This Week's Guests: Robby Benson & Camie Bargerstock

Robby Benson is an American film and television actor, television director and educator. As an actor he was nominated for the three Golden Globe Awards. As a director Robby helmed over 100 episodes in television, from Friends to an entire season of Ellen.As a composer Robby has written scores for films, received two RIAA Gold Records for songwriting for Diana Ross and for The Breakfast Club soundtrack. Open Heart the musical by Robby Benson will open at Fairfield's Sondheim Center June 20.

Camie Bargerstock designed her a curriculum entitled The Cultural Organization of Death and Dying in which she studied America's perceptions, rituals, and systems surrounding death, dying, and grief, a reality she observes as rooted in a culture of fear and denial. She envisions a new paradigm, one that nurtures and embodies the end of life journey as a part of life and creative rite of passage worth crossing.

Next Week's Guests: Laura Dawn & Andy Zelleke

Laura Dawn is a political activist and singer/songwriter. She has been the Cultural Director for MoveOn.org and the MoveOn PAC since March 2004.She appears on Moby's latest album Hotel, and she toured the world with him for 7 months in 2005.

Andy Zelleke is the co-directorof the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School. Prior to joining Harvard’s Kennedy School faculty, Zelleke was a faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.His articles on corporate governance have appeared in Sloan Management Review, Harvard Business Review, Directors & Boards, and Corporate Governance: An International Review.  read more »

FORMER MINNESOTA GOVERNOR JESSE VENTURA. Governor Ventura was elected in the Minnesota gubernatorial election of 1998 as an Independent and member of the Reform Part. His victory is considered one of the greatest political upsets in U.S. history. His most recent book is entitled, Don't Start the Revolution Without Me.

ARTHUR S. BERGER, THE UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MUSEUM'S SENIOR ADVISOR FOR EXTERNAL AFFAIRS. In this position, he focuses on the Museum’s international relations, VIP and Development-related outreach, and key aspects of the Museum’s public relations.

FORMER CALIFORNIA STATE SENATOR ART TORRES (Ret.), Chairman, California Democratic Party. Senator Torres was elected Chairman of the California Democratic Party in 1996. He has been a leader in the Latino community, fighting for better representation and more rights for the state's large and important Latino/Chicano population.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Torres

SARA ESTRIN. Ms.Estrin recently returned from working with Robin Lim, founder, director, and head midwife of the nonprofit clinic Yayasan Bumi Sehat in Bali, Indonesia. http://www.bumisehatbali.org/

Next week: EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH FORMER MINNESOTA GOVERNOR JESSE VENTURA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Ventura

This Week's Guests:

Rianna Koppel is an undergraduate student at Maharishi University of Management who recently returned from teaching orphans in Kenya, Africa with the Children's Orphange of Kenya. She will be part of Speaking Freely's upcoming series, "Young People Who Do Remarkable Things."

U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd. He currently serves as Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee and is a contender for the Democratic Party's Vice Presidential nomination. [Rebroadcast]

BUDDY BIANCALANA is a former short stop for the Kansas City Royals and the star of the 1985 World Series. Mr. Biancalana is the co-founder and director of PMPM Sports whose goal is to teach competitive atheletes to access their full potential. Buddy has appeared on numerous TV and radio shows including Today Show and Late Night With David Letterman.

GUSTAVO COLLANTES is a Research Fellow at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, who focuses on energy and climate change policy, particularly as they relate to transportation, and the economics and politics of low-carbon energy alternatives.

Today's show will present rebroadcasts of three key interviews.

Michelle Obama is the wife of United States Senator and presidential hopeful Barack Obama. Ms Obama has her BA from Princeton University and her law degree from Harvard University.

Former President Bill Clinton graduated from Georgetown University and in 1968 won a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University. He received a law degree from Yale University in 1973, and entered politics in Arkansas. His wife is presidential hopeful Senator Hillary Clinton.

Jim Leach is the former United States Congressman from Iowa. He has recently been named the new director of Harvard University's Institute of Politics. In 2002, he voted against authorizing the use of force in Iraq.

DR. GAIL WILENSKY is SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN'S SENIOR POLICY ADVISOR IN THE AREA OF HEALTH CARE. Dr. Wilensky is an economist, and a Senior Fellow at Project HOPE which analyzes and develops policies relating to health care reform and to ongoing changes in the health care environment.

OMAR MCDOOM IS A RESEARCH FELLOW AT THE BELFER CENTER AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY'S KENNEDY SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT. His research agenda covers civil wars, genocides, and ethnic conflicts, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. His current research project looks at Rwanda's genocide and in particular the question of civilian participation in violence. He spent a year interviewing genocide perpetrators in Rwanda's prisons.

Marci Shimoff is a best selling author. Her most recent book HAPPY FOR NO REASON: 7 Steps to Being Happy from the Inside Out, soared to #1 on many national bestseller lists including Amazon and Barnes and Noble.com, and has debuted at #2 on The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal bestseller lists.
Marci is the woman's face of the biggest self-help book phenomenon in history, Chicken Soup for the Soul. Her six bestselling titles in the series, including Chicken Soup for the Woman’s Soul and Chicken Soup for the Mother’s Soul, have met with stunning success, selling more than 13 million copies worldwide in 33 languages and have been on the New York Times bestseller list for a total of 108 weeks. Marci is one of the bestselling female nonfiction authors of all time. In addition, she is a featured teacher in the international film and book sensation, The Secret.  read more »

MR. TOM NEWMARK. Mr. Newmark is CEO and President of New Chapter, Inc. of Brattleboro, Vermont and a co-owner of Luna Nueva Farm in Costa Rica. He and New Chapter’s founder Paul Schulick are the formulators of Zyflamend, one of the world’s most respected herbal formulations, and Tom has been awarded multiple patents for innovative herbal formulations. He is also a board member of the Monteverde Conservation League-US, and a founding board member of the Biodynamic Trade Association. Tom is a founder of Semillas Sagradas, the Sacred Seeds Sanctuary in Costa Rica dedicated to protecting endangered medicinal plants of the neo- tropics. He is the author of several books and articles. Mr. Newmark will be sponsoring “A Night for the Rain Forest” at the Creative Arts Gallery in Los Angeles the evening of Thursday May 8, 2008 along with honored guest Daryl Hannah. Tom is a graduate of Washington University’s School of Law and did graduate study in political science at Yale University.

MR. MELCHIOR DIGIACOMO. Mel Di Giacomo is a photojournalist and fine art photographer. He has shot over twenty cover photographs for Newsweek Magazine as well as producing several photo essays for Newsweek. Mr. Di Giacomo has also photographed for Sports Illustrated, CBS and ABC Sports including the World Series and Super Bowl.  read more »

HUNTER AND ANDREA PAYNE. Hunter and Andrea run AIDSTILLREQUIRED.ORG
It is a non-profit organized around entering post crisis situations to build back better and build green whenever possible. They are currently involved in a project with NBA players aimed at raising awareness about the crisis in Darfur. Some of the players involved include: Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Grant Hill, Derek Fisher, and Ira Newbe to name a few.

MARTHA FRANKEL. Martha is the author of published by Jeremy P. Thatcher/Penguin a member of the Penguin Group (USA). Martha was given her start in journalism by editor Annie Flanders. Ms. Frankel interviewed numerous celebrities including Anthony Hopkins, Juliette Binoche, Susan Sarandon, and a 19 year old Leonardo DiCaprio.