Philadelphia Speakers Series

02/03/2026

Tonight we welcome Doris Kearns Goodwin to the stage as our first speaker in 2026!

04/22/2025

The legendary Andrew Lloyd Webber joins us on stage tonight as the final speaker of the 2024-2025 season!

03/25/2025

We are thrilled to announce the 2025-2026 Philadelphia Speakers Series lineup!

02/25/2025

Admiral James Stavridis joins us at Marian Anderson Hall at the Kimmel Center this evening. As former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, he shares his unique global perspective in this fifth lecture of the 2024-2025 season.

10/25/2024

10/22/2024

Tonight we welcome Supreme Court lawyer, professor, and author Neal Katyal as the second speaker of our 20th anniversary season!

10/17/2024

Nina Totenberg is unable to join us next week, due to medical reasons. On Monday, October, 21, we look forward to welcoming one of the nation's most distinguished appellate lawyers, constitutional scholars, and former Acting Solicitor General of the United States Neal Katyal.

Katyal has argued more than 50 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, breaking a record previously held by Thurgood Marshall. He runs one of the world’s largest Supreme Court practices at a firm where he occupies the role formerly held by Chief Justice John Roberts. Don't miss hearing this sought-after expert on our nation's highest court!

09/24/2024

Kicking off the 20th season of the Philadelphia Speakers Series with Congresswoman Liz Cheney in the sold-out Marian Anderson Hall at the Kimmel Center!

06/19/2024

Happy Juneteenth! Celebrated since 1866, this day commemorating the end of slavery in the United States was recognized as a federal holiday in 2021. Historian Annette Gordon-Reed was one of the integral voices who brought Juneteenth into the national conversation. We look forward to hearing from her as the third speaker in the 2024-2025 season.

05/03/2024

Andrew Lloyd Webber is said to be the first person from the world of the arts and culture to be made a member of the Order of the Garter – the oldest and most senior Order of Chivalry in Britain. We look forward to having Sir Lloyd Webber with us next season!

The composer said he was ‘humbled, grateful and, quite frankly, staggered’ to be made a Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter.

04/15/2024

Explorer and filmmaker Céline Cousteau joins us for the final lecture of the 2023-2024 Philadelphia Speakers Series!