2026-2027 Speakers

October 15, 2026

Marie Benedict: Writing Women Back into History

Marie Benedict is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of historical fiction. A lawyer with more than 10 years’ experience at premiere law firms, she found her calling in unearthing the hidden stories of women. Her mission is to excavate from the past the most important, complex, and fascinating women of history and bring them into the light of present-day where we can perceive the breadth of their contributions and the insights they bring to modern day issues.

She is the author of The Only Woman in the Room, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie, Carnegie’s Maid, The Other Einstein, Lady Clementine, Agent 355, Her Hidden Genius, The Mitford Affair, and, with Victoria Christopher Murray, The Personal Librarian. 

Ms. Benedict’s most recent novel with co-author Victoria Christopher Murray is The First Ladies, the story of the friendship of Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary McLeod Bethune. During a time of segregation and Jim Crow, these two women found a way to forge a friendship and change some things in this world.

Recommended reading: Lady Clementine, The First Ladies, Carnegie’s Maid

Website

November 19, 2026

Evan Osnos: The Haves and Have-Yachts 

Evan Osnos is a National Book Award-winning author and writer at The New Yorker, a host of its flagship podcast, “The Political Scene,” and a fellow at the Brookings Institution. Known for his witty, articulate, and vivid commentary, rich with behind-the-scenes insights from the halls of power, he illuminates politics and foreign affairs from the ground up, spanning the U.S., the Middle East, Europe, and China. A warm, eloquent speaker, Mr. Osnos is celebrated for a balanced and thorough view of global events that brings depth, humor, and meaning to a time when many are tempted to turn away from the news. 

As an author, Mr. Osnos is known for tackling the central issues of our time. His most recent book, The Haves and Have-Yachts, was an instant New York Times bestseller. An exploration of our new gilded age, it was described by the Financial Times as a “witty and beautifully written and often amusing climb to the very top of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.”

Recommended reading: The Haves and Have-Yachts, Wildland: The Making of America’s Fury

Website

January 21, 2027

Sofi Thanhauser: Worn: A People’s History of Clothing

Sofi Thanhauser is a writer, artist, and musician, based in Brooklyn. She is the author of Worn: A People’s History of Clothing named by The New Yorker as a “Best Book of the Year.” It is a sweeping and captivatingly told history of clothing and the stuff it is made of--an unparalleled deep dive into how everyday garments have transformed our lives, our societies, women’s work, and our planet. Through the stories of linen, cotton, silk, synthetics, and wool, Ms. Thanhauser takes us from the opulent court of Louis XIV to the labor camps in modern-day Chinese-occupied Xinjiang. We learn how textiles were once dyed with lichen, bark, saffron, and beetles, displaying distinctive regional weaves and knits, and how the modern Western garment industry has refashioned our attire into the homogenous and disposable uniforms popularized by fast-fashion brands.

Ms. Thanhauser teaches in the Writing Department at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. She is a noted speaker for media, industry, and academia, and is currently at work on her second nonfiction book, forthcoming from Riverhead Books.

Recommended reading: Worn: A People’s History of Clothing

Website

February 18, 2027

Jeremi Suri: The Evolution of the American Presidency 

Dr. Jeremi Suri is a history professor from the University of Texas and widely recognized as a leading authority on the changing nature of the Office of the President from the Founding Fathers to the current day. In addition to his expertise in the presidency, he is also an authority on foreign policy particularly as it relates from WWII to today.

Dr. Suri will begin with the founding vision of the U.S. presidency and the actions of its first occupant, George Washington, and move on to Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, and more recent presidents. He will focus on how the power of the presidency has changed over time and what that has meant for American society in our 250-year history as a country. 

Recommended Reading: The Impossible Presidency

Website

March 18, 2027

Scott Tinker: Energy, Climate & the Reality of Trade Offs

Dr. Scott Tinker is a global researcher, educator, visionary, and pragmatist working to solve major societal challenges in energy, environment, and economy. His career in industry, academia, government, and non-profits, including travel to 60 countries, underpins his global speaking, writing, filmmaking, television, radio, and board work. Dr. Tinker has led the dialog on balancing energy access for human flourishing with environmental protection in what he calls the “radical middle.”

Dr. Tinker’s passion is understanding and communicating the framework, challenges, timeframe, and scale of the energy transition, which he defines as lifting the world from poverty and minimizing the environmental impacts of solar, wind, batteries, nuclear, oil, coal, and natural gas. As a distinguished professor at the University of Texas, his views of the global energy landscape have proven prescient to industry leaders, policy makers, and educators. 

Recommended viewing: “The Dual Challenge: Energy and Environment”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnT-PYHaSxA

Website

April 15, 2027

Denise Budd: The Groundbreaking Genius of Leonardo da Vinci

Dr. Denise Budd is a Renaissance scholar and teacher at institutions such as Columbia University and Rutgers University, as well as a consultant and guest for television and movie productions.

As an “archival detective” for Leonardo da Vinci, she has helped to de-mythologize and humanize his exceptional genius. Leonardo is most often imagined as a multi-faceted artist, scientist, engineer, and musician. Yet, Leonardo was a painter who infrequently completed a painting, a sculptor who rarely sculpted, and an architect who never built anything.

Dr. Budd will examine his most canonical works and consider his most ambitious plans that never came to fruition.

Past Speakers

Below is an alphabetical list of past speakers.