Laura Gibson is an internationally acclaimed multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, producer and writer NPR calls “a boundlessly wise and warm interrogator”. As philosophical as she is open-hearted, with a love of traditional folk music and a bent toward experimentation, she has performed on four continents and had the distinct honor of playing the very first (and 200th) NPR Tiny Desk Concert. “She has this uncanny way of drawing you into her ruminations, making you connect with her emotionally”, says Pitchfork. Between albums three and four, Gibson earned an MFA in fiction writing from Hunter College, completing her thesis in the back of a tour van. Her essays have appeared in Talkhouse, the Los Angeles Review and Oregon Humanities Magazine, and she was a 2020 recipient of the McElheny Award from MIT for her work the Timber Wars podcast. She is currently prepping a new album while very slowly working on a book.
Laura Gibson is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose music blends literary folk with experimental instincts. Her most recent album Goners is a meditation on grief and empathy—both raw and incessantly beautiful, tracing the tension between longing and instinct.
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The Cascade PBS Ideas Festival is a full-day exploration of bold ideas. Hosted in Seattle's historic Fremont neighborhood, the event brings together live podcast recordings and television tapings from major media outlets across the country, regional artists, makers, and musicians. Thousands of attendees and viewers have enjoyed hundreds of engaging sessions featuring thought-leaders, politicians, authors, and iconic figures. Now in its ninth year, the festival has become a can't-miss annual event in the region.
Each year, celebrated voices in podcasting and media make their way to Seattle to record live at the festival — including productions from The Atlantic, The New Yorker, NPR, PBS, CNN, Vox, The Wall Street Journal, Slate, Pushkin, Spotify, and beyond. The festival has welcomed Fresh Air, Radiolab, Revisionist History, Criminal, On the Media, The Political Scene, What a Day, The Gist, Amicus, The Weeds, Open to Debate, Decoder, Radio Atlantic, One Thing, Text Me Back, The Journal, Critics at Large, A Word, Good on Paper, Seattle Now, Your Last Meal, What Next, and more.
The Cascade PBS Ideas Festival has hosted hundreds of speakers such as Dr. Jane Goodall, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Malcolm Gladwell, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, Macklemore, Judy Woodruff, Nikole Hannah-Jones, Sen. Jeff Flake, Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Monica Lewinsky, Robby Hoffman, Ross Douthat, Eddie Glaude Jr., Matt Damon, Jamelle Bouie, Sen. Chris Murphy, Laverne Cox, Sen. Adam Schiff, Sen. Jon Tester, Jake Tapper, Sen. Al Franken, Rick Wilson, Tonya Mosley, Attorney General Eric Holder, Michael Barbaro, Carl Bernstein, Ezra Klein, Amanda Knox, Rep. Will Hurd, Oren Cass, Dahlia Lithwick, Heather Cox Richardson, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Andrew Yang, Michael Cohen, Governor Jay Inslee, and EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman.
Beyond the stage, the festival offers a full day of discovery. Elliott Bay Book Company sets up a pop-up bookstore stocked with titles from every speaker, and a dedicated Q&A Corner gives attendees the chance to continue the conversation with the speakers, one-on-one after each session. Community Meetups invite guests to connect and share their thoughts with fellow attendees. Food trucks, interactive installations, local craft makers, live music, a happy hour, and a live DJ round out the experience.
Interested in learning how you can be a part of the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival? Reach out to events@cascadepbs.org
Emmy-winning actress, producer, LGBTQ+ advocate, and author
Speaker Emerita, United States Congress
Author, Chain of Ideas: The Origins of Our Authoritarian Age
Activist, Writer, Producer
Co-Host Fresh Air / Creator and Host of Truth Be Told
Former ESPN Host, Podcast Host
Emmy-winning writer, Emmy-nominated actor, and Comedian
Author of America, U.S.A.: How Race Shadows the Nation's Anniversaries
Host, Mossback's Northwest
U.S. Senator, California
Geologist, Host of Nick on the Rocks
Host, Seattle Now / KUOW
Host, Radio Atlantic
Host, The Political Scene
Distinguished Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
Host, KEXP's Sounds of Survivance
Host, The Newsfeed
Host of CNN Podcast, "One Thing"
King County Executive
Writer and Host, First America
Musician / Writer
Author, Citizenship: Notes on an American Myth
Senior Correspondent, Radiolab Co-Host
Storyteller, Speaker, Mentor, Teacher and Counselor of the Spirit
Author, MOTHERLAND: A Feminist History of Modern Russia; Founding Partner, Washington Correspondent at Puck
Host of Democracy in Color podcast, Author, and Columnist at The Guardian, The Nation
Musician, Helms Alee, Lozen, Tacos!, and Uukwuuk
Moderator-in-Chief
Cascade PBS, Arts and culture writer / television host
Theoretical Physicist and Cosmologist, Author of The Edge of Space and Time
