Bill Clinton
Jay Leno
Loretta Lynch
Theresa May
Mikhail Gorbachev
Tom Friedman
Madeleine Albright
Colin Powell
Jane Fonda
Rick Steves
Jeb Bush
Susan Rice
Rita Moreno
Dan Rather
Bill Nye
Condoleeza Rice
Ken Burns
Newt Gingrich
St. Louis Speakers Series
Presenting the World Up Close®
Since 1998, the St. Louis Speakers Series has presented remarkable individuals who have left an indelible mark on their respective fields. Our speakers are distinguished leaders, creative visionaries and courageous change makers who will challenge your mind, enlarge your world, and make you laugh.
You can’t stay mad at somebody who makes you laugh.
I like some animals more than some people, some people more than some animals.
It’s the choices that you make and the things that you’re willing to accept and not accept that define who you are.
Science is the best idea humans have ever had. The more people who embrace that idea, the better.
There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.
If I didn’t have a front-row seat on history, it was at least a seat on the aisle.
I believe that each person is more than the worst thing they’ve ever done.
Presenting thought-provoking speakers since 1998
2023-2024
- Van Jones
- Jane Fonda
- Adam Kinzinger
- Maria Yovanovitch
- Laurie Santos
- Michael Beschloss
- Céline Cousteau
2022-2023
- Loretta Lynch
- John Brennan
- Maria Ressa
- Erik Larson
- Tom Friedman
- Scott Kelly
- Anthony Ray Hinton
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.
1998-1999
- Mikhail Gorbachev
- Jack Anderson
- George Stephanopoulos
- Alan Dershowitz
- Ralph Nader
- Doris Kearns Goodwin
- Tom Wolfe