By William Chandler, 4/8/2016 at 3:55 p.m.
WILLIAM SHATNER, CHRIS CARTER, SYFY’S 12 MONKEYS
HEADLINE SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE’S THE FUTURE IS HERE FESTIVAL™
Fanboy Favorites From Star Trek, The X-Files & Syfy Hit Series Own the Friday Night Spotlight
During Fourth Annual Event Coming April 22-24 in Washington D.C.
Weekend Panels Feature “Deadpool” Director Tim Miller, “The Martian” Author Andy Weir
Washington, D.C. — April 8, 2016 – Fanboy favorites from Star Trek star William Shatner and The X-Files creator Chris Carter to Syfy’s hit series 12 Monkeys and Deadpool director Tim Miller are squarely in the spotlight for Smithsonian magazine’s fourth annual The Future Is Here Festival™, a three-day event highlighting the most advanced thinking in science, technology, space, art and engineering from a dazzling array of experts, visionaries and noted science-lovers.
The Festival kicks off on Friday, April 22nd at the Shakespeare Theatre’s Sidney Harman Hall with an exclusive ticketed evening event featuring Shatner, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Star Trek; a conversation with Carter, fresh off the triumphant return of The X-Files to television; and an exclusive glimpse into the thrilling second season of Syfy’s hit series 12 Monkeys (premieres April 18) with special advance footage presented by stars Aaron Stanford and Amanda Schull and executive producer Terry Matalas.
USA TODAY entertainment writer Brian Truitt will conduct the conversation with Carter, and renowned astronomer/author Phil Plait will moderate the 12 Monkeys panel.
Tickets for this exclusive Friday night event can be purchased at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/smithsonian-magazines-2016-the-future-is-here-festivaltm-registration-21495104436.
Programming for Saturday and Sunday includes appearances by Deadpool director Tim Miller, The Martian author Andy Weir, explorers Céline & Alexandra Cousteau, noted science fiction author Bruce Sterling, leading NASA scientists and a profound list of visionary speakers and presenters, offering the audience an eye-opening look into the future. Among the entertaining events on the weekend slate is an electrifying concert by Tesla Coils band Arc Attack, and a performance of mind-bending techno tricks by Marco Tempest, the world’s leading cyber illusionist.
The Future Is Here Festival™ convenes the world’s leading experts in science and technology, including:
- Vint Cerf – Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist for Google, one of the “fathers of the internet”
- Alexandra Cousteau – Explorer, storyteller, environmental advocate
- Céline S. Cousteau – Explorer, Founder & Executive Director, CauseCentric Productions
- Frans de Waal – Professor of Primate Behavior at Emory University & Author, Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?
- Anthony Fauci – America’s point man on epidemics, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Health
- Kirk Johnson – Director of the National Museum of Natural History
- Nicholas Negroponte – Co-founder of the MIT Media Lab, Founder of One Laptop Per Child Project
- Rebecca Newberger Goldstein – Philosopher & Author, Plato at the Googleplex: Why Philosophy Won’t Go Away
- Dava Newman –Deputy Administrator of NASA
- Fiona Raby, Professor of Design and Emerging Technology at Parsons
- Martine Rothblatt – Transhumanist and Founder of Sirius Radio, Geostar and United Therapeutics
- Sara Seager – Planetary Scientist and Astrophysicist
- Seth Shostak – Director of Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI)
- Adam Steltzner – NASA Engineer/Mars Rover, Author, The Right Kind of Crazy
- Bruce Sterling – Science Fiction Author
- Marco Tempest — Cyber Illusionist
- Andy Weir – Author of The Martian (via Skype)
Additional speakers/programming will be announced as confirmed.
The Future Is Here Festival™, an exciting and mind-expanding live event taking place April 22-24 in Washington, D.C., is accompanied by Smithsonian’s May “Future” issue, which hits newsstands April 26th, bringing the excitement of The Future Is Here Festival™ to 6.8 million readers and 5 million digital viewers across the country and around the world.
The Festival’s returning presenting sponsor is Lockheed Martin Corporation, and this year’s automotive sponsor is Toyota Prius. The Festival is presented with participation from NASA. The “Think Big” series is supported by the John Templeton Foundation. Media partners include Air & Space Smithsonian magazine, The Washington Post and the leading technology and science fiction websites Gizmodo and io9.
