Cascade PBS Ideas Festival
The Cascade PBS Ideas Festival is a full-day event featuring live podcast recordings and studio television tapings by The Atlantic, NPR, The New Yorker, CNN, PBS, Wondery, Pushkin, and more. Watch live as journalists, newsmakers, and thought leaders from around the world discuss the biggest issues of our time– plus, community meetups, speaker meet-and-greets, micro-sessions, food trucks, DJs, and artists. Join us on June 6th at Fremont Studios, The Picklr and Hidden Hall in the heart of Seattle's Fremont neighborhood.
Programming
The Cascade PBS Ideas Festival offers a program that provides a spectrum of viewpoints, experiences and affiliations, and welcomes members of many communities. As a public media organization, we are responsible to act as a neutral mediator. We believe that the best way to bridge our divides is to hear from people with whom we might disagree, and to ask each other hard questions.
2026 Speakers
Eddie S. Glaude Jr.
Author of America, U.S.A.: How Race Shadows the Nation's Anniversaries
Laverne Cox
Emmy-winning actress, producer, LGBTQ+ advocate, and author
Nancy Pelosi
Speaker Emerita, United States Congress
Ibram X. Kendi
Author, Chain of Ideas: The Origins of Our Authoritarian Age
Monica Lewinsky
Activist, Writer, Producer
Kenny Mayne
Former ESPN Host, Podcast Host
Tonya Mosley
Co-Host Fresh Air / Creator and Host of Truth Be Told
Knute Berger
Host, Mossback's Northwest
Steve Phillips
Host of Democracy in Color podcast, Author, and Columnist at The Guardian, The Nation
Adam Schiff
U.S. Senator, California
Nick Zentner
Geologist, Host of Nick on the Rocks
Patricia Murphy
Host, Seattle Now / KUOW
Hanna Rosin
Host, Radio Atlantic
Tyler Foggatt
Host, The Political Scene
Paris Jackson
Host, The Newsfeed
David Rind
Host of CNN Podcast, "One Thing"
Girmay Zahilay
King County Executive
Rebecca Nagle
Writer and Host, First America
Daisy Hernández
Author, Citizenship: Notes on an American Myth
Molly Webster
Senior Correspondent, Radiolab Co-Host
Chanda Prescod-Weinstein
Professor, Physics and Astronomy / Women’s and Gender studies
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