AUSTIN SXSW 2018: Author Ta-Nehisi Coates Tapped As Keynote Speaker

AUSTIN, TX — South by Southwest organizers on Wednesday announced that writer Ta-Nehisi Coates—the award-winning author of "Between the World and Me" and national correspondent for The Atlantic magazine —has been tapped to deliver a keynote address at next year's arts festival in March.

A distinguished author, Coates was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship, the so-called "genius grant" two years ago. He is also the writer of the "Black Panther" line of Marvel Comics of which a movie adaptation is in the works.

“Ta-Nehisi Coates continues to explore America’s complex history of inequality with a voice that is both powerful and passionate,” said Hugh Forrest, Chief Programming Officer. “His unique perspective highlights an important aspect of SXSW – sharing new ideas to common challenges in order to drive change.”

As national correspondent for The Atlantic, Coates writes about culture, politics, and social issues. His book Between The World And Me won the National Book Award in 2015. Coates’ forthcoming book, We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy will be available on October 3, 2018 KEYNOTES, officials said.

Coates joins previously confirmed Keynotes Barry Jenkins, Esther Perel, and whurley.

SXSW also has announced an impressive array of featured speakers representing the breadth of human achievement for next year:

• Google Cloud’s Dr. Fei Fei Li with Joanne Chen of Intelligent Future. Fei-Fei Li is the Chief Scientist of Google Cloud, AI/ML. Li continues to hold her position at Stanford University as an Associate Professor in the Computer Science Department, and as the Director of the Stanford AI Lab and the Stanford Vision Lab. Joanne Chen is a partner at Foundation Capital where she works with passionate entrepreneurs who leverage data assets to disrupt business functions.
• Hasan Minhaj from The Daily Show with Jocelyn Conn, Akash Goyal, Ramin Hedayati and Matt Negrin (Featured Session | News & Journalism). Conn is the senior coordinating producer for The Daily Show. Akash Goyal is the vice president of multiplatform content strategy at Comedy Central. Ramin Hedayati is the supervising producer and oversees digital expansion at The Daily Show. Minhaj is a Daily Show correspondent, and a comedian, actor and writer in New York. Negrin works on The Daily Show‘s digital expansion team and social media channels.
• Songwriter and producer Savan Kotecha (Music Industry). Kotecha is a Golden Globe and Grammy nominated songwriter who's received nine BMI Awards, and 15 ASCAP awards. His songs have achieved number-one status all over the world with artists such as The Weeknd, Ariana Grande, One Direction, Usher, Maroon 5, Katy Perry, Ellie Goulding, and many more.

• Entrepreneur Mark Cuban (Startup & Tech Sectors). Cuban is an American businessman, investor, author, television personality, and philanthropist. He is the owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, chairman and CEO of AXS tv, one of ABC’s “sharks” on the television show Shark Tank, and an investor in an ever-growing portfolio of businesses.
• Television host and interviewer Charlie Rose with Jeff Fager in the News & Journalism category. Fager is executive producer of 60 Minutes, now entering its 50th season, the most-watched news program in America. Rose is the co-host of CBS This Morning and contributing correspondent to 60 Minutes. He also continues to serve as executive editor and host of “Charlie Rose,” which appears nightly on PBS.
• Teen Vogue’s Elaine Welteroth (News & Journalism) – As editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue, Welteroth leads Teen Vogue‘s editorial vision, while also expanding the brand’s presence through new consumer experiences and products. Welteroth is largely responsible for the expansion of Teen Vogue‘s coverage to include a wide range of feminist, social-justice, and political topics, alongside fashion, beauty, and entertainment news.
• Tim O’Reilly of O’Reilly Media (Startup & Tech Sectors) – Tim O’Reilly is the founder and CEO of O’Reilly Media, Inc. O’Reilly Media delivers online learning, publishes books, runs conferences, urges companies to create more value than they capture, and tries to change the world by spreading and amplifying the knowledge of innovators.
• Dave Asprey (Health & Wellness). Asprey is the founder and CEO of Bulletproof 360, a high-performance coffee and food company, and creator of the widely popular Bulletproof Coffee. He is a two-time New York Times bestselling author, host of the Webby award-winning podcast Bulletproof Radio, and has been featured on the Today Show, Fox News, Nightline, CNN, and dozens more.
• Audrey Gelman (Workplace). Gelman is co-founder and CEO of The Wing, a company that builds co-working and community spaces for women. Prior to founding The Wing, Gelman worked in politics and public affairs in New York and Washington D.C.
• Kristina Halvorson (Brands & Marketing). Halvorson is the CEO and founder of Brain Traffic, a content strategy consultancy; the founder of Confab Events, a content strategy conference series; and the author of Content Strategy for the Web. Halvorson is an expert in creating content strategies that fuel exceptional customer experience. Dan Harris (Workplace).
• Dan Harris is the co-anchor of ABC’s Nightline and the weekend editions of Good Morning America. Harris wrote a book about his journey into meditation, 10% Happier, which became #1 on the New York Times best-seller list. His success led to his creation of a meditation app and the 10% Happier podcast.
• Steve Huffman with Christine Lagorio-Chafkin (Startup & Tech Sectors). Huffman is CEO and co-founder of Reddit, a social news site and the home of conversation online. At 22, he co-founded Reddit with college roommate, Alexis Ohanian.
• Christine Lagorio-Chafkin is the senior writer at Inc. whose work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and more.
• Dean Kamen (Startup & Tech Sectors). Kamen is the founder of DEKA Research & Development and FIRST® and has contributed to society through his prolific inventions and innovative contributions. Kamen’s newest mission, as Chairman and Executive Director of the Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute (ARMI), is ushering in a new era of regenerative medicine and creating a manufacturing industry for human tissue and organs that will benefit the health of millions.
• Joseph Lubin with Laura Shin (Intelligent Future). Lubin is co-founder of blockchain platform Ethereum, a decentralized application platform incorporating a virtual machine that executes peer-to-peer contracts paid for via micro-payments of the cryptocurrency ether. Shin is a Forbes senior editor managing crypto and blockchain technology coverage. Shin is also the host of the Unchained: Big Ideas From The Worlds Of Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Podcast.
• Steven Pinker (Intelligent Future) – Steven Pinker is an experimental psychologist and one of the world’s foremost writers on language, mind, and human nature. Currently the Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology at Harvard University, Pinker has also taught at Stanford and MIT. His upcoming book is entitled Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress.
• Alisa Vitti (Health & Wellness). Vitti, HHC (Holistic Health Counselor), is a functional nutritionist, women’s hormone expert, and the best-selling author of WomanCode. She is a pioneer in the fem tech industry. Vitti is the founder of The FLO Living Hormone Center and of FLOLiving.com, a virtual health center that supports women’s hormonal and reproductive health.

SXSW urge those wishing to attend come March to make plans now in order to save before rates go up at the end of next week: "We’ve got all the learning, networking, and inspiration to fill your mind and feed your soul," SXSW officials said. "Your next big idea starts here, at SXSW 2018."

For those unsure which badge to pay for access, SXSW urges would-be attendees to take their Tracks Quiz to find out. The Platinum badge is the mother of all badges, ensuring access to all of SXSW. All attendees will receive primary entry to programming associated with their badge type, in addition to enjoying secondary access to most other SXSW events, officials said.

Register to attend SXSW by Friday, Sept. 8 to save $500 on the walk-up rate, officials coaxed. "Dive into our speaker lineup below and get ready to explore what’s next in the worlds of film, culture, music, and technology during the 2018 SXSW Conference & Festivals from March 9-18 in Austin, TX."

>>> Photo of author Ta-Nehisi Coates courtesy of SXSW