David Bromwich, 01/19/13

Professor of Literature at Yale

The answers given by Bigelow and Boal to justify the normalizing of torture in Zero Dark Thirty have been vain, wheedling, and dodgy. They are a clever pair of filmmakers, without political or moral depth, but here, perhaps more than they realized, they were playing with fire.

Marian Wright Edelman, 01/19/13

President, Children's Defense Fund

Dr. King is not coming back. It’s up to us to redeem the soul of America. He told us what to do. Let’s do it.

Dr. Peggy Drexler, 01/19/13

Author, research psychologist and gender scholar

Boys in particular often look to sports heroes as role models, and it can be easy to see why: they excel in a way that most boys are familiar with and can understand. But it's key to encourage boys to look to other, perhaps less conventional role models for examples of how they might want to live and grow.

Alexander Tsiaras, 01/18/13

Founder, CEO and Editor-in-Chief, TheVisualMD.com

My goal is to visualize life in all its glory. And to see how daily lifestyle decisions affect the choreography of all of our cellular activity, causing disturbances stored in trillions of X, Y, Z coordinates.

Bob Cesca, 01/18/13

Political Writer, Host of The Bob & Chez Show

This week, President Obama announced a bold series of new gun control regulations. The roster of actions went far beyond the expectations of gun control advocates, while blunting some of the paranoid delusions of the gun lobby and the Republican Party.

Jeffrey Levi, 01/19/13

Associate professor of health policy, George Washington University; Executive Director, Trust for America's Health

Either we continue on the track we're on, resigning millions of Americans to major health problems that could have been avoided, or we increase our investment in giving them the opportunity to be healthier and preventing them from developing chronic conditions in the first place.

Marlo Thomas, 01/18/13

Award-winning actress, author and activist

Here's a look back at some of those more memorable days in American history, when an ordinary citizen became an extraordinary leader.

Mark Green, 01/19/13

Host, 'Both Sides Now'

I know, it's late. But you often play with a speech the night before or enroute -- so how about your last Inaugural? Because it requires a thematic spine that endures, may I suggest one that emerges out of your books, talks, presidency: MoneyOut/VotersIn. Until we have a democracy-for-all, your progressive priorities may be stymied by the billionaires, super PACs and suppression that just tried to buy and steal our elections. They'll be back.

Michael Hogan, 01/19/13

Executive Arts and Entertainment Editor, The Huffington Post Media Group

Plenty of male actors have passionately kissed male co-stars in films, as Radcliffe and the excellent Dane DeHaan do here, but it's hard to recall a Hollywood star as famous as this one simulating the act of homosexual lovemaking this explicitly or this vulnerably.

Jeffrey Young, 01/18/13

Huffington Post Health Care Reporter

The current flu season already has claimed the lives of 29 children, the CDC said Friday. The flu was associated with 829 children's deaths between 2004 and last year, CNN reported in October.

Arianna Huffington, 01/18/13

In this week's issue, Jaweed Kaleem examines the ways social networking sites like Facebook are opening up the conversation about death, allowing people's profiles to remain even after their death. And Jon Ward takes us inside the Republican party in the wake of Mitt Romney's loss to President Obama, revealing a party grappling with existential questions.

Morgan Guyton, 01/18/13

Associate Pastor, Burke United Methodist Church

Even though Armstrong was insistent on maintaining a big lie as part of his public persona, that doesn't mean that everything he said when shaking hands with somebody was a lie. It doesn't erase whatever gold medals kids were inspired to win after they heard Armstrong give a speech about beating cancer.

Carlos Cabrera, 01/17/13

Manufacturer of quality, affordable jokes and sketches since 2004.

Every time something bad happens to me, I seek solace in the McRib. Job interview didn't go well? A McRib. Girlfriend dump you? Two McRibs. Just got hit by a car? I'm not walking anywhere, make it three.

James Zogby, 01/19/13

President, Arab American Institute; author, 'Arab Voices'

No, our problem is neither that our guns are too sophisticated for our own good or that we don't have enough of them. Our problem is simpler and deeper. It is our "gun culture" and guns, period.

Christopher Elliott, 01/17/13

Author, Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles and Shady Deals

On her last four trips through U.S. airport security, Anita Nagelis says she's been pulled aside and subjected to a more thorough search by TSA agents, including an aggressive pat-down. Nagelis, who works for a nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C., doesn't know why.

Michael Zimmerman, Ph.D., 01/19/13

Founder, The Clergy Letter Project

Scientific understanding, understanding the process of fetal development or any other complex phenomenon, need not limit the sense of awe with which we approach the world around us.

Drew Altman, Ph.D., 01/19/13

CEO, Kaiser Family Foundation

Out in the real world of health insurance, beneath the politicized debate about Obamacare, the vision of health insurance that conservatives have always championed -- high deductible plans that give consumers lots of "skin in the game" -- is steadily prevailing in the marketplace.

Mike Ryan, 01/18/13

Senior Entertainment Writer, The Huffington Post

In the first 24 hours of the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, I saw six movies ranging from the continuing McConaissance of Matthew McConaughey to a documentary about a lovable politician named Dick Cheney.

Parenting.com, 01/18/13

Online parenting resource

Three weeks ago, I was printing out an Amazon receipt for a tennis racket. When I grabbed it from my home printer, there was another sheet underneath: A New York State gun license application. Signed by my husband.

Tricia Spencer, 01/18/13

Author, "1001 Wedding Ideas: The Ultimate Resource for Creating a Wedding No One Will Ever Forget"

Most modern brides wholeheartedly embrace those love-inspired, centuries-old wedding traditions that have been handed down through the generations. But what if those traditions aren't quite as love-inspired as you'd imagined?

Elise Sax, 01/18/13

Author, "An Affair to Dismember"

I'm not really that old. Middle-aged. What do they call that? Oh, yes: "Past her prime." Let me tell you, I believed that "past her prime" line. Believed it especially for, well, you know... The big nasty. Hot sweaty snugglebunnies. Bow chicka wow wow. Intimacy.

Rev. G. Jude Geiger, 01/19/13

Unitarian Universalist Minister

The most basic act of Grace is the fact that we are alive. We have entered into this world through no efforts of our own. The value of this gift is inestimable.

Andrew Hessel, 01/18/13

Co-Chair, Bioinformatics and Biotechnology, Singularity University

As awe-inspiring as it is, the reality is that the complexity of fetal development reduces to 3 gigabits of genetic code. We are hardware made from software, code that is elegantly written.

Klaus Schwab, 01/19/13

Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum

There is no legal framework for a member country to re-establish its own currency or for one member to expel another. Leaving would have far-reaching implications for a country's politics, finances, economy, society and future.

Gregory D. Squires, 01/18/13

Professor of sociology, public policy and public administration, George Washington University

Obama owes quite a bit to the black community, but not because of the vote, his color or even the presumably more liberal politics of his Democratic Party but because the federal government, among others, has an obligation to address the continuing significance of race in America.

Susie Pearl, 01/18/13

Happiness, Well-Being Activist

As we enter into the swing of a bright new year full of potential, many of us are busy setting up new plans and ideas for the coming months.

Jim Wallis, 01/18/13

Christian leader for social change

Wayne LaPierre's statement "the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun" is at the heart of the problem of gun violence in America today -- not just because it is factually flawed, but also because it is morally mistaken, theologically dangerous, and religiously repugnant.

Sierra Black, 01/18/13

Writer, activist, mother

Sometimes, open relationships just suck. I say this as someone who's been practicing responsible, open, non-monogamy my whole adult life.

Michelangelo Signorile, 01/18/13

Editor-at-large, HuffPost Gay Voices

If the Notre Dame linebacker at the center of the "girlfriend hoax" story indeed constructed an elaborate cover story for his gay closet, as so many gay men do in worlds that demand they be heterosexual, the emotional jolt of humiliation and embarrassment at being exposed will be overwhelming.