Michael Eric Dyson (born October 23, 1958) is an American academic, author, and radio host. He is a professor of sociology at Georgetown University. Described by Michael A. Fletcher as "a Princeton Ph.D. and a child of the streets who takes pains never to separate the two", Dyson has so far authored and edited 18 books dealing with subjects such as Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Marvin Gaye, Nas’s debut album Illmatic, Bill Cosby, and Hurricane Katrina.

Dyson was born to African-American parents, Everett and Addie Dyson. He attended Cranbrook School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan on academic scholarship but left and completed his education at Northwestern High School. He became an ordained Baptist minister at 19 years of age. Having worked in factories in Detroit to support his family, he entered Knoxville College as a freshman at age 21. Dyson received his Bachelor's from Carson–Newman College (magna cum laude) in 1985, and his Master's and Doctorate in religion, from Princeton University. Dr. Dyson serves on the board of directors of the Common Ground Foundation, a project dedicated to empowering urban youth in the United States. Dr. Dyson and his wife, writer and ordained minister Marcia L. Dyson, are regular guests and speakers at the Aspen Institute Conferences and Ideas Festival. Together, they lecture on many on the nation's college campuses.

Don Lemon (born March 1, 1966) is an American journalist and news presenter, best known as the host of the prime-time weekend edition of CNN Newsroom, based in Atlanta, Georgia.

Don Lemon was born on March 1, 1966 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He majored in broadcast journalism at Brooklyn College in Brooklyn, New York, and also attended Louisiana State University.

While in college, Lemon worked as a news assistant at WNYW (TV 5 in New York City). He has also reported as a weekend anchor for WCAU (TV 10 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania); anchor and investigative reporter for KTVI (TV 2 in St. Louis); and anchor for WBRC (TV 6 in Birmingham, Alabama).

He reported for NBC News' New York City operations, including working as a correspondent for Today and NBC Nightly News and an anchor on Weekend Today and MSNBC. In August 2003 he began at NBC O&O station WMAQ-TV (5 in Chicago), and was a reporter and the 5 p.m. local news co-anchor.

Lemon joined CNN in September 2006. Lemon has been outspoken in his work at CNN, criticizing the state of cable news and questioning the network publicly.

Erick Erickson (born June 3, 1975), also known as Erick-Woods Erickson, is a politically conservative American blogger and managing editor of the blog site RedState.com. In 2010, he became a political contributor for CNN's John King, USA. Erickson also hosts a weekday radio show on WSB (AM) from 6 P.M.–9 P.M.

Erickson was born in Jackson, Louisiana, moved to Dubai, United Arab Emirates when he was 5 and returned to Jackson when he was 15. Erickson attended the American School of Dubai, previously known as the Jumeirah American School. Erickson received a bachelor’s degree from Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, and a law degree at Mercer’s Walter F. George School of Law and is an inactive member in good standing of the State Bar of Georgia.

Erickson was an elected Republican member of Macon’s city council, but resigned partway through his first term to pursue a job with WSB radio in Atlanta . While he was in office, Macon police officers considered forming a union. To counter the formation of the labor union, Erickson urged that the police department be dissolved.

Andrew Breitbart (pronounced /ˈbraɪtbɑrt/ (February 1, 1969 – March 1, 2012) was an American publisher, commentator for The Washington Times, author, and occasional guest commentator on various news programs, who served as an editor for the Drudge Report website. He was a researcher for Arianna Huffington, and helped launch her web publication The Huffington Post.

He ran his own news aggregation site, Breitbart.com, and five other websites: Breitbart.tv, Big Hollywood, Big Government, Big Journalism, and Big Peace. He played key roles in the Anthony Weiner sexting scandal, the resignation of Shirley Sherrod, and the ACORN 2009 undercover videos controversy.

Breitbart was the adopted son of Gerald and Arlene Breitbart, a restaurant owner and banker respectively, and grew up in upscale Brentwood, Los Angeles. He was raised Jewish (his adoptive mother had converted to Judaism when marrying his adoptive father). He had explained that his birth certificate indicated his biological father was a folk singer. He was ethnically Irish by birth, and his adopted sister is Hispanic. He changed his political views after experiencing an "epiphany" during the Clarence Thomas hearings, and later described himself as "a Reagan conservative" with libertarian sympathies.

William "Bill" Maher, Jr. ( /ˈmɑːr/; born January 20, 1956) is an American stand-up comedian, television host, political commentator, author, and actor. Before his current role as the host of HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, Maher hosted a similar late-night talk show called Politically Incorrect originally on Comedy Central and later on ABC.

Maher is known for his political satire and sociopolitical commentary, which targets a wide swath of topics including religion, politics, bureaucracies of many kinds, political correctness, the mass media, greed among people and persons in positions of high political and social power, and the lack of intellectual curiosity in the electorate. He supports the legalization of marijuana and same-sex marriage, and serves on the board of PETA. He is also a critic of religion and is an advisory board member of Project Reason, a foundation to promote scientific knowledge and secular values within society. In 2005, Maher ranked at number 38 on Comedy Central's 100 greatest stand-up comedians of all time. Bill Maher received a Hollywood Walk of Fame star on September 14, 2010.