Paula Kerger is president and chief executive officer of PBS, the nation’s largest non-commercial media organization representing more than 330 member stations throughout the country. She also serves as president of the PBS Foundation, which provides a significant source of revenue for projects that benefit the entire public television system. Kerger joins Chautauqua’s series on “Charting a New Media Landscape” to share thoughts on the state of public media in the United States nationally, regionally and locally.

As the longest serving president and CEO in PBS history, Kerger has led the transformation of PBS from a broadcaster to a multiplatform digital media organization which delivers on public television’s essential mission of education, inspiration and service to the American public. Under her leadership, PBS has grown its audiences across genres and platforms. Kerger has also deepened PBS’ impact, from providing universal access to early learning resources through the PBS KIDS broadcast and streaming channels, to empowering educators with digital resources through PBS LearningMedia. Programs on PBS are consistently recognized with the industry’s most prestigious honors, including Peabody, Emmy and Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University awards.

Kerger is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Women’s Forum. Prior to joining PBS, Kerger served for more than a decade at the Educational Broadcasting Corporation (EBC), the parent company of Thirteen/WNET and WLIW21 New York, where her ultimate position was executive vice president and chief operating officer. Kerger received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Baltimore. She has received numerous honorary doctorates. At the University of North Carolina Asheville, she received the Chancellor’s Medallion and at the Darden School at the University of Virginia, she served as a DC Fellow.

This program is made possible by the generous support of The Eleanor Fund Lectureship Endowment and The Susie Leibowitz Kuhn Endowment Fund for Chautauqua.

World-renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Scott Hamilton Kennedy have twice joined forces to confront the twin crises of misinformation and science denial. Their documentaries — “Food Evolution,” which resets the GMO debate, and “Shot in the Arm,” begun in 2019 as measles resurged and transformed by COVID-19 — show how narrative can rescue facts from the fog of controversy and rekindle public trust in science. The pair will close the Chautauqua Lecture Series week dedicated to “Breaking the News: Charting a New Media Landscape” with a conversation on trust and media literacy, with lessons and tips on how to be a good consumer of information and news.

Neil deGrasse Tyson is an astrophysicist and the director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History, where he has served since 1996. Collaborating with Scott Hamilton Kennedy of Black Valley Films, Tyson is the executive producer of “Shot in the Arm” and narrator of “Food Evolution.”

He is the author of 19 books, including the New York Times bestsellers Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization and Astrophysics for People in a Hurry. His latest work, Just Visiting This Planet, was released in October 2025.

Tyson is the two-time host of the beloved TV series “Cosmos” — rebooting the original 1980 series hosted by Carl Sagan. He is also the host and cofounder of the popular Emmy-nominated podcast “StarTalk,” which combines science, humor, and pop culture. 2026 marks the 17th anniversary of “StarTalk.”

Tyson is a recipient of 28 honorary degrees, the Public Welfare Medal from the National Academy of Sciences, and the Distinguished Public Service Medal from NASA. Asteroid 13123 Tyson is named in his honor. He lives in New York City.

Scott Hamilton Kennedy is an Academy Award–nominated filmmaker, director, journalist and educator. He founded the production company, Black Valley Films. In addition to “Shot in the Arm” and “Food Evolution,” Kennedy’s other work includes the Oscar-nominated documentary “The Garden,” the Independent Spirit–nominated “OT: Our Town” and the fan-favorite “Fame High.”

With “Food Evolution” and “Shot in the Arm,” Kennedy focused on the collision between scientific evidence and public perception, beginning his collaboration with Tyson. “Food Evolution” mapped the early contours of science denialism around food, while “Shot in the Arm” captured vaccine hesitancy and the social fractures revealed by COVID-19. Together, the films anticipated the rise of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement. The filmmaker Kennedy’s work continues this trajectory with “Toxic,” investigating the machinery of disinformation, and “A More Perfect Union,” a civic-literacy initiative designed to help audiences navigate the information ecosystem and rebuild trust. Kennedy approaches all his work with the belief that storytelling is a public service—one of humanity’s most powerful tools for understanding and repairing the world.

This program is made possible by the generous support of The Selina and Walter Braham Lectureship and The David and Joan Lincoln Family Fund for Applied Ethics.