Ruth Ben-Ghiat, internationally acclaimed historian, speaker, and political commentator for CNN and The Washington Post, discusses whether the strongman style of rule is becoming more prevalent around the world, whether strongmen have been intentional about the ways they chip away at democracy, and what happens when strongmen feel like their power is eroding. Professor Ben-Ghiat's latest book is Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present.

Documentary filmmaker Daniel Roher shares his impressions of Alexei Navalny as a person, how he was able to tell Navalny's story from so many angles, and what he predicts will be Navalny's future. Daniel's latest film, Navalny, opened this year's Seattle International Film Festival. Navalny is now streaming on CNN and broadcast, and will be available on HBO Max at the end of May.

Mark Follman, National Affairs Editor for Mother Jones, shares which warning signs could prevent mass shootings, how to keep bias out of the threat assessment process, and how to know when is the right time to intervene. Mark's new book is Trigger Points: Inside the Mission to Stop Mass Shootings in America.

Luma Mufleh, the founder of Fugees Family whose TED Talk on educational justice for refugee families has been viewed more than 1.7 million times, discusses what it's like being dropped into a classroom when you don't know English, what supports we should provide to students who are refugees, and how we can focus on the assets that refugees bring to our schools and our society. Luma’s new book is Learning America: One Woman’s Fight for Educational Justice for Refugee Children.

Clive Thompson, longtime contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine and columnist for Wired, discusses the evolution of hackers, how bias is baked into our software systems, and how social media platforms started off with serious flaws because their programmers lacked diversity. Clive's new book is Coders: The Making of a New Tribe and the Remaking of the World.

Lawyer and art historian Amy Herman, who consults the New York City Police Department, the FBI, the French National Police, the U.S. Department of Defense, Interpol, the State Department, Fortune 500 companies, first responders, retailers, and the military, discusses how to use art to solve real-life problems, how art can help eliminate bias, and how art can boost our visual intelligence. Amy’s new book is FIXED: How to Perfect the Fine Art of Problem-Solving.

Pacific Northwest Ballet Principal Dancer Noelani Pantastico shares how you come down to earth after giving a world-class dance performance, what it was like living in Monte Carlo, and how it feels to wrap up a 25-year ballet career. See her star in Roméo et Juliette one last time streaming at PNB.org February 24-28.

Irish comedian Maeve Higgins shares what it was like transitioning from a small town in Ireland to living in New York City, how to talk to our kids about the importance of having friends and family in their lives, and how the pandemic helped her appreciate friends even more. Maeve’s new book is Tell Everyone on This Train I Love Them.

Dr. Nate Zinsser, Director of the Performance Psychology Program at the US Military Academy at West Point and a sport-psychology mentor for numerous elite athletes including two-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning, discusses how we can be our own best friend without being delusional about our abilities, how to handle failure, and how to trust that we actually CAN perform at a high level. Dr. Zinsser’s new book is The Confident Mind: A Battle-Tested Guide to Unshakable Performance.

Molecular biologist Christopher Kemp talks about how complex navigation actually is, whether we should look at people who can't navigate as having a disability, and how we can change our navigational abilities. Christopher's new book is Dark and Magical Places: The Neuroscience of Navigation.