The Fourth Estate
The 10th annual COA Summer Institute welcomes Kara Swisher, journalist and podcast host, in conversation with Nicholas Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic.
The institutions that once defined the Fourth Estate are undergoing rapid change. As technology reshapes how information is produced, distributed, and consumed, questions of trust, accountability, and influence have become more urgent and more complex. Drawing on her work as host of the podcasts On with Kara Swisher and Pivot, Swisher reflects on how journalism and media are evolving in an era defined by digital platforms, fractured audiences, and the rise of artificial intelligence. In conversation with Thompson, she considers what has been lost, what has been gained, and how the role of the press is being redefined in real time. Together, they explore what these changes mean for democratic life, asking how a more open and decentralized media environment can still support shared understanding, informed participation, and meaningful accountability.
The 2026 Summer Institute: Toward a More Perfect Union will mark the country’s 250th anniversary with a forward-looking series of conversations about the future of the American experiment. By late July, we anticipate that audiences will have encountered plenty of historical retrospectives and the predictable swing between overly patriotic and overly critical narratives. Our goal is different: To convene voices from across American culture—journalism, the arts, science, philanthropy, civic life, and beyond—and explore how the nation’s founding values have been, and continue to be, tested, reshaped, and reimagined. The Institute asks how these ideals can be stewarded, strengthened, and carried into the future.