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.

Rien Fertel is the author of four works of nonfiction. He writes about literature for a variety of publications, including the New Orleans Times-Picayune/Louisiana Advocate, where he is the biweekly book critic. He has held a variety of academic positions, most recently as a Visiting Professor of History at Tulane University.

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

Jason Berry, an author and documentary filmmaker, gained renown for investigative reporting with Lead Us Not into Temptation (1992), which exposed bishops concealing predator priests. Rolling Stone called it “the bible of the survivors’ movement.”

Michelle Miller is an Emmy Award–winning journalist whose work has been featured across CBS News for more than two decades. She has served as a correspondent for “48 Hours,” anchored CBS News Streaming’s “Eye on America,” and spent many years as a co-host of “CBS Saturday Morning." Her work has spanned major national and international stories and earned multiple prestigious awards.

Dean Baquet leads a local investigative Times fellowship. He previously served as executive editor for The New York Times from May 2014 until June 2022. During Baquet's tenure as executive editor, The Times had significant audience and subscriber growth and won 18 Pulitzer Prizes, including two for Public Service. The Times reaches 100 million readers each month and had 6.7 million subscriptions to its print and digital news products as of the end of 2021.

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.

New York Times bestselling author Michael Lewis has published many books on subjects ranging from politics to Wall Street. Lewis’s newest #1 New York Times bestselling book, Going Infinite, tells the story of FTX’s collapse and the enigmatic founder at its center, Sam Bankman-Fried.
Lewis is the creator and host of Apple's #1 rated podcast Against the Rules, a searing look at what’s happened to fairness in American life through the lens of people who depend on public trust.

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.

Dr. Michelle K. Johnston, recognized as a Woman of the Year, one of the most Influential New Orleanians, and a Top 500 Business Thinker, is a passionate advocate for connection-driven leadership.

As a top ten executive coach, global speaker, and top 10% podcast host, she also serves as a distinguished professor at Loyola University New Orleans, where she challenges outdated leadership methods.