LevelUp 2026

Craig Biddle

Do you ever doubt your ability to take on new challenges and succeed in them? Do you fear wading into new waters and instead settle for the status quo? If so, you are not alone. Nor are you stuck there. You can do much more than you know. You can achieve great success in life. And you can see that you can—but, to do so, you have to know where and how to look.

In this talk, Craig Biddle will show you a method for overcoming doubt and fear and seeing your actual potential so you can soar and thrive.

Coleman Hughes, Kiyah Willis, Timothy Sandefur

Truths, half-truths, and outright falsehoods compete for our attention every day—making it harder to think clearly and act confidently. How do you separate fact from fiction? How do you keep your thinking grounded in reality so it can help you choose wisely, live beautifully, and defend liberty? Join Coleman Hughes, Kiyah Willis, and Timothy Sandefur for a candid conversation about intellectual clarity—and bring your questions for the Q&A.

James Lindsay, Kiyah Willis, Helen Pluckrose

Public discourse is increasingly shaped by loyalty to groups rather than reason and independent judgment. Many people embrace or reject ideas not because they’re demonstrably true or false, but because they signal belonging. This mindset fuels hostility toward opposing groups and makes some resort to violence in the name of their tribe. How can we counter this trend and foster a culture of individualism and independence?

Join James Lindsay, Kiyah Willis, and Helen Pluckrose for a discussion of Enlightenment values, the facts that support them, and how you can leverage these truths to help build a world conducive to human flourishing.

Maddox Locher

What is spirituality? Is it inherently religious or faith-based, as many people believe? Or is it factually secular and reason-based? Maddox Locher will argue that it is the latter—and that it is a vital human need. Surveying the nature and importance of universal values such as purpose, art, friendship, and love—along with the range of legitimate personal preferences in these areas—Maddox will unpack and integrate key aspects of secular spirituality.

Kiyah Willis

Who’s on the political left? Who’s on the right? What do these terms actually mean? And what happens when almost no one can define them, yet almost everyone takes a side? In this talk, Kiyah Willis will explore why we need a political spectrum, clarify the objective meaning of its key terms, and show how vague language blurs crucial distinctions—making the extremes sound the same. You’ll leave better equipped to defend liberty.

Angelica Werth

Jane Austen doesn’t lecture us about human nature; she dramatizes it. Through characters who learn (or refuse to learn) from experience, her novels illuminate how ideas shape choices, how self-deception derails judgment, and what moral growth looks like in real life. In this talk, Angel Werth will explore key characters from Austen’s novels to show how great fiction can sharpen our ability to read people accurately, and how we can use that clarity to navigate and improve our relationships.

Arthur Zey

Many thoughtful people accept mind-body integration in theory but fall short on the body part in practice. In this talk, Arthur Zey will make the case for treating exercise and nutrition as vital elements of a flourishing life—and share practical, sustainable approaches to training and eating healthfully. You’ll leave with a clear framework and concrete next steps for integrating mind-body integration into your life.

Luc Travers

Renaissance art fills museums and textbooks, and masters such as Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci are world-famous. Yet for many modern viewers—especially advocates of reason—its religious themes may seem distant or hard to connect with. In this talk, Luc Travers will show how Renaissance art can be a source of powerful, secular inspiration. You’ll learn to see these masterpieces as celebrations of rational aspiration and human achievement—and as spiritual fuel you can use in your life here and now.

Timothy Sandefur

As America marks its 250th anniversary of independence, Timothy Sandefur—author of The Conscience of the Constitution: The Declaration of Independence and the Right to Liberty and the forthcoming Proclaiming Liberty: John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and the Declaration of Independence—will examine the Declaration’s philosophical and legal foundations and the lessons they hold for our day.

Daniel Richards

Explaining why an idea is true doesn’t always persuade someone to accept it. Logic matters. Evidence matters. But people understand ideas most clearly when they see them in action. That’s where storytelling shines.

In this talk, Daniel will break storytelling down to its basic structure. Drawing on Aristotle’s theory of rhetoric and decades of experience in marketing and persuasion, he’ll show how narrative creates context, stakes, and meaning. You’ll leave with a practical framework for turning abstract ideas into compelling stories that bring your arguments to life.

Craig Biddle

Are objective standards possible in morality? in beauty? in art? in love? They are. And knowing how to identify and apply them can improve your life profoundly.

In this talk, Craig Biddle will show you (a) the method by which you can identify and verify objective standards yourself, and (b) how and why using this method can help you think more clearly, live more fully, and love more deeply.

LevelUp is for people who want to live free and flourish. The theme of the conference—the thread connecting all of the lectures—is that freedom and flourishing are consequences of certain ideas that were developed over thousands of years and are still being refined today. The conference will help you to better understand and act on these ideas, to thrive in your ventures and relationships, and to support liberty on solid ground. If those are your goals, this conference is for you.

A great way to meet other attendees is to join LevelUp on Facebook and WhatsApp. Simply click “Join,” say hi, and enjoy a warm welcome. You can meet other attendees, find roommates, ask questions, post suggestions, and discover fun things to do in the Chicago area.

Dress comfortably! We recommend business casual attire for the opening banquet and daily lectures, and cocktail attire for the closing banquet and dance.

Tickets for the opening and closing banquets (Wednesday and Saturday nights) can be purchased through LevelUp’s registration page.

Internet access for conference attendees is free throughout the hotel.

We do not plan to livestream the conference.

For international travelers, we recommend using Google Flights to find the most affordable and suitable flights.

The Westin Chicago River North is approximately 18 miles from Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD). We recommend allowing 45-60 minutes for travel by car or rideshare, especially during peak traffic hours.

You can also get there by taking the CTA Blue Line train from the airport to the Clark/Lake station, which takes approximately 45-50 minutes and is a short walk from the hotel.

Registration will remain open until the conference sells out. We encourage you to register and book your hotel room early, as space is limited.

If you register and, for any reason, are unable to attend the conference, LevelUp will refund your registration fees, including banquet tickets, in full. Simply email [email protected] with the subject line “Cancel LevelUp Registration,” and we will refund your registration fees in full.

For Active-Mind Scholarship recipients, please note that we will NOT reimburse you for unused travel tickets. We recommend that you purchase refundable travel tickets and/or appropriate cancellation insurance.