World Leaders in Politics, Business, Science, the Arts, and More to Speak during 2017 Aspen Ideas Festival

WASHINGTON, May 2, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- More than 300 groundbreaking thinkers and leaders will gather at the 13th annual Aspen Ideas Festival to discuss today's most pressing issues. This year's Festival will run from June 25-July 1, 2017 in Aspen, CO, preceded by Spotlight Health from June 22-25, 2017. The Festival is presented by the Aspen Institute and co-hosted by The Atlantic.

EDITOR'S NOTE: A limited number of press passes are available. To apply, please fill out the form here: http://www.aspenideas.org/festival/press.

The Aspen Ideas Festival is an experience for the curious: bringing together the people leading their industries for in-depth and often intimate conversations about today's most critical issues. The Festival's ten tracks will dive into such areas as global conflicts, reimagining the Internet, the genetics revolution, artificial intelligence, climate change, the arts, and the America I know.

Speakers at the Aspen Ideas Festival are influencing global politics and society, advancing science, technology and exploration, pushing the boundaries of entertainment and comedy, and revolutionizing business. Joining the Festival are Doug Ducey, Governor of Arizona (R); Jeff Koons, Artist; Astro Teller, Captain of Moonshots, Alphabet Inc.; Jennifer Doudna, Li Ka Shing Chancellor's Chair in Biomedical and Health Sciences, University of California, Berkeley; and Samantha Power, Former US Ambassador, United Nations.

Speakers will continue to be added in the coming weeks. Among the featured speakers are:

• Wajahat Ali, Creative Director, Affinis Labs
• Anita Allen, Henry R. Silverman professor of Law, Professor of Philosophy, and Vice Provost for Faculty, University of Pennsylvania
• Dmitri Alperovitch, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer, CrowdStrike
• Abdullah Antepli, Chief Representative of Muslim Affairs, Duke University
• Kenya Barris, TV Writer; Producer; Executive Producer, "Blackish," ABC
• Heidi Beirich, Director, Intelligence Project, Southern Poverty Law Center
• Ken Burns, Documentary Filmmaker
• Common, Musician
• Kate Darling, Research Specialist, MIT Media Lab
• Stephanie Dua, Founder, President, and CEO, Homer
• Ava DuVernay, Filmmaker
• David Eagleman, Neuroscientist; Adjunct Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine
• Ted Halstead, Founder, President, and CEO, Climate Leadership Council
• Miriam Horn, Writer/Filmmaker, Environmental Defense Fund; Author, Rancher, Farmer, Fisherman
• Will Hurd, US Representative, 23^rd Congressional District, Texas (R)
• David Isay, Founder and President, StoryCorps
• Khizr Khan, Constitutional Rights Advocate
• Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, Youth Director, Earth Guardians
• Alexa Meade, Artist, Alexa Meade Art; Visual Artist
• Beto O'Rourke, TX-16 (D); Candidate, Senator of the State of Texas
• Arati Prabhakar, Former Director, DARPA, US Department of Defense
• Neil Parikh, Co-Founder and COO, Casper
• Jeff Raikes, Co-Founder, Raikes Foundation
• Samuel Rodriguez, President, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference
• Wendy Sherman, Former Undersecretary for Political Affairs, US State Department
• Bobbi Silten, EVP of Global Talent and Sustainability, Gap, Inc.

The public convocation, which will feature one-on-one interviews, panel conversations, film screenings, and more, is a seven-day event that will explore a wide array of issues. The 2017 Aspen Ideas Festival will delve into global affairs, American values, the arts, climate change, technology and connectivity, advancements in artificial intelligence and genetics, and issues confronting morality and creativity. More about this year's program can be found at http://www.aspenideas.org. 

Over the course of the Ideas Festival, a robust and diverse audience is expected in Aspen, CO, but many more will be able to join the conversation online. The Atlantic will on report and produce video from the Ideas Festival in a special report at TheAtlantic.com. All video and audio clips of on-stage conversations will be on aspenideas.org and on TheAtlantic.com/live, and on the Aspen Institute's YouTube channel. Regular updates from the Festival, in the run-up and during the event, will be on Facebook.com/aspenideas and on Twitter at @AspenIdeas, @TheAtlantic and @AtlanticLive, and with #AspenIdeas. Additionally, discussions can be followed all year on the Aspen Ideas Festival blog. 

Presenting underwriters for 2017 Aspen Ideas Festival are Allstate, Bank of America, Comcast NBCUniversal, Inova, McKinsey & Company, Mount Sinai Health System, Paul E. Singer Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Southern Company, Toyota, and Walton Family Foundation. Supporting underwriters are EY, Microsoft, Nestlé Waters North America, and Pearson. Facebook, Love Your Melon, PBS, Rockefeller Foundation, Skoll Foundation, The Nature Conservancy, and The Wonderful Company are contributing underwriters.

About The Atlantic:
Founded in 1857 and today one of the fastest growing media platforms in the industry, The Atlantic has throughout its history championed the power of big ideas and continues to shape global debate across print, digital, events, and video platforms. With its award-winning digital presence TheAtlantic.com and CityLab.com on cities around the world, The Atlantic is a multimedia forum on the most critical issues of our times—from politics, business, urban affairs, and the economy, to technology, arts, and culture. The Atlantic was the 2016 National Magazine of the Year. Bob Cohn is President of The Atlantic and Jeffrey Goldberg is Editor in Chief.

About the Aspen Institute
The Aspen Institute is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, DC. Its mission is to foster leadership based on enduring values and to provide a nonpartisan venue for dealing with critical issues. The Institute is based in Washington, DC; Aspen, Colorado; and on the Wye River on Maryland's Eastern Shore. It also has offices in New York City and an international network of partners. For more information, visit www.aspeninstitute.org.

SOURCE The Aspen Institute