National Geographic announces ‘Genius’-inspired Base Camp at SXSW
National Geographic is headed to SXSW to launch an interactive, Genius-inspired hub for festival attendees to explore.
The Nat Geo Further Base Camp, which will be open from March 10-14, will feature interactive experiences, interviews, and musical performances all designed to get festival-goers’ brains in motion.
The Base Camp will be hosted by RuPaul’s Drag Race‘s Jason J. Carter, and will feature an Entertainment Weekly chat with Genius executive producer and director Ron Howard, EP Brian Grazer, and costars Johnny Flynn and Samantha Colley, a live recording of StarTalk with Neil deGrasse Tyson, and musical performances from A.R.I.Z.O.N.A. and Little Hurricanes. Genius is an upcoming NatGeo series based on the life of Albert Einstein and explores the scientist’s rise from a young patent clerk to the theory of relativity developer.
Visitors will also able to watch an Einstein-inspired robot sketch art, experience the world’s first commercially available untethered augmented reality headset, and celebrate Pi Day (and Einstein’s birthday!) with a snack, cocktail, and dessert bar.
The opening of the hub comes ahead of Genius‘ April 25 premiere on NatGeo.
See below for a full schedule of events.
Friday, March 10
12:00 pm – Doors open
3:30pm – Alien: Convenant with Ridley Scott, Katherine Waterson and Danny McBride in conversation with Entertainment Weekly’s James Hibberd
4:00 pm – Recode Media Podcast recording with Peter Kafka and Glenn Beck
5:30 pm – Cocktails with National Geographic Adventure/Expedition Photographer and Alpine Climber Cory Richards
7:00 pm – “Life Of Us” VR installation introduced by Chris Milk, Founder and CEO of Within, produced by Megan Ellison and Annapurna Pictures, and Made With Unity
7:45 pm – Performance by A R I Z O N A
Saturday, March 11
6:30 am – National Geographic Geopolitical Conflict, Conservation and Culture Photographer David Guttenfelder Photo Walk
12:00 pm – Doors open
12:30 pm – Too Embarrassed to Ask Podcast recording with Kara Swisher and Lauren Goode, with special guest Mary Lou Jepsen
3:30 pm – Q&A with SXSW Keynote speaker and TED Talker Jessica Shortall
4:30 pm – A conversation with the founder of Black Girls CODE Kimberly Bryant
6:00 pm – “Walking the Line” discussion and Q&A with Aaron Huey and Peter Krough
8:00 pm – Nerd Night; showcasing “Genius” in a real way with sessions from National Geographic Explorer and Submarine pilot Erika Bergman, science and tech journalist Seth Porges and MIT researcher Adam Haar Horowitz
10:00 pm – R.LUM.R acoustic performance
Sunday, March 12
12:00 pm – Doors open
12:30 pm – The Verge’s Vergecast Podcast recording with Nilay Patel, Dieter Bohn, Casey Newton and Lauren Goode
2:00 pm – Discussion with National Geographic photographer David Guttenfelder
3:00 pm – A conversation with Neil deGrasse Tyson and Ron Howard
5:00 pm – Breakthrough panel on cyber-terror with security expert and author Jayson Street, social psychologist Nafees Hamid, producer and showrunner of Nat Geo’s Breakthrough series Kurt Sayenga and director and producer Steven Hoggard, moderated by Jason Silva
6:30 pm – National Geographic Adventure/Expedition Photographer and Alpine Climber Cory Richards Photo Walk
7:00 pm – Chat with avant-garde artist and Cyborg activist Neil Harbisson
8:00 pm – Genius panel moderated by Entertainment Weekly’s Chris Rosen and featuring Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Genius cast members Johnny Flynn and Samantha Colley
10:00 pm – Performance by Ponytrap
Monday, March 13
6:30 am – National Geographic photographer Aaron Huey Photo Walk
11:00 am – Doors open
12:00 pm – Recode Decode Podcast recording with Kara Swisher with guests Tim Simons and Matt Walsh from the cast of “VEEP”
1:00 pm – Feature Filmmaker Panel featuring Sebastian Junger, Marina Zenovich and Jonathan Chin moderated by Entertainment Weekly’s Jessica Derschowitz
3:30 pm – Origins panel with modern-day philosopher Jason Silva and author, journalist and entrepreneur Steven Kotler
5:00 pm – Nat Geo Explorers Panel featuring Erika Bergman, Topher White and Albert Lin
6:30 pm – Empowering the millennial with Erica Williams Simon
