Comedian, actor, and author John Hodgeman is the host of the popular JUDGE JOHN HODGMAN podcast, and New York Times Magazine column. His 2017 memoir VACATION LAND: TRUE STORIES FROM PAINFUL BEACHES, chronicles the mishaps and triumphs of John’s quest to make sense of life.

John’s childhood as a self-identifying outsider helped him create the knee-slappingly funny FX animated series DICKTOWN, The semi-autobiographical mystery send-up follows former kid detective “John Hunchman”. Each 10-minute episode elicits nostalgia for our puerile teen pastimes while reminding us that the hard-won rewards of adulthood are worth the growing pains.

Author and actress Annabelle Gurwitch tells tales of the “Itinerant, scam artists, and hucksters”, who hang from the branches of her family tree in her 2017 memoir WHEREVER YOU GO, THERE THEY ARE: STORIES ABOUT MY FAMILY YOU MIGHT RELATE TO. Most kids see their lives as normal and, only later, realize how absurd their homelife was. Her new memoir is THE END OF MY LIFE IS KILLING ME: THE UNEXPECTED JOYS OF A CANCER SLACKER.

Father Jim Martin is host of the America Media podcast, THE SPIRITUAL LIFE, honorary Chaplain of the Colbert Nation, and author of WORK IN PROGRESS: CONFESSIONS OF A BUSBOY, DISHWASHER, CADDY, USHER, FACTORY WORKER, BANK TELLER, CORPORATE TOOL, AND PRIEST. He talks about departing a career at General Electric and becoming a Jesuit priest, and why compassion is central to his reason d'etre.

Phil Rosenthal is creator of Emmy-winning sit-com, EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND and star of the Netflix series SOMEBODY FEED PHIL. His new, old-timey diner, Max and Helen’s, opened November 18, 2025 to rave reviews and an 8 hour opening weekend line, the longest in LA history, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Dr. Miriam Udel is Director of Jewish studies and a professor at Emory University. The focus of her work can be summed up in the title of her new book, MODERN JEWISH WORLD-MAKING THROUGH YIDDISH CHILDREN’S LITERATURE, which tells how stories can help kids understand tough moral topics, like injustice, inequality and racism.

Father Greg Boyle, author of such bestselling books as TATTOOS ON THE HEART and CHERISHED BELONGING, explains how Homeboy Industries, which he founded in downtown Los Angeles in 1998, has become the world’s largest gang intervention, re-entry and recovery program. Greg has been finding, as he says, “the thorn underneath” gang violence since 1988. His work has helped thousands of formerly incarcerated people around the world. But in LA Greg is an icon and a symbol of Angelino pride.

Choreographer Jacob Jonas, whose memoir CEMENTED BEAUTY is the intimate documentation of his 2-year battle with stage 4 cancer, told in stark, intimate, black-and-white photos and brutally honest and vulnerable journal entries, dictated to Jacob’s partner, Jill Wilson, who also provides an Afterword.

Ana Marie Cox is a political columnist and culture critic. Her writing has appeared in Time Magazine, G.Q., The Guardian, Sports Illustrated, The Washington Post, The Daily Beast and Esquire. She’s currently a contributing editor at The New Republic. She’s also a prolific podcast host. In her weekly podcast, Past Due, she and co-host Open Mike Eagle, chronicle the struggles of creatives in today’s collapsing media landscape.

George Saunders, often hailed as America’s greatest living short story writer, who's collections include THE TENTH OF DECEMBER and LIBERATION DAY. George discusses his new novel, VIGIL, as well as being raised Catholic in Chicago, growing away from the church and, joining his wife Paula to become a meditator, then an Episcopalian and, currently, practitioners of Buddhism.