Aspen Ideas Festival 2025: Fareed Zakaria to Shape Discussions as Guest Curator
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
The Aspen Ideas Festival has unveiled its themes for 2025 and announced Fareed Zakaria, a globally renowned journalist and expert on geopolitics, as its guest curator, according to a press release.
The festival, running from June 25 to July 1, 2025, will explore transformative ideas to foster understanding and address global challenges.
Zakaria’s expertise in international relations and his ability to distill complex issues align with the festival’s mission of convening diverse voices to spark bold conversations, according to the press release. His role as guest curator underscores the festival’s commitment to thought-provoking discussions that resonate on a global scale.
The festival, celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Aspen Institute, will unfold on the Institute’s iconic Bauhaus-designed campus in Aspen.
It kicks off with Aspen Ideas: Health from June 22–25, followed by two programming segments — Aspen Ideas Festival 1 from June 25–28 and Aspen Ideas Festival 2 from June 28–July 1.
Early registration discounts of $1,000 are available through Dec. 31, and media members are encouraged to apply for press credentials.
Key Themes for 2025
The festival’s discussions will be organized around seven tracks, each addressing pressing topics of today and tomorrow:
• Breakthroughs: From artificial intelligence to genomics and space exploration, this track highlights innovations reshaping the boundaries between humanity and technology. How do these advancements challenge our imagination and expand what’s possible?
• Design of the Times: Exploring how design, informed by history and fueled by innovation, transforms how we live and shapes the future.
• Prosperity Reimagined: Delving into new ideas for economic and moral flourishing in a rapidly changing world, this track examines what true prosperity looks like in the 21st century.
• The Good Life: An exploration of purpose and meaning, focusing on navigating life’s uncertainties and joys while fostering personal fulfillment and societal well-being.
• The Just Society: Inspired by Aristotle’s vision of justice as the cornerstone of political order, this theme examines how institutions can sustain fairness in society and whether new structures are needed.
• The Global Contract: Revisiting the vision of global cooperation championed by the founders of the Aspen Institute, this track asks what a renewed commitment to international collaboration looks like today.
• Planet in Transition: Addressing the challenges of climate change and environmental transformation, this track focuses on solutions that protect the planet while ensuring equitable access to clean energy.
For more information or to purchase passes, visit Aspen Ideas Festival.
Two vie for Pitkin County Airport Advisory Board appointments
Robert Rubey is an Aspen resident with a background in finance, aviation, and community advocacy. Evan Marks is also an Aspen resident with a similar background in finance. Both are currently being considered for the Pitkin County Airport Advisory Board.
