T-Squared: Here’s a look at the latest batch of confirmed TribFest speakers

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The 2023 Texas Tribune Festival is less than three months away, but to date we’ve announced only 70 speakers out of an expected 300. As usual, they’re top shelf: U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz; former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords; Republican presidential candidate Will Hurd; former U.S. Ambassador to NATO Kay Bailey Hutchison; former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro; civil rights activist Dolores Huerta; author and educator Chasten Buttigieg; U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul; Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar; Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker; journalists Kara Swisher, Jake Tapper, Amna Nawaz and Errin Haines; and many more.

This week, we’re excited to welcome another 50 great speakers to our program. They include: Durham County, North Carolina, Commissioner Nida Allam; U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, a 2024 U.S. Senate candidate; New York Times reporter Katie Benner; Los Angeles Times reporter Keri Blakinger; historian and author Douglas Brinkley; University of Pennsylvania professor Anthea Butler; state Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg; author and University of Arizona professor Jennifer Carlson; U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio; Robert Costa, chief election and campaign correspondent, CBS News; U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo; Jennifer Easterly, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; biographer and journalist Jonathan Eig; Frank Figliuzzi, retired assistant director of the FBI; New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella; and state Rep. James Frank, R-Wichita Falls.

Also part of our announcement: New York Times columnist David French; state Rep. Ryan Guillen, R-Rio Grande City; Melissa Ho, senior vice president for freshwater and food at the World Wildlife Fund; New Jersey State Rep. Sadaf Jaffer; writer and podcaster Molly Jong-Fast; Juliette Kayyem, former assistant secretary for intergovernmental affairs at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; Bill Kristol, editor-at-large at The Bulwark; White House Infrastructure Coordinator and former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu; University of Michigan Law School professor Leah Litman; Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo; philanthropist and social entrepreneur Daniel Lubetzky; Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas; former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade; state Rep. Eddie Morales, D-Eagle Pass; U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Connecticut; New York University Law School professor Melissa Murray; San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg; Olivia Nuzzi, Washington correspondent for New York Magazine; Jennifer Palmieri, co-host of Showtime’s “The Circus”; state Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock; Austin City Council member Zo Qadri; Alissa Quart, author and executive director of the Economic Hardship Reporting Project; and Tarrant County Commissioner Manny Ramirez.

Rounding out this stellar list: Asha Rangappa, senior lecturer at Yale University’s Jackson School of Global Affairs; Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum; Jigar Shah, director of the Loan Programs Office at the U.S. Department of Energy; Kate Shaw, professor and co-director of the Floersheimer Center for Constitutional Democracy at Cardozo School of Law; Paul Quinn College President Michael Sorrell; Rebecca Traister, writer-at-large for New York Magazine; author and psychologist Mary Trump; Austin Mayor Kirk Watson; Bari Weiss, founder and editor of The Free Press; author and “CBS Sunday Morning” contributor Mark Whitaker; and author and former Watergate prosecutor Jill Wine-Banks.

Here’s your reminder that The Texas Tribune Festival is Sept. 21-23 in downtown Austin. We can’t wait to see you then and there. Get your tickets today!

Disclosure: The New York Times and the University of Arizona 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.