J. David McSwane is an investigative reporter with the non-profit news organization ProPublica. He is the author of the new book "Pandemic, Inc.: Chasing the Capitalists and Thieves Who Got Rich While We Got Sick."

During this podcast, McSwane reveals who profited from the pandemic and how taxpayers funded untested and incompetent contractors. He details the U.S. government's rush to protect Americans from the Covid-19 virus as it spread across the globe, and he discusses the government's lack of preparation that left it vulnerable to profiteers who in some cases had no ability to deliver on the multi-million dollar contracts they received.

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Jon Marshall is an associate professor in the journalism program at Northwestern University's Medill School. He is the author of "Watergate's Legacy and the Press: The Investigative Impulse," and the new book "Clash: Presidents and the Press in Times of Crisis." His has written for the New York Times, the Christian Science Monitor, the Tampa Tribune, and many other publications. 

During this podcast, Marshall discusses the history of tension between journalists and presidents from founding father John Adams to Abraham Lincoln to Barack Obama, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump. He reveals how former President Trump's efforts to attack journalists are only the latest attempt to discredit reporters and to blunt criticism of policies and a presidency.

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Tristan Harris is a former Google Design Ethicist who was featured in the Netflix Original Documentary "The Social Dilemma." Tristan is the co-founder and president of the Center for Humane Technology "whose mission is to reverse ‘human downgrading’ and re-align technology with humanity," according to its website. The Atlantic Magazine once described Tristan as "the closest thing Silicon Valley has to a conscience." During this podcast, Tristan discusses "The Social Dilemma," the dangers of persuasive technology, and what all of us can do to better protect ourselves and our families from the  negative and sometimes harmful effects of social media use.

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Author and journalist Mark Follman details the work of psychologists, FBI agents, and others working in the field of behavioral threat assessment who are working to stop mass shootings before they happen in the new book "Trigger Points: Inside the Mission to Stop Mass Shootings in America." 

During this podcast, Follman reveals the ways in which some mass shootings have been prevented. He takes us to a community that is successfully employing the lessons learned over decades of mass shootings in America to make their schools and community less susceptible to mass shootings. Follman also talks about what will be required to scale these programs across the U.S.

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Eric Nusbaum is the author of the award-winning book, “Stealing Home: Los Angeles, the Dodgers, and the Lives Caught in Between.” Dodger Stadium is an American icon. But the story of how it came to be goes far beyond baseball. The hills that cradle the stadium were once home to three vibrant Mexican American communities. In the early 1950s, those communities were condemned to make way for a utopian public housing project. Then, in a remarkable turn, public housing in the city was defeated amidst a Red Scare conspiracy.

Instead of getting their homes back, the remaining residents saw the city sell their land to Walter O’Malley, the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Now LA would be getting a different sort of utopian fantasy — a glittering, ultra-modern stadium. But before Dodger Stadium could be built, the city would have to face down the neighborhood’s families — including one, the Aréchigas, who refused to yield their home. The ensuing confrontation captivated the nation – and the divisive outcome still echoes through Los Angeles today.

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This week marks the 73rd anniversary of the Kathy Fiscus tragdedy. Kathy Fiscus was a three-year-old girl who fell into a well in San Marino, California in April 1949. The multi-day rescue effort was heartbreaking and became the focus of the first live breaking news event in the history of television news. KTLA’s coverage brought thousands of people to the scene in a desperate attempt to save Kathy.

In the new book “Kathy Fiscus: A Tragedy that Transfixed the Nation,” William Deverell, professor of history and director of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West, takes readers inside the incident and provides the definitive history of it. During this podcast, Professor Deverell reveals how the rescue effort unfolded, explains KTLA’s role in the spectacle, and discusses the lasting impacts of the event.

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Peter Goodman is the global economics correspondent for The New York Times. He is the author of the new book "Davos Man: How the Billionaires Devoured the World." Before joining the Times, Goodman was with The Washington Post in Shanghai as the newspaper's bureau chief and Asian economic correspondent.

During this podcast, Goodman takes us behind the scenes at the Davos World Economic Forum to reveal what really happens when billionaires and policymakers gather behind closed doors and how those decisions affect all of us. He also tells us why he focuses on billionaires Jeff Bezos (Amazon), Jamie Dimon (JPMorgan Chase), Marc Benioff (Salesforce), Steven Schwarzman (Blackstone), and Larry Fink (BlackRock) in his book.

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Ali Noorani is the executive director of the non-partisan National Immigration Forum which describes itself as bringing together “moderate and conservative faith, law enforcement and business leaders…in support of practical and common sense immigration, citizenship and integration policies.” Ali is also the author of the book “Crossing Borders: The Reconciliation of a Nation of Immigrants.”

During this podcast, Ali explains the responsibility the United States and other countries have to help refugees escaping war-torn Ukraine. He also explains the complexities of migration in the United States, through the stories of families fleeing violence and poverty, the government and nongovernmental organizations helping or hindering their progress, and the American communities receiving them.

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Brad Meltzer is the New York Times Best Selling author of a dozen thrillers including his newest one "The Lightning Rod." The prolific author also writes the "Ordinary People Change the World" series of children's books and is the author of several non-fiction books such as The First Conspiracy and The Lincoln Conspiracy along with several comic books. Meltzer is also the host of Brad Meltzer's Decoded and Brad Meltzer's Lost History on the History Channel. Meltzer was previously on Frank Buckley Interviews in 2018.

During this podcast, Meltzer discusses the research and true-life inspirations that spawned the characters in The Lightning Rod. He reveals how rejection early in his writing career both haunts him and drives him to work to succeed. Brad also takes listeners behind the scenes of his writing process and into his childhood to help his readers to understand why he chooses to write about certain subjects.

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Patrick Somerville is a writer and author who is the showrunner for the HBO Max TV series "Station Eleven." The series is based on the novel by Emily St. Jean Mandel about a group of survivors of a devastating pandemic.

During this podcast, Somerville discusses the challenges of making a TV series about a global pandemic during a global pandemic and how the book and series were published and conceived long before Covid-19 was discovered. He also takes listeners behind the scenes of the production and how it was written and produced, and reveals how he met the author of "Station Eleven" Ms. Mandel years before this collaboration when they were both up and coming writers.

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