Only at Chautauqua does an audience engage in critical conversations on the matters that shape our world in 45 installments across nine weeks. I’m of course talking about our signature Chautauqua Lecture Series, “the 10:45” in the Amphitheater, which I have had the honor and privilege to steward for four cycles now. There is truly no other place — no speakers series, no conference or seminar, no elite mountaintop gathering — that even approaches the breadth and depth of the work we do together each summer. Thank you for your engagement each weekday morning, and for continuing the conversations over lunch and on porches through the rest of the day — and for taking the words and lessons you hear from our lecturers and putting them into action in your lives and home communities. That’s where the rubber meets the road in terms of Chautauqua’s true impact.  

In 2026, wow, do we have an embarrassment of riches, and some truly OAC opportunities across our nine weeks:  

1. Renowned journalists Norah O’Donnell and Deborah Roberts will launch our 2026 season and our week on “Women Who Change the World” on June 29, in a Chautauqua-exclusive conversation on their new books celebrating women.  

2. Joanna Stern, the rockstar former Wall Street Journal tech columnist turned media mogul, will join us on July 6 to open our week on “Charting a New Media Landscape” with remarks based on her just-released book on AI, I Am Not a Robot. (Joanna is also herself a Chautauquan!)  

3. We’re proud once again to partner with the highly regarded think tanks American Enterprise Institute and Brookings Institution for a full week of conversations, July 13–17, on the issues shaping America’s upcoming midterm elections.  

4. Mark Wenzler and the Chautauqua Climate Change Initiative joined in the planning for the week on “Our Era Disposability,” July 20–24, and we can’t be happier to host luminaries such as Katharine K. Wilkinson (July 23) and Rainn Wilson (July 24).  

5. You’ve already heard from Deborah about some OAC cross-platform collaborations in our week celebrating artists, July 27–31 — and don’t miss best-selling author Fredrik Backman on July 31!  

6. What to say about our “America at 250” week? You already know about Ken Burns, Aug. 3 and 4. I should note and celebrate that our co-curator for this week has been Jeffrey Rosen, CEO emeritus of the National Constitution Center, and our 2025–26 Chautauqua Perry Fellow in Democracy — he is endlessly enthusiastic about Chautauqua and has been a critical partner.  

7. Amna Nawaz, also now a dear friend of Chautauqua, will convene a timely conversation on Iran during our week on “Global Power,” Aug. 11, with British Iranian actress Nazanin Boniadi and Karim Sadjadpour of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Stay tuned for more opportunities to engage with Amna in the very near future!  

8. You may remember “Food Week” from a few years back — in 2026 we are blessed with Food Weeks, plural! See the full plan for our 2026 Food Festival here. The lecture component features conversations on “The Future of Food,” and we’re honored to host “Next Level Chef” co-host Nyesha Arrington for a residency centered around her Aug. 18 appearance on the Amp stage.  

9. We close our time together by celebrating togetherness, exploring “The Importance of Gathering,” Aug. 24–28. Join us for a rich and meaningful week that we’ve been proud to plan in collaboration with the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, including the Chautauqua debut of renowned historian Henry Louis Gates Jr. (Aug. 26).   

In just a matter of weeks, we will actively demonstrate and feel the importance of gathering, as we sit shoulder-to-shoulder on the Amp benches to take part in these timely and critical conversations. All our lecturers leave Chautauqua raving about all of you — thank you for your engagement.  

  

Jordan Steves  
Emily and Richard Smucker Chair for Education