Join Aaron MacLean and renowned historian Niall Ferguson for a special live recording of School of War on May 19 at The New York Historical. In a conversation sure to be as timely as it is wide-ranging, they’ll explore the strategic stakes of the moment, including the Middle East, China, military deterrence, and the future of American leadership.

Sir Niall Ferguson—one of The Free Press’s most widely read contributors and one of the world’s leading historians of empire, finance, and geopolitics—brings a sweeping historical lens to today’s crises. Aaron MacLean, host of School of War and one of the sharpest voices covering defense and foreign policy, has been in nonstop demand since the conflict began. His taking the time to join us live for this conversation is an opportunity not to be missed.

Paid Free Press subscribers get exclusive presale access until Monday at 10 a.m. EST, when tickets go live to the general public. Paid subscribers: Scroll below to find your access code. Not yet a paid subscriber? Become one today.

Get tickets here

This live event, set in one of New York City’s most beautiful and storied cultural institutions, offers something increasingly rare: the chance to hear two serious thinkers grapple in real time with the questions that will shape the future.

Ticket Options:

• General Admission—Attend the live podcast recording.

• Reception Ticket (limited availability)—Includes admission to the live podcast recording as well as an exclusive pre-event reception with the opportunity to meet Niall Ferguson and Aaron MacLean before the program begins.

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So we’re trying something different.

Welcome to Free Press Sundays at the Comedy Cellar in NYC—a new series bringing Free Pressers together for an afternoon of stand-up from comedians who still believe in saying the wrong thing out loud.

These shows are intimate, a little unpredictable, and designed for our community. Which means two things:

1. They’re going to be very good.

2. They’re going to sell out fast.

Each show is emceed by Free Press favorite Judy Gold, who will keep things moving (and probably offend at least a few people—consider yourself warned). The lineup will change every time, but the goal stays the same: smart comedians, no sacred cows, and a room full of people who can take a joke.

April 19 Lineup

• Shafi Hossain

• Lynne Koplitz

• Aaron Chen

• Mark Normand

On Sale

• Paid subscriber presale: Monday, March 30, at noon ET

• General public: Wednesday, April 1, at noon ET

Can’t make it? We’ll be back Sunday, May 17.
Tickets drop for the May show on April 20—paid subscribers get first access.

Details

• Time: 4:00–5:30 p.m. (Doors open at 3:30—come early if you want the best seats.)

• Location: The Comedy Cellar, Village Underground
  Minimum: Two-item purchase (drink, snack, or otherwise—this is how comedy clubs survive)

And because this is The Free Press, the show isn’t the whole thing.

Afterward, we’ll head to a nearby spot for a Free Press meetup—drinks, conversation, and the increasingly rare experience of talking to strangers who are curious, engaged, and not glued to their phones. (Location will not be shared until the show for security reasons.)

Big thanks to our friends at the Comedy Cellar for making this series possible. There’s a two-item minimum—consider it part of the deal—and tip your servers well so they keep inviting us back.

We’ll be announcing more dates soon.

This is a small room. A great lineup. And a community worth showing up for.

Don’t wait.

GET YOUR TICKETS HERE

Paid subscribers get early access to tickets. If you want first dibs, become a paid subscriber now.

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So said President Donald Trump to the people of Iran, in an early morning address announcing a joint military attack by the U.S. and Israel against the Islamic Republic. Overnight, waves of air strikes pounded military installations across Iran. According to initial reports from Israel, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei h…

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On March 9, join author and podcaster Coleman Hughes for a special America at 250 event at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta—the church led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.—for a live conversation on the legacy and future of nonviolence.

Coleman will be joined by Andrew Young, a civil rights pioneer and former United Nations ambassador who marched alongside King, as well as Jonathan Eig, whose best-selling book, King: A Life, won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize.

Together, they’ll explore how the earlier Civil Rights Movement used nonviolence to bring Americans together and change the country—and what that strategy can teach us today at a time when America is at a boiling point.

With political violence again making headlines—from protests in Minneapolis to the murder of Charlie Kirk—this timely event brings together three extraordinary voices in a legendary venue for a conversation we won’t soon get again. It’s our first-ever event in Atlanta, and one you won’t want to miss.

Is King’s strategy of nonviolence still useful in 2026? Or is it already a relic of a more hopeful time?

A limited number of VIP tickets are available for those who want to join an intimate pre-event reception—an opportunity to mingle with fellow Free Pressers and meet our special guests.

Paid subscribers get exclusive presale access until Tuesday, February 3 at 3 p.m. ET, when tickets open to the general public. Want early access? Become a paid subscriber now.

This event is part of The Free Press’s America at 250—our yearlong celebration of the country’s founding ideals and their role in shaping our future.

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On February 9 at the Comedy Cellar in New York City, Coleman Hughes will sit down with Michael Shermer—historian of scienc…

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As I sit down to write this, on the eve of Thanksgiving, I keep coming back to one feeling: gratitude. Gratitude for my brilliant colleagues, many of whom are working this holiday. Gratitude for you, for reading and watching and listening to our work. And gratitude for the wild, wonderful community we’ve built together at The Fre…

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One of the most urgent questions of our time is how smartphones and social media are fundamentally altering the lives of our children. Few voices have been more influential on this front than…

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Not if Palmer Luckey can help it.

Luckey is not your typical defense-tech titan.

With his signature Hawaiian shirts and the largest video game collection on planet Earth, he looks more Jimm…

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Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett is one of the most influential legal minds today. And she’s sitting down with Bari Weiss for an interview at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall in New York City on September 4, ahead of the launch of her new book. Listening to the Law offers extraordinarily rare insights into the inner workings of the Supreme Court, and Bari and Justice Barrett will get into it all.

• All attendees will have the option to purchase Listening to the Law for a discounted $28 before it hits shelves.

• Premium ticket holders receive a complimentary signed hardcover copy.

Paid Free Press subscribers get exclusive presale access until Tuesday at 10 a.m. ET, when tickets go live to the general public. Use the access code at the bottom of this page.

Get your tickets here

Justice Barrett is in some ways an unlikely justice. For one thing, she’s the only member of the current bench who didn’t attend an Ivy League law school. A devout Catholic and mother of seven, she was grilled during one of her confirmation hearings by the late California senator Dianne Feinstein, who famously told Justice Barrett that “the dogma lives loudly within you.”

But five years later, Justice Barrett is perhaps the least dogmatic of justices. She has broken ranks with her fellow conservatives on the Supreme Court, leading influential MAGA voices to label her a turncoat. Yet she is also unafraid to dissent from her liberal colleagues when she thinks it’s necessary. Justice Barrett can be seen in some ways as the bridge between the Court’s dueling sides. So who better to interview her than Bari, our sensemaker in chief?

On the docket? How does Justice Barrett approach the most consequential cases of our time? What does the future of the Court look like? How could it reshape American law and society at a moment of profound tumult and change, from the rise of artificial intelligence to basic questions of privacy and civil rights?

This event is a part of The Free Press’s yearlong celebration of America at 250, where we examine where we’ve come from, where we are, and where we’re going. The Supreme Court is critical to the American project, as it remains largely as our Founding Fathers designed it: the final arbiter of what’s constitutional and what’s not.

We expect this event to sell out fast. Be in the room.

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Coleman is one of the most intellectually rigorous and morally clear thinkers writing today. The thornier the topic—race; diversity, equity, and inclusion; assisted death; the Israeli-Palestinian conflict—the clearer his thinking seems to be. And in an era full o…

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Our piece caused a strong …

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