Past Speakers

The St. Louis Speakers Series presents some of the world’s most celebrated and influential personalities of our time, a virtual Who’s Who of National and global figures - heads of state, political leaders, newsmakers, innovators and cultural icons, each sharing their unique experiences and perspectives as they challenge your mind, enlarge your world and make you laugh. These are our past speakers:

2021-2022

John Bolton
Platon
Walter Isaacson
Mara Liasson
Jamie Metzl
Theresa May
Bill Nye

2019–2020

John Kerry
Zanny Minton Beddoes
Bob Woodward
Douglas Brinkley
Peter Diamandis
Susan Rice
Jason Alexander

2018–2019

James Comey
Lisa Genova
Gloria Steinem
Jeb Bush
Bryan Stevenson
Ian Bremmer
Jay Leno

2017–2018

David Cameron
Jeffrey Toobin
Jane Pauley
Robin Wright
Rick Steves
President Bill Clinton
Paul Nicklen

2016–2017

Ehud Barak
Rita Moreno
John Cleese
Martin Dempsey
Ted Koppel
Jon Meacham
Goldie Taylor, Jason Riley and Morris Dees

2015–2016

John Irving
Sanjay Gupta
Diana Nyad
Dennis Ross
Mark Kelly and
Gabby Giffords
Leon Panetta
Dave Barry

2014–2015

Martin Sheen
Julia Gillard
Mark Halperin and
John Heilemann
Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Robert Mueller
David McCullough
Michio Kaku

2013–2014

George Papandreou
Bill Bryson
Robert Gates
Steve Wozniak
Olympia Snowe
Dan Rather
Doris Kearns Goodwin

2012–2013

Condoleezza Rice
Jeannette Walls
Jon Huntsman, Jr.
P.W. Singer
Erskine Bowles
Vicente Fox
Nando Parrado

2011–2012

Joseph Ellis
Michelle Rhee
Valerie Plame Wilson and Joe Wilson
Michael Pollan
Azar Nafisi
Stanley McChrystal
Tom Brokaw

2010–2011

Fareed Zakaria
Elizabeth Gilbert
Ben Carson
Lisa Ling
George Will
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Karl Rove and Howard Dean

2009–2010

Pervez Musharraf
Jean-Michel Cousteau
Laura Bush
Robert Reich
Mia Farrow
Thomas Friedman
Greg Mortenson

2008–2009

Alan Alda
Paul Rusesabagina
Arianna Huffington
George Mitchell
David Brooks
Jane Goodall
David McCullough

2007–2008

Steve Forbes
Peter Hillary
Christiane Amanpour
Madeleine Albright
Salman Rushdie
Frank McCourt
The Capitol Steps

2006–2007

Joy Behar
Aron Ralston
Colin Powell
Paul Bremer
Michael Medved
Ron Chernow
Ari Fleischer

2005–2006

Bob Costas
Robert Redford
Mark Russell
John Major
Robert Ballard
Bill Moyers
Christine Todd Whitman

2004–2005

Tim Russert
James Carville
Mary Higgins Clark
Ehud Barak
James Lovell
Doris Kearns Goodwin
Dave Barry

2003–2004

Rudy Giuliani
Elie Wiesel
Amy Tan
Frank Abagnale
Bob Woodward
David Gergen
Garrison Keillor

2002–2003

Benjamin Netanyahu
Jeff Greenfield
Ken Burns
Terry Gross
Benazir Bhutto
Bruce Babbitt
Hugh Shelton

2001–2002

Erin Brockovich
Walter Cronkite
Henry Kissinger
Stephen Ambrose
Anna Quindlen
Carl Reiner
Richard Holbrooke

2000–2001

Mark Shields
Margaret Thatcher
Beverly Sills
Frank McCourt
Mike Wallace
Mario Cuomo
Beck Weathers

1999–2000

George Will
Maya Angelou
Colin Powell
Cokie Roberts
F.W. de Klerk
David McCullough
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Presented by

Sponsored by