If You're Going to FreedomFest, Make Sure To Catch All the Reason Panels
The world's largest gathering of libertarians is about to start in Vegas. Here's your essential guide to all things Reason.
FreedomFest, the world's largest annual gathering of libertarians, gets started tomorrow in Las Vegas. (It's not too late to attend!)
The keynote speakers include William Shatner, Greg Gutfeld, and John Stossel (who will also be debuting his first "Stossel on Reason" documentary during the four-day event). There are panels and presentations galore on virtually every aspect of libertarian thought, policy, and philosophy—go here to leaf through the event's agenda.
On Saturday, July 22, there will be a special "Reason Day" slate of events, starting with a panel featuring Matt Welch, Katherine Mangu-Ward, and me called "To Boldly Go…Reason and the Glorious Libertarian Future." We'll suss out the direction we want to see the future head in and will underscore the policies and mindsets that can make that possible. Other Reason Day panels include "Liberty on Mars (and Other Planets)," featuring Mangu-Ward, Justin Monticello, and Berin Szoka; "Liberating the Human Body," with Welch, Ron Bailey, Zoltan Istvan, and Mike Riggs; and "Is Spock Libertarian?: The Politics of Science Fiction," featuring me, Mangu-Ward, Peter Suderman, and David Brin.
Beyond that, Matt Welch will join John Stossel to talk about being a libertarian journalist, Katherine Mangu-Ward will participate in the vaunted "final panel" of the conference, and I'll interview Greg Gutfeld and participate in a debate on Donald Trump's presidency so far. Nearly a dozen Reason staff will be roaming the halls, reporting on goings-on, taping interviews, documenting "The Humans of FreedomFest," and more.
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of FreedomFest, the organizers also put together an online poll of over 10,000 people to name the "100 Most Influential Libertarians." Among the honorees were many Reason folks: John Stossel (4), whose online video series "Stossel on Reason" debuts this Thursday; David Koch (6), longtime trustee of Reason Foundation, the nonprofit that publishes this website; Drew Carey (17), the Price Is Right host, Reason Foundation trustee, and force behind the award-winning documentary Reason Saves Cleveland; Robert W. Poole, Jr. (19), one of the founding editors of Reason magazine and founder of Reason Foundation; myself (22); and Matt Welch (24), Reason editor-at-large, author of McCain: Myth of the Maverick and co-author of The Declaration of Independents. Add to that another half-dozen or so Reason columnists, former staffers, contributing editors, and it's practically like reading our masthead. Many of the people on the list will be on site for a special celebration on Friday, July 21.
FreedomFest is a great institution, a libertarian Woodstock that happens every year! If you're attending, make sure to check out all the Reason Day panels while you're there. And the Reason booth in the exhibition hall. And everything else this amazing conference has to offer.
Last year at FreedomFest, we sat with Gary Johnson and William Weld to talk about the 2016 election. Check it out: