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Past Speakers
Amy Goodman
September 27, 2007
Amy Goodman is the host and executive producer of “Democracy Now!” a national, daily, independent, award-winning news program airing on 500 radio and television stations in North America.
Goodman’s reporting on East Timor and Nigeria has won numerous awards, including the George Polk Award, Robert F. Kennedy Prize for International Reporting, and the Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia Award. She has also received awards from the Associated Press, United Press International, the Goodman Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and Project Censored. Goodman co-authored Static: Government Liars, Media Cheerleaders and the People Who Fight Back, and the New York Times best-seller The Exception to the Rulers: Exposing Oily Politicians, War Profiteers, and the Media That Love Them.
Michael Eric Dyson
October 24, 2007
Michael Eric Dyson is a Georgetown University professor, known as the “Hip Hop Intellectual.” His works cover all aspects of Hip Hop culture, as well as extend to the larger social issues of race and gender. Prior to his appointment as professor at Georgetown, Dyson hosted his own nationally syndicated radio show. His books include Know What I Mean?, Is Bill Cosby Right? and Debating Race. More recently, Dyson has written a book critiquing western culture through the philosophical and theological roots of Pride, one of the seven deadly sins.
Ken Mehlman
November 14, 2007
Mehlman is the former Republican National Committee Chairman. Prior to his post as Chairman, Mehlman was the Campaign Manager for the Bush-Cheney ‘04 successful re-election ticket as well as Field Director for the 2000 campaign. Ken has, since leaving his Chairman post, returned to his law profession with Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld in Washington, DC. Prior to campaign work, Ken Mehlman practiced environmental law.
David Walker & Concord Coalition Fiscal Wake-Up Tour
February 27, 2008
The U.S. Comptroller General, David M. Walker, and the Concord Coalition make up a nationwide, non-partisan, grassroots organization advocating generationally responsible fiscal policy. The Fiscal Wake-up Tour is dedicated to educating the public about the causes and consequences of federal budget deficits, the long-term challenges facing America’s unsustainable entitlement programs, and how to build a sound economy for future generations.
Richard Dawkins
March 11, 2008
An evolutionary biologist form Oxford University, Dawkins will to deliver a lecture on his most recent topic, “The God Delusion.” Dawkins has been making waves in science and society since his book, The Selfish Gene. His contributions to evolutionary biology continued with his book The Extended Phenotype. Dawkins currently occupies the Charles Simonyi Chair for the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University.
Reza Aslan & Gideon Yago
March 25, 2008
Aslan, an internationally acclaimed writer and religious scholar, as well as author of No God But God, joins Yago, former MTV news correspondent and award-winning journalist, to discuss Middle East politics, religion and society. Aslan is an Iranian American with Master’s degrees in Theological Studies and Fine Arts in Fiction, as well as a Bachelors in Religious Studies. He is currently working on his Ph.D. in the Sociology of Religion. Yago, a Jewish-American, graduated from Columbia University and continued his career in broadcast journalism.
Andrew Sullivan
April 8, 2008
Andrew Sullivan is a libertarian conservative author and political commentator, distinguished by his personal style of political analysis, and pioneering achievements in blog journalism. Sullivan is known for his unusual personal-political identity (HIV-positive, gay, self-described conservative often at odds with other conservatives, and practicing Roman Catholic). He is the former editor of The New Republic and the author of three books. Playboy Magazine recently ranked Sullivan’s blog number one on its list of Top 10 Political Blogs in the country. Sullivan currently blogs for the Atlantic Monthly.
Tuesday, Oct. 24
Howard Zinn:
*Dr. Zinn is a prestigious political scientist and scholar of American history known for his influential roles in antiwar and civil rights movements.
*He is the author of twenty books, including the best selling A People’s History of the United States.
www.HowardZinn.org
Wedesday, Nov. 1
Joseph Stiglitz:
*Nobel Prize winning economist in 2001
*Former senior vice-president of the World Bank.
*He was a member of the council of economic advisors under the Clinton Administration.
*Author of “Globalization and It’s Discontents” and the newly released “Making Globalization Work”
www.josephstiglitz.com
Tuesday, Jan. 30
Dinesh D’Souza:
*Named by the The New York Times Magazine as one of America’s most influential conservative thinkers
* D’Souza is a fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and a noted analyst of public opinion and public policy.
www.dineshdsouza.com
Wednesday, Feb. 21
Sarah Vowell:
*Vowell is an author, journalist, and contibutor to National Public Radio’s This American Life
*She is an op-ed columnist for the New York Times and is a frequent guest on the Daily Show
*Author of “Assassination Vacation”
Monday, March 5
Marion Nestle:
*Former Dean of Public Health at NYU,
*She is an expert on the ways in which social, economic, and cultural factors influence the way people eat in America.
*Author of “Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health,” “Safe Food: Bacteria, Biotechnology and Bioterrorism, and “What to Eat”
www.FoodPolitics.com
Monday, March 12
Stephen Lewis:
*UN Special Envoy on HIV/AIDS in Africa
*Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF from 1995-1999
*Former Canadian Ambassador to the UN
*Chaired the first International Panel on Climate Change
www.stephenlewisfoundation.org
Tuesday, March 20
David Suzuki:
*Eminent geneticist and environmental activist
*Host of the CBC program The Nature of Things since 1979.
*Vocal proponent of sustainable ecology and a tireless educator working to improve public awareness about environmental issues.
*Award winner of a UNESCO prize for Science, and a United Nations Environment Program Medal
Ben Karlin - Monday, April 10
• Karlin joined The Daily Show as head writer in 1999 and since then has seen the nightly news satire win Emmys, in 2001, 2003, 2004, and 2005.
• Prior to his work at The Daily Show, Karlin was an editor of The Onion, which he joined while in college at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
• Currently he serves as Executive Producer at the Daily Show, and most recently collaborated with Jon Stewart, and the rest of the Daily Show team on the New
York Times #1 bestseller, America (The Book).
• http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/the_daily_show/index.jhtml
Dan Savage - Monday, April 17
• Writer of internationally syndicated sex advice column Savage Love
• Editor of the Seattle newspaper,
The Stranger
• Author of four books, including The Kid detailing how he and his boyfriend adopted a child
Part of Sex Out Loud and Mad Sex Week
Mark Zupan - Monday, April 24
• Zupan is the star of the film Murderball, winner of the 2005 Sundance Film Festival's documentary audience award
• An athlete who was paralyzed in a car accident while in high school, he began playing quad rugby in college
• In 2004 he was a starter for Team USA at the Paralympics in Athens, Greece, where he led the team to a bronze medal. He continues to compete and train, preparing for the 2008 summer Olympic games in Beijing.
• http://www.kepplerspeakers.com/speakers/zupanmark.asp
Laurie Garrett - Wednesday, March 1
• Garrett is the only person ever to have been awarded all three of the Big "Ps" of journalism: The Peabody, The Polk (twice), and The Pulitzer.
• Currently the Senior Fellow for Global Health at the Council on Foreign Relations, Laurie Garrett is the author of the best-selling books The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance and Betrayal of Trust: The Collapse of Global Public Health.
• Garrett has the unique ability to make plain the science behind new threats to public health - both natural and man-made Ñ and the political background that shapes the debate on this issue in America and around the world.
• http://www.lauriegarrett.com
Frank Luntz - Monday, February 20
• An expert on what people really think, Frank Luntz may be the most widely recognized pollster in America.
• Said comedian Al Franken, "Asking Frank Luntz if he really understands public opinion is like asking Julia Child if she really knows how to make a souffle."
¥ More media outlets have turned to Luntz for polling and consulting than to any other political pollster. Over the past four years, Luntz has conducted focus group sessions for all three networks and two of the three cable news channels. Previously, he has conducted focus groups for The Wall Street Journal, U.S. News & World Report, PBS, and the BBC.
• http://www.washspkrs.com/SpeakerInfo/Luntz_Frank/Bio/LuntzFrank.doc
Francis Bok - Monday, February 6
• Francis Bok is a 25-year-old native of southern Sudan who spent ten years as a slave in his home country
• At the age of seven, in 1986, he was captured and enslaved during an Arab militia raid on the village of Nymlal, Sudan
• In December of 1996, Bok escaped to the nearby town of Matari. In 1999 the United Nations resettled Bok in North Dakota and today he is an Associate at the American Anti-Slavery Group in Boston
• http://www.iabolish.com/news/press-kit/bio/francis.htm
E.O. Wilson - Wednesday, January 25
• Edward O. Wilson, Pellegrino University Research Professor, Emeritus,
at Harvard University, is one of the most highly respected scientists in
the world today.
• Wilson has received some 75 awards in international recognition for his contributions to science and humanity
• Marshalling arguments from science, economics, and ethics, Wilson demonstrates that proper stewardship of the earthÕs bio-diversity is
not an option Ñ it is a necessity
• http://www.thelavinagency.com/college/edwardowilson.html
Brian Greene - Tuesday, December 13
• Brian Greene is one of the world's leading theoretical physicists
• His latest book, The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time and the Texture of Reality, spent 25 weeks on The New York Times bestsellers list and inspired The Washington Post to describe him as "the single best explainer of abstruse concepts in the world today."
• An expert in string theory, Greene introduces the audience to a concept that might be the key to a unified theory of the universe.
• http://www.roycecarlton.com/speakers/greene.html
Karen Armstrong
Wednesday, October 27th
Armstrong is perhaps our day's most renowned expert on the role of religion in the modern world. She wrote The History of God, an international best-seller, as well as Jerusalem, The Gospel According to Woman, Holy War, Muhammad, and The Battle for God: Fundamentalism in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: A Short History. She also participated in Bill Moyer's popular PBS series on religion. In her presentation, Armstrong will cover the history of fundamentalism in Christianity, Judaism and Islam. www.thelavinagency.com/college/karenarmstrong.html
Eric Schlosser
Monday, November 22nd
Schlosser authored the national bestsellers, Fast Food Nation and Reefer Madness, and has earned the reputation of one of America's leading cultural critics. His journalistic interests include food safety, workers' rights, the war on drugs, marketing to children and the epidemic of obesity. In his presentation, Schlosser will speak on Fast Food Nation, where he wrote "What we eat has changed more in the last forty years than in the last forty thousand yet Americans know frightfully little about how that food is made, where, by whom, and at what cost." www.roycecarlton.com/speakers/schlosser.html
Robert Novak
Wednesday, December 1st
Novak is the nationally syndicated columnist whose column in the "Inside Report," which is based in the Chicago Sun-Times, appears in over 150 newspapers across the country. He makes numerous TV appearances, including as a regular conservative panelist on CNN's "Crossfire" and "The Capital Gang" and as a periodic contributor to NBC's "Meet the Press." In 2003, he was the first journalist to release information from anonymous White House sources who illegally revealed the identity of an undercover CIA agent. www.cnn.com/cnn/anchors_reporters/novak.robert.html
Chuck Palahniuk
Monday, January 31st
Palahniuk, pronounced paul-ah-nik, is best known for being the author of the book Fight Club, which was later made into the Hollywood blockbuster of the same name. His other books include Survivor, Invisible Monsters, Choke, Lullaby, Fugitives and Refugees, and Diary. In addition to his numerous novels, Palahniuk writes non-fiction essays as well as interviews/articles/reviews for such magazines as Gear, Bikini, Black Book and Oregon paper The Stranger. PalahniukÕs work and social commentary has generated almost a cult-like following www.chuckpalahniuk.net and www.chuckpalahniuk.com
Jean Kilbourne
Wednesday, February 2nd
Kilbourne is an internationally recognized writer and lecturer who examines alcohol and tobacco advertising as well as the image of women in advertising. She has made numerous films including Killing Us Softly, Spin the Bottle: Sex, Lies and Alcohol, Slim Hopes: Advertising and the Obsession with Thinness, and Pack of Lies: The Advertising of Tobacco. Kilbourne's most recent publication is the book Can't Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel. She has twice been named "Lecturer of the Year" by National Association for Campus Activities. Kilbourne will present on the objectification of women in advertising. www.jeankilbourne.com
Helen Prejean
Tuesday, February 15th
Sister Helen Prejean is best known for her book Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States, which remained at number one on the New York Times Best Seller list for 31 weeks. In 1996, Dead Man Walking was developed into a major motion picture. Her interest in the death penalty stems from her 1981 work with prison ministry in New Orleans. Over the past fifteen years, Prejean has dedicated herself to educating the public about the death penalty. www.prejean.org
Al Sharpton
Monday, March 7
Born in 1954 and ordained a minister by age ten, "the Reverend Al Sharpton" has made his name by being vocal. At age fifteen, he was appointed young director of Operation Breadbasket by Jesse Jackson and has remained active in civil rights every since. He also founded the National Youth Movement, an organization to help impoverished youth. From his unique perspective, he has published several titles including Al on America. Most recently he ran for the Democratic presidential nomination, later endorsing John Kerry and speaking at the Democratic National Convention.
Robert Seigel
Monday, April 11th
From 1996 - 2003, Siegel served as editor-in-chief of what was once a free local weekly in Dane County called The Onion. He is the recent author of Dispatches from the Tenth Circle: The Best of the Onion and co-author of the script for The Onion movie set for release this fall. Prior to joining The Onion, Siegel had worked as a substitute teacher, museum docent, and office temp. He has no background or experience in journalism, save a brief 1991 stint as women's-field-hockey beat reporter for the University of Michigan's student newspaper. www.randomhouse.com/crown/catalog/results.pperl?authorid=28316
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