The Atlantic Festival announces interview with Colin Kaepernick and exclusive preview of Netflix’s <em>East of Eden,</em> with Florence Pugh, Zoe Kazan, and Bela Bajaria
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- The Atlantic Festival runs September 17-19, 2026, in New York City for its second year, with events at the Perelman Performing Arts Center and venues including the Tenement Museum and Roxy Cinema.
- Colin Kaepernick will be interviewed by contributing writer Jemele Hill about his forthcoming memoir, "The Perilous Fight."
- Netflix's "East of Eden" limited series — adapted and executive produced by Zoe Kazan and starring Florence Pugh — gets an exclusive first-look screening, followed by a conversation with Kazan, Pugh, and Netflix chief content officer Bela Bajaria, moderated by staff writer Shirley Li.
- Senator Mark Kelly will appear in conversation with staff writer Mark Leibovich, who recently profiled the senator for the magazine, alongside other newly announced speakers including Padma Lakshmi, New York Times executive editor Joe Kahn, former Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Malcolm Gladwell, and filmmaker Richard Linklater.
- The festival's opening-night program "A Soundtrack of a Nation" at Zuccotti Theater is a collaboration with Juilliard, featuring composer Nicholas Britell, tap dancer Michelle Dorrance, and bass-baritone Davóne Tines.
- "Crime and Punishment," a forthcoming PBS documentary series directed by Lynn Novick and executive produced by Ken Burns and Sam Pollard exploring 250 years of the U.S. criminal legal system, will screen at Roxy Cinema with a discussion featuring Novick and poet Reginald Dwayne Betts.
Why it matters: The festival's second NYC edition pairs Netflix's unreleased prestige adaptation with high-profile interviews (Kaepernick) and established filmmakers like Ken Burns, positioning Atlantic as both a screening destination and interview stage. The 30% subscriber discount on passes and select programming ties festival revenue directly to existing readership, turning the magazine's subscription base into its live-event funnel.
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