In a conversation moderated by The Atlantic editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, the opening night of the New Orleans Book Festival at Tulane University will feature Walter Isaacson, filmmaker Ken Burns, author Clint Smith and Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Annette Gordon-Reed. The three-day festival will kick off on Tulane’s Uptown campus on March 12.
On the 250th anniversary of the United States, the opening event will showcase the evolution of the “American experience” and the power of storytelling, history and journalism. The festival, which is free and open to the public, is themed “America at 250.”
Goldberg made headlines at the opening night of last year’s Book Festival for “Signalgate,” after he was accidentally added to a private Signal group chat with top Trump national security advisors. The private messages included details about the bombing of Houthi targets in Yemen.
Smith is a poet, essayist and author of the best-selling non-fiction book “How the Word Is Passed,” which explores the history of slavery across America. In the book, Smith travels to landmarks across the states to investigate how slavery has shaped American collective history.
Gordon-Reed is a Harvard University professor and historian. She has won 16 book prizes, as well as a Pulitzer Prize for History and the National Book Award for Nonfiction in 2008 for her research on Thomas Jefferson’s relationship with Sally Hemmings.
Burns is a documentarian known for his films on American history, including “The American Revolution,” which was released last year. His most popular work is “The Civil War,” which took five years to film and attracted more than 40 million viewers at its release in 1990.
Isaacson is a familiar name to longtime bookfest attendees as co-chair of the festival. His most recent published work, released late last year, explores the history and impact of the first line of the Declaration of Independence. Isaacson is also known for his in-depth biographies of Elon Musk, Steve Jobs and Leonardo da Vinci.
The full schedule for the festival will be released in March. Scheduled speakers include Rep. Troy A. Carter, Maryland’s Gov. Wes Moore, Mayor Helena Moreno, Anderson Cooper and David Brooks.