In 2019 the Chicago Humanities Festival turned 30! To celebrate we explored power in its many forms.

The 2010's were defined by a queasy ambivalence toward power, marked as they were by conflicting realities: an unprecedented level of human potential in science, technology and the arts, combined with an overall feeling of powerlessness, particularly in the face of inexorable forces such as global warming, economic turmoil and a return to authoritarian regimes around the world.

To ground ourselves amidst these contradictory crosscurrents, CHF revisited some of America’s foundational moments, from the American constitution in the era of Reconstruction, to the incredible life and times of abolitionist Frederick Douglass. We considered the legacy of Chernobyl for nuclear power and the future of the universe through the lens of quantum physics. We examined the power of journalism, from reigniting the #MeToo movement to exposing the corruption of drug cartels and the still simmering “Troubles” in Northern Ireland.

We also ascended the ultimate throne with George R. R. Martin, celebrated the beauty of “advanced style” with Ari Seth Cohen, and found meaning and laughter in the face of death with Mo Rocca. Finally, we learned what we mere mortals can do to transform the world, whether eating our way out of climate change with Jonathan Safran Foer, becoming anti-racist with Ibram Kendi, or, in harmony with the Black Monument Ensemble, lifting our voices in protest to the powers that be.