To register for any program, use the links provided, or call us at 772.231.0707 x 116.

By entering the Museum, you consent to be photographed and filmed for promotional purposes.

All programs are subject to change.

ALL SALES ARE FINAL.

2026 ILS Speakers

Monday, February 23, 2026 at 4:30pm | Bottom Shelf: Finding Purpose in American Whiskey
Fred Minnick, Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author, Award-Winning Podcast Host, and Bourbon Critic

In 2005, Fred Minnick returned home from Iraq broken. Therapy saved his life and taught him a new life skill called “Taste Mindfulness,” which helped him use taste and smell to overcome war trauma. He then embarked on a 20-plus year journey to study bourbon. From the flavor and how it’s made to the US presidents who influenced bourbon and the laws that helped shaped this country, Minnick, a Wall Street Journal-bestselling author, will intertwine the true and incredible stories of American whiskey with his own personal anecdotes of becoming the world’s leading bourbon critic.

Minnick is a world-renowned spirits authority, veteran, entrepreneur, bestselling author and podcast host, known for his influential contributions in bringing the storied history and culture of bourbon to the mainstream. In 2021, he co-founded the American Spirits Council of Tasters and initiated the inaugural ASCOT Awards, celebrating the finest spirits globally. With his award-winning series, The Fred Minnick Show, Minnick adeptly merges bourbon culture with entertainment, featuring engaging tastings and interviews with a diverse array of guests. Minnick has penned several authoritative books on spirits, including Bourbon Curious, Bourbon, Rum Curious, Whiskey Women, and his latest, Bottom Shelf: How a Forgotten Brand of Bourbon Saved One Man’s Life. His expertise has been showcased on various media platforms, including the Today Show, Bravo, Top Chef, The History Channel, Moonshiners, CBS Mornings and more.

Monday, March 9, 2026 at 4:30pm | Leave Only Footprints: My Journey Through Every National Park
Conor Knighton, CBS Sunday Morning Correspondent

​When Conor Knighton set off to explore America’s “best idea,” he worried the whole thing could end up being his worst idea. A broken engagement and a broken heart had left him longing for a change of scenery, but the plan he’d cooked up might have gone a bit overboard in that department. Over the course of a single year, Conor set out to visit every national park in the country, from Acadia to Zion. Filled with entertaining dispatches from some of the most scenic spots in the world, the CBS Sunday Morning correspondent takes us on a whirlwind tour through our parks, highlighting some of the unexpected stories, colorful characters, and profound lessons he unearthed along the way. Through his unique lens, America the Beautiful becomes America the Captivating, the Hilarious, and the Inspiring.

Conor Knighton is a national correspondent for CBS Sunday Morning—the country’s #1 morning news show—and the author of the New York Times bestseller Leave Only Footprints: My Acadia-to-Zion Journey Through Every National Park. His reports for CBS Sunday Morning have covered everything from the Scandinavian obsession with salty licorice to what it’s like to wake up on Wake Island, one of America’s most remote military bases. Conor has won five Emmy Awards as part of the Sunday Morning team and a Los Angeles Area Emmy for his work on KCET’s SoCal Connected. His feature reporting has also earned a National Headliner Award and an LA Press Club Award. He’s hosted and produced shows for AMC, Biography, EW Scripps, and Current TV, and his commentary has been featured on CNN, MTV, E!, and Oxygen. In 2025, the National Parks Conservation Association recognized Knighton’s storytelling with a Centennial Leadership Award

Monday, March 23, 2026 at 4:30pm | Savoring History: Stories from the American Table
Ashley Rose Young, Ph.D., Historian and Smithsonian Research Associate

As we prepare to celebrate the 250^th anniversary of the United States, there is still much to be learned, appreciated, and examined about the founding and development of the country. Food history is a surprisingly effective tool to unearth this knowledge, as American culinary cultures, past and present, reveal insights about our nation’s history. Whether analyzing early American politics through what George Washington served at his dinner parties, the evolution of New Orleans’ famed Creole culture through dishes like gumbo and jambalaya, or the popularization of frozen TV dinners and the rise of suburban neighborhoods after WWII, culinary cultures have important stories to tell about American life. Dr. Ashley Rose Young explores these connections, revealing how food provides a unique and compelling lens into the nation’s past.

Dr. Ashley Rose Young is a historian, museum curator, and writer whose work has appeared widely, including in The New York Times and The Washington Post. She is a Smithsonian Research Associate and was formerly the Historian of the Smithsonian Food History Project at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History (2017-2024) where she co-curated the museum’s keystone food history exhibition, FOOD: Transforming the American Table. She was also the host of Cooking Up History, the museum’s cooking demonstration series where she shared the stage with celebrated chefs, cookbook authors, and community leaders. Her first book, Nourishing Networks: The Public Culture of Food in New Orleans, will be published in the fall of 2025 by Oxford University Press. Dr. Young earned a PhD and MA in History from Duke University, a BA in History from Yale College, and was a visiting scholar at Oxford University.

Monday, April 13, 2026 at 4:30pm | American Made: Highlights from the DeMell Jacobsen Collection
Regina Palm, Ph.D., Harold and Anne Berkley Smith Senior Curator of Modern Art, Norton Museum of Art

The history of American art is as layered and diverse as the nation itself. The DeMell Jacobsen Collection invites us to appreciate that richness through works that span early portraiture to bold expressions of modern American identity. American Made: Paintings and Sculpture from the DeMell Jacobsen Collection celebrates the creativity and vision of American artists spanning more than 250 years. It endeavors to share a fresh and inclusive look at the evolving story of American art. Join Dr. Regina Palm as she shares highlights from the exhibition and offers insights into how these works celebrate the range of voices that shape our understanding of American artistic heritage.

Dr. Regina Palm is the Harold and Anne Berkley Smith Senior Curator of Modern Art at the Norton Museum of Art. Previously, she served as the Marie and Hugh Halff, Jr. Curator of American & European Art at the San Antonio Museum of Art, where she was the presenting curator for American Made. She has also held curatorial positions at the Morse Museum, San Diego Museum of Art, Kimbell Art Museum, Amon Carter Museum of American Art, and the Cincinnati Art Museum. Dr. Palm earned her PhD in the history of art from the University of London, specializing in female artists and the gender politics of artistic production in the late 19th to 20th centuries. Palm’s research has appeared in the Journal of Design History, Women’s History Review, and others.

PRESENTING SPONSOR:
Harry and Virginia Van Wormer Lecture Fund 

SUPPORTING SPONSORS:
Kjestine and Peter Bijur
FHL Foundation
Emily and Ned Sherwood
Carolyn and William Stutt Endowment for the International Lecture Series
Caroline and Tommy Vandeventer 

PATRON SPONSORS:
Susan L. Bouma
Kenneth W. Cunningham, Jr. Endowment Fund 

RECEPTION SPONSOR:

2025 ILS Speakers

Apollonia Poilâne, Baker, CEO, and Gallerist
The Art of Bread