Alec Baldwin, 09/24/12

Actor

America will never be great again under a Romney administration. It will be great for rich people, while everyone else will be asked to dial down their expectations of what it means to be an American, again.

Pedro Almodóvar, 09/28/12

Film director and producer

It sometimes happens that when you're hard at work making fiction, you get invaded by the feeling that what's important is happening elsewhere -- something much more powerful than the story that you have been creating, with care and obsession. That's what happened to me on Tuesday.

Arianna Huffington, 09/25/12

I'm delighted to announce the launch of L'Huffington Post, bringing HuffPost's signature mix of news, blogging, community, and social engagement to Italy. I've always had a great fondness for the boot-shaped country and as a Greek, I feel a kinship with a fellow Mediterranean land where someone is always trying to get you to eat something and nothing starts on time.

Jim Wallis, 09/28/12

Christian leader for social change

The roots of anti-American hostilities in the Middle East run deep (literally and figuratively). Injustices and violence caused by the oil economy have sparked a reaction from dangerous religious fundamentalists in the Islamic world.

Sarah Brown, 09/24/12

Founding Chair, Global Business Coalition for Education

By uniting corporate leaders from across sectors and across continents, the new Global Business Coalition for Education aims to amplify their voices and bring the dynamism of the private sector to bear on one of the great public policy challenges of our times.

Paul Rieckhoff, 09/28/12

Founder, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America

With the stakes this high, service members, veterans and their families deserve transparency and accountability.

Hilary Rosen, 09/29/12

Communications, media and political strategist

Mitt Romney has everything at stake in this first debate. My first piece of advice for President Obama is to frame virtually every answer as a choice, not a defense. He should also share his best self as emblematic of what is best in America, and he should stay nice.

Moby, 09/23/12

DJ, singer-songwriter and musician

We are not an 'entitled' class, we are not 'dependent upon the federal government' and we do not consider ourselves 'victims.' We are the hundreds of millions of Americans who had the misfortune of not being born to millionaire parents.

Naomi Wolf, 09/26/12

Bestselling author, 'The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot'

What do I take home from my week in the UK, talking about something as simple and valuable as the new science of female arousal and orgasm? It seems that female sexuality is still such a difficult and contested issue even to think about in mainstream media spaces.

Gordon Brown, 09/28/12

Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; UN Special Envoy for Global Education

Education across the world must be a priority for us all -- an economic and of course a moral necessity. The challenge is not insurmountable; we know how to build schools and how to train teachers. And so the time for excuses is over, and action must begin today.

Michael Ian Black, 09/27/12

Author, "You're Not Doing It Right: Tales of Marriage, Sex, Death, and Other Humiliations"

How I wish I had Mitt Romney's talent. Wish I could, through my own financial prestidigitation, transform a dollar bill into two, or two million. Where my admiration for Mitt Romney ends is at Owen Roberts International Airport, two miles southeast of George Town, the picturesque capital of Grand Cayman Island.

Melinda Gates, 09/28/12

Co-chair, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Today is World Contraception Day. I am celebrating by visiting a cassava farm in Tanzania. It might seem like a strange way to observe the day, except for this fact: the women who do the majority of the labor on small family farms are often the very same women who are asking for contraceptives.

Tavis Smiley, 09/24/12

PBS talk show host, PRI radio host

Americans seem to be in a perpetual state of denial. About our past, our present and our future. A friend of mine teases that even Americans who don't live in a state of denial, tend to be frequent visitors. What are we in denial about?

Dr. Peggy Drexler, 09/29/12

Author, research psychologist, and gender scholar

When your parenting style differs from that of your partner, it can be frustrating at best and destructive at worst, creating dissonance and distance between partners and confusion among the kids. But different parenting styles needn't spell disaster. Divergent styles can help prepare kids for a world of negotiating various types of people.

Kenny Loggins, 09/27/12

Singer/songwriter

Even though you may have put in years of sweat to attain your goal, there always seems to be this bizarre sense of surprise, right at that moment when it all comes true. Even though every bone in your body knew it was just gonna happen, when it actually does, I guarantee shock and awe.

Greta Van Susteren, 09/28/12

Host of Fox News' 'On the Record with Greta Van Susteren'

Congressman Akin should skip the apologizing and instead have a frank talk with the voters in Missouri to explain exactly what he thought, exactly what he thinks now, and exactly how he arrived at his current thoughts about rape.

Kevin Bacon, 09/25/12

Actor

I truly believe that it's a small world and that every good deed can add up to real and lasting change, especially through the power of technology and social networks.

Marlo Thomas, 09/24/12

Award-winning actress, author, and activist

Last month, my dear friend Rosie O'Donnell had a terrifying experience. She had been helping a large woman who was struggling to get out of her car in Nyack, NY; and when she got home, she began to feel an ache in her chest, and both of her arms were sore. Then she became nauseous and clammy, and threw up.

Craig Unger, 09/24/12

Author, 'Boss Rove: Inside Karl Rove's Secret Kingdom of Power'; Contributing Editor, Vanity Fair

In view of the recent string of self-inflicted calamities that have struck Romney's camp, the Republicans need Rove and his Super PAC lucre more than ever. But what's a party boss to do when his candidate is in trouble?

Madeleine Crum, 09/28/12

Assistant Books editor

I packed my bags for college having read every single one of Shakespeare's plays and Twain's novels, but not knowing who Jorge Luis Borges or Doris Lessing were. This is a huge problem.

Forest Whitaker, 09/24/12

Academy Award-winning Actor

Youth have the power to create change. And for real progress to be made, they need to be a part of the solution.

David Katz, M.D., 09/29/12

Director, Yale Prevention Research Center

I find myself tempted to propose a pledge we all take: the 20 minute pledge. There are 1,440 minutes in every day. Of that total, 20 minutes represents less than 1.4 percent.

Cherie Blair, 09/27/12

Founder, Cherie Blair Foundation for Women

Out of a global population of some seven billion people, 50% of us are women. The world's women represent 40% of the workforce and are over 50% of the world's university students. Despite this significant contribution, women continue to face many formal and informal barriers that hinder their potential.

Bill Moyers, 09/26/12

Managing Editor, Moyers & Company

This week, we report on the most influential corporate-funded political force most Americans have never heard of.