Conference

Helen Zaltzman is the creator and host of The Allusionist, a podcast about linguistics and the quirks of the English language. She also co-hosts Veronica Mars Investigations and Answer Me This!, and is the founder of the Podcasters’ Support Group, a support community with over 16,000 members.

Hrishikesh Hirway is a musician and the host/creator of Song Exploder, the pioneering podcast where musicians take apart their songs and tell the story of how they were made. He also co-hosts the West Wing Weekly podcast, makes records under the name The One AM Radio, and has written original music for Netflix, ESPN, and the Sydney Opera House.

Launched in 2015, Another Round quickly became one of the internet's most-loved podcasts, propelled by co-hosts Tracy Clayton and Heben Nigatu's candid banter about race, gender, and pop culture, taking a much-needed break at the end of 2017. After a year away from the mic, Tracy returned as host of Netflix’s Strong Black Legends, a weekly interview series with living legends of Black Hollywood.

Inspired by her own experiences in the game industry, game developer turned labor organizer Emma Kinema is co-founder of Game Workers Unite, an international grassroots organization dedicated to unifying game workers in an industry known for endless crunch and mass layoffs.

Since 2014, Harry Brewis aka “Hbomberguy” built a base of over 450k YouTube subscribers with his wry video essays skewering the alt-right, Gamergate, and conspiracy theorists. In January, his Donkey Kong 64 charity stream went viral with cameos by AOC, Chelsea Manning and others, raising a stunning $340,000 for supporting trans youth.

For the last three years, Rekka Bellum and Devine Lu Linvega have sailed the Pacific Ocean on Pino, a sailboat turned mobile studio, making videogames, art, and music with their own homegrown software. Off-grid for long stretches, Hundred Rabbits is supported by patrons who follow along through video updates to their Patreon project.

Black Belt Eagle Scout is the musical moniker of Katherine Paul, a radical indigenous queer feminist who grew up on a small reservation by the Salish Sea, the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community. Her sophomore album, At the Party With My Brown Friends, comes less than a year after her celebrated debut.

After a decade working in the food industry and co-founding award-winning podcast Racist Sandwich, Soleil Ho became the San Francisco Chronicle’s Restaurant Critic, shaking up the world of food criticism with a new perspective on issues of cultural appropriation and representation.

With multiple New York Times bestselling books and over 800k followers for her “Ask A Mortician” series on YouTube, Los Angeles-based mortician Caitlin Doughty spawned a death-positive movement that’s changing how we talk about death. Her latest book, Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?, answers real questions from kids about death.

Currently appearing in AMC’s horror drama NOS4A2, and now co-starring in Hulu’s Pure, actress Jahkara J. Smith found instant viral success on YouTube as Sailor J. Combining social commentary with makeup tutorials, Jahkara built a following of over 445,000 subscribers in just over a year before switching it up to focus on her acting career.

Twin sisters Emily and Amelia Nagoski are co-authors of Burnout: The Secret To Unlocking The Stress Cycle, a groundbreaking new book explaining how women experience stress differently than men, the structural misogyny that perpetuates it, and how we can fight it together.

With a Master’s degree in film criticism and the support of her dedicated Patreon base, Lindsay Ellis creates thoughtful and in-depth video essays about film criticism, pop culture, and a whole lot of Transformers.

Chicago-based writer and cultural critic Mikki Kendall is the author of two upcoming books: Hood Feminism, a collection of essays on the blind spots of the modern feminist movement, and Amazons, Abolitionists, and Activists, a graphic history of the fight for women’s rights.

Left At London is the stage name of Nat Puff, a ferociously-talented indie pop artist and poet who built a cult following with her hilarious short videos on Vine. More recently, she produced a series breaking down how to make songs in the style of Mitski, Frank Ocean, and Tyler, the Creator. Her debut album, You Are Not Alone Enough, is due out later this year.

In her first book, How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy, multi-disciplinary artist and writer Jenny Odell argues that taking control of our attention from the capitalist forces determined to monetize it and reconnecting with the world around us is a critical form of resistance.

Comic, actor, and writer River Butcher co-created and starred in the critical hit TV series, Take My Wife, and his debut comedy album, Butcher, reached the top of the comedy charts. River also hosts the popular live show and podcast, Put Your Hands Together, and his new podcast Three Swings takes an unconventional look at America's pastime.