I wrote a new piece on my time at Trib Fest for The Texas Orator, check it out here.
The Texas Tribune gave me a media pass to attend their annual festival, which I can highly recommend. Most of my takeaways are included in the above article, except for the part where I was able to go to the executive lounge (nominally only for speakers and those who massively overpaid for tickets) for a conversation with a panelist, after which I furthered the cause of wealth equality by liberating their free food.
In all seriousness, Trib Fest had very strong neoliberal vibes, which I can respect even if I cannot accept, and while it was obviously run by a bunch of progressives, they did do a decent job of having conservative speakers. There were only a handful, and they were mostly the type of conservatives who worked at The Bulwark rather than First Things, or even The Washington Examiner, but I suppose they have to start somewhere.
As always, feel free to leave comments, either here or over at The Orator.