Jamie Lee Curtis, 10/11/11

Actress, children's book author

I would not have thought that the gentle pleasures of being a wife and the mother -- playing a word game with friends and creating a beautiful home -- would be today's pastime for many, many women.

Alan Schroeder, 10/11/11

Professor in the School of Journalism at Northeastern University

Rick Perry needed a big night and he didn't have one. Cain needed to push his message beyond the 9-9-9 plan but he couldn't do it. Romney needed to maintain the status quo -- that he managed, and then some.

Alma and Colin Powell, 10/12/11

Chairman and Founding Chair, America's Promise Alliance

The volume of conversation about education has increased over the last few years, but what's often lost are the very real stories of the young people whose lives are impacted and the people and programs that are beating the odds.

Scarlett Johansson, 10/12/11

Actress

Here in Katiko, people are receiving approximately $25 USD a month in aid, which they spend on school fees, household items and food.

Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, 10/12/11

Senior Religion Editor for the Huffington Post

Occupy Wall Street has turned the spotlight in the general vicinity of Wall Street, but unfortunately it has yet to force Wall Street to articulate its own reason for existence.

Amb. Marc Ginsberg, 10/11/11

Former U.S. Ambassador to Morocco

Whether Tuesday's salacious indictment leads to Iranian officials and Hezbollah as the federal indictment alleges remains to be seen. Given Iran's well-known and well-feared record of penetration in Latin America, there is plenty of smoke to hide the real fire.

Judy Shepard, 10/12/11

Co-Founder, Matthew Shepard Foundation

October cannot go by anymore, and never will again, without us wondering what might have been if hatred of gay, and lesbian, and bisexual, and transgendered people, and all those whom others simply think might be, had been rooted out long ago.

Kristie Ko, 10/12/11

17-year-old student and writer

In preparation for high school, I visualized the cliques, wondered about my popularity, and, ultimately, braced myself for the cruelty that is known in popular culture as The High School Experience.

Robert Creamer, 10/12/11

Political organizer, strategist and author

None of them have to do with physical violence -- they have to do with politics. They're not really worried about ending up like Marie Antoinette. But they are very worried that their electoral heads may roll.

Manuel Villacorta, 10/12/11

Registered Dietitian, Speaker, and Founder of Eating Free

The problem with trendy foods is that they confuse people about what's healthy and what's not -- sometimes they confuse us so badly that we make very irrational choices.

Rep. John Conyers, 10/12/11

Dean, Congressional Black Caucus

The proposed Korea FTA is a bad deal for our country and America's workers. It's time to put the American worker first and stop these trade deals.

Robert Reich, 10/11/11

Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy, University of California at Berkeley; Author, 'Aftershock'

Demagogues through history have known that big lies, repeated often enough, start being believed unless they're rebutted. These seven economic whoppers are just plain wrong. Here's why.

Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen, 10/12/11

Founder of Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society; Founder of SV2; Author of "Giving 2.0."

When incomes and bonuses decrease, revenues falter, and businesses stumble, it's more important than ever to give -- not necessarily more, but in a way that matters more. When incomes are down and wallets are stretched, the effectiveness of our giving is what really counts.

Reza Marashi and Trita Parsi, 10/12/11

If the assassination allegations are true, this deplorable act should be strongly condemned. To that end, the Beltway is already buzzing with calls for a "robust response" that will "send a strong message to Iran." But how?

Arjun Bahaji, 10/12/11

17-year-old senior at Chelmsford High School in Massachusetts

Occupy Wall St. could lay the necessary foundation for the next surge of student activism. And this time, we teenagers have mass communication at our disposal and a great deal of tension compounded by decades of silence.

Rev. Dr. Mark Achtemeier, 10/11/11

Minister, The Word and Sacrament

When I was ordained in 1984 I believed that gay and lesbian people could become "normal" through repentance and prayer. But in the last decade, I began to discover that God had other plans.

Deepak Chopra, 10/12/11

Author, 'War of the Worldviews'; Founder, The Chopra Foundation

Depression remains mysterious, and those who suffer from it tend to hide their condition... When you're in the throes of depression, it's hard to escape the feeling that you are a failure and that the future is hopeless.

Robert J. Elisberg, 10/12/11

Political writer and screenwriter

Republicans have shown they don't care if they're hypocrites. Or if they lie. Or about apologizing when they do. Instead, they double-down and tell you it wasn't meant to be a factual statement.

Maurice Chammah, 10/12/11

Fulbright Fellow in Cairo, Writer

What happened on Sunday in Egypt? Over the coming days, international media will clean up its coverage and separate fact from fiction, while the viewers feel like they're getting the real story.

Mark Donne, 10/11/11

London based writer and film maker

As we arrive into the autumn of a socially, politically and economically tumultuous year, who better to take the temperature of where we are than Father of Modern Linguistics, geopolitical guru and intellectual/philosophical titan Professor Noam Chomsky?

Mónica García and Nury Martinez, 10/12/11

While Alabama and other states are putting barriers to the education of immigrant children, California celebrates Latino Heritage Month by passing the California Dream Act, which will ensure that all deserving students get the opportunity to pursue higher education and be productive members of society.

Vicky Ward, 10/11/11

Contributing editor, Vanity Fair

Over the weekend I read how one study told us that women prefer dating thin, hot, rich men to fat, ugly, poor ones. Wow. I really hope that wasn't a costly enterprise by whatever group of social scientists decided to investigate that one.

Rev. Jesse Jackson, 10/11/11

Civil rights activist

Movements grow not because of the specifics of their agenda, but because of the truth of their protest. Occupy Wall Street protests outrages that all of us see. Their protest is too valid to be ignored; too pressing to be suppressed.

Suze Orman, 10/11/11

Host, "The Suze Orman Show"

I want to publicly say thank you to the Occupy Wall Street movement. Thank you for not accepting the status quo. Thank you for not assuming there is nothing to be done. Thank you for rattling the cages.