Many-time bestselling author, columnist, and commentator John Avlon has been called “a trusted, grounded, and welcome voice” emphasizing bipartisanship and real solutions. He currently hosts a solutions journalism podcast on The Bulwark called How to Fix It and serves as the Chairman of Citizens Union, New York’s oldest good government group. Avlon was a Senior Political Analyst and Anchor at CNN, known for his “Reality Check” segments across the network. He is an award-winning columnist and the author of Independent Nation, Wingnuts, Washington’s Farewell, and Lincoln & the Fight for Peace, which was praised by The New York Times as “a Lincoln for our polarized times…powerful and affecting” and named one of the best books of the year by Vanity Fair and Foreign Affairs. He was the editor-in-chief and managing director of The Daily Beast (2013-8) and served as chief speechwriter for the Mayor of New York. Avlon’s essay, “The Resilient City” was selected to conclude Empire City: New York through the Centuries and won acclaim as “the single best essay written in the wake of 9/11.”

Avlon has appeared multiple times on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Real Time with Bill Maher, The Daily Show, PBS, and C-Span. He has spoken at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, the National Constitution Center, and other civic organizations around the nation. Avlon is also a co-founder of No Labels – a group of Democrats, Republicans and Independents dedicated to the politics of problem-solving and making government work again. Highly regarded for his shrewd analysis of the headlines of the day, offering historic perspective on the current political climate of the U.S., and the role of journalism in politics, Avlon offers reasoned discourse that focuses on real solutions.

Deborah E. Lipstadt was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on March 30, 2022, as the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, with the rank of Ambassador.  In that position, from 2022-2025, Ambassador Lipstadt lead efforts to advance U.S. foreign policy to counter antisemitism throughout the world. Ambassador Lipstadt has had a storied career as a historian, academic, and author. Prior to joining the State Department, she served as the Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish History and Holocaust Studies at Emory University’s Tam Institute for Jewish Studies, which she helped to found. At Emory University, where she has taught for 30 years, she currently holds the position of Distinguished University Professor. Her messages are grounded in fighting hate, ensuring justice, and standing up to those who distort history for ideological purposes. With years of experience as a public speaker, Ambassador Lipstadt's ability to blend scholarship with compelling narratives makes her speeches engaging and impactful.

She has written seven books including: Golda Meir: Israel’s Matriarch; The Eichmann Trial; Denial: Holocaust History on Trial; Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory; Beyond Belief: The American Press and the Coming of the Holocaust, 1933-1945. She received the National Jewish Book Award three times, most recently in 2019 for Antisemitism: Here and Now.

Ambassador Lipstadt is known for having been sued for libel by David Irving, one of the world’s leading Holocaust deniers. The case, which lasted for six years and was heard in court in a twelve-week trial, resulted in Irving being declared by the court to be “a right-wing polemicist,” who engages in antisemitism, racism, and misogyny. That trial was depicted in the 2016 film Denial, which was based on her book History on Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier.

She was named as one of TIME 100’s "Most Influential People" of 2023. In April 2024, Ambassador Lipstadt was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the oldest learned societies in United States. Ambassador Lipstadt inspires deep reflection on the importance of preserving historical truth and fostering a more just and inclusive world. Her message encourages action, making her not only a speaker but a catalyst for meaningful change.

Steve Inskeep: A Voice of Clarity in a Fast-Paced World

Steve Inskeep is a trusted and seasoned journalist, best known as the host of NPR’s Morning Edition and the morning news podcast Up First. With a career spanning decades, Inskeep has built a reputation for bringing depth, nuance, and clarity to the news, guiding millions of listeners through the most pressing events of our time.

While he has conducted in-depth interviews with presidents and congressional leaders, Inskeep is equally dedicated to amplifying the voices of everyday Americans—from Pennsylvania truck drivers and Kentucky coal miners to Yemeni refugees and California firefighters. His reporting is not just about power, but about the people affected by it, giving listeners a more complete and humanized understanding of the world.

Inskeep is a firm believer in “slowing down the news”—cutting through the noise of a relentless media cycle to offer thoughtful analysis and historical context. This philosophy was powerfully demonstrated in the 2008 presidential campaign when he and NPR’s Michele Norris launched The York Project, a groundbreaking series of conversations about race in America, which earned high praise and industry recognition. During the 2008 financial crisis, when panic and uncertainty dominated the news, Inskeep made it a priority to not only inform but also offer perspective, humor, and resilience. “Laughter is a sign that you're not defeated,” he reflected in an interview with Nuvo magazine.

A journalist with a global perspective, Inskeep has reported from Iran, Pakistan, and the U.S.-Mexico border, delving into the intersection of geopolitics, human migration, and economic shifts. His investigative work has earned numerous accolades, including a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for his reporting on conflict in Nigeria and multiple Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Silver Batons for excellence in broadcast journalism. He has also authored two critically acclaimed books: Instant City: Life and Death in Karachi, which explores the rapid urbanization of one of the world’s most volatile megacities, and Jacksonland, an intricate history of Andrew Jackson’s conflict with Cherokee Chief John Ross during the 1830s.

Beyond radio, Inskeep is a frequent guest on television programs including Meet the Press, This Week, and PBS NewsHour, and has contributed to leading publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and The Atlantic. With his signature blend of insightful journalism, deep curiosity, and an unwavering commitment to thoughtful storytelling, he continues to help audiences make sense of a complex and rapidly changing world.

Harvard University professor of philosophy Michael Sandel has been described as a “philosopher with the global profile of a rock star,” known across the globe for his lively Socratic debates that aim to restore the lost art of respectful discussion. Sandel is the bestselling author of books on justice, ethics, democracy, and markets that have been translated into over 30 languages. Sandel has been a visiting professor at the Sorbonne, delivered the Tanner Lectures on Human Values at Oxford, served on the U.S. President’s Council on Bioethics, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. A graduate of Brandeis University, he received his doctorate from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.

Sandel’s books—on justice, democracy, ethics, technology, and markets—have been translated into more than 30 languages. They include Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do?; What Money Can’t Buy, and The Tyranny of Merit: Can We Find the Common Good?, which seeks a way beyond our polarized politics. A new edition of his classic book Democracy’s Discontent has been described as “essential--and ultimately hopeful--reading for all those who wonder if our democratic experiment will survive in the twenty-first century.”

Sandel’s legendary course “Justice,” one of the most popular in Harvard’s history, is freely available online and has been viewed by tens of millions. His BBC series The Global Philosopher engages participants from around the world in discussing the ethical issues lying behind the headlines. In this and other television, radio, and online programs, Sandel explores tech ethics, robots and AI, markets and morals, climate change, free speech, and other topical issues.

Sandel’s renowned interactive public lectures on the big civic questions of the day show how reasoned debate, leavened with humor and mutual respect, can produce dialogue across our differences.

A “master of life’s big questions” (Guardian), Sandel’s live events have packed St. Paul’s Cathedral (London), the Sydney Opera House (Australia), the Delacorte Theater in New York’s Central Park, and an outdoor stadium in Seoul (S. Korea), where 14,000 came to hear him speak.