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 — SkimNews
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- The Atlantic Festival returns to NYC for its second year, running September 17–19, 2026, at the Perelman Performing Arts Center and venues including the Tenement Museum, Brooklyn Public Library, and Roxy Cinema.
- Colin Kaepernick will be interviewed by contributing writer Jemele Hill about his forthcoming memoir, The Perilous Fight.
- Netflix will screen an exclusive first look at its limited series East of Eden — adapted and executive produced by Zoe Kazan, starring Florence Pugh — followed by a conversation with Kazan, Pugh, and Netflix CCO Bela Bajaria, moderated by staff writer Shirley Li.
- New speakers added to the lineup include Senator Mark Kelly, Padma Lakshmi, New York Times executive editor Joe Kahn, former Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, actor-filmmaker Ben McKenzie, Malcolm Gladwell, and filmmaker Richard Linklater.
- The festival's opening-night program, 'A Soundtrack of a Nation,' is a Juilliard collaboration at Zuccotti Theater featuring composer Nicholas Britell, tap choreographer Michelle Dorrance, and bass-baritone Davóne Tines.
- Saturday screenings at Roxy Cinema include an exclusive look at the forthcoming PBS documentary Crime and Punishment (directed by Lynn Novick, executive produced by Ken Burns and Sam Pollard) and Playing POTUS, a documentary on presidential parody directed by Josh Greenbaum.
- The 2026 festival is underwritten by Genentech at the Presenting Level, with Boston Scientific, Contentful, Edward Jones, and TIAA as Supporting sponsors.
Why it matters: The festival pairs Netflix's prestige Steinbeck adaptation with a Kaepernick memoir sit-down, giving Netflix a captive press moment ahead of the limited series' release while positioning The Atlantic as both a political-conversation and entertainment-exclusives destination for its subscriber-discounted ticket base.
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