Past Events
Harnessing Uncertainty for Good in an Age of Tumult
August 27th, 2025
Meals on Wheels America International Conference and Expo
San Antonio, TX
At a time of funding cuts and rising precarity, uncertainty seems anathema to non-profits that are under increasing siege. But in this main keynote to Meals on Wheels’ annual conference, Maggie reveals the power of skillful unsureness in driving adaptability and resilience in times of flux. She offers practical lessons in harnessing our uncertainty to foster excellence in teamwork, crisis decision-making, and innovation in moments of upheaval. There’s no better time to be unsure.
Lost in the Instant: Reclaiming Focus in an Age of Distraction
August 8th, 2025
The International Interior Design Association’s Leadership Breakfast
Houston, TX
In this interactive keynote to the designers, manufacturers, educators and architects of the nation’s largest commercial interior design association, Maggie explores the steep costs of fragmenting our attention in a tech-centric world. She discusses the historic roots of distraction, the impact of this way of living on our brains and lives, and how we can reclaim our focus as a path to thriving in an age of flux. Book-signing to follow.
Uncertainty: A Path to Flourishing (and Survival) in an Age of Angst
June 8th, 2025
4:00 - 5:00 pm
The Yellow House Bookstore
Tiverton, RI
In an era of rising flux, uncertainty seems a byword for angst and inertia. But contrary to popular assumptions, this mindset offers a proven path to adaptability, creativity, and even resilience – the cognitive skills we need most in tumultuous times. Today, wielding our unsureness well is the secret to thriving.
Join former Boston Globe columnist and acclaimed author Maggie Jackson for an interactive talk on her timely new book Uncertain: The Wisdom and Wonder of Being Unsure, nominated for a National Book Award and named the Independent Publishers of New England’s “Nonfiction Book of 2024.”
Drawing on deep research and vivid story-telling, Jackson will reveal how strategic uncertainty can help us think insightfully under pressure; tame our anxiety; start healing the divisions of our day; and curb the rising risks of increasingly powerful AI. By harnessing our unsureness, we can face the future with wonder and curiosity, not dread and fear.
Working with the Media: A Guide for Scientists
May 21st, 2025
9:50 - 10:20 pm
Lorentz Center @Lambda
Leiden, Netherlands
In this invited talk, Maggie will advise social scientists on how to skillfully work with the press to communicate their discoveries to the world in an era of disinformation and mistrust. The occasion is a pathbreaking gathering of researchers studying the overlooked skills of children raised in precarity, a topic explored by Maggie in Uncertain and related articles. Details.
Little Compton RI Book Festival
May 18th, 2025
10:30 am - 12:30 pm
Little Compton RI Community Center
Join Maggie as she talks about two of her award-winning books, Distracted and Uncertain, as part of the first annual Little Compton Book Festival. First, Maggie will discuss the state of our beleaguered attention in a speed-driven, tech-centric age (10:30), then she'll share secrets to strategically wielding your uncertainty to thrive in an age of flux and angst (11:30).
Books will be available for purchase. Learn more here.
The Wisdom of Uncertainty as a Counterpoint to the PolyCrisis
April 11th - 13th, 2025
Time TBA
Garrison Institute
Garrison, NY
The PolyOpportunity conferences bring together leaders, experts, creatives, and changemakers to explore how to nurture positive multi-disciplinary trends that confront and tame the current "polycrisis", the amalgam of interconnected global crises from climate change to polarization and authoritarianism. At this PolyOpportunity weekend retreat in a former monastery 90 minutes north of New York City, Maggie will share compelling findings from Uncertain on the surprising links between not-knowing and the cognitive skills most needed today: resilience, curiosity, adaptability, creativity.
Hosted by the Acosta Institute and the House of Beautiful Business. Limited space, early registration encouraged. Details here.
Uncertain Book Launch in China
April 8th, 2025
7:00 - 8:30 pm
CITIC Press Bookstore
To celebrate Uncertain's release across China, Maggie Jackson will be in conversation with the host of "Hello Reader," a popular online show produced by the country's largest publisher CITIC Press. Drawing on her global reporting and research, Maggie will reveal the scientific discoveries upending our outdated notions of unsureness as weakness, and discuss how people from varying cultures worldwide can harness this critical cognitive tool in an age of flux.
World 50 Presents: Uncertainy’s Wisdom for CSOs
March 26th, 2025
Brooklyn Winery
Brooklyn, NY
Chief sustainability officers operate at the epicenter of workplace change, from tensions over where and how to work to the strains of doing business in a shifting climate. Drawing on cutting-edge science and vivid case studies, Maggie reveals why productive uncertainty fuels exceptional performance in times of flux. She takes us inside "our brain on uncertainty" and the ingenious teamwork that put the Rovers on Mars. She brings us into top operating rooms to learn why the best experts "inhabit the question" to succeed in a crisis. The lessons are clear: uncertainty is not weakness, but the skill that sets the best talent apart today.
Uncertain at One of the Country's Largest Book Festivals
March 15th, 2025
1:30 - 4:30 pm
Tucson Festival of Books, Indie Authors Tent
University of Arizona
Four hundred authors! More than 125,000 visitors! Uncertain will be featured on the opening day of the two-day Tucson Festival of Books, one of the largest of its kind. You can find Maggie all Saturday afternoon in the Indie Authors Tent at the heart of the Festival, which raises millions to literacy causes. Ask a question. Pick up a signed copy. Learn strategies for turning anxiety into resilience and rigidity into brilliance. In an age of rising flux, there’s no better time to be skillfully unsure.
Free. Learn more here.
Uncertainty: A Path to Flourishing Opening Day Solo Talk at SXSW
March 7th, 2025
4:00 pm
Marriot Austin Downtown
304 E Cesar Chavez St
Austin, TX
Maggie takes the stage on the opening day of the renowned SXSW conference and festival to present "Uncertainty: A Path to Flourishing (and Survival) in an Age of Flux". She will explore three key modes of uncertainty-in-action for 2025 and beyond, plus proven strategies for wielding this mindset to boost workflow, team performance, and personal well-being. Humanity stands on the cusp of a seismic shift in its approach to not-knowing. It's not outrageous - and increasingly it's necessary - to envision a future in which uncertainty can save humanity. With more than 300,000 attendees in-person and online, SXSW is an event not to be missed!
Uncertainty as Synergy: A Charter Schools Keynote
February 27th, 2025
9:45 am
Denver Marriot Tech Center
Private Event
In this opening keynote to the annual conference of the Colorado League of Charter Schools, Maggie will explore the power of uncertainty to drive innovation, collaboration and resilience in education. Drawing on insights from her book Uncertain, she will reveal the critical role that skillful unsureness plays in excellent learning and visionary leadership in times of flux. Colorado's 262 non-profit, public, charter schools serve 136,000 students or 15 percent of the state's K-12 student body. Details on the conference.