In a year—a critical election year, at that—where the concept of “truth” is tested daily, Rolling Stone and Variety have teamed up again to host the fourth annual Truth Seekers Summit, presented by Paramount+. Taking place on August 15th in New York City, the exclusive invitation-only event will celebrate the journalists, documentarians, creatives, and notable figures in the media and entertainment industry who honor the truth with every fiber of their being.
Featuring a range of keynotes and panel discussions, the Summit will focus on excellence in documentary storytelling, navigating the political landscape, true crime, and other essential topics.
“We are thrilled to be partnering with Variety and Paramount+ for the fourth annual Truth Seekers Summit,” said Gus Wenner, CEO of Rolling Stone. “This project aligns with our core mission to champion deep, investigative storytelling.”
Headlining the Summit will be Wenner interviewing Oscar and Emmy-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief) about his remarkable achievements in documentary filmmaking. Variety’s Co-Editor-in-Chief, Ramin Setoodeh, will sit down with Nancy Grace, host of Crime Stories with Nancy Grace and founder and publisher of CrimeOnline, where they will delve into Grace’s extensive career covering true crime. Susan Zirinsky, President of See It Now Studios at CBS News, will participate in a featured fireside chat—while John Walsh, host and executive producer of America’s Most Wanted, and his son, AMW co-host, Callahan Walsh, discuss “Trailblazers in Investigative Reporting.”
Political comedy will be in the spotlight as world-renowned radio host and personality Charlamagne tha God leads the “Best Mashup—Politics, Humor Pop Culture” panel alongside Tony, Emmy and WGA Award-nominated writer and comedienne Amber Ruffin and The Daily Show correspondent Lewis Black.
The “True Crime Masters Tell All” panel will examine true crime projects, featuring filmmakers Muta’Ali Muhammad (MoviePass MovieCrash, Yusuf Hawkins: Storm Over Brooklyn), Christian Hansen (executive producer, American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders), Amara Cofer (host and co-creator, Black Girl Gone), Brian Knappenberger (director, Trials of Gabriel Fernandez and Turning Point), and Andrew Jarecki (executive producer/creator, The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst).
Lastly, noteworthy documentarians such as Rahman Ali Bugg (director, Exposing Parchman, Welcome to Rap City), Alex Stapleton (director, God Save Texas), and Nanette Burstein (director, executive producer, Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes) will be featured on the Documentary Panel, where they will chop it up about finding compelling narratives that captivate and educate viewers.
“We are very excited to once again join forces with Rolling Stone and Paramount+ to put together this important summit,” Variety’s COO and CMO, Dea Lawrence, said. “Truth Seekers provides a vital platform for journalists and documentary filmmakers.”
In the coming weeks, more speakers and panels will be announced to an already jam-packed lineup.
In conjunction with the Truth Seekers Summit, Variety and Rolling Stone will produce a special print issue. The issue will feature original and archival stories highlighting the iconic brands’ longstanding commitment to the truth while expanding on the Truth Seekers ethos. It will be distributed to a select group of Variety and Rolling Stone subscribers.
For those who won’t be able to attend the Truth Seekers Summit in the Big Apple, you can register for virtual access here.
Cherry Torres, Jay Armstrong Johnson, Jimin Moon, Ryan Duncan, and Ryann Redmond Matthew Murphy*
Cherry Torres, Jimin Moon, Ryann Redmond, Jay Armstrong Johnson, and Ryan Duncan Marc J Franklin*
Christine Wonsley with her husband, Elmore (second from left), attorney Ben Crump (left), and Rev. Al Sharpton (right), during a memorial service for her son Nolan Xavier Wells.Gerald Herbert/AP
Donald Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino stand as Spain celebrates its World Cup victory, on July 19, 2026.
America Got the World Cup It Deserves — Good and Bad
For the past six weeks or so I’ve been having a recurring fight with my friends. The dispute is over whether or not it’s ethical to support the U.S. national team in the World Cup.
To the vast majority of people reading this article, this is an absurd question: of course you can and should support the United States Men’s National Team, you weirdo. And look, I’m with you. But despite the fact that my friends are pompous dorks who are no fun to watch the game with, the question they raise is valid: Are our national teams avatars of the administration in power, or of the people and promise of that country?
If you believe the former, then yeah, it’s pretty fucking weird to support the USMNT. In doing so, by that thinking, you’d be engaging in a sort of athletic nationalism on behalf of a country run by Donald Trump, the most corrupt president in history, who forced the Iranian national team to flee across the border immediately after the final whistle of each of their games, whose federal police have shot numerous civilians dead in the street during a brutal immigration crackdown, who has started a war and supported a genocide while covering up his close personal friendship with the most notorious pedophile in modern history.
I mean just look at him. On Sunday he waddled down onto the field to present Spain with their trophy, lingering on stage with the victorious team as they tried to celebrate. The presence of Mexican President Claudia Steinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney did little to dilute the image of Trump standing next to his crony Gianni Infantino, grinning at all the trappings of their power, hands caressing a trophy they’d done nothing to earn, lingering well past his cue to leave Spain to their glory. This World Cup, literally, had Donald Trump’s fingerprints all over it.
And yet, this was one of the most thrilling, beautiful World Cups in recent memory. That’s America, baby — contradictions abound.
Over the past five weeks of the greatest athletic competition on Earth, we’ve seen games that will literally never leave my memory. The final, which I attended yesterday in New Jersey, was remarkably forgettable — a 0-0 draw until the 106th minute, with Spain dominating every second of play and yet unable to score, undone time and time again by their insistence on tricksy passing and the personal heroics of Argentina’s goalkeeper Emi Martinez. The rest of the tournament, however, delivered. Cabo Verde, refusing to lose until the very last moments of the first knockout round, battling back again and again against both teams that would eventually play in the final. The sheer dominance of France’s Kylian Mbappe in front of goal, scoring at will, rivaled only by the aging GOAT Leo Messi and the Norwegian warlord Erling Haaland. England’s heroic stand at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, 45 minutes in the rain, a man down, holding out for the win and singing “Wonderwall” with what felt like half the stadium when it ended. Off the pitch, too: the Algerian national team being welcomed with open arms by Lawrence, Kansas; Scottish braves drinking Boston dry and partying wildly with Haitian fans that overcame so much just to be at the tournament. In Mexico, of course, the World Cup was everything, and its fans threw joyous South Koreans pumped full of tequila into the air, and celebrated in the streets with opposing fans even after their hard-fought defeat to England.
For the United States, what the 2026 World Cup was — what our team was, what our fans were, what our performance as hosts was — is a reflection of two things at once: what our nation is and what it can be.
Our star striker, Folarin Balogun, was born here by accident, a citizen only because of a birthright system that our president is currently trying to erase. We have Ricardo and Giovanni and Freeman and Zendejas. We have another striker whose name is Haji, for goodness sake. I look at that team and I see the country America can be, one in which any soul born in or living within our arbitrary borders can become part of a great national project that seeks to improve the lives of everyone it can. And yet, I can also look at that team and see a reflection of what the country is, because there is an anchor around its neck. When Balogun was — albeit unjustly — suspended for a crucial match, Trump himself stepped in. Cronyism saved the day and got Balogun reinstated, but ruined the fragile harmony the team had enjoyed. On the pitch against Belgium, they came apart. Temperamental star Christian Pulisic tried to go alone and then quit, aging defender Tim Ream’s legs failed him when he needed them most, a young goalkeeper slipped and fell when he had no good options for support.
What more can you say about a team, about our country? The team is an entity that is capable of more but still has so far to go, that is vulnerable to the same forces of avarice and selfishness and fear that plague our national identity writ large.
It’s possible to end the story there, to say good riddance to another failed year and fractured team. But I think that’s a mistake. I think if you believe that you haven’t really been watching. I think that’s also why it pissed me off so much that some of my friends wouldn’t root for the U.S. Yes, we have flaws, like every country involved in the tournament. Yes, our current team management and political government are filled with morons. But if you won’t put on the shirt you’re essentially opting out of our future. We can’t wait around for a better world, a better team, a better president, before we deign to lend our support. Progress only comes from effort, from caring, from believing in something more.
One of my favorite images of the World Cup was a crowd shot of the opening match against Paraguay in Los Angeles: every race, color and creed of American there is, all covered in red white and blue. It’s corny and trite, sure. But that’s what it’s all about. That’s why we’re here. You have to believe. The U.S. won that game 4-2. In four years, we’ll be even better.