John Cusack, 01/01/13

Makes films

Recently, I sat down with George Washington Law School professor and constitutional scholar Jonathan Turley and my close friend Kevin McCabe to discuss WikiLeaks' impact on transparency, the government's response, and the comparison to the Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg.

Robert Reich, 01/02/13

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

The battle over the fiscal cliff was only a prelude to the coming battle over raising the debt ceiling -- a battle that will likely continue through early March, when the Treasury runs out of tricks to avoid a default on the nation's debt.

Janell Burley Hofmann, 12/28/12

Writer

Failure to comply with the following list will result in termination of your iPhone ownership.

Michelangelo Signorile, 01/02/13

Editor-at-large, HuffPost Gay Voices

Former Nebraska GOP Senator Chuck Hagel has a problem if his goal is to quell criticism for his anti-gay past. Hagel scored a zero on the Human Rights Campaign's scorecard between 2001 and 2006, and was on record opposing gays to serve openly in the military. Am I missing something here?

Laura Doyle, 01/02/13

Best-selling Author

Here are five ways that women unwittingly sabotage their marriages, along with the proven remedies for restoring the love and closeness you once shared.

Doug Bandow, 01/02/13

Senior Fellow, the Cato Institute

Little more than a postage stamp in the Persian Gulf, Kuwait was long overseen, or "protected," by Great Britain, before becoming independent in 1961. It offers a liberal model for other Gulf states, but faces increasing internal political strife and an uncertain future.

Scott Mendelson, 01/02/13

Film critic at Mendelson's Memos, Valley Scene Magazine

I can't presume that I've seen every terrible movie out there, but I tried to highlight films that were both very bad and whose respective failures meant something more than just their artistic inadequacy.

Deron Dalton, 01/02/13

Journalist

While hard to determine which states are the most backwards with not allowing same-sex marriages, states are ranked in order from lowest to highest percent of voters' support in constitutional bans on same-sex marriages.

Keli Goff, 01/02/13

Author and political correspondent, TheRoot.com

I didn’t need to see Jewish people tortured in Inglorious Basterds to know I wanted the Nazis to pay. Tarantino seemed to know that too, so we didn’t see any Jewish characters tortured. So why in Django Unchained did Tarantino depict black men being tortured in such graphic, gory, and yes, gratuitous ways?

Steve Kettmann, 01/02/13

Author and publisher

It's the time of year to be thankful for what's good and hopeful about what is to come, so I will be spending the last day of 2012 and the first days of 2013 quietly hoping for the best when it comes to Hillary Clinton and her health.

Larry Strauss, 01/02/13

Veteran high school English teacher, basketball coach, novelist

When I return to work on January 7, students and I will debate the viability of gun control. Invariably, one of them will ask me whether I believe teachers should -- as some politicians are now suggesting -- be allowed or required to carry guns while they teach.

Glenn L. Carle, 01/02/13

Author, 'The Interrogator'

Understand this, from someone who had some involvement in our "enhanced interrogation" program: torture does not work -- it makes it harder to evaluate what detainees say, and more suspect. It is unnecessary, it is counterproductive, it is illegal, and it is immoral.

Arianna Huffington, 12/30/12

Through the years, I've discovered something about New Year's resolutions: while it's not so easy to keep them, it's very easy to make them for other people. And a lot more fun, too.

Emelia Symington Fedy, 12/31/12

Theatre Maker, Yogi, Storyteller

I am trying to understand why my old, cool friends have gotten so high strung and opinionated after becoming parents. In fact they actually seem to be shells of their past selves. With no energy to do yoga, or write or think about creativity or their dreams because now they are intent on micro-managing their child's every interaction. Am I destined to do the same thing?

Matt Stoller, 01/02/13

Fellow, Roosevelt Institute

The negotiations over the fiscal cliff involve more than the Democrats, Republicans, the middle class and the wealthy. The corporate sector is here in force as well.

Robert Creamer, 01/02/13

Political Organizer, Strategist, Author; Partner Democracy Partners

For two decades, the protection of high-income people from tax rate increases has been the central driving principle of the Republican Party. It has been their Holy Grail.

Alon Ben-Meir, 01/02/13

Senior Fellow, NYU's Center for Global Affairs

Prime Minister Netanyahu may well form the next Israeli government; yet the Netanyahu of 2013 will not enjoy the same political sway he commanded in 2009.

Mike Lux, 01/02/13

Co-Founder, Democracy Partners

The Republicans are threatening to tank the economy so they can cut Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, education and other things that matter. We should just tell them, and nervous Democrats who want to cave to them, absolutely not.

Jill Di Donato, 01/02/12

Writer, Adjunct Professor of English, The Fashion Institute of Technology, New York

Usually reserved for bad rom-coms, frat boys and women who are just becoming familiar with the idea that they will probably sleep with multiple people before finding "The One," The List actually taught me a couple things about myself.

David Coates, 01/02/13

Worrell Professor of Anglo-American Studies, Wake Forest University, Department of Politics

Amid the scampering up and down the fiscal cliff that now dominates political life in Washington, some more important and basic questions are in danger of vanishing from view, questions about the general character and progressive potential of Barack Obama's second term.

David Shuster, 01/01/13

Host, 'Take Action News with David Shuster'; anchor and correspondent for Current TV

Meet the Press is the oldest and most treasured public affairs show on television. This is why the ongoing silence of David Gregory and NBC News -- following his apparent on-air violation of D.C. gun laws -- is so disconcerting.

Pat Gallagher, 12/31/12

Freelance Writer

I am nobody. I promise. But I talk to lots of somebodies in my job as a celebrity freelance journalist. A-List Hollywood celebs can sometimes get cranky and be self-absorbed, but there are those A-listers who need to be called out for being just plain wonderful. Here are 11 of them.

Geoffrey R. Stone, 01/01/13

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

With the Illinois legislature poised to consider a bill to legalize same-sex marriage, Chicago's Cardinal George insists that same-sex marriage is incompatible with "nature." One might just as easily the same about celibacy.

Michael Brenner, 01/02/13

Senior Fellow, the Center for Transatlantic Relations; Professor of International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh

Officials have gone so far as to declare, off the record, that any claimed civilian casualty must be so proven or otherwise presumed to have been a combatant. Proven by whom? By what measure? From beyond the grave? To what effect?

Vivian Diller, Ph.D., 01/02/13

Psychologist and author, 'Face It'

As we enter 2013, the acute pain of the Sandy Hook massacre is beginning to recede. While some people yearn to move on, others vow never to forget. As part of the healing process, I suggest we do both. Action aimed at creating something meaningful can go a long way toward recovery.

Steven Strauss, 01/01/13

Advanced Leadership Fellow, Harvard University

If a broad compromise were reached, removing gun control from the political agenda for the next 20 years -- why would the NRA need LaPierre and a highly-paid lobbying staff?

Rev. James Martin, S.J., 12/31/12

Catholic priest and author, 'The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything'

But how about five simple things you can do to be happier--which you really can do? Here are five easy things you can do for a happier life next year. And they're a lot easier than losing 20 pounds.

Mohamed A. El-Erian, 12/31/12

CEO and co-CIO, PIMCO

Some were willing to settle for a "mini bargain." Instead Congress seems now to be working on a "micro deal."

Michael Hogan and Christopher Rosen, 01/01/13

We've entered the final countdown -- ballots are due on this week, meaning a lot of Academy Awards voters are going to have to learn how to use the Internet.