Eben Lazarus is a third year economics major at the University of Pennsylvania. He was recently an intern at the DC think tank, the Center for Global Development. Eben is currently in Senegal, studying the economics of the region. He will then go to Mekhe, Senegal to work with a microfinance company. Eben will be speaking to us live from Senegal.

Jonathan Freeman joined the US Army and in 2005 deployed to Taji, Iraq as an Artillery Officer attached to an Armor Company. He deployed again to Iraq in February 2007 to train an Iraqi Army unit. He left active duty in April with the rank of Captain. In June of 2008, he joined the Obama for America campaign as the Deputy Director of Veterans and Military Families Outreach. Since then, Jonathan has been working for the Obama Administration at the Pentagon as the Deputy White House Liaison.

Reverend Irene Monroe is the Coordinator of the African American Roundtable of the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry at the Pacific School of Religion, a Huffington Post blogger, and a syndicated religion columnist. Reverend Monroe is a graduate of Wellesley College and Union Theological Seminary at Columbia University, and served as a pastor at an African-American church before coming to Harvard Divinity School for her doctorate as a Ford Fellow. Monroe has been profiled in O, Oprah Magazine. http://www.irenemonroe.com

Richard Downes regularly co-hosts Ireland's popular daily RTE radio program "Morning Ireland" and reports for television news and for the RTE current affairs flagship "Prime Time." During the 2003 war, he stayed in Baghdad and covered the collapse of Saddam's regime from within. His latest book is In Search of Iraq: From Baghdad to Babylon.

Sarah Reinertsen was the first female leg amputee to complete the Ironman Triathlon World Championship in Kona, Hawaii. Sarah was born with proximal femoral focal deficiency, a bone-growth disorder that eventually lead to her becoming an above-the-knee amputee at the age of seven. She was featured on the cover of Runner's World and was named one of the first eight "Heroes of Running" in the magazine. Ms. Rienertsen has also appeared on the cover of Triathlete magazine and Max Sports & Fitness magazine. She also scooped up the well-deserved ESPY award in 2006.

Richard Downes is a seasoned international journalist; Richard Downes regularly cohosts the most popular daily RTÉ radio program "Morning Ireland" and reports for television news and for the RTÉ current affairs flagship "Prime Time." During the 2003 war, he stayed in Baghdad and covered the collapse of Saddam's regime from within. Vincent Browne described him as "the best reporter covering the war." Downes lives in Dublin with his wife and two young children. His latest book is In Search of Iraq: From Baghdad to Babylon.

On Tanner and Moore, James interviews

BBC filmmaker Stuart Tanner, a KRUU-FM featured host who's been working on reconciliation programs in Iraq and is due back for several weeks in May to teach a film class at the university.

Coming up this Friday on Planet Erstwild:

James interviews Professor Norman Finkelstein, author of The Holocaust Industry and Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History. Professor Finkelstein spoke at Grinnell College on April 21 at 8pm in Room 101 in the Joe Rosenfield Center, 1115 8th Ave., Grinnell, Iowa.