Cenk Uygur, 12/29/11

Host of The Young Turks

If you live in Iowa, please send a message to the president for the rest of us. We voted for change last time, apparently you didn't hear us. If you don't hear us soon, you might be the one that gets changed.

Cobus de Swardt, 12/29/11

Managing director, Transparency International

When citizens are silenced, fraud and corruption from the financial sector to building safety, go unchecked with disastrous consequences for economy and society. This year the world has been rocked by a Tunisian fruit seller who refused to let his voice go unheard.

Ricky Gervais, 12/29/11

Actor, writer, comedian, director, producer

It all started eight years ago. Little did I know then how many times my name would be linked with the Hollywood Foreign Press in the future.

Dr. Patricia Fitzgerald, 12/29/11

Wellness Editor, The Huffington Post; doctor of acupuncture and Oriental medicine; nutritionist; author

When I want to remedy that "cold to the bone" wintertime feeling, a delicious steaming bowl of soup often comes to mind. Here are four great reasons to eat more soup this season, followed by some easy and delicious recipes.

David Wild, 12/29/11

TV Writer; Contributing Editor, Rolling Stone; Co-Author, 'Diary of a Player"'

Instead of making any promises to myself that I might not live up to, here's my best shot at the ultimate, mostly uplifting playlist for all of our New Year's Eve parties.

Barbara Hannah Grufferman, 12/28/11

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

For too long, women have been tricked into seeing 50 as the end of the road when, instead, we should be viewing it as the start of a new life, one in which we are truly comfortable with who we are.

Robert Scheer, 12/29/11

Editor, Truthdig.com; Author, 'The Great American Stickup'

It should not be difficult for the New York Times editorial writers to treat Ron Paul as a profound and principled contributor to a much-needed national debate on the limits of federal power instead of attempting to marginalize his views beyond recognition.

Margaret Wheeler Johnson, 12/29/11

Women's Editor

I managed to live in New York for two years without it once occurring to me that I had so recently been a believer. Then I was reminded -- at exactly noon on a weekday in the spring of 2007.

Edwin Black, 12/28/11

International investigative author

It will come as a shock to most Americans, but no presidential candidate -- nor any candidate, nor any local, state or federal government -- has developed a contingency plan in the event of a protracted oil cut-off.

Diane Gilman, 12/28/11

Fashion luminary and HSN icon

It's easy to get bogged down in the non-Rockwell moments of the holidays. If you're feeling blue, I hope a magical moment wraps its arms around you and brings you back to what matters: reaching out, giving back, paying attention, decoding and appreciating messages from the universe.

Sam Lyons, 12/29/11

16-year-old junior at Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles, CA

I'm only 16. I don't have a job; I don't need to worry about supporting my family. But the economy affects more than income. Here are examples of how the recession has affected our pop culture.

Lewis Richmond, 12/29/11

Buddhist writer and teacher

When I ask audiences what they like about being older, people often answer "Gratitude," and then say what they are grateful for: grandchildren, good health, free time, wearing what they want, the chance to travel, giving back to the community.

Douglas Anthony Cooper, 12/29/11

Novelist, Amnesia

We have all that we need to show that defaming Israel with the slur of "genocide" is a particular kind of lie: it is not simply inaccurate, but it is inaccurate by orders of magnitude.

Sophie Keller, 12/28/11

Happiness expert and creator of howhappyis.com

When you clean up your home, you rid it of stagnant and unhealthy energy. Most of us have too many things we don't actually need, and in getting rid of them, we create space for the cures to work.

Menachem Rosensaft, 12/29/11

Professor of law and son of Holocaust survivors

Sandra Gabrilove Saltzman, who died late on the night of December 24 at the age of 63, attended the Ethical Culture School in Manhattan, Fieldston High School in Riverdale, NY, Brown University, and New York University School of Law. This eulogy was delivered at her funeral.

Graham Allison, 12/29/11

Director of Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center and former assistant secretary of defense

As Washington antics undermine our confidence in government, it is instructive to think back 20 years to challenges a President and Congress faced in December, 1991.

Timothy D. Slekar, 12/29/11

Teacher Educator/Public Education Advocate

How do we allow our children to take part in a system imposed by political operatives, lobbyists, and think tanks that only want to get at the money tied up in public schools and declare the public system a failure?

Peter Davis, 12/28/11

Academy Award-winning filmmaker, author and journalist

On Christmas Eve 1973, Bert Schneider, the richly innovative Hollywood producer who died this month, decreed a screening of what eventually became my film on the Vietnam War, Hearts and Minds.

Robert Reich, 12/28/11

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

My political prediction for 2012 (based on absolutely no inside information): Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden swap places. Biden becomes Secretary of State -- a position he's apparently coveted for years. And Hillary Clinton, Vice President.

Jonathan Weiler, 12/28/11

Global Studies, UNC Chapel Hill

The GOP's attack on regulation is part of a larger attempt to discredit the idea that government can play a positive role in people's lives. That attack is itself based on a fantasy -- that in the absence of government, human action would yield generally optimal outcomes for society as a whole.

Scott Mendelson, 12/28/11

Film Critic at Mendelson's Memos, Valley Scene Magazine

Here are ten films that qualify as "underrated." Some of them are good, if not great films, that were unfairly maligned. Others were mediocrities that nonetheless did not deserve the level of scorn which they received.

Barbara & Shannon Kelley, 12/28/11

Coauthors, "Undecided: How To Ditch The Endless Quest For Perfect and Find The Career--and Life--That's Right For You"

Face it, guys. She's hot. You're not. Walk away. Right?

Jared Bernstein, 12/28/11

Senior Fellow, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

While we continue to run large deficits in manufactured goods annually, there are lots of advanced economies with long records of positive net exports. If you think the difference is prices, you're thinking like an economist... and you're wrong.

Laurence Watts, 12/27/11

Freelance journalist and founding member, Servicemembers United's Campaign for Military Partners

During this month, journalists do one of two things: write an article summing up the main events of the year almost gone, or write a forward-looking piece about the year to come. 2011 was a great year for the LGBT community, but I think 2012 is going to be even better.