Inspiration in Their Own Words
Join the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts on an inspiring and educational journey across the globe.
Trailblazing Talks is Kauffman Center Presents five-part speaker series featuring award-winning photographers, explorers and other intrepid documentarians. These lecturers share their insights about the world around us as they strive to solve intractable problems and bridge the distances between all of us — one story at a time.
Astonishing Tales of Adventure
Live and on stage at the Kauffman Center, Trailblazing Talks speakers share vivid stories you won’t hear elsewhere. Trailblazing Talks connects you to fresh perspectives and bold ideas from talented storytellers who’ve experienced life on the front lines.
Each event features stunning imagery and gripping video footage shown on the Kauffman Center’s 40-foot-by-22.5-foot screen. Events are approximately 90 minutes each including an audience Q&A session.
This is your chance to be a part of an unforgettable experience that promises to enrich, inspire and expand your horizons.
Trailblazing Talks 2026
All shows start at 7:30 p.m. in the Muriel Kauffman Theatre. Tickets are currently available as a part of the 5-show Trailblazing Talks Season Ticket Package. Subscribe to secure the same seats for all five presentations and save up to 30% off regular single ticket prices!
Jan. 27, 2026
Digging for Humanity’s Origins
Paleoanthropologist Louise Leakey
This show explores the burning question that consumes African-born Louise Leakey — as it consumed her famed parents Meave and Richard Leakey, and grandparents Louis and Mary Leakey before her — “How is it that Homo Sapiens are the only surviving member of the human family out of all of the upright ape species that have called Earth home over the past 8 million years?” Was it due to cross breeding with other human species? Was it due to the size of our brains? These are the questions Dr. Leakey seeks to answer.
Feb. 10, 2026
Leave Only Footprints
CBS Sunday Morning Correspondent Conor Knighton
When Conor Knighton set off to explore America’s “best idea,” a broken engagement and a broken heart had left him longing for a change of scenery. The plan he’d cooked up might have gone a bit overboard. Over the course of a year, Conor visited every national park in the country, from Acadia to Zion. The Emmy award-winning CBS Sunday Morning correspondent invites us along on a whirlwind tour, highlighting unexpected stories, colorful characters and profound lessons he unearthed along the way.
March 10, 2026
In Search of Lost Cities
Explorer Albert Lin
Albert Lin is a professional explorer, blurring boundaries between human and machine, while uncovering the lost wisdom of our past. In 2016, Albert lost his leg below the knee as a result of a car accident in the California Dunes. His transformation through the use of innovative prosthetics drives his relentless quest into the farthest reaches of our planet — from Mongolia to the Mayan jungle — employing a technologist’s approach to unearth lost cultural stories and rituals.
April 14, 2026
The Planet in Our Hands
Photographer Mattias Klum
Mattias Klum is a masterful storyteller. Through dramatic images and heart-stopping tales of facing down an Asiatic lion, embedding with a tribe of meerkats, stalking deadly vipers and nearly getting burned alive atop a hot air balloon over a dense Amazon jungle, he weaves humor, beauty and wonder into each talk, reminding us that what we have is worth saving.
May 19, 2026
Bay of Life: From Wind to Whales
Photographer Frans Lanting and Science Writer Christine Eckstrom
California’s Monterey Bay is America’s top biodiversity hotspot — and Frans and Christine’s backyard. 100 years ago, it was on the verge of ecological collapse with the clear cutting of Redwood forests, and its wildlife in crisis. Today, Monterey Bay is a thriving example of renewal and recovery. Frans and Christine share this story on stage, demonstrating how damaged ecosystems can be restored when people care — and act — together.
Enhance Your Trailblazing Talks Experience
Our Trailblazer memberships are fully tax-deductible and help support bringing Trailblazing Talks to the Kauffman Center. Members of Trailblazers are invited to pre-show Q&As with the awe-inspiring speakers prior to their presentations at the Kauffman Center. Members are also invited to a reception with appetizers and drinks before the start of each Q&A.
The Trailblazers membership program is underwritten by Christina & Zack Shafran.
Trailblazing Talks is made possible by the Teresa and Tom Walsh Family Foundation.
Kauffman Center Presents is made possible by the John N. and Marilyn P. McConnell Foundation.
The Kauffman Center has curated these speakers specifically from the Changemaker Speaker Series.
Premier Partner
