On Air Fest Announces 2026 Headliners: Roxane Gay, Don Lemon, CNN’s Audie Cornish, Radiolab, Heavyweight, La Brega take Brooklyn

Set for February 23rd - 26th, On Air Fest to return for its biggest year yet - new stages and experiences across Wythe Hotel, Arlo Williamsburg, The XX Venue

Ambie Awards 2/23, Bloomberg Podcast Business Summit 2/24, Creative & Cultural Programming exploring the future of media 2/25 - 26

2026 partners include iHeartPodcasts, ESPN 30 for 30 Podcasts, CNN, Pushkin Industries, WNYC, Futuro Media, and more

Tickets HERE

On Air Presents, the premier storytelling events and creative studio behind On Air Fest -  “the Coachella of podcasts” (Fast Company) and the annual epicenter for the evolving worlds of podcasting, the creator economy, and culture - is revealing the first wave of headline talent and programming for its 2026 flagship festival. Set to take place across Williamsburg, Brooklyn (including its returning headquarters at Wythe Hotel) from February 23rd through the 26th, On Air Fest 2026 will be the biggest yet, convening thinkers, performers, and storytellers shaping the future of culture for four days of programming. 

The initial festival line-up includes: New York Times-Bestselling author Roxane Gay, host of The Don Lemon Show Don Lemon, the hosts of Radiolab Latif Nasser & Lulu Miller, the hit Heavyweight podcast live with host and humorist Jonathan Goldstein, Audie Cornish’s hit CNN podcast The Assignment live, a special event from Futuro Media’s dual English/Spanish-language podcast La Brega focused on their season three launch, and more. ESPN 30 for 30 Podcasts will also return with special stage programming about sports storytelling, as well as a program giving creators the chance to pitch ESPN’s content executives directly.

On Air Fest’s expanded footprint next year will feature 200+ voices and 80+ hours of programming. In addition to the Wythe Hotel, the Fest will also include events for the first time ever at the Arlo Williamsburg, which will host a Main Stage for On Air’s most star-studded conversations, and The XX Venue, which will host On Air’s Creator Hall (ft. a branded stage and talent from iHeartPodcasts and Will Ferrell’s podcast network Big Money Players). Across all venues, networking and parties, intimate talks and performances, exhibitions, panels, interactive events, and live podcast tapings, will take place all week.

On Monday, February 23rd at the Arlo, On Air Fest 2026 will kick off with a reimagined presentation of The Podcast Academy’s Sixth Annual Awards for Excellence in Audio – otherwise known as The Ambies – the medium’s most prestigious award. Presented by The Podcast Academy, the preeminent industry organization advancing the medium, The Ambies will be produced and directed by On Air Fest’s creative team for the first time. The Ambies’ move to Brooklyn and partnership with On Air signals a new era of cultural significance for the Awards across the entertainment industry at large. The deadline to submit entries for The Ambies is November 28.

On Tuesday, February 24th at the Wythe Hotel, Bloomberg reporter Ashley Carman will co-host the NYC edition of On Air’s twice-yearly Podcast Business Summit with Bloomberg, an invite-only convening of leaders across tech, advertising, publishing, and podcasting to explore the latest trends, challenges, and opportunities in the industry. 

Request an invite HERE

The rest of On Air Fest’s programming on the 25th and 26th (spread across all three walkable venues) will dive deep into the worlds of creativity and innovation, to explore how changing storytelling formats through audio, visual, and experiential are changing culture and the entertainment industries overall. 

On Air recently opened their submissions for panel and event ideas, and almost immediately, the open-call was shared more than 750 times. For more information, and to submit your own panel, performance, workshop, installation, or creative idea, see On Air’s open-call for pitches HERE.

Since it launched in 2018, On Air Fest has hosted hundreds of luminaries, including Anderson Cooper, Malcolm Gladwell, Seth Meyers, Norah Jones, Bon Iver's Justin Vernon, Audie Cornish, David Remnick, Jad Abumrad, Terry Gross, Francis Ford Coppola, and Ira Glass. 

With much more talent and additional programming details to be announced in the coming months, early bird tickets are on-sale for 2026 HERE.

Sponsors and Partners for On Air Fest 2026 include iHeartPodcasts, ESPN 30 for 30 Podcasts, CNN, Pushkin Industries, WNYC, Futuro Media, Bloomberg, Audible, and The Ambies.

Read more about On Air Presents below, and check out photos from On Air LA, a curated West Coast edition of the festival, which wrapped yesterday HERE, featuring live tapings of Straightiolab, One Song (ft. Sam Sanders), and Really?? The Doors? with The New Yorker’s Naomi Fry and The Doors’ drummer John Densmore, alongside the invite-only Bloomberg Podcast Business Summit with Ashley Carman.

About On Air Presents

On Air Presents is a hybrid creative studio and events company operating at the intersection of story and spectacle. We make content that lives beyond the feed — immersive, collaborative, digital + IRL. From our flagship festival to global pop-ups and content campaigns, we transform fleeting attention into memorable moments.

Through our brand studio, On Air Studio, we provide strategic and creative services for partners who seek to move culture, not just follow it. Our work includes immersive experiences, live activations, and original, branded content designed for impact in the feed and beyond. In a time when culture moves fast we’re committed to deep attention, experimental formats, and new rituals of gathering.

More at onairpresents.com