The Assignment Creators & Guests

Audie Cornish is a journalist and a co-host of NPR's All Things Considered.

Madeleine Thompson is a journalist. Currently, she is an audio producer at CNN.

Joan Biskupic is an American journalist, writer, lawyer, and author of the book, The Chief.

Dana Sussman is the deputy executive director at Pregnancy Justice.

Ernesto Londoño is a journalist who specializes in southern South American news and politics. He is currently the Brazil bureau chief for The New York Times.Prior to joining the NYT, Londoño worked at The Washington Post, where he started as a local news reporter, covered the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as an international correspondent, and served as a Pentagon beat reporter.Londoño was born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia.

Dr. Jennifer Freed is a psychological astrologer and social and emotional education trainer. She has served as the clinical director of Pacifica Graduate Institute. She is a regular contributor to Goop, the the monthly psychological astrologer for the Sex with Emily Podcast, and a monthly columnist for the Montecito Journal.Freed's work has appeared on Huffington Post, New York Times, Good Morning America, National Public Radio, Sirius XM radio, and USA Today. She has published ten books about personal growth. Her 2020 book "Use Your Planets Wisely" was a national bestseller.

James Clyburn is a politician and a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives, he has served as House Majority Whip since 2019.

Van Lathan is a media personality from Baton Rouge Louisiana, and host on The Ringer.

Dr. Emily Rose Caroline Wilson is a classicist, author, and translator. Currently, she is Professor of Classical Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. She is known for her 2018 English translation of Homer's Odyssey and her 2023 translation of the Iliad.In addition to her translations, Wilson has published several nonfiction books on key figures in Classical history. Her first, "Mocked with Death: Tragic Overliving from Sophocles to Milton," was published in 2004.

Emily Nussbaum is a television critic, currently writing for The New Yorker. In 2016, she won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Nussbaum was raised in Scarsdale, New York. She received her undergraduate degree from Oberlin College in 1988 and her master's degree in poetry from New York University. She started television criticism by writing reviews about "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" on Television Without Pity. She went on to write for Lingua Franca, became editor-in-chief for Nerve, and then writer for Slate, The New York Times, and New York magazine.

Tara Palmeri is a journalist who works as co-author of Politico’s Playbook newsletter.

Roxane Gay is a writer, professor, editor, and commentator, she is the author of The New York Times best-selling essay collection Bad Feminist, the short story collection Ayiti, the novel An Untamed State, the short story collection Difficult Women, and the memoir Hunger.

Jelani Cobb is a writer, author, and educator.

Franklin Leonard is a film executive best known for founding The Black List. He is currently an adviser to BoomGen Studios and Plympton and serves on the board of directors for Young Storytellers. He hosts The Black List Podcast.

Katherine Schweit is the Owner of Schweit Consulting LLC.

Luke Thomas is a mixed martial arts (MMA) journalist, analyst, and radio host. As of June 25, 2018, he is the host of The MMA Hour.

Adam Jentleson is the public affairs director at Democracy Forward and former deputy chief of staff to Senator Harry Reid.

Sarah Elizabeth Cupp is a television host, political commentator, and writer.

Jacqueline Howard is a health reporter for CNN, covering the latest news in medicine and healthy living. She appears on CNN News Central, the network’s dayside programming, and CNN International. She was a 2019 National Fellow at the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism and a 2020 Press Fellow at the United Nations Foundation. Previously, Ms. Howard served as senior science editor at The Huffington Post and host/producer of the video series “Talk Nerdy To Me.” She has appeared on The Steve Harvey Show to discuss health trends and served as the on-air talent in a series of educational videos for The Nature Conservancy, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Big History Project. She holds a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, and a bachelor’s degree in communication studies from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.