More than 300 speakers — from politicians to activists to artists — are coming to the Aspen Institute’s campus this month for the Aspen Ideas: Health program and subsequent Aspen Ideas Festival.
Aspen Ideas: Health is already underway, and continues through Sunday. The Aspen Ideas Festival, with two multi-day programs, begins this Sunday and continues through June 29.
Most of the panels and conversations require a festival pass, with prices that range from $1,500 to $5,000 depending on the purchaser and which block of programming they wish to attend.
But some public events are also on the docket, with tickets that mostly range from $100 to $200. Evening programming will include author meet-and-greets, culinary conversations and panel discussions, as well as concerts on select dates with musicians like Son Little and Common. Standalone tickets are also available for the “afternoon of conversation” on June 26, and for access to all panels on June 29.
Aspen Public Radio will also broadcast live and recorded panels throughout the festival on KAJX 91.5 Aspen, KCJX 88.9 Carbondale and aspenpublicradio.org. The Aspen Ideas Festival archives many of its sessions online as well.
About the Lineup
Aspen Ideas: Health began on Thursday, and continues through Sunday. It’s focused on topics in healthcare, medicine and wellbeing; what originally started as a “spotlight” program, intended to focus on different topics in different years, has become a fixture in the festival schedule.
The program covers a wide range of subjects, from the gene-editing technology of CRISPR to the benefits of forest bathing.
“Being out in nature, networking, spending time with friends and colleagues, that's all part of, we think, what goes into better health for all,” said Ruth Katz, the director of the health program.
And while some speakers come from a background in medicine or public health, others lend more personal insights. One session features the actors of “How to Dance in Ohio,” a musical about young adults with autism, while another features
composer and cellist Joshua Roman, who has written new music about his experience with long COVID.
Katz said that COVID-19 remains part of the conversation at the festival — though not quite as much as it was a couple years ago.
“COVID is has not disappeared,” Katz said. “It's very much still with us. … At the same time, we want to make sure that we are prepared for the next pandemic, whatever it may be.”
The Aspen Ideas Festival, which is broken into two sessions from June 23-26 and June 26-29, will focus on the theme “Bright Minds for Dark Times” this year.
For the first time in its two-decade history, the festival has been organized by a guest curator — award-winning British journalist Tina Brown.
“None of us can get away from the fact that we are living in very concerning times across the board, right?” Brown said in an interview. “I mean, there's wars, there's conflict, there's partisan dispute. And I think, you know, the advent of AI means that everyone is anxious about, ‘what is it going to do for my life?’”
“So my main goal was to assemble a group of people who could both address these major global problems, but also bring hope and bring answers and solutions and inspiration,” Brown added.
Brown is a former editor of Tatler, Vanity Fair and The New Yorker; she also co-founded and edited The Daily Beast. She said she has approached this festival curation as she would the edition of a magazine, aiming to provide both serious conversations and entertainment.
That’s reflected in this year’s list of speakers, which includes artists, activists, CEOs, and government officials — and in this year’s program schedule, which covers everything from artificial intelligence to the longevity of dogs.
Brown said she wants people to leave with new perspectives, and a curiosity about the world.
“There's such a kind of hunger for meaningful conversations — conversations that live with you, that expand your mind,” Brown said.
The festival hired Brown as “guest curator” after the departure of longtime executive director Kitty Boone. Boone stepped down last August to pursue other opportunities.
