Solving the world’s problems at Kent Presents

KENT — All those topics that have been keeping you up late at night worrying are going to be discussed at this year’s Kent Presents, which is happening in and around the campus of the Kent School from Thursday, Aug. 16,  to Saturday, Aug. 18. 

For those who haven’t experienced it yet, Kent Presents describes itself as an “ideas festival,” and it’s been held one August weekend each year since 2015.

It was founded by Kent residents Ben and Donna Rosen. She is a former gallery owner from New Orleans, he was chairman of Compaq Computers for 18 years and has sat on some of New York City’s toniest boards. 

Of more local interest, they’re both unusually smooth, lovely and persuasive and have used their gifts to talk 60 or more notables to journey to Kent each year to talk about the aforementioned topics that keep us up at night, either with worry or excitement. 

On the more relatively happy side of the table are topics such as origami (presented in a talk by an American “master” of the Japanese art of paper folding, Robert Lang); and the science of cooking with the master of that topic, Harold McGee (author of the much-quoted “On Food and Cooking). 

Flora Biddle and Fiona Donovan from the Whitney Museum of American Art will talk about “The Whitney Women” and will offer an in-depth study of the work of Sharon’s own Jasper Johns. The sublime Wynton Marsalis will perform and speak. The dance company Pilobolus takes the stage on Friday night. 

There will be lighter moments in some of the weightier areas of discussion. The list of talks on Science, Technology and the Environment includes one on cosmology, and another titled Planet 9 from Outer Space, a reference to the cult science fiction film. Bard College professor Daniel Mendelsohn will talk about his new book, which is a both amusing and moving account of a trip to Greece with his aging father. 

Troubled waters

Those more upbeat talks are a counterpoint to weightier ones on, for example, Social Issues topics including How We Got to “Post-Truth” America; The Innocence Project; and #MeToo and Sexual Harassment.

A technology topic that makes many pulses race is autonomous cars, which will be one of the Science, Technology and the Environment talks.

Blood pressure rises on both sides of the political aisle for these two topics: “Trump vs. His Own Justice Department” and “Where Is the Supreme Court Headed?” The panelists on these topics include a contingent from the prestigious New York University School of Law, including Trevor Morrison, who is the school’s dean, and Preet Bharara, who is former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York (which includes Manhattan) and who is now an NYU law professor and the host of a podcast on CAFE called Tune In. 

And then there are the Global Affairs topics, which are not specific but they don’t need to be: China, Cyber/Intelligence, the Middle East, North Korea and Russia. Henry Kissinger, a Kent resident, will be inteviewed onstage again, this year by journalist Leslie Stahl. Among the other speakers are four former ambassadors: Nicholas Burns, Christopher Hill, Robert Hormats and Frank Wisner.

The speakers and presenters and interviewers for the intimate sessions, all held on the Kent School campus, are world leaders in their topics. The conversations tend to be surprising not only because new information is being presented but also because the conversation often takes unexpected turns.

Benefits area nonprofits

It’s not inexpensive to get this kind of access, of course. Tickets for the three-day event cost $2,500 and unfortunately you can’t buy access to a single talk or a single day. If you’re local you can volunteer and see some of the seminars at no cost (go to www.kentpresents.org/volunteer.php). And there are discounts if you’re under the age of 40. 

The upside of the high ticket prices is that a large percentage of the proceeds is given to local charities. Last year, the donated total was $125,000, given to 38 area organizations including the Jane Lloyd Fund for cancer patients, Kent Affordable Housing and Greenwoods Counseling Referrals. 

Each Kent Presents session lasts for about a half hour to an hour. There are opportunities to meet and mingle with the presenters. There are some catered meals. 

On Saturday night, the art gallery owners and some retailers in the village will host Kent Arts Night, open to everyone in the region. 

For more details (and there are a lot of details), go to www.kentpresents.org.