Join The New Yorker for reporting, insight, and analysis of the most pressing issues of our time. Senior editor Tyler Foggatt goes deep via far-reaching interviews, offering an encompassing understanding of this moment in American politics and culture.
Robby Hoffman
Robby Hoffman is an Emmy-winning writer, Emmy-nominated actor, and comedian whose work spans stand-up, television, and podcasting. In 2025, she was named one of Variety's "10 Comics to Watch" and her debut Netflix stand-up special, Robby Hoffman: WAKE UP, directed by John Mulaney premiered globally.
In 2025 Hoffman also starred opposite Michelle Williams in FX’s critically acclaimed limited series Dying for Sex. She currently appears on Season 4 of HBO’s Hacks, where she earned an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series, and is now in production on Season 5. She also currently appears on the HBO series Rooster from Steve Carell and Bill Lawrence. Hoffman is developing UnEntitled at HBO, a new series she is writing, executive producing, and set to star in.
The New York Times describes Robby as a “bulldozing stand-up,” comparing her to Larry David, noting her “mountain-out-of-a-molehill kvetching, but her hilarious rage makes her sound like a modern lesbian Andrew ‘Dice’ Clay.” The New York Times also praised her Patreon podcast Too Far as "an addictive listen.”
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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, Pushkin, and more. Watch live as journalists, newsmakers, and thought leaders from around the world and in our community discuss the biggest issues of our time. Plus, community meetups, speaker meet-and-greets, micro-sessions, food trucks, DJs, -and surprises. Join us on June 6th at Fremont Studios, The Picklr and Hidden Hall in the heart of Seattle's Fremont neighborhood.



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
Robby Hoffman
Emmy-winning writer, Emmy-nominated actor, and Comedian
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
Kevin Sur
Host, KEXP's Sounds of Survivance
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