![](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/24aeb283-773d-4b27-acd1-8b0da7aeb876/53825093955_e50d017af5_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&q=80&rect=703%2C0%2C3260%2C1833&w=800)
Closing Session
Setup
Part 1. Conversations We Find Hard to Have: Since exploding onto the literary scene twenty years ago, Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has brought us dazzling stories about characters seeking their places in the world—as well as pointed cultural critiques about feminism, maternal health, and racism.
Part 2. Simon Sebag Montefiore in Conversation with General David Petraeus: A Four-Star Tour of the World Join David Petraeus—four-star general, former CIA director, and commander of the coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan—on a tour of the world’s conflict hotspots. As one of the world’s leading experts on counterinsurgency warfare, no one is better placed to help us make sense of a world at war. He is in conversation with historian Dr. Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of the global histories The World: a Family History of Humanity and Jerusalem: the Biography.
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World
![Voices for Peace](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/9060cbea-f0ea-4983-ae0b-7f4cdd4923a8/GettyImages-110925335.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&q=80&rect=1045%2C0%2C3744%2C3744&w=400)
Three people whose lives have been irrevocably changed by the Israel-Palestine conflict share their stories of profound loss, grief and forgiveness.
![How the Arts Shape Society](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/87c1100b-28f7-45df-90ba-ae77dbefbb64/53823145973_58172f563d_o1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=267&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C5976%2C3984&w=400)
The arts are not just forms of expression, but powerful forces that shape culture and the human experience, both reflecting and influencing our world. Join renowned artists, w...
![Gettyimages 1560590937](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/61060d95-cdf4-4b73-96ef-4832c7f04fb8/GettyImages-1560590937.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&mono=7d247d&q=80&rect=1445%2C0%2C4115%2C4113&w=400)
![Gettyimages 1560590937](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/61060d95-cdf4-4b73-96ef-4832c7f04fb8/GettyImages-1560590937.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&q=80&rect=1445%2C0%2C4115%2C4113&w=400)
Sizable electorates around the world are flocking to populist candidates who promise power, domination and a return to better times. The global experiment in liberalism seems...
![Gettyimages 1488043800](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/4f1048e8-0b45-4e5c-ab68-b59fdc805164/GettyImages-1488043800.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&mono=4b7780&q=80&rect=2240%2C0%2C4480%2C4480&w=400)
![Gettyimages 1488043800](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/4f1048e8-0b45-4e5c-ab68-b59fdc805164/GettyImages-1488043800.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&q=80&rect=2240%2C0%2C4480%2C4480&w=400)
Conflict and suffering can bring out the worst in people, but it can also bring out the best. This is one of the lessons New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof has learned...
![Global Affairs](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/44bccdbd-af20-4238-accc-18fd46aba397/GettyImages-959876146.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=267&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C4245%2C2832&w=400)
The war in Ukraine continues to reshape European security and global alliances, while the war in Gaza raises urgent questions about humanitarian aid and international interven...
![Gettyimages 110925335](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/9060cbea-f0ea-4983-ae0b-7f4cdd4923a8/GettyImages-110925335.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&mono=ab287a&q=80&rect=435%2C0%2C3744%2C3744&w=400)
![Gettyimages 110925335](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/9060cbea-f0ea-4983-ae0b-7f4cdd4923a8/GettyImages-110925335.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&q=80&rect=435%2C0%2C3744%2C3744&w=400)
The grim stream of news from the Middle East has been making it more and more difficult to hold onto hope for peace. When and how will the conflict in Gaza end? And could war...
![Chasing Hope](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/2f55539f-2197-464f-8b26-2929b02cf707/53824051485_57d377543e_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C300%2C5802%2C3264&w=400)
As one of the foremost reporters of his generation, Nicholas Kristof has been witness to century-defining events and atrocities around the world. How has he managed to weaponi...
![The Secret of Making Hits](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/008361bf-2540-4a00-8e1f-69739f370ce8/53822660989_e5265f0505_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=1%2C307%2C5880%2C3308&w=400)
Amid seismic shifts in the entertainment world, Oscar-, Golden Globe- and Emmy-winning Brian Grazer has managed to keep pivoting to new ways to tell stories in movies, TV and...
![Guerrilla Creativity](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/24e08eb1-8bb0-4970-9930-a617d58c5f32/53821275967_e65a66da2d_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=600&q=80&rect=370%2C0%2C2301%2C3460&w=400)
In the last 30 years, conglomerates from Amazon to Netflix to Spotify have changed the way we interact with media, books, fashion and music. Creatives are struggling to mainta...
![The African Century](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/bdb124db-886c-4221-854e-1e6893bfb3be/53824085325_aa02dd6d1f_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C1453%2C3100%2C1744&w=400)
Africa is a rising giant. By 2050, one in four people on the planet will be African, and by 2060, Africa will have the largest labor force in the world. A former Nigerian pres...
![Vagabond of Song](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/7eea29da-ea74-4516-b211-776d628c7f8a/53821145355_6b0d6d5891_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C311%2C5975%2C3361&w=400)
Hurray for the Riff Raff is more than Alynda Segarra’s musical moniker; they spent their youth hopping trains across America, capturing that life in youthful poetry then and a...
![What Images Teach About Racial Justice](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/b952ab2d-c640-4a57-8279-6c7d03238fb9/53820187272_5aeee651ba_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C242%2C4650%2C2616&w=400)
Images communicate truths, and also lies. Learning to pay attention to photographs can help us discern. An art and cultural historian and a visual artist host a master class o...
![Creativity in Confinement](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/5817dd14-bfd6-49b1-b658-02ccfd2bfa4d/common.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=600&q=80&rect=2293%2C0%2C3669%2C5503&w=400)
When people in prison are given creative outlets, the impact is life-changing. Hear from a hip-hop artist setting up prison recording studios, an architect designing more huma...
![Putin's Dark Ambitions](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/481f31c4-6bd2-406a-8490-b3d6e1256186/53821056506_5ddc4af828_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C483%2C4651%2C2618&w=400)
With the war in Ukraine in its third year, Putin shows no sign of tempering his military ambitions. Though global pressure on Russian investment has so far failed to crush the...
![The Power of Place: Youth Opportunity in Latin America, India and Africa](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/84fd7a2d-7412-47b0-a1e1-54beeb6835a3/53821058621_a78c29e4cc_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C4651%2C2618&w=400)
Of the 1.2 billion youth aged 15 to 24 worldwide in 2019, close to half were out of school, out of work or underemployed, and this number will continue to grow. Listen as glob...
![World On Fire: The Root Causes of Populism, Authoritarianism and The Whole Global Mess](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/4700f9bb-c301-465b-8b69-e45f7b40c4c4/53821548735_330bf43d6d_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C242%2C4650%2C2616&w=400)
Right-wing populism is surging worldwide, in places as diverse as India, the Netherlands, Argentina, France and the United States. What are the cultural and social forces driv...
![Facing Down Mexico’s Drug Cartels](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/fd17863f-b861-4c43-8d5b-73b66fa4095e/53820181357_d26db50e0c_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=600&q=80&rect=1292%2C0%2C2067%2C3100&w=400)
Hear from Mexican investigative journalist Anabel Hernández, who risks her life to investigate drug cartels and the people in power who protect them, and former assistant U.S....
![Julia Louis-Dreyfus Talks Easy with Sam Fragoso](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/1c8e8da8-5413-4723-a7ab-21a749e85606/53820905095_26da4c7347_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C430%2C8256%2C4644&w=400)
Whether as Elaine Benes from “Seinfeld” or Selina Meyer from “Veep,” Julia Louis-Dreyfus delivers laughter. But in the upcoming film “Tuesday,” she communicates with death — i...
![The Future of the Middle East: Diplomatic Perspectives](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/04671f8b-e95f-49fb-bce0-0f574c76da19/53817839011_cb9537b309_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C5887%2C3313&w=400)
The October 7 attack by Hamas and the devastating nine-month war in Gaza have shattered hopes for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and reduced the likelihood of expa...
![The Future of the Middle East: A Leader Reflects](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/0c13e8ec-4a83-4eda-a2ea-09918fd9b959/53818040274_b065f2a48f_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C312%2C6000%2C3375&w=400)
The October 7 attack by Hamas and the devastating nine-month war in Gaza have shattered hopes for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and reduced the likelihood of expa...