Michael Strecker is a writer from Louisiana. His debut novel, "The Knights of Wade" was released in the spring of 2024, by Pelican Publishing.

Imani Perry is the Henry A. Morss, Jr. and Elisabeth W. Morss Professor of Studies of Women, Gender and Sexuality and of African and African American Studies at Harvard University and the Carol K. Pforzheimer Professor at Harvard Radcliffe Institute. Perry is the author of 8 books, including the New York Times Bestseller South to America: A Journey Below the Mason Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation which received the 2022 National Book Award for Nonfiction, the inaugural Inside Literary Prize, and was named one of President Obama’s favorite books of 2022.

Prof. Richard Campanella, geographer and associate dean for research with the Tulane School of Architecture and holder of the Jean and Saul A. Mintz Professorship, is the author of fifteen books and 300 articles on New Orleans and Louisiana geography, history, urbanism, and related topics.

Jason Berry is an author and documentary producer. "City of a Million Dreams: New Orleans History at Year 300" [2018] is the subject of his latest film which treats jazz funerals as a prism

Michelle Miller is a co-host of "CBS Saturday Morning." She also files reports for "48 Hours" and anchors CBS News Streaming’s “Eye on America.” The award-winning journalist joined CBS News in 2004 and has reported on stories of national and international importance. Her reporting has earned her several prestigious journalism awards including an Emmy for her series of reports on the National Guard's Youth Challenge Academy.

Ken Auletta launched the Annals of Communications columns and profiles for The New Yorker magazine in 1992. He is the author of twelve books, including five national bestsellers: Three Blind Mice: How the TV Networks Lost Their Way; Greed And Glory On Wall Street: The Fall of The House of Lehman; The Highwaymen: Warriors of the Information Super Highway; World War 3.0: Microsoft and Its Enemies; and Googled, The End of the World As We Know It, which was published in November of 2009.

Michael Lewis has published many New York Times bestselling books on various subjects. His most recent works are Going Infinite, The Premonition, The Fifth Risk, The Undoing Project, Flash Boys, and The Big Short. The Blind Side, published in 2006, tells the story of Michael Oher, a poor, illiterate African-American kid living on the streets of Memphis whose life is transformed after he is taken in by white Evangelical Christians.

Mitch Landrieu is a public servant, lawyer, author, and nonprofit leader. Landrieu most recently served as a senior advisor to President Biden and the Infrastructure Coordinator at the White House, responsible for the implementation of the historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. In that role, he oversaw the most significant and comprehensive investments in American infrastructure in generations that led to over 40,000 new projects in two years encompassing roads, bridges, rail, ports, airports, transit, clean water, clean energy and high-speed internet.

Walter Isaacson Walter Isaacson is a Professor of History at Tulane. He has been the editor of Time Magazine, the CEO and Chairman of CNN, and the CEO of the Aspen Institute. He is an advisory partner at Perella Weinberg, a financial services firm based in New York City, a cohost of the PBS show Amanpour & Co., a contributor to CNBC, and host of the podcast “Trailblazers, from Dell Technologies.”