The Atlantic Festival includes Richard Ayoade, Ken Burns, Tom Hanks, Allison Janney, Arvind Krishna, David Letterman, Tekedra Mawakana, and Lt. General H.R. McMaster, plus screenings of The American Revolution, The Diplomat, The Lowdown, Dread Beat an Blood, and Love+War
The Atlantic is announcing new speakers for The Atlantic Festival, happening September 18–20 and located for the first time in New York City. Mike Pence, the 48th vice president of the United States, will be interviewed by staff writer Tim Alberta about the future of conservatism on the opening morning of the festival at the Perelman Performing Arts Center.
The filmmaking team behind the forthcoming Netflix dramatic thriller A House of Dynamite will now join Friday evening’s program. Academy Award–winning director Kathryn Bigelow, award-winning screenwriter Noah Oppenheim, and award-winning actor and playwright Tracy Letts will join a discussion with Atlantic staff writer Tom Nichols and editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg. The Atlantic examined eight decades of life in the atomic age for a recent special issue of the magazine, and A House of Dynamite––which will be released in October––speaks to similar themes. The film explores the race to determine who is responsible and how to respond when a single, unattributed missile is launched at the United States.
Friday evening begins with a sneak-peek screening of FX’s The Lowdown, along with a talk with creator, executive producer, writer, and director Sterlin Harjo and executive producer and star Ethan Hawke, moderated by staff writer Shirley Li.
Tickets: Limited single-day and individual-event tickets are available; virtual passes are free with registration.
Agenda and Venues: The three-day agenda is packed with more than 30 events at the Perelman Performing Arts Center and venues around the city, including the Town Hall, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Tenement Museum, Hauser & Wirth, McNally Jackson Books, and Metrograph.
The Festival’s tremendous lineup includes a wide range of interviews, including:
Thursday, September 18
Lt. General (ret.) and former National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster in conversation with editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg
Host, filmmaker, and comedian W. Kamau Bell in conversation with contributing writer Jemele Hill
Jennifer Doudna, CRISPR-gene-editing Nobel laureate and founder of the Innovative Genomics Institute, in conversation with Jeffrey Goldberg
Bryan Stevenson, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, in conversation with staff writer Clint Smith
Playwright Ayad Akhtar in conversation with Jeffrey Goldberg
Comedian, writer, and director Richard Ayoade in conversation with talk-show host, comedian, and producer David Letterman
Friday, September 19
CEO of IBM Arvind Krishna in conversation with staff writer Josh Tyrangiel
Tekedra Mawakana, co-CEO of Waymo, in conversation with contributing writer Derek Thompson
Clara Wu Tsai, owner and governor of the New York Liberty, in conversation with Jemele Hill
Gayle King, co-host of CBS Mornings, and actress and author Julianne Moore in conversation with executive editor Adrienne LaFrance
Monica Lewinsky, activist and host of the podcast Reclaiming, in conversation with staff writer Sophie Gilbert
Scott Galloway, professor of marketing at NYU’s Stern School of Business and serial entrepreneur, in conversation with Derek Thompson
Screenings and Premieres:
Exclusive first look for Season 3 of Netflix’s The Diplomat, followed by a conversation with Keri Russell, Allison Janney, and Debora Cahn, led by staff writer Shirley Li
The New York premiere of PBS’s The American Revolution, followed by a discussion with Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein, Tom Hanks, and Annette Gordon-Reed, led by Jeffrey Goldberg
The North American premiere of the restoration of Franco Rosso’s 1979 documentary portrait of Linton Kwesi Johnson, Dread Beat an Blood, with a poetry performance by Johnson and conversation led by senior editor Vann R. Newkirk II
The New York premiere of National Geographic’s documentary portrait of the Pulitzer Prize–winning photographer Lynsey Addario, Love+War, with a conversation featuring Addario; the film’s director, Chai Vasarhely; and staff writer Anne Applebaum
**Press should request a credential by emailing press@theatlantic.com; in-person seating will be limited.
The Atlantic Festival September 18–20, 2025 Perelman Performing Arts Center, and Virtually For Passes: https://theatlanticfestival.com/**
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