Syndicated columnist and biographer Richard Reeves. His most recent book is President Nixon: Alone in the White House (Simon & Schuster). Hes also written books about Presidents Reagan, Kennedy, Clinton, and Ford. Reeves is former chief political correspondent of The New York Times. He is currently Visiting Professor of Journalism at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California.
Imam Sayed Hassan Qazwini is the religious leader of the Islamic Center of America in Detroit, the biggest such center in the United States. It includes a Mosque in which he preaches.
New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman. He covered the Middle East for many years, work that won him two Pulitzer Prizes. He's also the author of the book, From Beirut to Jerusalem. The book looked at the inside of Arab and Israeli power circles, and examined the intefadeh and the perceptions American and Israeli Jews have of each other.
Religion scholar and former nun Karen Armstrong. She is the author of many books, including, A History of God, an examination of the fundamentalist movement in Christian, Jewish, and Islamic faiths and Islam: A Short History. She's also the author of the bestsellers Jerusalem, and The History of God.
American Muslim Asma Gull Hasan. She the author of the book, now in paperback, –American Muslims: The New Generation— (Continuum press). ASMA was born in Chicago and is the daughter of Pakistani immigrants.
Journalist Ralph Blumenthal writes for The New York Times. He covered the trial following the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. He’ll discuss the information about the workings of Osama Bin Laden’s organization that came to light during the trial.
Journalist Benjamin Weiser (“WHY-zir”) writes for The New York Times. He covered the trial of the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
Biblical theologian Rabbi Burton Visotzky teaches at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City. He's best known for his Genesis seminars, attended by novelists, poets, editors, filmmakers, CEOs, and attorneys to understand the relevance of Genesis to modern life. It became the basis of a 10-part PBS series in 1996. He is also the author of The Road To Redemption: Lessons from Exodus on Leadership and Community.
Director of the Center for Afghanistan Studies at the University of Omaha, Thomas E. Gouttierre. He also served on the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission to Afghanistan, and is the American specialist on Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and South Asia at the meetings of the US-Russian Task Force on Regional Conflicts.
Investigative reporter Lowell Bergman is the correspondent on the Frontline documentary about Osama Bin Laden. Previously, Bergman's work exposing the tobacco industry became the hit film The Insider. He was portrayed by Al Pacino. Bergman is a contributor to The New York Times.
Nigerian-born journalist Ken Wiwa writes for the Toronto Globe and Mail. He is the son of the late Ken Saro-Wiwa, one of Nigerias best-loved writers and vocal critics of the military rule. Saro-Wiwa was executed by the Nigerian military regime in 1995. Ken Wiwa has written the new memoir, In the Shadow of a Saint: A Sons Journey to Understand His Fathers Legacy.
Producer/ Director Terry Zwigoff recently directed the new film Ghost World based on the graphic novel of the same name by Daniel Clowes. Zwigoff also directed the documentary, Crumb about the life of Robert Crumb, the famous underground artist who popularized characters such as Mr. Natural, Flakey Foont and Keep on Truckin'. He also directed the documentary Louie Bluie.
Cartoonist Daniel Clowes. Drawn in 1950s pop culture style, his comics are darkly humorous satires of middle class America. His graphic novel Ghost World (first published in 1993) is the basis of the new film of the same name. His first comic book series was Lloyd Llewellyn, followed by Eightball (both published by Fantagraphics Books). Clowes was the first cartoonist to contribute a comic story to Esquire annual fiction issue.
Writer and radio personality Garrison Keillor. He is the host and writer of A Prairie Home Companion, broadcast from Minnesota and heard weekly on public radio stations nationwide. Keillor has just published two new books. One is a semi-autobiographical novel, called Lake Wobegon Summer 1956. (Viking) The other is in collaboration with photographer Richard Olsenius: In Search of Lake Wobegon (Viking Studio). It an effort to capture in words and pictures the people and places that inspired the fictional town of Lake Wobegon.
