Past Speakers

The Philadelphia Speakers Series presents some of the world’s most celebrated and influential personalities of our time, a virtual Who’s Who of National and global figures - heads of state, political leaders, newsmakers, innovators and cultural icons, each sharing their unique experiences and perspectives as they challenge your mind, enlarge your world and make you laugh. These are our past speakers:

2022-2023

Loretta Lynch
John Brennan
Maria Ressa
Erik Larson
Tom Friedman
Scott Kelly
Anthony Ray Hinton

2021-2022

John Bolton
Platon
Walter Isaacson
Mara Liasson
Jamie Metzl
Theresa May
Bill Nye

2019–2020

John Kerry
Zanny Minton Beddoes
Bob Woodward
Douglas Brinkley
Peter Diamandis
Susan Rice
Jason Alexander

2018–2019

James Comey
Lisa Genova
Gloria Steinem
Jeb Bush
Bryan Stevenson
Ian Bremmer
Dave Barry

2017–2018

David Cameron
Jeffrey Toobin
Cokie Roberts
Robin Wright
Rick Steves
Newt Gingrich
Paul Nicklen

2016–2017

Jon Meacham
Ehud Barak
Rita Moreno
John Cleese
Martin Dempsey
Ted Koppel
Michele Norris, Jason Riley and Morris Dees

2015–2016

Leon Panetta
Sanjay Gupta
Michio Kaku
Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Diana Nyad
Mark Kelly and Gabby Giffords
Dennis Ross

2014–2015

Alan Alda
Julia Gillard
Ken Burns
Olympia Snowe
David Gergen
David McCullough
Dan Rather

2013–2014

Bill Bryson
George Papandreou
Robert Gates
Steve Wozniak
Billy Collins
Jon Huntsman, Jr.
Doris Kearns Goodwin

2012–2013

President Bill Clinton
Jeannette Walls
Lisa Ling
P.W. Singer
Erskine Bowles
Vicente Fox
Nando Parrado

2011–2012

Ron Chernow
Michelle Rhee
Valerie Plame Wilson
and Joe Wilson
Michael Pollan
Azar Nafisi
Stanley McChrystal
Tom Brokaw

2010–2011

Thomas Friedman
Elizabeth Gilbert
Ben Carson
Charles Krauthammer
F.W. de Klerk
Mark Shields
Karl Rove and Howard Dean

2009–2010

Pervez Musharraf
Jean-Michel Cousteau
Laura Bush
Robert Reich
Mia Farrow
David Brooks
Greg Mortenson

2008–2009

Steve Forbes
Paul Rusesabagina
Garrison Keillor
Joseph Ellis
Anna Quindlen
Jane Goodall
Bob Woodward

2007–2008

Robert Ballard
George Will
Christiane Amanpour
Madeleine Albright
Salman Rushdie
Frank McCourt
The Capitol Steps

2006–2007

Amy Tan
James Lovell
Colin Powell
Paul Bremer
Michael Medved
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Beck Weathers

2005–2006

Elie Wiesel
Walter Cronkite
Bill Moyers
John Major
David McCullough
Mark Russell
Christine Todd Whitman

2004–2005

Henry Kissinger
James Carville
Mary Higgins Clark
Ehud Barak
Dave Barry
Doris Kearns Goodwin
Frank Abagnale

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