Francis S. Collins, MD, Ph.D, is a physician-scientist and one of the best-known scientists of the current era.  His own research has led to the discovery of the cause of cystic fibrosis and several other genetic disorders.  He continues to lead an active research group at the National Institutes of Health focused on diabetes and progeria, a rare form of premature aging.  He is also currently leading a national initiative to eliminate the viral disease hepatitis C.

Sarah Vowell is a contributing editor for public radio's This American Life and has written for Time, Esquire, GQ, Spin, Salon, McSweeneys, The Village Voice, and the Los Angeles Times. She is the author of Radio On, Take the Cannoli, and The Partly Cloudy Patriot. She lives in New York City.

Alice Randall is a New York Times best-selling novelist, award-winning songwriter, educator, food activist, and now memoirist. A graduate of Harvard University, she holds an honorary doctorate from Fisk University, is on the faculty at Vanderbilt University, and credits Detroit’s Ziggy Johnson School of the Theater with being the most influential educational institution in her life.

An environmental educator who uses action-research to promote environmental and social justice, Dr. Trish O’Kane created the “Birding to Change the World” service learning course and program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison while completing her doctorate. She believes in harnessing the power of passionate, knowledgeable and energetic students to help solve community and global problems.

Tara Westover is an American historian and memoirist. Her first book, Educated, debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list and remained on the list, in hardcover, for more than two years. A memoir of her upbringing in rural Idaho, the book was a finalist for a number of national awards, including the L.A. Times Book Prize, the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award. To date it has been translated into 49 languages.

Steven Johnson is the bestselling author of 13 books about the history of science, technology and innovation, including The Ghost Map, Where Good Ideas Come, and most recently Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer, which was also a PBS/BBC television series. Steven is also the host of the podcast American Innovations and the host and co-creator of the Emmy-winning TV series, How We Got To Now. He lives in Brooklyn NY and Marin County, CA with his wife and three sons.

Griffin Dunne has been an actor, producer, and director since the late 1970s. Among his work, he produced and acted in After Hours; he directed Practical Magic and the documentary The Center Will Not Hold about his aunt, Joan Didion. Griffin and his dog, Mary, live in the East Village of Manhattan.