WHAT HALF A BILLION BUYS YOU IN D.C.

Marlo Thomas, 05/15/12

Award-winning actress, author, and activist

I couldn't get away from it. My girlfriends were talking about it; columnists were writing about it; Saturday Night Live was spoofing it. It was all I heard about.

Gary Hart, 05/15/12

President, Hart International, Ltd.

The influence business is no longer about votes up or down on particular measures that may emerge in Congress or policies made in the White House. This is about setting agendas, deciding what should, and should not, be brought up for hearings and legislation.

Jamal Abdi, 05/15/12

Policy Director, National Iranian American Council

Today the House is planning to take up H.Res.568 -- a resolution that shifts the U.S. redline for war with Iran -- on a suspension vote. There has not been a single hearing on this measure and no debate about its very serious implications.

Arianna Huffington, 05/14/12

For his decades-long passion to bring together science and spirituality the Dalai Lama was awarded the Templeton Prize this week. I sat with him before the awards ceremony. Here is our conversation.

Michael B. Keegan, 05/15/12

President, People For the American Way

Having gay friends doesn't absolve one of anti-gay prejudice any more than loving one's wife and daughters absolves one of defunding Planned Parenthood. Even if you'd be happy to have gay people over to dinner, that doesn't give you a pass to deny them fundamental rights.

Susan Blumenthal, M.D., 05/15/12

Public Health Editor at HuffPost and Former U.S. Assistant Surgeon General

We now must act boldly to combat the obesity epidemic. There are many opportunities across the lifespan, but it will require a shift in social norms and an unprecedented social movement for obesity prevention.

Mary Phillips-Sandy, 05/15/12

Editorial producer, Comedy Central's Indecision

Writing a 3,000-word feature on campaign spending is hard. Writing ten funny jokes about campaign spending is also hard. Some people are good at the former, some people are good at the latter and some people are good at both, but those people are unicorns.

Sarah Lacy, 05/15/12

Founder and editor-in-Chief, PandoDaily

After one particularly awful question, Zuckerberg broke down like a cartoon robot that simply could not compute. His eyes darted from place to place. He furrowed his brow and looked up after several moments of silence. 404 error. I had crashed Mark Zuckerberg.

Leo Hindery, Jr. and Leo W. Gerard, 05/15/12

With the largely jobless recovery continuing -- only 115,000 new jobs created in April -- it's far past time for both Houses of Congress to work with the Obama administration to get really serious about large-scale job creation.

Michael Giltz, 05/15/12

Freelance writer

Sex is not the same thing as love. Author John Irving knows this intellectually and having a bisexual at the center of his latest novel is not a big deal.

Richard (RJ) Eskow, 05/15/12

Writer; host, 'The Breakdown'; Senior Fellow, Campaign for America's Future

Paul Krugman's book is called End This Depression Now! (exclamation point included). If that sounds like a self-help book -- the sequel to Listening to Prozac, maybe, or something by Dr. Wayne Dyer -- that's not altogether inappropriate in this age of collective near-despair.

Michael Cohen, 05/15/12

Popologist

Sometimes with friends, as your life or their life habits change, you just have to  change your social activities with them before you get sucked into their downward spiral.

Victor Stenger, 05/15/12

Physicist, PhD, bestselling author

Scientists and science organizations are being disingenuous when they say science can say nothing about the supernatural. They know better.

Peter Worthington, 05/15/12

Co-founder of the Toronto Sun

Shin Dong-hyuk's story is important as it is unique in giving the world a peek inside that regime, and how the ruling Kim family maintains absolute control through fear and cruelty.

Jared Bernstein, 05/15/12

Senior Fellow, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Next time someone asks you for whom the austerity bell tolls, tell them it ain't just the EU.

Taylor Trudon, 05/15/12

Associate blog editor

Between unfortunate orthodontia and an equally unfortunate obsession with sparkly blue eyeshadow, middle school was rough. But as John wisely predicted, "Something's better on the other side." The other side is New York.

Janet Tavakoli, 05/15/12

President, Tavakoli Structured Finance

Sure the economy is still a mess, unemployment is high, civil services and pensions are being slashed, a record number of people are on food stamps and families are losing homes. But Jamie Dimon does his best to distract the United States from these unpleasant realities.

John Feffer, 05/15/12

Co-director, Foreign Policy In Focus

Dexter is all about U.S. foreign policy and the moral calculus of a superpower. Our government has likewise been on a killing streak, and there's no end in sight. But we are also, as a country, conflicted about this propensity toward murder.

Barbara Hannah Grufferman, 05/15/12

Writer; Speaker; Author, 'The Best of Everything After 50'

According to a new study from the Older Women's League National Board, women over 50 are in dire straits.

Richard Wiese, 05/15/12

Host of Born to Explore

There were yak traffic-jams, forests of flowers and children playing with tires around yak-dung fires. At night the sky opened, a ceiling punctured by the brightest stars I had ever seen.

Peter McGraw and Joel Warner, 05/14/12

The Humor Code

How can you tell when a prank has gone too far and strayed into bullying territory? Are high jinks and teasing just a natural, innocuous part of life, or can poking fun at others do real, lasting harm?

Keli Goff, 05/14/12

Author, Commentator and Contributing Editor, TheLoop21.com

Why are the media, and everyone else, so obsessed with makeup-free Hillary? For starters the media always obsess over how women in the public eye look, in a way they never have, and likely never will, with men.

Bob Harper, 05/14/12

Fitness expert, television star and author

My new book is a rule book for your life as a healthy-weight person, a person who can enjoy delicious food in the right portions and be satisfied.

Sarah Roberts, 05/15/12

18-year-old high school student and mother

Sixteen and pregnant. It wasn't exactly the dream I'd had while I was in my junior year of high school. I dreamt of moving away to college and living in a dorm. But when I got the news that I was pregnant, everything changed.