![Issacson Walter Aif2020](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/nullfbfe67aa-80e0-4d83-8dd4-10f188c607c4/Issacson_Walter_AIF2020.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C1000%2C1000&w=290)
Walter Isaacson
Professor of History, Tulane University; Author, The Code Breaker; Distinguished Fellow, Aspen Institute
Walter Isaacson is the Leonard Lauder Professor of American History and Values at Tulane University. From 2003 to 2018, he was president and CEO of the Aspen Institute, where he is now a Distinguished Fellow. He has also been chair of CNN and editor of TIME magazine. Isaacson’s latest book is The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing and the Future of the Human Race. He is also the author of Leonardo da Vinci; The Innovators; Steve Jobs; Einstein: His Life and Universe; Benjamin Franklin: An American Life; and Kissinger: A Biography. He co-authored The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made.
Previously
![Afternoon of Conversation](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/a24851c3-3b9b-40cf-8ed0-159d2463a9a3/53006438722_b768442f01_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C172%2C8256%2C4644&w=400)
The Afternoon of Conversation is the Aspen Ideas Festival's pinnacle programming moment. Over 2,000 people gather in the Benedict Music Tent, an open-air venue with acoustics...
![Wicked Problem: A.I. and the Future of Everything](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/ff276956-52b9-42bf-b199-3877f8d121db/53004906983_4c6bd041ea_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C8256%2C4646&w=400)
In this new Aspen Ideas format, all attendees gather each morning to kick off the day by exploring a current issue of deep complexity. The rapid growth of generative A.I. —...
![Opening Session: Crossing Divides](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/235bbb34-e72b-4dfe-8da7-8303443c8875/52999387144_3fd48e27d1_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C998%2C5504%2C3098&w=400)
The festival kicks off with thought leaders sharing fresh ideas about bridging divides, having better conversations, and encouraging creativity. A conversation with Saudi Arab...
![Your Brain on Art](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/26336de7-d3bf-4642-a7ea-f365f81a7958/52997372984_9e32eceb36_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C300%2C5865%2C3301&w=400)
The arts are not a luxury or an escape, but a vital tool for thriving physically, mentally, and spiritually. Neuroscience explains how art changes the body, brain, and behavio...
![Ideas in the Age of the Bioeconomy](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/fee4d7fa-1349-45b8-94da-37a78be852cb/52176486247_b5c8be03ef_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C37%2C4608%2C2593&w=400)
The last two decades have seen revolutionary transformations in productivity, communications, and industry, generally thanks to the massive applications of technology. There i...
![Inside the Minds of History’s Most Curious](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/50e1d34d-d7cf-4f1f-9817-9fea3209235c/52177490067_eebabf7707_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C1586%2C5428%2C3054&w=400)
Over the past decade, Walter Isaacson has explored the minds of history’s most curious innovators. Leonardo da Vinci. Benjamin Franklin. Albert Einstein. Steve Jobs. Jennifer...
![Francis Collins: Moving American Science Forward](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/9f0ad605-fb21-4ed1-adbb-572f34c054f8/52172157484_46ef4ebe11_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C563%2C8256%2C4646&w=400)
The recent leaps of science—sequencing the human genome, advancing the world-changing technology of CRISPR, deepening knowledge of the brain—owe much to Francis Collins’s bril...
![CRISPR and the Age of Biology](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/ef4e3f1c-2289-4d22-af31-f90d87d8a7bd/AdobeStock_183680102.jpeg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C301%2C8000%2C4499&w=400)
Jennifer Doudna and her Berkeley lab collaborators are not alone in their quest to understand nature. As scientists with profound curiosity, leaders of labs across the globe h...
![Leaders and Inventors: The Creatives We Need in Our Future](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/c49215bb-b680-4593-8e1b-16e131978485/AIF.6.27.21.1246.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C1358%2C3600%2C2025&w=400)
In their own ways, authors Walter Isaacson and David Rubenstein explore the kinds of pioneering leaders who drive meaningful change. Leonardo DaVinci’s rare form of curiosity...
Coming out of the COVID pandemic, airlines are bracing for a wave of passengers that will, ideally, revive the struggling travel industry. In this conversation with United CEO...
![Breaking the Code: Good for the Human Race?](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/null0bf29eae-fe0a-4b27-998c-657ba7fd8c73/speakers-july11.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C132%2C2550%2C1434&w=400)
Thanks to the genius of biochemists such as Jennifer Doudna, who’s credited with the co-discovery of CRISPR, our biggest scientific advances in the near future may easily come...
![Our Man: Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/null18844555-e305-4a72-bd16-9d77c1c43363/48128060722_3175da42cd_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=846%2C109%2C4562%2C2562&w=400)
“I still can’t get his voice out of my head,” George Packer writes of the late diplomat Richard Holbrooke. “One day I know it will start to fade, along with his memory, along...
![(Re)Building the Good Society](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/nullc3b34043-5762-4c81-b19b-effb6f33981c/Rebuilding_Good_Society_AIF19.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C1600%2C900&w=400)
In a time of uncertainty, rapid change, and disruption, who is best positioned to move society forward? Many are losing faith not only in government, but in the institutions o...
![Beyond the Science: Where Are the Safeguards in Gene Editing?](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/nullee285631-7113-4090-85ea-8134abe2121a/beyond_the_science_aih19.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C1599%2C900&w=400)
No argument against genomic editing is going to halt that advancing science, given the remarkable potential of CRISPR and other disruptive technologies to treat or cure diseas...
![The Secret to Life: Genomics, CRISPR, and the Future](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/nullb7e2da30-f73d-4578-85b2-92f7a87973c8/48109188973_45904bebbe_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C8256%2C4644&w=400)
Six decades after the discovery of the DNA double helix, basic gene sequencing is becoming increasingly accessible to consumers, and start-up companies are hurtling into the r...
![Our Obsession with Genius](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/nullc43e77c1-9fff-47f8-bdf4-bd0bb99a0ffb/34886425643_349634d15e_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C1600%2C901&w=400)
Academy Award-winning producer Brian Grazer, along with partner Ron Howard, just completed season one of “Genius,” a multi-part series for television based on Walter Isaacson’...
![2017 Closing Session](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/065132fa-aba0-4158-9115-a0531648dfff/35307448340_ea206ce65d_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C140%2C6720%2C3780&w=400)
![The Imagination of Leonardo da Vinci](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/d81b4368-c120-413a-9890-a94949dd7e4c/35305578670_bb92c61fda_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C6016%2C3381&w=400)
Walter Isaacson is fascinated by innovators — the kinds of geniuses whose ideas have transformed industry, science, and society. Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs, and Benjamin Fran...
![Is the Internet Broken?](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/null2d8e774f-f8d4-4701-8924-e9f3dedc8c6f/34783358713_f0109fee54_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C1600%2C899&w=400)
After 40 years, the internet has begun to corrode, both itself and us. It is still a marvelous and miraculous invention, but now there are bugs in the foundation, bats in the...
![A Crack in Creation: Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control Evolution](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/bbf7ba08-69c1-4654-a882-097b777da605/35531111596_d769c429e4_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C1637%2C4016%2C2266&w=400)
Not since the atomic bomb has a technology so alarmed its inventors that they warned the world about its use. Not, that is, until the spring of 2015, when biologist Jennifer D...
![Black in America Since MLK](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/null0723d84d-2a36-43d7-9fa2-aeb82f35334e/35531450236_211e091680_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C134%2C1600%2C901&w=400)
How far have we come toward racial equality since the civil rights era? What does it mean to be black today? How can we have had a black president while events like Ferguson c...
![Spotlight Health Closing Session](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/1928637b-be15-4d84-a09f-c97d4708ac73/34709207414_9f4e33da46_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C1270%2C4316%2C2428&w=400)
A Conversation with US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price (Interviewer: Jeffrey Goldberg) A Conversation with Larry Brilliant (Interviewer: Walter...
![Welcome and Conversations](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/null13ae46c5-059f-49db-b6db-cc42592eea83/35549515675_a70b261bdf_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C169%2C1600%2C899&w=400)
Welcome from David G. Bradley and Walter Isaacson; A Conversation on the Future with Astro Teller, Captain of Moonshots at X, Interviewer: Andrew Ross Sorkin; Brave Ideas: Ani...
![Popular Culture, Civil Liberties, and America](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/null64e12c9d-3da1-463b-9e28-f654e5fcbb93/34741737593_0d69d28215_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C1600%2C901&w=400)
Norman Lear is the prolific television writer and producer of stories about diverse American life—among them “All in the Family,” “Sanford and Son,” “The Jeffersons,” “Good Ti...
![Music, Health, and Well-Being: Jon Batiste in Conversation with Walter Isaacson](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/c7031641-6e42-419c-a4df-cf18f722722f/34685393524_2f02104da8_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C154%2C7360%2C4145&w=400)
Music can lift the spirits and help heal the body. No musician demonstrates that better than Jon Batiste, a “crowd-thrilling rebel bandleader,” according to Rolling Stone maga...
![New Leadership at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/nullbe1fad3c-63a2-451d-83c6-302870fb14d2/35338706382_c7e19f2083_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=236%2C0%2C1349%2C758&w=400)
Richard Besser recently assumed the role of president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), the nation’s largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and...
![Spotlight Health Opening and Welcome](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/nullee278882-457d-4793-b4c8-e6847bbc7c4c/35101092800_fa7d2a3a05_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C35%2C1600%2C899&w=400)
Join Walter Isaacson, Margaret Low, Peggy Clark, Katie Drasser, and Select Spotlight Health Presenters to kick off the Spotlight Health Festival.
![In Conversation with Vice President Joe Biden](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/null4415187c-628d-4c1d-9081-5a91d9290ffe/27470778073_ab14df43e7_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C97%2C1600%2C899&w=400)
Presented by Spotlight Health and the Aspen Ideas Festival.
![What It Takes to Be Competitive in the 21st Century Economy](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/null9b37ee00-6b9f-47a8-9a60-ff6731cd71c7/27758392090_f58369de36_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C566%2C1068%2C599&w=400)
Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker joins Walter Isaacson to discuss the opportunities for growth inherent in the digital economy, as well as the challenges they present for...
![2016 Afternoon of Conversation](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/6432ddd4-a649-44f9-8a06-ac8acad398f8/27999489545_c703a8e7b1_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=672%2C220%2C3541%2C1994&w=400)
Our signature event, the 2016 Afternoon of Conversation hosts an audience of more than 2,000 in the Benedict Music Tent. From criminal justice for the most vulnerable, to spac...
![In Conversation with Secretary of State John Kerry](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/null3684065e-5c3a-4f85-b57f-781b05e6f958/27904493811_a79d3d6dfe_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C52%2C1600%2C899&w=400)
![How Media and Technology Are Altering Our Culture: A Case in Point—The Olympic Games](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/null354b79b4-2f20-4832-bbe7-6e266e32199c/27859431612_8e54a499e5_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=373%2C524%2C855%2C482&w=400)
A discussion with Comcast Corporation Chairman and CEO Brian Roberts and NBC Olympic primetime host Bob Costas. The rapid advances in technology are changing how we interact w...
![In Conversation With Former First Lady Laura Bush: Voices of Hope](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/nullf7bc57b7-fe61-4ab0-a05e-4fc75f3fb9a5/27859838872_c1722a5345_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C1496%2C842&w=400)
For more than a decade, Laura Bush has led efforts to protect the hard-earned rights of women in Afghanistan. The George W. Bush Institute recently released the book We Are Af...
![Welcome and Conversations](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/null5f650065-062e-45d6-8aa9-d98f0fd92b97/27905282986_f1e8dc7f51_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C33%2C1600%2C901&w=400)
In Conversation with Christine Lagarde Managing Director, International Monetary Fund Interviewer: Jane Harman In Conversation with Susan E. Rice Assistant to the Presid...
![2016 Spotlight Health Opening and Welcome](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/nulle679fde8-9140-4e5b-a3da-a1935d86ceac/27778445282_0f9d02f9eb_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C40%2C1600%2C900&w=400)
The 3rd annual Spotlight Health is a deep-dive into issues around health, and it’s a momentous time for health. It’s becoming easier to alter human genes, and the Zika ep...
![The Genius of Jazz](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/22dd78c9-3eaf-4b87-a004-650a126fa4e8/19316872948_dc4a08abfb_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C5976%2C3361&w=400)
Wynton Marsalis is an internationally acclaimed musician, composer, bandleader, educator and a leading advocate of American culture. He is the world’s first jazz artist to per...
![Can Cities Save America?](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/4df1e676-e00b-4d62-bf64-2c25ccff4456/9167517054_bf23b56a1b_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C4928%2C2777&w=400)
Across the nation, cities and metropolitan areas, and the networks of pragmatic leaders who govern them, are taking on the big issues that Washington won’t—or can’t—solve. The...