T-Squared: Tickets for The Texas Tribune Festival are on sale now

I couldn’t be more excited to tell you that tickets for the 2022 Texas Tribune Festival are on sale now! We can’t wait to be with you in downtown Austin from Sept. 22-24.

Yep, we’re back in person again, with big plans for amazing one-on-one interviews and ambitious panel discussions on the political and policy challenges of the day, as well as the headline-making issues that affect us all, before enthusiastic, engaged audiences.

We’ll look back at the 2021 legislative session and preview the 2023 session, and we’ll game out what’s likely to happen on Election Day this year. We’ll dive deep into public and higher education, health care, the economy, immigration and the border, transportation, energy, climate and more. We’ll talk priorities for Texas cities, suburbs and rural communities. We’ll focus on national and international doings as well. Of course, we’ll train our sights on the state of media and tech.

We’re anticipating at least 100 sessions across the three days and upwards of 300 marquee speakers from across the state and around the country — as we like to say, names you know and names you should.

Today, we’re revealing the first 30 of our distinguished participants: Greg Casar, Democratic candidate for Congress in District 35; Julián Castro, former U.S. secretary of housing and urban development; Jane Coaston, host of the New York Times podcast “The Argument”; Robert Costa, chief election and campaign correspondent for CBS News; U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso; U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston; Antonio Garza, former U.S. ambassador to Mexico; U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio; Annette Gordon-Reed, Carl M. Loeb University Professor at Harvard University; Errin Haines, editor-at-large at The 19th; Nathan Hecht, chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court; Glenn Hegar, the Texas comptroller of public accounts; Wesley Hunt, Republican candidate for Congress in District 38; Eric Johnson, mayor of Dallas; Alexi McCammond, political reporter at Axios; Tim Miller, writer-at-large at The Bulwark; Mike Morath, Texas commissioner of education; Melissa Murray, professor at New York University School of Law; Vivek Murthy, surgeon general of the United States; Amna Nawaz, chief correspondent for PBS NewsHour; Kim Ogg, district attorney of Harris County; Ashley Parker, White House bureau chief for The Washington Post; Mattie Parker, mayor of Fort Worth; Dade Phelan, speaker of the Texas House; Cecile Richards, former president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America; Jessica Rosenworcel, chair of the Federal Communications Commission; Karl Rove, former White House deputy chief of staff; U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Austin; Margaret Spellings, former U.S. secretary of education; and Kara Swisher, host of the New York Times podcast “Sway.”

This is only the beginning. We’ll be dropping a new batch of speakers every couple of weeks, leading up to the release of our full program in August.

We’re also announcing the return of two popular annual events adjacent to the Tribune Festival. This year’s Franklin Barbecue kickoff is Wednesday, Sept. 21, and features a conversation with Maggie Haberman of The New York Times, whose forthcoming book, “Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America,” is sure to be a must-read. TribFeast, our fundraising dinner to support nonprofit journalism, is Friday, Sept. 23, and we’re overjoyed to be joined by legendary investigative reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein only a few months after the 50th anniversary of the Watergate break-in.

Get your #TribFest22 tickets before prices go up at the end of this month. As always, we have discounts for students, educators and Tribune members (if you’re not already one, you can become one today and access the member price). Proceeds benefit our nonprofit news organization, funding the great work of our colleagues year-round. See you in September!

Disclosure: Planned Parenthood, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts and New York Times have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.