Dennis Donohue is the former three term Mayor of Salinas, California, and current President of Royal Rose LLC. He sat down with Pete Peterson, director of the School of Public Policy's Davenport Institute for Public Leadership and Civic Engagement, to talk about his work as a public figure and how California issues statewide can affect local governments.

Vance Hickin served as the California digital director for the campaign to reelect President Barack Obama. He sat down with Pete Peterson on the occasion of his Davenport Discussion to explore how Obama for America utilized the online space throughout the campaign.

On the occasion of the film release of Anna Karenina, John Struloeff, author, poet, and director of Pepperdine's creative writing program, caught up with Craig Detweiler to offer his expertise of the classic novel by Leo Tolstoy. Struloeff also shed light on his own biographical novel, Anna, which dramatizes Tolstoy's spiritual transformation while writing Anna Karenina.

Troy Senik (MPP '07), Senior Fellow at the Center for Individual Freedom, editor at Ricochet, and former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, sat down with Pete Peterson on the occasion of his Davenport Discussion to talk about his recent article published in City Journal, "The Worst Union in America: How the California Teachers Association Betrayed the Schools and Crippled the State."

Ken Hampian, interim city manager for the troubled city of Bell, Calif., spoke with Pete Peterson, director of the Pepperdine University Davenport Institute for Public Engagement and Civic Leadership, about rebuilding trustworthy leadership and civic trust and engagement in Bell.

Scottish playwright Peter Arnott and Scottish composer John Kielty sat down with Cathy Thomas-Grant, director of the theatre department's Edinburgh Summer Program, to discuss their collaborative theatre project, Why Do You Stand There in the Rain?, due to be performed by Pepperdine students this summer at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Kirsti Westphalen, consul general of Finland, sat down with Colleen Graffy, director of Global Programs at the School of Law, to discuss the role of women in public policy. Westphalen visited Pepperdine to speak to the Women in Public Policy about her career path and how she came into government service.

William Voegeli, a visiting scholar at Claremont McKenna College's Henry Salvatori Center, sat down with Pete Peterson, director of the Davenport Institute for Public Engagement and Civic Leadership at the School of Public Policy, to discuss his essay, "Not a Penny More," in defense of what he calls "antitax absolutism" published in the winter 2012 issue of City Journal.

Sonia Nazario, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and bestselling author of Enrique's Journey, sat down with Joel Fetzer, Seaver College professor of political science, on the occasion of her on-campus lecture exploring the story behind her award-winning work.

Steve Malanga is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and the senior editor of City Journal. He sat down with Pete Peterson, director of the Davenport Institute for Public Engagement and Civic Leadership at the School of Public Policy, to discuss the causes of, and solutions for, California's declining job market.