"Pandering to Fear:
The Media's Crisis Mentality"

An Emmy-Award winning journalist and ABC's 20/20 anchor, John Stossel became known nationwide as a thought-provoking, intelligent correspondent who asks hard questions. He began doing one-hour prime-time specials that examined such important issues as greed, gender differences and spurious lawsuits. For his work on 20/20 and his prime-time specials, he has received dozens of awards, including 19 Emmy Awards, and has been called "the most consistently thought-provoking TV reporter of our time."

Recently, Stossel has produced a series of one-hour specials examining such issues as free speech, bogus lawsuits, false scientific claims, and the inventiveness and prosperity in America.

Stossel is also featured in a weekly segment called Give Me A Break. These short commentaries have taken skeptical looks at a wide range of issues, including cartoon censorship and controversy in baseball.

Stossel has been honored five times for excellence in consumer reporting by the National Press Club. Among his other awards are the George Polk Award for Outstanding Local Reporting and the George Foster Peabody Award.

"The Glass Castle"

Journalist Jeannette Walls has built a career penning articles for New York Magazine, USA Today and Esquire. She appears regularly on The Today Show, CNN, and Prime Time Live; but, it is her own story of a nomadic, poverty ridden childhood that makes Jeanette Walls such a remarkable person.

Ms. Walls' 2005 memoir, The Glass Castle, tells the story of the grueling life she and her three siblings endured with their feckless but uniquely vibrant parents. Her father was a destructive alcoholic, yet brilliant and inspiring. Her mother was a free-spirited artist who did not want the responsibility of rearing children. Usually hungry, cold and dirty, the children, learned to scrounge for food in trash piles and plug up holes in the floors and walls for warmth. Her story is told from a child's viewpoint with compassion and without bitterness for her dysfunctional parents whom she credits with instilling a love of reading.

It is her triumph over her upbringing that makes Jeanette Walls' story unique. Her courage and determination to escape the crushing poverty of her childhood serve as an inspiration to everyone and a testament to the power of education.

"The Culture of Celebrity in the Tabloid Era"

The most high-profile magazine editor in the world, Tina Brown has left her mark on publications from The London Times to The New Yorker. She was just 25 when she was placed at the helm of the 270 year-old British monthly, The Tatler. As editor-in-chief she injected a new style and attitude producing a 300 percent circulation increase. That success led to her being named editor-in-chief at the then floundering Vanity Fair in 1984. Her vision and creativity led to tremendous successes in circulation and profit as well as four National Magazine Awards.

In 1992, she became the first female editor-in-chief of the venerable magazine, The New Yorker. Her editorial gifts improved and modernized the magazine while maintaining respect for the history of the publication. Brown's quest to create and evolve led her to form a partnership with Miramax and Hearst to launch Talk magazine in 1999, which featured celebrity profiles and interviews.

Most recently, Ms. Brown has produced a series of specials for CNBC and hosted a weekly talk show on politics and culture, Topic A With Tina Brown. Her latest book was published in 2007, the very well received The Diana Chronicles.

"Europe Through the Back Door"

Touting the road less traveled, Rick Steves, author of the bestselling guidebook Europe Through the Back Door, counts many seasoned and savvy travelers as his fans. His guidebooks cover all of Europe. His series of phrase books now outsells Berlitz, while his Europe 101: History and Art for Travelers brings meaning to the sightseeing of millions of traveling Americans.

From a modest beginning in 1976, his one-man travel business, Europe Through the Back Door (ETBD), has grown to an empire that includes 30 guidebooks, videos, downloadable audio tours, a radio show, a syndicated newspaper column, a newsletter, a blog and a well-traveled staff of 70 full time employees. He is the host, writer and producer of the popular public television series Rick Steves Europe. His viewers, listeners, and readers not only discover major cities, but also cozy villages away from tourist-trampled routes. Encouraging American travelers to become “temporary locals,” he helps them connect much more intimately and authentically with Europe — and Europeans — for a fraction of what mainstream tourists pay.

Known for his lively and irreverent sense of humor, Steves still has the enthusiasm of a first-timer for the sights, sounds and tastes of Europe more that 25 years after he wrote his first guidebook.

"Chinese Power and What It Means to America"

China has surged into the twenty-first century as a global economic and political power. This increased strength poses new challenges for Chinese-American relations. No one is able to give greater perspective to the complicated and cooperative relationship of these two mighty nations than China expert Dr. David Lampton. His comprehensive views have been honed through over 30 years in the study of Chinese domestic and foreign policy, Chinese leadership, policy-making process, and United States-China relations.

Dr. Lampton is Dean of Faculty, George and Sadie Hyman Professor and Director of China Studies at The Nixon Center. His most recent book The Three Faces of Chinese Power: Might, Money and Minds investigates the military, economic and intellectual dimensions of China's growing influence and the implications they pose for the world.

He is the author of numerous other publications and books and has appeared as an expert on Chinese policies on many national news shows such as MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour, The NBC Today Show, The O'Reilly Factor, CNN, NPR and The Fox Evening News.

Dr. Lampton received Ph.D. and undergraduate degrees from Standford University, and honorary doctorate from the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of far Eastern Studies.