The Atlantic Onstage

Evan Smith, The Atlantic’s managing director for events, sat down with Joyce Judy, president of the Community College of Vermont, and Sherry Kollmann, president of Vermont State University, about the various challenges facing higher education, the general case for college, and what it means to educate the country’s future citizens. This episode features a conversation recorded on July 16, 2026, in...

Evan Smith, The Atlantic’s managing director for events, sat down with Atlantic staff writers Megan Garber and Tyler Austin Harper to  talk about how politics influences culture, the impending midterm elections, and the opaque forces that shape our shared reality. This episode features a conversation recorded on July 16, 2026, in Burlington, Vermont, as part of our Atlantic Across America ser...

Evan Smith, The Atlantic’s managing director for events, sat down with Representative Madeleine Dean to talk about the consequences of the Iran War, how the Democratic Party might operate if they win back the House after the midterm elections, and what America 250 means in Philadelphia, where our founders signed the Declaration of Independence. This episode features a conversation recorded on June...

Evan Smith, The Atlantic’s managing director for events, sat down with Atlantic staff writer Clint Smith; Atlantic contributing writer and George Washington law professor Jeffrey Rosen; and Melissa Murray, a professor of constitutional law at New York University and a co-host of the podcast Strict Scrutiny. They discussed how the country’s defining ideals have been contested and reimagined across...

The Atlantic’s McKay Coppins sat down with Ryan and Ashley Smith, owners of the Utah Jazz and Utah Mammoth, to talk about the value of live sports in an AI-driven era, the evolving future of entertainment, and what it means to run and rebuild a professional sports enterprise. This episode features a conversation recorded on May 11, 2026, in Salt Lake City, Utah, as part of our Atlantic Across Amer...

Staff writer McKay Coppins sat down with Utah Governor Spencer Cox to talk about the future of the Republican party, flashpoint policy debates in his state, and, of course, to ask the governor the question everyone wants answered: Is he running for president in 2028? This episode features a conversation recorded on May 11, 2026, in Salt Lake City, Utah, as part of our Atlantic Across America serie...

The Atlantic’s McKay Coppins sat down with Evan Smith, The Atlantic’s managing director for events, to talk about the precarious landscape of local news, the rise of misinformation and threats to a free press, and what the media can do to evolve and rebuild trust in an institution that’s vital to our democracy. This episode features a conversation recorded on May 11, 2026, in Salt Lake City, Utah,...

The Atlantic’s David Graham spoke with several local journalists—Leoneda Inge from WUNC, Eduardo Medina of The New York Times, and Kate Sheppard of The Assembly—about how North Carolina’s economic, political, and cultural shifts are shaping public life in the Tar Heel State. This episode features a conversation recorded on April 8, 2026, in Durham, North Carolina, as part of our Atlantic Across Am...

Evan Smith, The Atlantic’s managing director for events, spoke with three university chancellors—Karrie Dixon of North Carolina Central University, Kevin Howell of North Carolina State University, and Lee Roberts of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill—about the state of play in higher education, including tuition increases, state and federal funding, enrollment growth, and the value of...

The Atlantic staff writer Yvonne Wingett Sanchez sat down with Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes to discuss the state’s efforts to ensure free and fair elections leading up to the 2026 midterms.  This episode features a conversation recorded on January 13, 2026, in Phoenix, Arizona, at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, as part of our Atlantic Across America se...

Evan Smith, The Atlantic’s managing director for events, sat down with our staff writers Tom Nichols, Missy Ryan, and Nancy A. Youssef to discuss how press restrictions at the Pentagon have affected their reporting on national security in the second Trump administration. This episode features a conversation recorded on February 12, 2026, at the Knight Media Forum in Miami as part of our Atlantic A...

Evan Smith, The Atlantic’s managing director for events, sat down with the Minnesota journalist Georgia Fort to discuss the importance of a free press and her recent arrest following her coverage of a protest inside a St. Paul church. This episode features a conversation recorded on February 12, 2026, at the Knight Media Forum in Miami as part of our Atlantic Across America series.  Get more from...

Evan Smith, The Atlantic’s managing director for events, sat down with former U.S. Ambassador to Turkey and former Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona to discuss America’s place in the world as we enter the second year of a more aggressively isolationist administration.  This episode features a conversation recorded on January 13, 2026, in Phoenix, Arizona, at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism an...

The Atlantic’s editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, sat down with General Stanley McChrystal and the Atlantic staff writer George Packer for a wide-ranging conversation about the forces driving today’s most consequential international crises.  This episode features a conversation recorded on March 12, 2026, at the New Orleans Book Festival, as part of our Atlantic Across America series.  Get more fr...

Atlantic editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg sat down with the best-selling biographer Walter Isaacson, the acclaimed filmmaker Ken Burns, the Atlantic staff writer Clint Smith, and the Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Annette Gordon-Reed to discuss the evolution of the American experience as our 250th birthday approaches. This episode features a conversation recorded on March 12, 2026, at the New Or...

In the days following the attack on Iran by the United States and Israel, The Atlantic’s Vivian Salama sat down with the fellow staff writers Tom Nichols, Toluse Olorunnipa, and Nancy A. Youssef to discuss the start of the war and its implications for global security.  This episode features a conversation recorded virtually on March 4, 2026, as part of our Big Story series. Get more from your favo...

Evan Smith, The Atlantic’s managing director for events, sat down with the former Washington Post executive editor Martin Baron to talk about the fallout from recent, sweeping newsroom cuts at the paper and what they signal for journalism’s future. This episode features a conversation recorded on February 12, 2026, at the Knight Media Forum in Miami as part of our Atlantic Across America series. G...

Evan Smith, The Atlantic’s managing director for events, sat down with Helena Moreno, the mayor of New Orleans, to discuss how national challenges take shape at the local level.  This episode features a conversation recorded on March 14, 2026, at the New Orleans Book Festival as part of our Atlantic Across America series.   Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enj...

The Atlantic staff writer George Packer sat down with the critically acclaimed novelist and essayist Salman Rushdie to talk about his latest book, The Eleventh Hour, and to reflect on one of the most pivotal moments in his life: when he was attacked at a public event in 2022. This episode features a conversation recorded on March 13, 2026, at the New Orleans Book Festival as part of our Atlantic A...

The Atlantic staff writer Caity Weaver sat down with the planetary scientist Nina Lanza and the Atlantic staff writer Ross Andersen to discuss our evolving relationship with the cosmos and the search for life beyond our world.  This episode features a conversation recorded on January 28, 2026, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, as part of our Atlantic Across America...