Greg Mortenson, author of the New York Times best-selling book "Three Cups of Tea," will discuss his experiences in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Since 1997, Mortenson's Central Asia Institute has raised funds to build 64 schools in remote tribal areas of the two countries. Mortenson puts a fresh -- and effective -- face on international security and the potential of one person as a force of positive influence. Image courtesy Greg Mortenson, Central Asia Institute.

Recorded January 15, 2008.

David Broder is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, author, television talk show pundit and university professor. He writes a political column for The Washington Post and teaches at the University of Maryland, College Park. Broder won his Pulitzer for commentary in 1973 and has been the recipient of numerous awards and academic honors. The longtime columnist is informally known as the "dean" of the Washington press corps and the "unofficial chairman of the board" by national political writers. For many years he has appeared on "Washington Week," "Meet the Press" and other current affairs television programs. He is the author of several books about contemporary politics.

Recorded on April 1, 2008.

World-renowned author of "Midnight's Children," "The Satanic Verses," "Shalimar the Clown" and many other books will discuss his work.

Recorded October 21, 2007.

Bill McKibben, environmentalist, author and scholar in residence at Middlebury College, is the author of many books including "The End of Nature" (the first book for a general audience about climate change) and most recently "Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future," a critique of economic growth and call for a transition to more local-scale enterprise. He founded stepitup07.org, which organized rallies in hundreds of American cities and towns to demand that Congress enact curbs on carbon emissions.

Jeffrey Lent is the author of two highly acclaimed novels, "In the Fall" and "Lost Nation." These are extraordinary novels of historical sweep in the tradition of William Faulkner, Toni Morrison and Cormac McCarthy. Lent, who lives with his family in rural Vermont, is currently working on two new novels.

Recorded May 9, 2007.

National Book Award winner and Zen master Matthiessen is author of, among others, "The Snow Leopard," "At Play in the Fields of the Lord," "Far Tortuga" and "Wildlife in America." He writes about vanishing cultures, oppressed people and exotic wildlife and landscapes, combining scientific observation with lyrical, intellectual prose. Matthiessen co-founded the Paris Review and was its first fiction editor.

Recorded May 2, 2007.

David Mason, a writer and CC associate professor of English, celebrates the publication of his new verse novel, "Ludlow."

Recorded April 5, 2007.

Donna Brazile is founder and managing director of Brazile and Associates, LLC, chair of the Democratic National Committee's Voting Rights Institute (VRI) and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University. She also is a senior political strategist and former campaign manager for Gore-Lieberman 2000 - the first African American to lead a major presidential campaign. Brazile is a weekly contributor and political commentator on CNN's Inside Politics and American Morning. A veteran of numerous national and statewide campaigns, Brazile has worked on several presidential campaigns for Democratic candidates, including Carter-Mondale in 1976 and 1980, Rev. Jesse Jackson's first historic bid for the presidency in 1984, Mondale-Ferraro in 1984, U.S. Representative Dick Gephardt in 1988, Dukakis-Bentsen in 1988, and Clinton-Gore in 1992 and 1996.

Recorded April 2, 2007.

Why do some artists become famous, while others labor in obscurity? In this presentation, art historian Erika Doss will trace the construction of art world celebrity from Jackson Pollock's feature spread in Life magazine in 1949 through Andy Warhol's Factory fame, to the present art world infatuation with Matthew Barney. Doss is professor of art history at the University of Colorado, where she specializes in American, modern and contemporary art, visual culture studies, and cultural history.

Recorded November 30, 2006.

The author of more than 250 articles and book reviews in professional and popular journals, Sandy Levinson also is the author of four books: "Constitutional Faith" (1988, winner of the Scribes Award); "Written in Stone: Public Monuments in Changing Societies" (1998); "Wrestling With Diversity" (2003); and, most recently, "Our Undemocratic Constitution: Where the Constitution Goes Wrong (and How We the People Can Correct It)" (2006). Levinson joined the University of Texas Law School in 1980.

Recorded March 5, 2007.