Former Featured Speakers

Season 32: 2023-24
Michelle Williams (partnership with Stark Library)

Season 31: 2022-23
Erin Brockovich
Danny Trejo (partnership with Stark Library)

Season 30: 2021-22
Maxwell King
Elizabeth Smart

Season 29: 2019-20
Julia Landauer
Bryan Terrell Clark

Season 28: 2018-19
Sarah Thomas
Mira Sorvino
Mary Frances Berry
Nicholas Sparks

Season 27: 2017-18
Henry Winkler
Shannon Huffman Polson
Anthony Ervin
Cal Thomas & Juan Williams

Season 26: 2016-17
Max Brooks
RJ Mitte
Susannah Cahalan
John Quinones

Season 25: 2015-2016
Troy Carter
Soledad O'Brien
Alan Page
Mark Kelly

Season 24: 2014-2015
Paul DePodesta
Bill Rosemann
Daymond John
Candice DeLong

Season 23: 2013-2014
John Hunter
Billie Jean King
Jodi Picoult
Robert Edsel

Season 22: 2012-2013
Lee Hirsch
Aron Ralston
Frank Abagnale
Col. Eileen Collins

Season 21: 2011-2012
Michelle Rhee
Peter Bergen
Bill Nye
Joshua Foer

Season 20: 2010-2011
Jan Egeland
Liz Pulliam-Weston
Max Weinberg
Jerome Ringo

Season 19: 2009-2010
Byron Pitts
Tom Daschle
Jerry Greenfield

 

 

 

Season 18: 2008-2009
Michele Norris
Rob Corddry
Mike Brown
Jack Hanna

Season 17: 2007-2008
Tim Robbins
John Dau and Christopher Quinn
Jean-Michel, Céline and Fabien Cousteau
Dave Barry

Season 16: 2006-2007 
F.W. de Klerk
Jeff Corwin
Christopher Gardner
Spencer Wells
Lisa Ling

Season 15: 2005-2006
Ben Stein
Jonathan Kozol
Anderson Cooper
Harry Paul

Season 14: 2004-2005 
Carlos Watson, Katty Kay, Hafez al-Mirazi & Terrance Smith
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Christine Todd Whitman
Forbidden Broadway
Brannon Braga

Season 13: 2003-2004
Robert Novak
Spike Lee
Scott Turow
Sir Martin Gilbert
General Wayne Downing

Season 12: 2002-2003
Jean Sherman Chatzky
Peter Hilary & Jamling Tenzing Norgay
Benazir Bhutto
Peter Bergan, Robert Baer, Dr. Bruce Hoffman & Jack Beatty

Season 11: 2001-2002
George J. Mitchell
The Capitol Steps
Dava Sobel
David McCullough

Season 10: 2000-2001
Jehan Sadat
Ken Burns
Brandi Chastain
David Gergen

Season 9: 1999-2000
Ellis Marsalis
Dr. Robert M. Gates
Rita Dove
Jane Bryant Quinn

 

Season 8: 1998-1999
George Stephanopoulos
Al Roker
James McPherson
Helen Thomas
John Berendt

Season 7: 1997-1998
William F. Buckley, Jr.
Sarah Weddington
Yolanda King
Mary Higgins Clark
Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.

Season 6: 1996-1997
David Broder
Barbara Bergmann & Terry Eastland
Greg Gumbel
Alan Cheuse
Olympia Dukakis

Season 5: 1995-1996
Warren Farrell
Julian Bond
Jesse Jackson
Beverly Sills
Tom Wolfe
Naomi Wolf

Season 4: 1994-1995
Benjamin Hooks
Nathan McCall
David Popenoe
John Updike
Frank Sesno

Season 3: 1993-1994
Pierre Salinger
Carol Tavris
Edward Albee
Nikki Giovanni
Harvey Wasserman & Cathy Roche
Robert Kennedy Jr.
Edward James Olmos

Season 2: 1992-1993
Linda Ellerbee
Dr. Art Ulene
Juan Williams
Irving R. Levine
Joyce Carol Oates
Ralph Nader

Season 1: 1991-1992
Dr. Ernest Boyer Harvey
Shirley Chisholm
Leon Lederman
Professor Andrei Anikin
Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Col. Guion Bluford
Howard Zinn & John Fleming
Kirkpatrick Sale