George Saunders is an author known for his inventive short stories and the Booker Prize–winning novel Lincoln in the Bardo. His works include the collections Tenth of December and Liberation Day and the craft book A Swim in a Pond in the Rain. This week, he released Vigil, a new novel that follows his trademark blend of imagination, compassion, and dark humor as it explores life, death, and moral reckoning in the twilight hours of a dying oil executive’s life. Named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people, he has received numerous honors, from a MacArthur Fellowship to the National Book Foundation’s 2025 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. Saunders teaches in the creative writing program at Syracuse University, where he has mentored generations of emerging authors.

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Dr. Mary Talley Bowden is an ear, nose, and throat physician and founder of BreatheMD, a direct-care ENT clinic that emphasizes transparent pricing and outpatient airway care. She completed her residency at Stanford University, and she is board-certified in otolaryngology and sleep medicine, focusing her practice on sinus, sleep, and allergy disorders. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Bowden became a nationally prominent physician for opposing vaccine mandates, advocating for early outpatient treatment, and engaging in high-profile legal and regulatory disputes with hospital systems and medical boards. She is also the author of Dangerous Misinformation: The Virus, the Treatments, and the Lies, a memoir about her COVID-19 work and clashes with medical institutions, set for release in May 2026.

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Barry Diller is a media executive and entrepreneur whose career has shaped modern television, film, and digital media. He helped redefine entertainment by innovating network programming at ABC, leading Paramount Pictures during a period of major commercial success, and later launching the Fox Broadcasting Company, establishing the United States’ fourth major television network. He expanded his influence into digital commerce as chairman of IAC and Expedia Group, building and scaling companies such as Match, Expedia, and Vimeo.  In recognition of his impact in media, he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1994 and later reflected on his life and career in his memoir, Who Knew.

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Joseph Nguyen is the author of the #1 international bestselling book Don't Believe Everything You Think, translated into more than forty languages worldwide. His other titles include Beyond Thoughts: an exploration of who we are beyond our minds and workbooks such as The Overthinker's Guide to Making Decisions. Across these works, he uses philosophy, spirituality, and psychology to offer practical tools for seeing beyond conditioned thinking, deepening connection, and moving through life with greater clarity and ease.

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Mike White is a writer, director, producer, and actor best known as the creator of HBO’s acclaimed series The White Lotus. He began his career writing and producing TV shows, including Dawson’s Creek and Freaks and Geeks, and later wrote and acted in films such as School of Rock and Nacho Libre. Premiering in 2021, The White Lotus has received widespread critical acclaim across its seasons with numerous Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for drama series, writing, directing, and acting categories. His career, spanning three decades, is defined by a consistent focus on character, tone, and social observation across film and television.

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Daron Malakian returns to continue his conversation in Part Two. Composer, guitarist, vocalist, and record producer Daron Malakian, a founding member of System of a Down, reflects on his lifelong relationship with heavy metal. Using music as a guide to discuss how different styles, sounds, and eras shaped his identity as an artist, he talks through what he listens for in metal, including riffs, mood, aggression, and atmosphere, and how those elements influenced his own songwriting and creative direction.

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Composer, guitarist, vocalist, and record producer Daron Malakian, a founding member of System of a Down, returns to Tetragrammaton to  reflect on his lifelong relationship with heavy metal. Using music as a guide to discuss how different styles, sounds, and eras shaped his identity as an artist, he talks through what he listens for in metal, including riffs, mood, aggression, and atmosphere, and how those elements influenced his own songwriting and creative direction.

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Brian Armstrong is the co-founder and CEO of Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States by trading volume and users. He launched Coinbase in 2012 after working as a software engineer at Airbnb, where he experienced firsthand the frictions of global payment systems. Under his leadership, Coinbase grew into a publicly traded company on Nasdaq in 2021 and now serves over 100 million verified users in more than 100 countries. Beyond Coinbase, Armstrong has co-founded initiatives like ResearchHub and NewLimit and is a prominent advocate for an open, crypto-powered financial system.

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Mike Cessario is the founder and CEO of Liquid Death, one of the fastest-growing non-alcoholic brands and healthy beverage platform built on comedy. An advertising veteran-turned-entrepreneur, he has grown Liquid Death into the #2 most-followed beverage brand on social media through viral, entertainment-first campaigns. Scaling across categories including mountain water, soda-flavored sparkling water, iced tea, and energy, the rare brand has been most recently valued at $1.4 billion under Cessario’s leadership. He has been named to TIME100 Next, and Liquid Death has earned accolades, including Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies (#1 in advertising), Bain Insurgent Brands, and Ad Age’s America’s Hottest Brands.

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Dan Brown is the bestselling author of the Robert Langdon thriller series, including The Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons, The Lost Symbol, Inferno, and Origin. His novels have sold 250 million copies worldwide. Brown’s work has defined a modern genre of high-concept, research-driven thrillers that fuse art, history, religion, and science, and several of his books have been adapted into major feature films. His latest book, The Secret of Secrets, released in September 2025, returns to the Robert Langdon character in a new contemporary thriller.

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