Elizabeth Kolbert has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1999. Prior to that, she was a reporter for The New York Times. Her books include Field Notes from a Catastrophe (2006), The Sixth Extinction (2014), for which she won a Pulitzer Prize, and most recently, Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future (2021). She is a two-time National Magazine Award winner and has received a National Academies Communication Award. Kolbert is a visiting fellow at the Center for Environmental Studies at Williams College.

Dr. Frans B. M. de Waal is a Dutch/American biologist and primatologist known for his work on the behavior and social intelligence of primates. His first book, Chimpanzee Politics (1982), compared the schmoozing and scheming of chimpanzees involved in power struggles with that of human politicians. His scientific work has been published in hundreds of technical articles in journals such as Science, Nature, Scientific American, and outlets specialized in animal behavior. His popular books – translated into 20+ languages – have made him one of the world’s most visible primatologists. His latest books are Mama’s Last Hug (2019) and Different: Gender Through the Eyes of a Primatologist (2022). De Waal is C. H. Candler Professor Emeritus at Emory University and Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Utrecht University. He has been elected to the (US) National Academy of Sciences as well as the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2007, Time declared him one of The Worlds’ 100 Most Influential People Today.

John Dahl is a Microbiology Professor at the University of Minnesota whose scientific work focuses on tuberculosis. John has received numerous teaching awards and is passionate about innovative educational and research approaches that encourage people to view the world through cross-desciplinary perspectives.  His knack for making interesting connections is showcased annually at his popular “zombie fest” symposiums where academics from many disciplines gather to discuss their fields through a unifying idea of zombies. This allows biologists, chemists, behavioral scientists, musicians, artists, writers, and many others to collaborate on something entirely novel. His 2019 book Darwin’s Second Voyage uses travel anecdotes and everyday experiences to help explain Charles Darwin’s life and amazing ideas. He is currently a visiting staff fellow for the US Food and Drug Administration.

Lawrence Krauss is an internationally known theoretical physicist and the author of over 300 scientific articles and 12 popular books including NYT bestsellers The Physics of Star Trek (1995) and A Universe from Nothing (2012), and most recently The Edge of Knowledge (2023).  He has held endowed positions at numerous universities and scientific institutes, around the world, including Harvard, Yale, and CERN, and has made significant contributions to our understanding of the origin and evolution of the Universe.  He has received numerous national and international awards for his research and writing, including the highest awards from all three US professional physics societies. He was elected as a fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Between 2006 and 2018, he was Chair of the Board of Sponsors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. He is currently President of The Origins Project Foundation and host of The Origins Podcast with Lawrence Krauss. He appears regularly on radio, television, and film.