
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

2023 Festival
Afternoon of Conversation
Video — 2h 35m 51s

2023 Festival
Wicked Problem: A.I. and the Future of Everything
Video — 42m 13s

2023 Festival
Opening Session: Crossing Divides
Video — 1h 26m 54s

2023 Health
Your Brain on Art
Video — 1h 1m 15s

2022 Festival
Ideas in the Age of the Bioeconomy
Video — 45m 21s

2022 Festival
Inside the Minds of History’s Most Curious
Video — 46m 59s

2022 Health
Francis Collins: Moving American Science Forward
Video — 54m 31s

2021 Festival
CRISPR and the Age of Biology
Video — 22m 2s

2021 Festival
Leaders and Inventors: The Creatives We Need in Our Future
Video — 30m 4s
2021 Festival
Flying Smart
Video — 35m 54s

2020 Festival
Breaking the Code: Good for the Human Race?
Video — 17m 50s

2019 Festival
Our Man: Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century
Video — 53m 16s

2019 Festival
(Re)Building the Good Society
Video — 54m 27s

2019 Health
Beyond the Science: Where Are the Safeguards in Gene Editing?
Video — 51m 55s

2019 Health
The Secret to Life: Genomics, CRISPR, and the Future
Video — 44m 2s

2017 Festival
Our Obsession with Genius
Video — 1h 5m 29s

2017 Festival
2017 Closing Session
Video — 1h 51m 39s

2017 Festival
The Imagination of Leonardo da Vinci
Video — 1h 1m 41s

2017 Festival
Is the Internet Broken?
Video — 1h 3m 4s

2017 Festival
A Crack in Creation: Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control Evolution
Video — 1h 2m 38s

2017 Festival
Black in America Since MLK
Video — 47m 5s

Spotlight Health Closing Session
Video — 1h 32m 54s

2017 Festival
Welcome and Conversations
Video — 1h 33m 47s

2017 Festival
Popular Culture, Civil Liberties, and America
Audio — 1h 1m

2017 Health
Music, Health, and Well-Being: Jon Batiste in Conversation with Walter Isaacson
Video — 1h 6m 54s

2017 Health
New Leadership at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Video — 1h 0m 28s

Spotlight Health Opening and Welcome
Video — 47m 28s

2016 Festival
In Conversation with Vice President Joe Biden
Video — 1h 17m 56s

2016 Festival
What It Takes to Be Competitive in the 21st Century Economy
Video — 57m 44s

2016 Festival
2016 Afternoon of Conversation
Video — 3h 1m 42s

2016 Festival
In Conversation with Secretary of State John Kerry
Video — 1h 11m 55s

2016 Festival
How Media and Technology Are Altering Our Culture: A Case in Point—The Olympic Games
Video — 1h 3m 8s

2016 Festival
In Conversation With Former First Lady Laura Bush: Voices of Hope
Video — 1h 2m 12s

2016 Festival
Welcome and Conversations
Video — 2h 8m 31s

2016 Spotlight Health Opening and Welcome
Video — 1h 12m 49s

2015 Festival
The Genius of Jazz
Video — 1h 9m 43s

2013 Festival
Can Cities Save America?
Video — 56m 48s