In 2005, Victoria Arlen was 11 years old when she came down with two rare neurological disorders, Transverse Myelitis and Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis. She fought for her life for five years, including four years in a vegetative state where she was ‘locked’ within herself, unable to communicate with those around her. At times, she suffered seizures […]
Donna McKechnie is a professional dancer, singer, actress, choreographer, and author whose illustrious career has spanned more than 50 years. She is regarded internationally as one of Broadway’s foremost singing and dancing leading ladies. Donna is best-known and beloved for her portrayal of Cassie in the original Broadway cast of the 1975 musical, A Chorus Line, for […]
Shannon Watts is a mother of five who, prior to founding Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, was a stay-at-home mom and former Communications Executive. The day after the Sandy Hook tragedy, Watts started a Facebook group with the message that all Americans can and should do more to reduce gun violence. That online conversation has grown into […]
It’s been 50 years since Neil Armstrong captivated the world as he took those first steps on the moon! His words are forever etched in our memory – “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” In celebration of this historic event, we are honored to have Sunita “Suni” Williams take the stage. Williams is a […]
ALEX ALPHARAOH was only 2-months old when he and his 15-year old mother were almost killed in a bomb blast at a bus stop in the violent streets of the infamous “Limonada” colony, in the slums of Guatemala City, Guatemala. This began their brutal journey to the United States. Most of his life Alex was forced […]
U.S. Congresswoman Jackie Speier has served San Francisco and San Mateo Counties since she was first elected in April 2008. Before her election to the US House of Representatives, she served for 18 years in the California State Legislature. Speier was born in San Francisco’s Sunset District and is a life-long resident of the Bay Area. […]
David and Nic Sheff DAVID SHEFF is the author of Beautiful Boy: A Father’s Journey Through His Son’s Addiction, a #1 New York Times bestseller. The book, published in a dozen languages, was named the year’s Best Non-fiction Book by Entertainment Weekly, “Best Books of 2008” by Amazon, and it won first place in the Barnes and Noble Discover Award […]
Willie L. Brown – Two-term Mayor of San Francisco, legendary Speaker of the California State Assembly, and widely regarded as the most influential African-American politician of the late twentieth century, Willie L. Brown, Jr., has been at the center of California politics, government, and civic life for an astonishing four decades. His career spans the American […]
Jaycee Dugard is an abduction survivor. Since her rescue in 2009, she has used her freedom and voice to share her unique survivor experience. Jaycee is the founder and president of The JAYC Foundation, an organization created to assist families and individuals that have experienced a severe crisis, challenge, or conflict through a major life disruption; to […]
Katherine Schweit is an author, attorney, former Chicago prosecutor, and career FBI special agent who authored Stop the Killing: How to End the Mass Shooting Crisis. After the murder of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook elementary school in 2012, Schweit was promoted to the FBI executive ranks and joined a violence prevention team as part of a White House National Security […]
Javier Zamora – Memoirist, poet, and speaker Javier Zamora believes that immigrants must keep ownership of their own stories. In his new memoir, Solito, he explores his own: a harrowing journey to the US as an unaccompanied nine-year-old that gives a unique and unforgettable glimpse into the realities of child migration. Accompanied only by strangers […]
Lisa Kristine is an internationally renowned humanitarian photographer. For more than 30 years she has documented indigenous peoples and social causes in more than 150 countries across six continents. Her work navigates the emotional landscapes of her subjects and their environments, driving awareness around causes such as human trafficking, indigenous wisdom, and global unity. Lisa’s work […]
Dr. Eric Verdin is the President and CEO of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in Novato. The Buck is the first and the largest independent research institute in the world that is focused solely on aging. At the Buck, his lab studies the relationship between aging and the immune system. Dr. Verdin was born […]
Kevin Roose is an award-winning technology columnist for The New York Times and the bestselling author of three books, Futureproof, Young Money, and The Unlikely Disciple. His column, “The Shift,” examines the intersection of tech, business, and culture. He is a recurring guest on The Daily and appears regularly on leading TV and radio shows. He writes and speaks frequently […]
David Brooks is a columnist for The New York Times and a contributor to The Atlantic. He is a commentator on “The PBS Newshour.” His most recent book, “The Second Mountain,” shows what can happen when we put commitment-making and relationships at the center of our lives. He is also the author of “The Road to […]
Jared Diamond is a Pulitzer-prize-winning author of six best-selling books, translated into 38 languages, about human societies and human evolution: Guns, Germs, and Steel, Collapse, Why Is Sex Fun?, The Third Chimpanzee, The World until Yesterday, and Upheaval. As a professor of geography at UCLA (University of California at Los Angeles), he is known for his breadth of interests, which […]
Kori Schake is a senior fellow and the director of foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). She is also a proud alumna of Sonoma Valley High School. Before joining AEI, Dr. Schake was the deputy director-general of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. She has had a distinguished career in […]
Anthony Ray Hinton survived for 30 years on Alabama’s death row. His story is a decades-long journey to exoneration and freedom. In 1985, Mr. Hinton was convicted of the unsolved murders of two fast-food restaurant managers based on the testimony of ballistics experts for the State who claimed that the crime bullets came from a dusty […]
Marie Yovanovitch is the author of a New York Times best-selling memoir, Lessons from the Edge. She is also a Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a non-Resident Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, Georgetown University. Previously, she served as the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine (2016-2019), the Republic […]
Fred Warner, the San Francisco 49ers’ team captain and linebacker, exemplifies the pinnacle of NFL excellence. Drafted in 2018 from Brigham Young University, Warner quickly ascended to become the linchpin of the 49ers’ defense, known for his incredible athleticism, strategic intelligence, and innate leadership. His journey from college football to the NFL is marked by relentless dedication […]
Andrew Yang is the cofounder of the Forward Party, a new, independent political movement dedicated to restoring the promise of American democracy. He was a Democratic presidential candidate in 2020 whose campaign outlasted over a dozen mainstream political officeholders and raised $40 million from hundreds of thousands of everyday Americans, dubbed “the Yang Gang.” He served as […]
In the early 1970s, CARL BERNSTEIN and Bob Woodward broke the Watergate story for The Washington Post, leading to the resignation of President Richard Nixon and setting the standard for modern investigative reporting, for which they and The Post were awarded the Pulitzer Prize. With Woodward, Bernstein wrote two classic best-sellers: All the President’s Men (also a movie starring […]
Nicholas Kristof, a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, is celebrated for his fearless reporting and deep commitment to human rights. Known as the “reporter’s reporter,” Kristof has lived on four continents, reported from six, and traveled to more than 150 countries. His work has taken him through war zones, natural disasters, and humanitarian crises—experiences that have […]
Born in New York City, Huey Lewis moved to Marin County, California, at the age of four, where he grew up surrounded by the vibrant West Coast music scene. His passion for music began at an early age, and by the time he attended the Lawrenceville School in New Jersey, he had already picked up the harmonica, […]