Mohamed A. El-Erian

CEO and co-CIO, PIMCO

With political will, America has the ability to promote high and inclusive economic growth, create sustainable jobs, enhance productive opportunities for its citizens, improve public services, and arrest the type of inequality that silently eats away at social integrity and cohesion.

Geoffrey R. Stone

Edward H. Levi Distinguished Service Professor of Law, University of Chicago

The American judiciary exists, first and foremost, to protect the constitutional rights of those who are not in the majority. It exists to ensure that our government treats all of us with respect.

Arianna Huffington

The future will definitely be a hybrid one, combining the best practices of traditional journalism with the best tools available to the digital world. Jeff Bezos has already changed the definition of what retail is; our definition of what constitutes news could use the same level of rethinking.

Kirk Douglas

Actor

I sat in the driver's seat and I saw a note on the wheel. I recognized Michael's handwriting: "Dad, you always say I never asked you for anything but you gave me a lot. Love, Michael." What is the opposite of rejection? Acceptance.

Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren

The next Fed chair will have an opportunity to get our economy back on track and to help rebuild America's middle class. But that will require the right temperament and a willingness to take on Wall Street CEOs when necessary.

Dr. Peggy Drexler

Author, research psychologist and gender scholar

A new study from the London School of Economics found that an increasing number of younger women are choosing to have children earlier, with the idea that they'll return to, or even start, their careers later on.

Nathan Myhrvold

Former CTO, Microsoft

Unfortunately, there's no magic approach to separate the bad crazy ideas from the good crazy ideas, but the good ones do have a few distinguishing characteristics that help us improve our success rate.

Tracy McMillan

Author, TV writer

Every good thing you can imagine happening in the world -- from the eradication of hunger to the end of Citizens United -- will happen sooner if each one of us takes responsibility for ourselves, and from there, reaches out to serve others.

Doug Bandow

Senior Fellow, the Cato Institute

Too bad the hundreds shot dead on Cairo streets won't be able to vote in the new restored democracy. Washington needs to "reset" relations with Egypt.

Keli Goff

Author and Special Correspondent, TheRoot.com

If women are looking to achieve anything close to the myth known as "having it all," the more children they have, the harder it will be. That's not judgment. That's simple math.

Kal Penn

Actor/Producer

It was a mistake to try to casually engage in 140 characters with folks who I thought understood my background and beliefs; instead, folks misunderstood this as a strong advocation of something entirely different. I feel terrible about that and am sorry.

Iris Higgins

Certified hypnotherapist, past life regression specialist, and women's health coach

I'm sorry because every time you ate something you "shouldn't" or ate more than you "should," I talked about "getting back on the bandwagon." I cringe now every time someone uses that phrase. When did the way we eat become a bandwagon? When did everyone stop eating and become professional dieters?

Russell Simmons

Founder, GlobalGrind.com

The time has come to end the so-called "War on Drugs." Forty years of a failed war has destroyed communities and families all across our land. Hard earned tax-payer dollars have been wasted on ineffective policies that have resulted in over-incarceration.

Katie Hurley

Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist, Parenting Expert

Life is far too scripted today. Plans are made. Classes are attended. Craft projects are intended to mimic those found on Pinterest. Gone are the days of free play and creating something out of nothing. Many kids today are simply following a script.

Robert Reich

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

Marian Wright Edelman

President, Children's Defense Fund

Our children are afraid for their friends, their families, and themselves. They know something needs to change. But they can't get there without us -- and they certainly can't get there by arming themselves with still more guns.

Adam Levin

Former Director New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs; founder of Credit.com and Identity Theft 911

For Americans concerned about their privacy, the NSA data grabs are daunting, but what about the data grabs happening inside your own home, perpetrated not by the government but by your coffee machine?

Marlo Thomas

Award-winning actress, author and activist

At first, Internet dating sites carried a stigma; they were perceived as ground zero for socially awkward and desperately hopeless souls who could not find love in the "real world." All of that changed, however, as online technology became more sophisticated, and cupid-driven algorithms pushed matchmaking light years beyond the old "What's your sign?" formula.

Jonathan Weiler

Director of Undergraduate Studies in Global Studies, UNC Chapel Hill

Can we please stop talking as if the phrase "Republican moderate" has any basis in political reality? Nationally, the GOP has become a party of radicals, proudly wearing on its sleeve its contempt for the less well off and its ignorance of basic scientific reality.

Cherie Blair

Founder, Cherie Blair Foundation for Women

Eliminating discrimination against women is a strategy that will move global development progress forward. We will fail to achieve lasting positive change if women are excluded.

Rob Brooks

Evolutionary biologist and author

News just in, guaranteed to stir smug nods from non-believers and incite irritation among the devout: intelligence correlates negatively with religious belief.

Sarah Hankel-Hoffman

Wife and straight ally

It is our lifetime conviction that all people are created equal, and it is our belief that good people subscribe to the "golden rule" that has resulted in our decision to withdraw our reservation to hold our wedding reception at the Görtz Haus Gallery in Grimes, Iowa, on Sept. 7, 2013.

Leo W. Gerard

International President, United Steelworkers

Last month, McDonald's gave its workers a little gift -- a budget purporting to show how to survive on the starvation wages the burger behemoth pays. The bizarre financial plan made millionaire McDonald's CEO Don Thompson look like a real clown.

Ann Brenoff

Senior Writer, The Huffington Post

We are now living with an entire generation of disinterested store clerks, rude waiters, indifferent cable company operators and medical office staffs who frankly don't give a damn whether you ever cross their employer's doorway again. Does Best Buy really wonder why it's in bankruptcy? (Hint: Shoppers hate you.)

Mike Ryan

Senior Entertainment Writer, The Huffington Post

Jim Carrey was probably right to denounce "Kick-Ass 2."

The Daily Meal

TheDailyMeal.com

There is no doubt that the classic college bar is a major part of an undergrad's life. Everyone's got their favorite campus late-night hangout. But some of these college bars, from universities and colleges big and small, truly define what it means to be a (insert your college mascot here).

Rev. Al Sharpton

President, National Action Network

Parents and grandparents in this city are tired of having to warn their children about both criminals and the police. Do we want to see crime reduced? Absolutely, because they are doing it to us. But don't criminalize us at the same time.

Soraya Chemaly

Feminist, Writer, Satirist... not always in that order

It seems logical to me that the same way I try to teach my kids to exercise, sleep well and be good people, I would teach them to have healthy sex and sleep with other good people.

Eli Lehrer

President, R Street

I'm a conservative and would have voted against Obamacare if I were a member of Congress. I think that many of its provisions are silly and have criticized some of them rather loudly. That said, I'm likely to count myself among the winners as the revised health care system rolls out.