turkey, Serbia and Japan when she was on tour with the musical, La Mama Cantata, based on the life of theater director/producer Ellen Stewart.
In 2021, during the pandemic, Olatuja – who is also a LPI certified Life Coach specializing in Vocal Empowerment – created the Vocal Breakthrough Academy: a 5 week online program where singers and non-singers who are looking to break through self-doubt and comparison learn how to authentically connect with themselves and others through singing so they can transform their voices while using singing as a vehicle for personal-development.
Her most recent recording project is a reunion recording with Michael Olatuja, entitled, Olatuja, which was released in 2024. Alicia Olatuja feels equally at home in both the jazz and classical genres, and continues to mesmerize audiences throughout the world.
The Raleigh Ringers
Wednesday, July 1st 2026 @ 8:00 pm |$40 – $50
The Raleigh Ringers return to Chautauqua for another dazzling performance by one of America’s premier handbell ensembles. Renowned for their virtuosity and showmanship, The Raleigh Ringers bring an extraordinary range of musical styles to life—from classical masterpieces to rock favorites—on hundreds of bronze
bells. Their precision, artistry, and infectious energy transform handbell ringing into a breathtaking visual and musical experience. Don’t miss this much-anticipated return engagement that promises to delight audiences of all ages.
One Night Only: An Evening with Sutton Foster & Kelli O’Hara
Thursday, July 2nd 2026 @ 8:00 pm |$70 – $145
Enjoy a night with Sutton Foster and Kelli O’Hara inspired by the 1962 CBS special “Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall”— a tribute to Broadway and beyond. Together with Principal Pops Conductor Stuart Chafetz and the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, Sutton and Kelli pay homage to icons of stage and screen Julie Andrews and Carol Burnett who teamed up for that memorable concert. You’ll hear favorites from Sutton and Kelli’s Tony Award winning and nominated shows and in between, lots of bubbly banter, laughter and stories you’ll love.
Preservation Hall Jazz Band
Friday, July 3rd 2026 @ 8:00 pm |$50 – $75
At a moment when musical streams are crossing with unprecedented frequency, it’s crucial to remember that throughout its history, New Orleans has been the point at which sounds and cultures from around the world converge, mingle, and resurface, transformed by the Crescent City’s inimitable spirit and joie de vivre. Nowhere is that idea more vividly embodied than in the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, which has held the torch of New Orleans music aloft for more than 65 years, all the while carrying it enthusiastically forward as a reminder that the history they were founded to preserve is a vibrantly living history.
PHJB marches that tradition forward once again on So It Is. The album redefines what New Orleans music means today by tapping into a sonic continuum that stretches back to the city’s Afro-Cuban
roots, through its common ancestry with the Afrobeat of Fela Kuti and the Fire Music of Pharoah Sanders and John Coltrane, and forward to cutting-edge artists with whom the PHJB have shared festival stages from Coachella to Newport, including legends like Stevie Wonder, Elvis Costello and the Grateful Dead and modern giants like Beck, The Foo Fighters, My Morning Jacket, and the Black Keys.
Chautauqua Opera Conservatory Late-Night Cabaret Monday, July 6th 2026 @ 10:00 pm |$25
Step into a different side of opera training with an evening of jazz, musical theater, and American Songbook favorites performed by the singers of the Chautauqua Opera Conservatory. Curated by acclaimed cabaret artist and Pittsburgh Opera’s Mark Trawka, this late-night performance brings the energy and intimacy of classic NYC and Paris cabarets to Chautauqua. With drinks in hand and an intimate atmo-
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sphere, audiences can experience these rising operatic artists in repertoire that is heartfelt, entertaining, and unexpectedly personal.
All-Star Dance Gala
Wednesday, July 8th 2026 @ 8:00 pm |$55 – $75
Curated by Sasha Janes, Bonnefoux McBride Artistic Director of Chautauqua School of Dance, the annual All-Star Dance Gala serves as a celebration of the exceptional talent consistently produced by the Chautauqua School of Dance. Artists from top-tier national companies join forces for an exciting mixed repertoire evening of contemporary and classical dance. In addition to the performance, all-stars host discussion panels and serve as School of Dance guest faculty, graciously sharing their knowledge with the next generation of Alumni All-Stars. Come celebrate the extraordinary talent that Chautauqua has nurtured from school to stage.
Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue – Let’s Go Get ‘Em
Tour Friday, July 10th 2026 @ 8:00 pm |$70 – $145
Few artists embody the heart and soul of their city like Trombone Shorty. Perhaps the most recognizable ambassador for New Orleans music working today, Shorty has spent his entire life not only carrying the torch for Crescent City culture, but also propelling it forward into the 21st century with his ecstatic live performances and intoxicating blend of rock, funk, soul, jazz, blues, hip-hop, and Caribbean influences.
Born Troy Andrews, Shorty made his first appearance at New
Orleans’ iconic Jazz Fest at the age of four, when he took the stage for an impromptu performance with Bo Diddley. By six, he was heading up his own brass band, and by his early twenties, he’d released the first in a string of critically acclaimed, chart-topping albums that would lead to performances everywhere from the White House and the Grammy Awards to Madison Square Garden and the 2025 Super Bowl. Along the way, Shorty would tour with artists as diverse as Jeff Beck and the Red Hot Chili Peppers; play Coachella, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, the Roots Picnic, and countless other festivals; perform alongside Juvenile on his instantly legendary NPR Tiny Desk Concert; earn his first Grammy Award; appear on The Tonight Show, The Late Show, Conan, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Good Morning America, Today, CNN, HBO’s Treme, and even an episode of The Simpsons; and collaborate with an eclectic mix of stars including Pharrell, Bruno Mars, Mark Ronson, Jon Batiste, Lenny Kravitz, Foo Fighters, ZHU, Zac Brown, Normani and Ringo Starr.
Chautauqua Opera Conservatory Late-Night Cabaret
Monday, July 13th 2026 @ 10:00 pm |$25
Step into a different side of opera training with an evening of crossover favorites featuring jazz standards, Broadway classics, and beloved American songs performed by the singers of the Chautauqua Opera Conservatory. In a relaxed cabaret setting inspired by downtown New York nightlife, this performance offers audiences a rare chance to hear classically trained singers explore music beyond the opera stage. Warm, funny, touching, and spontaneous, the evening celebrates storytelling, personality, and the joy of live performance.
Alexander Gavrylyuk, piano
Wednesday, July 15th 2026 @ 8:00 pm |$55 – $65
A stunningly virtuosic pianist, Alexander is internationally recognised for his electrifying and poetic performances. His performance of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No.3 at the BBC Proms was described as “revelatory” by The Times and “electrifying” by Limelight. Alexander was Artist-in-Residence at Wigmore Hall for the 23/24 season.
Highlights of the 2025-26 season include debuts with Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Tonkünstler Orchestra, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Opera North orchestra and i Solisti di Pavia. Alexander will also return to the Sydney Symphony
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Orchestra and Auckland Philharmonia. Recent highlights also include Hamburger Symphoniker, Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liege, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Estonian National Symphony, Phil Zuid, Enescu Philharmonic and Taiwan National Symphony. This season also sees returns to Baerum Kulturhaus and the Piano Masters Series in Stoke-on-Trent as a recital artist along with his recital debut at Theater Heerlen. Alexander collaborates regularly with conductors including Rafael Payer, Thomas Sondergard, Kirill Karabit, Edward Gardner, Sir Donald Runnicles, Juraj Valcuha and Gustavo Gimeno.
Born in Ukraine in 1984 and holding Australian citizenship, Alexander began his piano studies at the age of seven and gave his first concerto performance when he was nine years old. At the age of 13, Alexander moved to Sydney where he lived until 2006. He won First Prize and Gold Medal at the Horowitz International Piano Competition (1999), First Prize at the Hamamatsu International Piano Competition (2000), and Gold Medal at the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Masters Competition (2005).
As a recitalist Alexander has performed at the Musikverein in Vienna, Tonhalle Zurich, Victoria Hall Geneva, Southbank Centre’s International Piano Series, Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw Master Pianists Series, Suntory Hall, Tokyo Opera City Hall, Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory, Cologne Philharmonie, Tokyo City Concert Hall, San Francisco, City Recital Hall in Sydney and Melbourne Recital Centre. Gavrylyuk has appeared at many of the world’s foremost festivals, including the Hollywood Bowl, Bravo! Vail Colorado, Mostly Mozart, the Ruhr Festival and the Kissinger Sommer International Music Festival. Alexander is currently Artist in Residence at Chautauqua Institution.
Friday, July 17th 2026 @ 8:00 pm |$85 – $265
A consummate performer, Harry Connick, Jr. has exemplified excellence in the entertainment world for decades—be it music, film, television or Broadway. His prodigious talent has earned him Grammy, Emmy and Tony recognition, plus album sales in excess of 30 million and sold-out concerts around the world.
Backed by his stellar band, this special concert will showcase the full breadth of Connick’s artistry—from jazz standards and New Orleans classics to his masterful originals and career-defining hits.
Unscripted! An Evening of Musical Improv Saturday, July 18th 2026 @ 10:00 pm |$25 Monday, July 20th 2026 @ 10:00 pm |$25
Unscripted! An Evening of Musical Improv features a collection of improv comedians and singers from Brooklyn, New York. By day, they are the Chautauqua Institution Young Playwrights Project’s Lead Teaching Artists, teaching in public schools throughout Chautauqua County. By night, they grace the stages of New York City’s premiere comedy venues.
Alison Krauss & Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas with special guest Theo Lawrence Friday, July 24th 2026 @ 7:30 pm |$75 – $175
For nearly four decades, Alison Krauss & Union Station have upheld their legacy as one of the most influential and widely
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celebrated acts in bluegrass and roots music. Known for an immaculately crafted but endlessly surprising sound that transcends the boundaries of roots, country, rock & roll, and pop, Alison Krauss & Union Station released their highly anticipated new album, Arcadia, in 2025. This marked their first studio album since the 2011 masterpiece Paper Airplane—a critically lauded, multiple Grammy Award winning LP that debuted at #1 on the Billboard Country, Bluegrass, and Folk Album charts. Over the years, Alison Krauss & Union Station have brought their phenomenal live show to sold-out performances at famed venues like Red Rocks Amphitheatre, The Greek Theatre, Radio City Music Hall, and London’s Royal Festival Hall, in addition to supporting Paul Simon in Hyde Park for his 2012 Graceland reunion. They now continue the celebration of their new music with the Arcadia 2026 Tour.
The players – Alison Krauss (fiddle, lead vocal), Jerry Douglas (Dobro, lap steel, vocals), Ron Block (banjo, guitar, vocals), Barry Bales (bass, vocals), and highly acclaimed and celebrated tenor vocalist Russell Moore (guitar, mandolin, lead vocal) – are five distinct personalities, each of whom enjoys a flourishing solo career. But when they come together, they transform into a peerless group of musicians who share a singular focus.
Mike Thornton & The Midnight Quartet
Monday, July 27th 2026 @ 10:00 pm |$25
Mike Thornton, jazz vocalist of grit and sophistication, takes center stage with The Midnight Quartet in a performance charged with high-octane energy and deep blues soul. Blending hard-swinging standards with electrifying improvisation, Thornton’s commanding voice rides effortlessly over the band’s
tight, driving rhythms. Each tune ignites with hot, explosive solos, delivering a night where smoky storytelling meets virtuosic fire—classic jazz reborn with urgency, swagger, and unmistakable style.
Meshelle: Funny on Purpose
Tuesday, July 28th 2026 @ 10:00 pm |$25
In partnership with the African American Heritage House
MESHELLE The Indie-Mom of Comedy, is an award-winning comedian, writer, and solo performer whose work sits at the intersection of arts, culture, and impact, shaped by the lens of a Black woman honoring mothering, family, personal growth, and the undeniable cultural influence of our people. Her stand-up has been featured on Nickelodeon, TruTV, BET, and STARZ, bringing her sharp, insightful voice to audiences nationwide. A TEDx speaker, Open Society Foundations Community Fellow Alumna, and Baker Artist Award winner, she uses comedy as a tool for connection, reflection, and change. Through storytelling rooted in lived experience, MESHELLE creates work that is as thought-provoking as it is hilarious.
Sally Love & Friends: Sleep is the New Sex
Thursday, July 30th 2026 @ 10:00 pm |$25
Usually in bed by 10, but willing to stay up and entertain us with her hilarious takes on sleep, sex and the indignities of our aging bodies,
Sally Love and friends will perform their stand up routines alongside improv artists in a brand new and exciting collaboration.
Ticket sales for this performance benefit Friends of Chautauqua Theater.
An Evening with Amy Grant
Friday, July 31st 2026 @ 8:00 pm |$55 – $115
Amy Grant’s career spans more than 40 years and stretches from her roots in gospel into becoming an iconic pop star,
songwriter, television personality and philanthropist. With three multi-platinum albums, six platinum albums and four gold albums, her total career album sales have exceeded 30 million and over 1 billion global streams. Grant’s chart success has been consistent throughout her career with six No. 1 hits, 10 Top 40 pop singles, 17 Top 40 Adult Contemporary tracks and multiple Contemporary Christian chart-toppers. In addition to her six GRAMMY® Awards, Grant has earned 26 GMA Dove Awards (including four Artist of the Year Awards) and has been awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as well as the Music City Walk of Fame and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Conventional wisdom has it that Grant put Contemporary Christian Music on the map becoming the first Contemporary Christian artist to have a platinum record, the first to hit No. 1 on the Pop charts and the first to perform at the GRAMMY® Awards. With that, her legacy as one of the most influential artists of the past four decades is assured. In 2022, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts included Grant as one of their five distinguished Honorees to receive the 45th Kennedy Center Honors for lifetime artistic achievements. Grant continues to actively tour each year playing 70+ solo shows in addition to the annual Christmas At The Ryman residency with Vince Gill which celebrated over 100 headline shows at the Ryman, the first co-headliners to mark this incredible milestone. In the spring of 2026, Grant will release her first new album of new music in over a decade entitled “The Me That Remains” dropping May 8, 2026. Produced by legendary Mac McAnally, this very personal album is a journey through themes of healing, human & spiritual connection, unity, & hope. The album features collaborations with guest artists Ruby Amanfu & Vince Gill along with co-writing partners Jon Foreman (Switchfoot), Tom Douglas, Mike Reid, Mac McAnally and more. The title song reflects Amy’s journey over the last few years overcoming heart surgery and a bike accident that nearly took her life. Amy’s music always looks through a lens of hope & faith while probing the human condition with honest commentary inviting a conversation. “The Me That Remains” album sounds and reads somewhat like a ‘life manual’ written from the perspective of an artist that has lived through it all, knows who she is as an artist and human, and as Amy has said,‘I want to be present for whatever emerges in my time’. The story is not over; it is just the beginning of new chapters to come.
We will also host a Masters Series Masterclass with Amy Grant at 12:30 pm on 7/31 in Norton Hall (separate ticket required).
Dolly Parton’s Threads: My Songs in Symphony with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra
Saturday, August 1st 2026 @ 8:00 pm |$55 – $95 Dolly Parton’s Threads: My Songs in Symphony features Dolly’s songs and the stories behind them in an innovative multimedia symphonic experience featuring Dolly on screen, leading audiences in a visual-musical journey of her songs, her life, and her stories. Guest vocalists and musicians bring new and innovative orchestrations of Dolly’s hit songs together into a full-evening multimedia symphonic story-telling experience. Dolly Parton says, “The threads of my life are woven together through my songs. That’s why this project, Threads: My Songs in Symphony, is so special to me. It’s all about sharing my music and my musical journey with audiences in a new way.”
Co-produced by Dolly Parton together with Schirmer Theatrical
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and Sony Music Publishing.
Please Note: Dolly Parton is not performing or attending this event.
The Sarah James Trio
Wednesday, August 5th 2026 @ 10:00 pm |$25
Chautauqua’s own award-winning singer-songwriter and recording artist Sarah James from Scottsdale, AZ, brings her trio to our late-night series at the Roe Green Theater. From Pittsburgh, PA, accompanying Sarah will be notable guitarist and musical artist Doug Edgell and Aaron Majiros on bass and keys. Sarah James has been a staple at 3Taps here at CHQ and other CHQ County venues bringing her own blend of what she calls “AmericanaFusion” covering a wide variety of genres from rock, pop, indie and a dab of country.
Performing solo and with her band in a variety of venues in the Phoenix market, Sarah’s music video “Take It or Leave It” recently won Bronze at the Berlin Music Video Awards in Germany and First Place in the Los Angeles Wildwood LGBT film festival. Her recent release and lyric video “Better Than This” is currently seeing nearly 250K streams on YouTube. She is also the founder and host of the popular YouTube channel “Vintage Guitar Legacies” which features a presentation and demo of rare and collectable guitars.
bass guitar sounds with cello, accordion, suitcases-turned-kickdrums, and (if you’re lucky) sometimes even a megaphone.
The Bandit’s three-part harmonies have been heard filling iconic venues while opening for The Wood Brothers’ 2025 East Coast tour, on the main stages at Colorado’s Rocky Mount Folks Fest and Michigan’s Blissfest, and in a sold out residency at Manhattan’s Bowery Electric. Their songs have been featured by NPR’s Tiny Desk and The Moth Story Slam, as well as in Netflix’s Ask the StoryBots and the feature film The Same Storm. The Bandits tour nationally and internationally, with appearances at Cambridge Folk Festival, Floydfest, Summerfest Milwaukee, Americanafest, F1 Singapore Grand Prix, Mile of Music, and more. Their theatrical indie-folk lends itself quite well to storytelling and their work adapting text for a musical production of As You Like It later became their EP The Shakespeare Tapes.
In addition to all their touring and recording work, Bandits on the Run are also in the business of writing musicals, sometimes as a trio and sometimes with collaborators. They are currently creating the stage musical adaptation of the novel What’s Eating Gilbert Grape with actor-musician-longtime friend Christopher Sears and newfound friend Academy Award Nominee Peter Hedges, supported by MCC Theater. Bandits on the Run are also developing an original musical, Yukon Ho, about a group of Black prospectors in the Alaskan gold rush, Yukon Ho was researched on the ground in Skagway, Alaska with support from the NEA, and has been workshopped with support from Prospect Musicals. They are alumni of several musical theater writing development programs, including Berkeley Rep Ground Floor, Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, and the Johnny Mercer Songwriters Grove at Goodspeed Musicals.
Adrian, Sydney, and Regina bring their individual corners of the creative universe into the room when they collaborate. Adrian Blake Enscoe made their Broadway debut in The Avett Brothers’ Swept Away in 2024 and can be seen playing Austin Dickinson in the Apple TV+ Series Dickinson. Sydney Shepherd was most recently seen in the 2025 world premiere of The Ruins at the Guthrie Theater. Regina Strayhorn also works in casting, bringing to life shows for HBO, Amazon, Apple TV, CBS & Hulu, as well as a freelance photographer.
The Bandits will be on the run again soon, touring behind their new full length album “Rough Magic”.
They hope to see you there.
Bandits
Sunday, August 9th 2026 @ 3:00 pm |Free Sunday Event Wednesday, August 12th 2026 @ 10:00 pm |$25
Bandits on the Run are a musical trio from the BrooklynQueens border. Born from a chance encounter busking on the subway, Adrian Blake Enscoe, Sydney Shepherd, and Regina Strayhorn defy convention with an impressive trade-off of lead vocals and instruments. The Bandits marry acoustic, electric, and
Josh Groban: Stage, Screen & Symphony Thursday, August 13th 2026 @ 8:00 pm |$85 – $285 Tony®, EMMY®, and five-time GRAMMY® Award-nominated singer, songwriter, actor and philanthropist Josh Groban possesses one of the most outstanding and instantly recognizable
voices in music. With a career spanning chart-topping albums, global tours and acclaimed stage and screen performances, he has sold more than 35 million albums worldwide and headlined legendary venues across multiple continents.
His catalog includes a series of chart-topping blockbuster albums, including Josh Groban (5x platinum), Closer (6x platinum), Noël (7x platinum), Awake (2x platinum), Illuminations, All That Echoes, Stages — his first U.K. No. 1 album — Bridges, Harmony and Gems.
A dynamic presence on Broadway, Groban earned Tony® nominations for his roles in Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 and the 2023 revival of Sweeney Todd, which also garnered him a GRAMMY® nomination and widespread critical acclaim. His versatility extends to film and television appearances ranging from Glee and The Office to Crazy, Stupid, Love and Netflix’s The Good Cop, as well as starring as the Beast in ABC’s Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration.
Beyond performance, Groban remains an active arts education philanthropist and advocate. His Find Your Light Foundation helps enrich the lives of young students through arts education and cultural awareness.
Groban will release his new album, CINEMATIC, on May 8 via Reprise Records. Produced by Greg Wells and recorded in Los Angeles and London, the 10-track collection pays tribute to iconic songs from beloved films including The Godfather, Casablanca, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Stand by Me.
Groban recently launched his GEMS World Tour with sold-out performances across Asia and Australia before continuing through Europe this spring. He will also tour North America this summer alongside special guest Jennifer Hudson. In the fall, he returns to The Colosseum at Caesars Palace for Josh Groban: GEMS — The Las Vegas Residency. With new music and performances throughout the year, Groban continues to connect with audiences through his unmistakable voice and timeless repertoire.
The Revivalists with Olivia Barnes Friday, August 14th 2026 @ 8:00 pm |$71 – $161
The Revivalists return to the road with the same electrifying swirl of indie rock, soul, folk and groove-driven musicianship that has made the band a festival favorite and one of the most compelling live acts touring today. Formed in New Orleans and known for powerful, high-energy performances and emotionally charged songwriting, the multi-platinum group has spent nearly two decades building a sound that feels both expansive and
deeply lived-in — the kind of music made for a summer night at Chautauqua.
The band’s forthcoming album, Get It Honest, marks its first full-length release in more than three years and finds The Revivalists leaning into themes of perseverance, grace and facing the future with clarity and conviction. Led by the anthemic single “Heart Stop,” the album showcases the band’s signature intensity while revealing a more mature and magnetic side of its songwriting.
Anchored by soaring vocals, tangled guitars, powerful drums, rich harmonies and the energy of an eight-piece lineup, The Revivalists create the kind of concert experience that grows from deeply personal moments into full-on celebration. It’s music rooted in connection, honesty and the joy of gathering together.
The Revivalists have partnered with PLUS1 so $1 per ticket goes to Rev Causes, a fund that supports the essential work of organizations dedicated to reviving and investing in our communities, our health, and our environment. By allocating a portion of our ticket sales, and through fan donations and a variety of fundraising efforts, we aim to assist these exciting organizations in building a better future.
The Music of Billy Joel with Tony DeSare and the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra
Saturday, August 15th 2026 @ 8:00 pm |$55 – $75
Stuart Chafetz, conductor
Tony DeSare, piano & vocals
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Tony DeSare’s signature vocal and robust piano style pay tribute to the iconic songs of Billy Joel. Generations of Billy Joel fans will experience full symphonic orchestrations with Tony DeSare’s unique take on some of his most beloved hits including “Only the Good Die Young,” “Piano Man,” “New York State of Mind,” “You May Be Right,” “Movin Out,” “My Life,” “Vienna,” and many more.
Billy Joel does not appear on this program.
Monday, August 17th 2026 @ 8:00 pm |$55 – $65
A Juilliard graduate and winner of the 2025 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition, Kortum has become a familiar face on the most iconic stages in jazz including Birdland, Blue Note, Mezzrow, Dizzy’s Club, SXSW Festival, and Jazz at Lincoln Center.
Kortum has toured internationally and collaborated with modern jazz leaders including Cyrille Aimée, Bryan Carter, Peter Bernstein, Wynton Marsalis and the world renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.
Her debut album, Good Woman, reimagines jazz standards originally written by men, reclaiming them through bold arrangements and a distinctly female perspective. The record and her follow-up LP Wild Woman have been met with acclaim leading to over 5.1 million streams.
Alongside her solo career, Kate Kortum is a member of The Sunhouse Singers, a New York-based vocal trio with vocalists June Cavlan and Joie Bianco. Together, the trio have been featured in projects from Bryan Carter, Charlie Rosen, Christian Wiggs, and Emmet Cohen – appearing on the award winning program “Live from Emmet’s Place”.
Sally Love & Friends: Sleep is the New Sex Tuesday, August 18th 2026 @ 10:00 pm |$25
Usually in bed by 10, but willing to stay up and entertain us with her hilarious takes on sleep, sex and the indignities of our aging bodies,
Sally Love and friends will perform their stand up routines alongside improv artists in a brand new and exciting collaboration.
Ticket sales for this performance benefit Friends of Chautauqua Theater.
Wednesday, August 19th 2026 @ 8:00 pm |$55 – $75
Preacher Lawson is a stand-up comedian, actor, and creator known for his high-energy storytelling and physical, joydriven comedy. He first gained national attention as a finalist on America’s Got Talent and has since built a global fanbase through touring, social media, and multiple comedy specials. Preacher headlines clubs and theaters across the world, selling out shows with material that blends sharp observations, family stories, and fearless honesty.
Raised in a military family and shaped by life on the move, Preacher’s comedy centers on resilience, relationships, and finding humor in chaos. Beyond stand-up, he creates digital content, develops film and TV projects, and collaborates with other comedians and creators. His work has been featured on NBC, Netflix Is a Joke, and major comedy festivals, and his independently released specials have reached millions online.
With a loyal audience and an unmistakable stage presence, Preacher continues to expand from stand-up into storytelling across film, documentary, and unscripted projects—most recently chronicling life on the road with his family in his first documentary feature.
This collaboration brings together 5x Grammy winning soprano
Renée Fleming and 19x Grammy-winning banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck for a celebration of Appalachian folk music. For our country’s 250th anniversary, the program mines a rich vein of America’s musical heritage, weaving the expressive depth of Fleming’s voice with the brilliance of Fleck’s banjo and his allstar My Bluegrass Heart band. Through mountain songs, haunting ballads, and folk hymns, The Fiddle and the Drum honors the roots and emotional power of Appalachia.
(AUGUST 22–30)
Silkroad Ensemble featuring Rhiannon Giddens Saturday, August 22nd 2026 @ 8:00 pm |$60 – $90
The Silkroad Ensemble featuring Rhiannon Giddens brings an electrifying fusion of global traditions and contemporary expression to the stage. This acclaimed collective of artists creates a vibrant tapestry of sound that celebrates cultural exchange and musical curiosity. Giddens’ compelling voice and storytelling artistry add emotional depth and urgency to the performance. Audiences will be swept into an unforgettable evening of boundary-crossing music that resonates long after the final note.
On Being American: An Evening of Poetry and Music with Kwame Alexander
Monday, August 24th 2026 @ 10:00 pm |$25
In partnership with the African American Heritage House
“How do you tell a story about strength and pride and refusing to be broken?”
In this powerful evening of poetry, storytelling, and live music,
Emmy Award-winning producer and New York Timesbestselling author Kwame Alexander explores the American experience through verse — inviting audiences to “let the poems tell the story of America.”
Accompanied by acclaimed bassist Amy Shook, Alexander weaves together works by literary giants including Langston Hughes, Joy Harjo, and Emily Dickinson with original reflections on resilience, freedom, identity, and hope.
A recipient of the 2025 NAACP Image Award and author of 46 books — including the Newbery Medal-winning The Crossover, later adapted for Disney+ — Alexander brings warmth, urgency, humor, and lyrical insight to an unforgettable performance that celebrates the courage to speak, imagine, and transform.
Part spoken-word performance, part musical meditation, On Being American is an inspiring and deeply human exploration of the stories that shape us — and the possibilities that connect us.
Get Happy with Lara Downes and Kurt Elling
Tuesday, August 25th 2026 @ 8:00 pm |$55 – $75 Pianist and cultural visionary Lara Downes has been called “A musical ray of hope” by NBC News. Vocalist Kurt Elling, whom The Guardian dubbed “a kind of Sinatra with superpowers,” joins Downes in a special concert called GET HAPPY, celebrating 250 years of American music as a joyful noise, even in the hardest times. The duo shares beloved songs that have chased our cares away even in times of hardship, crisis, and wartime, to remind us that “the sun will come up tomorrow!” Music by Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, H.T. Burleigh, Louis Armstrong, and more.
Samara Joy
Wednesday, August 26th 2026 @ 8:00 pm |$60 – $100
A native of the Bronx, Samara Joy became entranced by classic R&B as a child and cut her teeth as a singer in her church’s gos-
pel choir. And while her family history is deeply musical—her grandparents helmed the Philadelphia gospel group the Savettes, and her father, the musician and songwriter Antonio McLendon, has produced, composed and arranged his own astounding original work—she didn’t delve into the jazz tradition until college at SUNY Purchase. During her studies there she won the 2019 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition, which introduced her to the larger jazz scene as a rising star to watch. She was heard, by audiences and critics alike, as a masterful interpreter of jazz standards and a rightful heiress of the sound, technique and charisma that defined her jazz heroines—including Vaughan, Betty Carter, Abbey Lincoln and Carmen McRae. Joy released her self-titled debut on the Whirlwind label in 2021, followed a year later by Linger Awhile, her breakout Verve debut, of which Down Beat said, “With this beautiful recording, a silky-voiced star is born.” The album earned her a Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album in addition to a headline-making win for Best New Artist. A deluxe edition of the album was released, as well as the EP A Joyful Holiday, which took home Grammys for Best Jazz Vocal Album and Best Jazz Performance in 2025. Her new Verve album, Portrait, which Joy co-produced with the veteran trumpeter/bandleader and multi-Grammy winner Brian Lynch, showcases the intimate, soulful chemistry she’s developed with her touring band, already earning her an NAACP Image Award this year for Best Jazz Album. Portrait also spotlights her burgeoning gifts as a lyricist, in ingenious arrangements that meld her thoughtful words with music by Charles Mingus, Sun Ra and her late mentor Barry Harris.
An Evening with Kenny G Thursday, August 27th 2026 @ 8:00 pm |$70 – $145
Kenny G is the greatest-selling instrumental musician of the modern era and one of the best-selling artists of all time. With more than 75 million records sold worldwide and over 1.5 billion global streams, the Grammy Award-winning saxophonist has built a singular career spanning five decades of unprecedented success. His catalog includes some of the most iconic albums in music history, led by 1992’s Breathless — the best-selling instrumental album of all time — along with Duotones, Silhouette, Miracles: The Holiday Album, Heart and Soul, Brazilian Nights and, most recently, Innocence, his 20th studio album.
Kenny G’s influence transcends jazz. He has embraced pop cul-
ture and his place in it with humor, making surprise appearances across film, television and major brand campaigns, collaborating with contemporary artists across genres, and maintaining a vibrant online presence that continues to resonate with new generations of fans. He published the memoir Life in the Key of G and is the subject of the HBO documentary Listening to Kenny G, both offering a candid, personal look at his life and legacy. A multiplatinum cultural icon with enduring relevance, Kenny G remains an active recording and touring artist. He continues to appear in film and television and maintains a highly popular Cameo channel. For more information, visit kennyg.com.
We will also host a Masters Series Masterclass: A Conversation with Kenny G and Phil Lerman at 12:30 p.m. Aug. 27 in Lenna Hall (separate ticket required).
The Australian Pink Floyd Show Friday, August 28th 2026 @ 8:00 pm |$54 – $84
Selling over 4 million tickets worldwide and described by The Times as “The Gold Standard” and The Daily Mirror as “The Kings of the Genre,” The Australian Pink Floyd Show gave its first-ever concert in Adelaide, Australia in 1988. Since then, they have performed in over 35 countries worldwide; played at David Gilmour’s 50th birthday celebration and were even joined on stage by David Gilmour and Rick Wright. TAPFS is the leading show of its kind in the world.
Performing the music of Pink Floyd with note-for-note perfection, this critically acclaimed show has been astonishing audiences worldwide for more than three decades. Always striving to reproduce the complete Pink Floyd experience and bring the music to new audiences, the show continues to include a stunning light and laser show, video animations, state-of-the-art high-resolution LED screen technology, and other special effects.
In addition, and in true Pink Floyd fashion, there are several huge inflatables including a giant pig and their own unique Pink Kangaroo. They have worked with Pink Floyd touring musicians like Guy Pratt and Durga McBroom. Lorelei McBroom, who was a member of the Pink Floyd touring band on both the Momentary Lapse of Reason and Delicate Sound of Thunder tours, has been a member of TAPFS for over 15 years.
Often described as being much more than a tribute band, The Australian Pink Floyd Show is the first Pink Floyd tribute show that took the concept into the worldwide arena circuit. The band has played to sell-out audiences throughout Europe, the UK, America, Canada, and South America.
With over 35 years of history, the world’s biggest, best, and greatest Pink Floyd tribute show continues to delight its global fan base. From its humble origins in the bars and clubs of Adelaide, in recent years the band has become a truly international affair, with members from Australia, the UK, France, and the USA.
Saturday, August 29th 2026 @ 8:00 pm |$55 – $115
For 58 years, Tower of Power has delivered the best in funk and soul music. “We were a Soul band called The Motowns,” recalls Emilio Castillo. “Rocco was the bass player, I was there, and my brother was the drummer. I met ‘Doc’ Kupka back in 1968, and gave him an audition. He came in the band, and we eventually changed our name to the Tower of Power.” The reason for the band name change was that they had a specific goal in mind.
East Bay Grease defined their sound and landed them with Warner Brothers. Bump City, their 1972 debut for the label, was a hit on both the Billboard 200 and the R&B Albums chart, and netted them the hits “You’re Still A Young Man” and “Down to The Nightclub.” The 70s were a boom period with radio classics like “So Very Hard to Go” and “What Is Hip?,” and the band continued to tour and record over the years. Castillo says their love of the stage is the same today as it was back in 1968.
Fifty years later, in 2018, they returned to Oakland to celebrate their landmark 50th anniversary. Tower’s window-rattling grooves and raucous party spirit has been a balm for the soul throughout their half-century existence, but the release of 50 Years of Funk & Soul: Live at the Fox Theater couldn’t have arrived at a better time.
The band has long since surpassed Castillo’s modest aspirations, traveling the world, enjoying hit singles on their own and backing legendary artists including Otis Redding, Elton John, Santana, the Grateful Dead, John Lee Hooker, Aerosmith, Bonnie Raitt, and countless others. In the process they’ve defined an “Oakland soul” sound as instantly recognizable as those from Castillo’s hometown, Detroit, as well as inspirations like Memphis and Philadelphia.
The future of Tower of Power is set out to be vigorous and dynamic, and will prove to be just that for fans around the world starved for the band’s groove just the way Tower of Power likes it!
Thursday, September 10th 2026 @ 7:00 pm |$50 – $150 Released in 1989, Indigo Girls’ eponymous major label debut sold over two million copies under the power of singles “Closer to Fine” and “Kid Fears” and turned Indigo Girls into one of the most successful folk duos in history. Over a thirty-five-year
career that began in clubs around their native Atlanta, Georgia, the multi-Grammy-winning duo of Emily Saliers and Amy Ray has recorded sixteen studio albums, sold over 15 million records, and built a dedicated, enduring following across the globe. Rolling Stone describes them as the “ideal duet partners.” Committed and uncompromising activists, they work on issues like immigration reform (El Refugio), LGBTQ advocacy, education (Imagination Library), death penalty reform, and Native American rights. They are co-founders of Honor the Earth, a non-profit dedicated to the survival of sustainable Native communities, Indigenous environmental justice, and green energy solutions.
Their latest record, Look Long is a stirring and eclectic collection of songs that finds the duo of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers reunited in the studio with their strongest backing band to date. “We joke about being old, but what is old when it comes to music? We’re still a bar band at heart,” says Saliers. “While our lyrics and writing approach may change, our passion for music feels the same as it did when we were 25-years-old.” “As time has gone on, our audience has become more expansive and diverse, giving me a sense of joy,” she adds. To hear those collective voices raise into one, singing along and overpowering the band itself, one realizes the importance Indigo Girls’ music has in this moment. In our often-terrifying present, we are all in search of a daily refuge, a stolen hour or two, to engage with something that brings us joy, perspective, or maybe just calm.
As one bar band once put it, “We go to the doctor, we go to the mountains…we go to the Bible, we go through the work out.” For millions, they go to the Indigo Girls. On Look Long they’ll find a creative partnership certain of its bearings, forging a way forward.
Chautauqua Institution announced in March the 2026 season of its resident Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra (CSO), alongside a new three-year collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the orchestra’s musicians and a shared commitment to raising endowment funds for the orchestra.
The agreement, covering 2026 through 2028, maintains musician compensation while supporting the Institution’s focus on long-term financial sustainability and audience development. It was negotiated following the Institution’s fall 2025 announcement of $5.7 million in operating budget expense reductions affecting all departments and activities.
Under the new agreement, guaranteed CSO services are reduced from 52 to 46, resulting in a three-concert reduction per season. Total compensation across the summer for the CSO musicians will remain flat to 2025, increasing by 3.1% in the second year and by 2.4% in the third year, with some benefits increasing year over year as well. With this CBA, the Institution commits an investment of more than $7 million in direct CSO expenses over the life of the contract.
Discussions with the musicians of the CSO also revealed a shared commitment to strengthening long-term philanthropic support for the orchestra. Beginning in 2026, the Institution will prioritize fundraising for the CSO, with a focus on building endowment, including the formation of a new advisory committee and the co-sponsorship of a gala fundraising event on July 7, 2026.
“I am incredibly proud of the collaborative work between musicians and administrators on this agreement,” said Chief Program Officer Deborah Sunya Moore. “Ensuring Chautauqua’s long-term financial sustainability and program excellence requires shared commitment from across our community, and the CSO musicians have been true partners in this effort. While the reduction in concerts is meaningful, per-service compensation has been adjusted to provide stability for the musicians of this incredible orchestra. The Institution is grateful to the CSO musicians for partnering with us through this model
change and important financial re-set.”
Moore added, “We are excited to focus on mounting an artistically captivating 2026 season and raising philanthropy to ensure a bright future for this extraordinary symphony.”
Under the leadership of Music Director Rossen Milanov, the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra will present 22 performances during the 2026 Chautauqua Summer Assembly, with concerts offered during Weeks One through Eight. CSO musicians will also continue to provide support for Chautauqua Opera Company productions.
The stylistically diverse season features a wide range of classical, contemporary, and popular repertoire. Classical highlights include Holst’s The Planets, Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony, Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 12, Dvořák’s New World Symphony, and Bernstein’s Jeremiah Symphony, as well as Carmina Burana performed with the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus and works by contemporary composers including Dobrinka Tabakova, John Corigliano, Michael Abels, Christopher Theofanidis, and Missy Mazzoli. The season also includes appearances by Kelli O’Hara and Sutton Foster, Natalie Merchant, Tony DeSare, Troupe Vertigo, Alonzo King LINES Ballet, and the Denyce Graves Foundation’s Generational Voices inaugural cohort, along with programs such as Dolly Parton’s Threads: My Songs in Symphony; several concerts will feature Principal Pops Conductor Stuart Chafetz on the podium.
Music Director Rossen Milanov said, “For nearly 100 years, the CSO has been one of the most beloved experiences in Chautauqua. Our world-class orchestra this season will provide wide, diverse, stimulating and inspirational programming that I hope contributes to what makes the Chautauqua experience unique!”
Tickets for all Chautauqua Amphitheater performances are available by phone at 716-357-6250 or tickets.chq.org. Current walk-up and phone hours for the Chautauqua Ticket Office, located in the Dr. Robert R. Hesse Welcome and Business Center, are 10 a.m.–4 p.m. Monday–Thursday (closed weekends and holidays).
Chautauqua Theater Company (CTC), the professional theater company of Chautauqua Institution, is proud to announce its full 2026 season featuring fully produced productions, new play readings and the expansion of its FutureNow program to includes two staged new play workshops. Anchored by two mainstage productions — a CTC commissioned world premiere and the remount of a classic solo piece — the season expands its legacy of developing new work and training the next generation of theater artists.
This summer, CTC will present six new works at varying stages of development, offering audiences a unique opportunity to engage with new plays from page to stage. The 2026 New Play Workshop (NPW) music stand readings feature Ahoy-Hoy: A Play About That Relatable Feeling When Someone Invents the Telephone Three Hours Before You Do by Jenny Stafford,CTC’s commission The Motions by Zora Howard and William Shakespeare’s As You Like It, adapted by Peter Andersen with original music by Bandits on the Run. These NPWs are made possible in part by a generous grant from the Roe Green Foundation, whose visionary support continues to deepen CTC’s capacity for new work development. That partnership will come to life in a new way this season with the opening of the Roe Green Theater
Center in June 2026. Designed as a dedicated home for new play development, rehearsals, performances and training the next generation of theater artists, the new facility expands CTC’s ability to support artists from early exploration through fully realized production, while strengthening the company’s role as a national incubator for new American theater.
In an expanded partnership with The Drama League, CTC will grow its student fellowship program this summer with its inaugural class of Playwrighting Fellows. Two pairs of directing/playwrighting fellows will be in residence to develop their FutureNow New Play Labs (NPL) in two-week workshops that culminate in staged, semi-designed performances. These NPLs will be designed by CTC’s Design Fellows and performed by the Acting Conservatory.
“As we move into 2026, we’re building a season that invites audiences into the full ecosystem of new play development at CTC — from early-stage exploration through fully realized productions, and now through entirely new pathways of development with our FutureNow New Play Labs,” said Producing Artistic Director Jade King Carroll. “With the long-anticipated opening of the Roe Green
Theater Center, we’re deepening the ways artists can create, experiment and refine their work in community with one another. This season also brings audiences closer than ever to that process, including our Industry Weekend, when four distinct plays can be experienced in a single day, offering a rare, immersive look at work in multiple stages of becoming. At a moment when the nation is reflecting on America at 250, this season engages with the complexity, humor, music and multigenerational storytelling that continue to shape the American theater and the American experience.”
CTC is also excited to welcome five commissioned writers to the grounds this summer. Playwright Theresa Rebeck will be in her first residency at Chautauqua, marking the start of a three-year process with her new project. Rebeck’s new play, currently titled Elevator, is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. Sarah Burgess will also visit for her first summer with CTC to work on Untitled Central Valley Play, which CTC is supporting with a finishing commission. For their second summer in residence, Kwame Alexander, Candrice Jones and Christopher Jackson will continue development on CTC’s commission of Alexander’s novel The Crossover into a new musical. This summer, this team will also appear on the stage of Chautauqua Amphitheater for a special conversation led by Jade King Carroll, who is directing the project, about the musical’s continued development.
CTC will kick off its mainstage season with its own commission and world premiere of Sharyn Rothstein’s Best for Baby, directed by Obie award-winner Oliver Butler. A Big American Play ripped straight from the headlines, Best for Baby is equal parts showbiz spectacle and intimate human storytelling, brought to you by a sensational comedic ensemble of professional guest artists — featuring Broadway actor Crystal Dickinson — alongside members of CTC’s beloved conservatory.
Butler is joined by a distinguished design team: Brittany Vasta (Scenic), Rodrigo Muñoz (Costume), Amith Chandrashaker (Lighting), Christopher Darbassie (Sound)and John Narun (Projections). Production Stage Manager Jennifer Rae Moore, Dramaturg Liz Frankel and Fight Director Rick Sordelet complete the team.
CTC’s Producing Artistic Director Jade King Carroll will direct August Wilson’s classic solo piece, How I Learned What I Learned. Lance Nichols is set to play Wilson in this tour-de-force memoir, inviting audiences into the dynamic world that shaped both the man and the master playwright. Nichols has appeared on stage in several other works by Wilson and has built a strong career in television and
film, having appeared in the HBO series “Treme,” “Queen of the South,” “Into the Badlands,” “The Chosen” and “House of Cards.”
Joining Carroll for How I Learned What I Learned are Scenic Designer Anita Stewart, Costume Designer Loyce Arthur, Lighting Designer Jeanette Yew, Sound Designer Germàn Martinez and Production Stage Manager Denise Cardarelli.
Casting for Best for Baby and all three new play workshops is by The Telsey Office.
With a season that balances daring new workshops and powerful mainstage productions, CTC continues to solidify its place as a vital incubator for the future of American theater. From thought-provoking premieres to transformative reimaginings of contemporary classics, CTC invites audiences to experience bold storytelling, celebrate artistic collaboration and be part of the creative journey from page to stage.
Tickets for the 2026 season are on sale now at tickets.chq.org. Patrons who purchase tickets to both mainstage productions and all three New Play Workshops before 11:59 p.m. on June 2 will receive 15% off their purchase. Patrons who purchase tickets to both FutureNow New Play Labs and the Conservatory Improv Night before 11:59 p.m. on June 2 will also receive 15% off their purchase.
In keeping with its commitment to access and inclusion, CTC will again offer the Pick Your Price program for select Saturday mainstage performances. This initiative empowers audience members to choose a ticket price that aligns with their budget — whether that means paying less or contributing more in support of the theater. Learn more at chq.org/chautauqua-theater-company/your-visit.
Chautauqua Theater Company (CTC) was officially founded in 1983 by Artistic Director Michael Kahn at Chautauqua Institution. For more than 40 years, CTC has been a vital launchpad for the next generation of theater artists, bridging the gap between training and professional success. CTC champions new voices in theater, serving as a national hub for commissioning, developing and producing works by both established and emerging American playwrights. One of its major achievements includes Noah Haidle’s Birthday Candles, which was originally developed at CTC and later had a celebrated run on Broadway.
CTC has entered a new era of artistic excellence under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director Jade King Carroll. In 2023, CTC co-produced the world premiere of Mike Lew’s tiny father with Barrington Stage. The following year, CTC’s commission of Kate Hamill’s The Light and The Dark was co-produced with Primary Stages in New York City. In 2025, C.A. Johnson’s The Witnesses, a CTC commission, received its world premiere in Chautauqua. Additional CTC-commissioned writers include Pulitzer Prize finalist Zora Howard, Newbury Medal and Emmy Award-winner Kwame Alexander, Tony nominated and Grammy Award-winner Christopher Jackson, Steinberg Award-winner Candrice Jones and Theresa Rebeck, the most produced woman on Broadway. Recently, CTC has nurtured the development of new plays by Chisa Hutchinson, Vichet Chum, Sofya Levitsky-Weitz, Harrison David Rivers, Hilary Bettis, James Anthony Tyler, Anna Ziegler and more.
CTC further deepens its commitment to new play development with the Roe Green Theater Center, set to open in June 2026. This new artistic home will allow for the addition of playwrighting fellows, flexible rehearsal spaces and a state-of-the-art black box theater, solidifying CTC’s status as one of the nation’s premier accelerators of theater talent and new work. For the first time, CTC will produce eight new plays at various stages of development throughout summer 2026 with residencies, readings, staged workshops and the world premiere of Sharyn Rothstein’s Best for Baby.
This summer, a new chapter begins for the performing arts at Chautauqua. With the opening of the Roe Green Theater Center, Chautauqua Theater Company enters its first season with a permanent, purpose-built home designed for all phases of the creation of theater — a robust and vibrant complement to our beloved Bratton Theater. This theater center has rehearsal studios, indoor and outdoor gathering spaces, a flexible black box theater, a prop shop, offices and — perhaps most delicious — a bar. My colleagues and I are deeply grateful to Roe Green for her transformational gift, and to the many Chautauquans who have also given generously to make this dream a reality.
A spirit of possibility is reflected in CTC’s 2026 season — which also happens to be one of the funniest in recent memory. Alongside the world premiere of Sharyn Rothstein’s Best for Baby, a sharp, wildly theatrical comedy inspired by the ongoing Johnson & Johnson baby powder scandal, comedy will thread through nearly every corner of the summer. The New Play Workshops will include the irreverent Ahoy-Hoy: A Play About That Relatable Feeling When Someone Else Invents the Telephone Three Hours Before You Do and a new musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s As You Like It, while the FutureNow Labs will feature ERASERS: A Bloodthirsty Comedy and The Bone Wars, two inventive and witty new works, written by CTC’s inaugural class of Playwrighting Fellows. The season will also celebrate one of America’s greatest playwrights with August Wilson’s How I Learned What I Learned, directed by CTC Producing Artistic Director Jade King Carroll.
The Roe Green Theater Center was designed, with input from Jade
and CTC’s Managing Director, Emily Glinick, to be an artistic “beehive” where composers, playwrights, students, directors and more could develop new plays and musicals — from quiet off-season writing residencies, to in-process readings and workshops, to full productions. And indeed, this summer will find some of America’s top theater-making talent holed away in the new building — from Kwame Alexander, Christopher Jackson and Candrice Jones, the writing team behind CTC’s commissioned musical The Crossover, to CTC commissioned playwrights Sarah Burgess (American Crime Story) and Broadway favorite Theresa Rebeck.
Summer 2026 also introduces our first-ever Late Nights series: intimate 10 p.m. performances filled with music, comedy and cabaret. Guests will be able to grab a drink, settle into the new venue and experience one-hour performances that dazzle and delight. Featuring artists with personal ties to this place — including Kwame Alexander, Sarah James, Mike Thornton and the Midnight Quartet, the Opera Conservatory, Sally Love, Meechelle and Unscripted! — the series promises a new kind of nighttime energy for the Institution: spontaneous, sophisticated and unmistakably alive. Taken together, I imagine these experiences at Bratton Theater and the Roe Green Theater Center will feel less like a single summer of theater and more like the beginning of something special and enduring. A new home. New plays. New artists. New late-night traditions. Grab a ticket and bring a friend, so you can say “I was there when it all began!” I cannot wait to see you there.
— Laura Savia, Vice President of Performing and Visual Arts
The Chautauqua Institution named Mark Coolidge Johnson as the institution’s 19th president in the spring.
A Senior Foreign Service Officer, attorney and third-generation Chautauquan, Johnson brings more than 30 years of diplomatic service and large-scale operational leadership to the institution. Johnson currently serves as deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City, the largest American diplomatic mission in the world, where he oversees more than 3,000 employees, nine consulates and nine consular agencies with a $282 million operating budget.
He recently directed the completion of the new $943 million, one-million-square-foot embassy facility, which opened in November 2025.
A Jamestown native, Johnson is the son of the late Joe Johnson, who served the institution for 20 years as vice president of finance and is the grandson of a Chautauqua grounds engineer. His formative experiences attending morning lectures, evening concerts and summers on the grounds of Chautauqua helped inspire a career devoted to public service, Johnson said. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Boston College and a juris doctorate from American University’s Washington College of Law.
globe — combined with his deep personal roots in this community and his genuine passion for Chautauqua’s mission — make him the ideal leader for this moment. He brings a rare combination of operational excellence, intellectual curiosity and a lifelong commitment to the values that define Chautauqua.”
The presidential search was conducted by a committee of board members — including Laurie Branch, Veronica Biggins, Rick Evans, Karen Goodell, Rich Osborne, Jill Penrose and Tim Renjilian — with the assistance of Heidrick & Struggles, the premier global leadership advisory firm. The search process engaged a broad range of Chautauqua stakeholders to define the criteria and qualities sought in the Institution’s next leader.
“Chautauqua is a singular institution — a place of curiosity, faith, values and freedom of expression that has shaped who I am personally and professionally,” Johnson said. “It will be the honor of a lifetime to return home and lead this extraordinary community into its next chapter, building on its 152-year legacy of enriching lives through Chautauqua’s four pillars (Arts, Education, Recreation, Religion) and promoting civil discourse. I look forward to collaborating with the board, the staff and the entire Chautauqua and regional community to strengthen and advance this institution’s vital mission.”
Johnson is expected to assume the presidency after the 2026 Summer Assembly season. He and his wife, Sue, plan to reside on the Institution grounds.
“After a thorough and comprehensive search process, we are thrilled to welcome Mark Johnson as Chautauqua’s 19th President,” said Laurie Branch, Chautauqua Institution board chair. “Mark’s exceptional career leading complex, large-scale organizations across the
Karen Goodell, Chair of the Presidential Search Committee, added, “Our committee was united in its recommendation of Mark Johnson. Mark brings firsthand global experience across cultures, complex issues, political and social dynamics and world religions–paired with a career defined by building and leading teams, fostering consensus and guiding mission-driven organizations through periods of change. Input gathered from across constituencies highlighted a consistent set of priorities for Chautauqua’s next leader, including this blend of perspective and leadership. His background strongly reflects those priorities, and positions him well to serve as President at this time.”
The board commended Kyle Keogh, who has served as interim chief executive since June 2025, for his leadership during a critical period of transition. Keogh, a former trustee who served on the board from 2015 to 2023, stepped in late last spring to help guide the institution’s operations and collaborating closely with the board and staff on longterm planning. As previously announced, Keogh has agreed to lead Chautauqua Institution through the 2026 Summer Assembly. Keogh welcomed the appointment.
“It has been a privilege to serve Chautauqua during this transition, and I look forward to passing the baton to Mark Johnson,” said Keogh. “His genuine love for Chautauqua, Chautauquans and Chautauqua County will help guide this great institution.”
As the summer season approaches, we want to offer one final reminder about how to watch Chautauqua’s programs on our YouTube channel during the season — particularly for those who rely on watching programs after they air live.
During the season, the only way to watch programs on demand after a livestream is over will be through the Explore More & Sustain membership ($19.99 per month). This tier includes both livestream access and in-season on-demand viewing, allowing you to watch programs later if your schedule doesn’t allow you to join us live.
Our other membership levels are designed for more limited viewing habits. Explore More provides access to livestreams only, without the ability to re-watch programs until they are made available to this tier in September. Explore offers access to our growing archive from past years, with programs from the current season being released gradually beginning in the fall. If you anticipate missing live broadcasts and want the flexibility to watch programs later, Explore More & Sustain is the level that ensures you won’t miss out.
The Archive Collection which was previously known as CHQ Assembly at $2.99/month, will no longer be available. Current members in this tier are encouraged to explore our other levels to ensure uninterrupted access to Chautauqua’s digital programming. You can change your membership level by visiting your YouTube account at www.youtube.com/paid_memberships. Please be sure that you are using the account where you originally purchased your membership. If you are not a member, you can join our channel at www.youtube. com/chautauquainstitution/join.
Choosing the sustaining membership level ensures we can continue to provide the highest quality production value and gives you unrestricted access to all the programs we produce. The flexibility of our membership tiers allows you to adjust your level as your viewing needs change throughout the year. If watching programs on your own schedule matters to you, Explore More & Sustain provides the most complete access and helps ensure these programs can continue to be shared widely.
Chautauqua Institution proudly announces Flashlight (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) by Susan Choi as the 2026 winner of The Chautauqua Prize.
Awarded annually since 2012, the Prize celebrates a book of fiction, literary/narrative nonfiction or a book-length collection of poetry that provides a richly rewarding reading experience and honors the author for a significant contribution to the literary arts. As the author of this year’s winning book, Choi receives $7,500 and will be presented with the Prize during a celebratory event and public reading at 3:30 p.m. EDT Friday, July 24, in Chautauqua’s Hall of Philosophy. Flashlight was chosen as the 2026 Prize winner from a
list of seven finalists and 362 total submissions by an independent jury, which for 2026 included award-winning writers Oliver de la Paz, Glory Edim, Jillian Hanesworth and Kao Kalia Yang as guest judges.
“Winning The Chautauqua Prize is a thrill and an honor, but it is also much more. I know firsthand how valued the arts are at Chautauqua,” Choi said. “When my children were small, I took them to the Amp to hear the symphony, knowing it was OK if they dozed off before the concert was over — they were still soaking up
the music, as we can’t help but soak up the cultural and artistic life at Chautauqua just by setting foot there. Chautauqua is a magical place, and I’ve been so grateful to share in its magic. Thank you again for this incredible honor.”
Flashlight is an expansive, ambitious, multigenerational novel that is equal parts historical fiction, family saga and bildungsroman. It is a story of secrets, shadows and absences that reverberate across time and continents. As the novel progresses, shifting perspective from one character to the next, we learn more about a family who has not only lost a husband and father, but has been severed from their pasts in unfathomable ways.
Readers follow this family from Indiana, to Massachusetts, to North Korea and Japan across decades. Slowly, we learn more about Serk before his disappearance, an ethnically Korean man raised in Japan and a lonely academic who has lost touch with his family who chose to repatriate into North Korea following the promises of the postwar Pyongyang. We witness the choices his American wife, Anne, made in her youth that transformed her into a woman of acerbic attitudes, which alienate her daughter, Louisa, and illegitimate son, Tobias. We also experience Louisa’s struggles to understand and find a place within the world after the loss of her father, Serk, at ten and as she navigates her estrangement from her mother.
The 2026 independent jury declared the book “a sprawling, masterfully and meticulously written novel that deals with language, cultural alienation and political intrigue centering a family contending with distance, time and space.” During jury deliberations they called Flashlight “a triumph of narrative craft and an ode to the power of the stories within us all.”
Kao Kalia Yang, one of this year’s guest judges, lauded the novel as a “complicated, highly readable work featuring strong prose and a well-defined vision.” Yang, whose memoir The Song Poet was named a 2017 Chautauqua Prize finalist and CLSC selection, appreciated the story for its “cinematic qualities” and “deep excavation of memory and divided families.”
Similarly, guest judge and memoirist Glory Edim called the book “intriguing, exciting, and heartbreaking.” She said that Flashlight is a work of fiction that can “easily invoke conversations about family dynamics, history, geopolitics, loss and grief, coming-of-age stories and more.”
Guest judge and award-winning poet Oliver de la Paz called Flashlight a “compelling, beautifully written, character-driven novel” that builds drama and captivation for readers as they, too, follow the ripples and ruptures of “various generational traumas,” family turmoil and international intrigue.
“It is a book that I’m still thinking deeply about,” said guest judge and Emmy award-winning poet Jillian Hanesworth. “Flashlight is a page-turner, tremendously moving and a testament to the power of voice and personal stories in overcoming the encroachment of structures and systems in our lives beyond our control.”
Since first appearing on bookshelves in June 2025, Flashlight has been named a finalist for the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards, shortlisted for the Booker Prize and the Women’s Prize for Fiction, and longlisted for the National Book Award, the Andrew Carnegie Medal and the Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award. It
has also been named one of President Obama’s Favorite Books of the 2025, a TeaTime and Get Lit Book Club Pick and a Best Book of the Year by The New Yorker, Time, New York, The Washington Post, NPR, Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, The Guardian, Vanity Fair, Elle, Town & Country, Oprah Daily, The New York Post, 48 Hills, Financial Times, The Economist, Esquire (UK), Kirkus Reviews, Electric Literature, PEN America, The Chicago Public Library and Los Angeles Review of Books.
Choi is the author of Trust Exercise, which received the National Book Award for fiction, as well as the novels The Foreign Student, American Woman, A Person of Interest and My Education. She is a recipient of the Asian American Literary Award for fiction, the PEN/W. G. Sebald Award, a Lambda Literary award, the Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation. She teaches in the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University and lives in Brooklyn, New York.
The Chautauqua Prize, awarded for the 15th time this year, has been inspired since its inception by the late literary and entertainment industry attorney Michael I. Rudell and his wife, Alice. Previous winners include The Sojourn by Andrew Krivák (2012); Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis by Timothy Egan (2013); My Foreign Cities: A Memoir by Elizabeth Scarboro (2014); Redeployment by Phil Klay (2015); Off the Radar: A Father’s Secret, a Mother’s Heroism, and a Son’s Quest by Cyrus Copeland (2016); The Fortunes: A Novel by Peter Ho Davies (2017); The Fact of a Body: A Murder and a Memoir by Alex Marzano-Lesnevich (2018); All the Names They Used for God: Stories by Anjali Sachdeva (2019); Out of Darkness, Shining Light: A Novel by Petina Gappah (2020); Having and Being Had by Eula Biss (2021); All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days: The True Story of the American Woman at the Heart of the German Resistance to Hitler by Rebecca Donner (2022); The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human by Siddhartha Mukherjee (2023); The Reformatory: A Novel by Tananarive Due (2024); and Whale Fall: A Novel by Elizabeth O’Connor (2025).
Winners of The Chautauqua Prize are noteworthy for their capacity to open inquiry and create an inviting space for conversation among many kinds of readers, making the books an ideal vehicle to engage in Chautauqua Institution’s historic tradition of reading and discussion in community. Chautauqua’s other annual literary award, the Chautauqua Janus Prize, celebrates experimental writers who have not yet published a book. Taken together, these prizes ensure that both tradition and innovation live at the heart of a Chautauqua reader’s life of learning.
Details on The Chautauqua Prize are available online at prize.chq. org. Books published in 2026 will be accepted as submissions for the 2027 Prize beginning in September 2026.
Hike amongst the world’s largest outcropping of quartz conglomerate in the world at Rock City Park.
Take photos and touch sculptures at Griffis Sculpture Park, one of the largest sculpture parks in the world.
Challenge yourself at Sky High Adventure Park, the 3rd largest aerial park in the United States.
Relax in the wilderness at Allegany State Park, the largest state park in NYS. Visit EnchantedMountains.com/Summer to plan your trip!