2026 Buffalo Humanities Festival: BREAKING NEWS

With seismic forces at work radically and rapidly altering the shifting media ecosystem, how do we—as ordinary citizens in extraordinary times—decipher what is happening in the world and in our local communities? How do we stay informed in this “news mirage” while critically assessing each BREAKING NEWS moment? The 2026 Buffalo Humanities Festival (Sept. 25th – 26th) takes up the theme of BREAKING NEWS! to reflect on how residents of WNY can support the vital, fact-based research and investigative reporting necessary for maintaining collective life in our neighborhoods, cities, and other experiments in democracy. Every year, the Buffalo Humanities Festival brings together local universities and organizations for an annual celebration of ideas, art, and activities featuring talks and panel discussions by scholars, artists, and community activists designed to provoke thought, spur new encounters, and introduce attendees to new friends in the city. The Festival kicks off on Friday evening with award-winning journalist, social activist, author, and public intellectual Juan González (Democracy Now!), followed on Saturday with a full day of talks, workshops, performances, and conversations celebrating the humanities and their vital role in our collective experiments in democracy. The Festival closing session will feature Buffalo News editorial cartoonist Adam Zyglis. BREAKING NEWS – Friday, Sept. 25 The Festival kicks off on Friday evening with award-winning journalist, social activist, author, and public intellectual Juan González, co-host of Democracy Now. 5:30 P.M. | REGISTRATION/CHECK-IN 6:00 P.M. | AN EVENING WITH JUAN GONZÁLEZ About Juan González Juan González has emerged over the past 50 years as a nationally known Latino journalist, social activist, author, and public intellectual. He was a staff columnist for New York’s Daily News from 1987 to 2016 and has been a co-host since 1996 of Democracy Now, a daily morning news show that airs on more than 1,500 community and public radio and television stations across the US and Latin America. His investigative reports on urban policy, race relations, the labor movement and Latin America have garnered numerous accolades, including two George Polk Awards for commentary, and in 2015 he became the first Latino to be inducted into the Society of Professional Journalists New York Journalism Hall of Fame. Before he entered journalism, González was a well-known 1960s activist, as a key figure of the Columbia University student revolt of 1968, and later as a leader of the militant Puerto Rican group the Young Lords, and of the National Congress for Puerto Rican Rights. Join us for the full festival day as we reflect on how residents of WNY can support the vital, fact-based research and investigative reporting necessary for maintaining collective life in our neighborhoods, cities, and other experiments in democracy. The day includes talks, roundtables, workshops, and opportunities to connect with like-minded lovers of the arts and humanities. We close the festival with a talk by editorial cartoonist Adam Zyglis from The Buffalo News. 9:30 A.M. | Registration/Check-in 10:00 A.M. | Welcome 10:15 A.M. - 5:30 P.M. | Talks, roundtables, panels, and conversations. See the detailed schedule on buffalohumanities.org