THE INCIDENTAL CANDIDATE

Mohamed A. El-Erian, 05/15/12

CEO and co-CIO, PIMCO

Uncertainty, even of the unusual variety, does not -- and should not -- translate into investor paralysis.

Valerie Jarrett, 05/16/12

Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement

A bill being considered in the House today seeks to roll back existing protection that keep women safe from the threat of violence. That is just plain wrong. Keeping women safe isn't about which political party you support -- it's about protecting basic human rights.

James Franco, 05/16/12

Actor and author

Commencement speeches are the worst kind of speech, because you need to be enthusiastic and inspiring in your own voice. There is nothing cheesier than that.

Arianna Huffington, 05/14/12

For his decades-long passion to bring together science and spirituality the Dalai Lama was awarded the Templeton Prize this week. I sat with him before the awards ceremony. Here is our conversation.

Patrick O'Neal, 05/17/12

Sportscaster in Los Angeles for Fox Sports West and Prime Ticket

I'm sick of the low blows, the kidney punches, and the shots after the bell and on the breaks. I'm sick of all the trash talking. From Vanity Fair, The Today Show and The View just to name a few.

Barbara Ehrenreich, 05/17/12

New York Times bestselling author

Lenders, including major credit companies as well as payday lenders, have taken over the traditional role of the street-corner loan shark, charging the poor insanely high rates of interest.

Kerry Kennedy, 05/14/12

President, Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights

Every time a student hears a sexist joke or a racial slur, every time she hears the words 'faggot' or 'slut' or 'fatso' or 'retard,' she must make a decision. Will I be a perpetrator, a victim, a bystander or a human rights defender?

Bill Moyers, 05/16/12

Managing Editor, Moyers & Company

"The fact that JPMorgan Chase lost so much money in a relatively benign moment compared to what we've seen in the past and what we're likely to see in the future suggests that we are absolutely on the path towards another financial crisis of the same order of magnitude as the last one."

Marlo Thomas, 05/15/12

Award-winning actress, author, and activist

I couldn't get away from it. My girlfriends were talking about it; columnists were writing about it; Saturday Night Live was spoofing it. It was all I heard about.

Jamie Oliver, 05/17/12

Celebrity Chef and Food Activist

The Food Revolution and Food Revolution Day is about empowering people through education or, frankly, just inspiring people to be more street-wise about food, where it comes from and how it affects their bodies.

Marian Wright Edelman, 05/18/12

President, Children's Defense Fund

We don't usually equate "summer vacation" and empty stomachs. Did you know child hunger and food insecurity often peak in the summer? An overwhelming majority of children who receive free meals at school aren't as lucky once school lets out.

Don Cheadle, 05/17/12

Academy Award-nominated actor, film producer, philanthropist, and author

Our political leaders have calculated that the American people are not interested in foreign policy in this election year. By walking, we're announcing to our leaders loudly and clearly that they are wrong.

Janet Tavakoli, 05/15/12

President, Tavakoli Structured Finance

Sure the economy is still a mess, unemployment is high, civil services and pensions are being slashed, a record number of people are on food stamps and families are losing homes. But Jamie Dimon does his best to distract the United States from these unpleasant realities.

Gary Hart, 05/15/12

President, Hart International, Ltd.

The influence business is no longer about votes up or down on particular measures that may emerge in Congress or policies made in the White House. This is about setting agendas, deciding what should, and should not, be brought up for hearings and legislation.

Dr. Peggy Drexler, 05/14/12

Author, 'Our Fathers, Ourselves. Daughters, Fathers, and the Changing American Family'

The great post-feminist irony is that in an age of hard-won female opportunity, media is channeling that opportunity to a place of hyper-sexualized stupidity. It's not who you are -- it's how hot you are.

Tony Blair, 05/14/12

Former Prime Minister of Britain

I am a Christian and will remain so. This means that there are certain beliefs I hold dear. But I can, without reducing my Christian commitment, surely accept that someone else, brought up in a different tradition, holds a different set of beliefs, holds them as strongly as I hold mine, and I can respect that person and his/her right to believe as he/she does.

Edward Zwick, 05/15/12

Film and television writer-director; serves on the advisory board of Global Witness

The battle the Kuy and Chut Wutty are fighting against the march of logging, plantations and mining companies into the forest of Cambodia holds an uncanny resemblance to the plot of Avatar. Except this is real-life. And the bullets are real.

Bianca Jagger, 05/14/12

Founder and Chair, Bianca Jagger Human Rights Foundation

The Tibetans are standing up to the vast and expanding power of the Chinese state with nonviolent resistance through religious practice, song, literature, and even self-immolation.

Robert Reich, 05/18/12

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

Members of the Class of 2012, as a former secretary of labor and current professor, I feel I owe it to you to tell you the truth about the pieces of parchment you're picking up today. You're f*cked.

Ian Bremmer, 05/14/12

Author, 'Every Nation for Itself'

In years to come, every nation will have to create its own options because there will be no government with the muscle to drive an international agenda. Some countries are better positioned than others to prosper in this decentralized global order.

David Callahan, 05/18/12

Senior Fellow, Demos

Facebook has transformed how people interact with each other and demonstrated yet again the dominance of American ingenuity. Yet its success also dramatically illustrates problems with the U.S. economy. Six troubling features of the Facebook IPO stand out.

Menachem Rosensaft, 05/15/12

Professor of law and son of Holocaust survivors

Let's assume a presidential candidate had come out against interracial marriage. How many of us would be inclined to vote for him or her? Until 1967, supporters of such a ban used pretty much the same theology-based arguments their ideological heirs use today to rail against same-sex marriage.

Evan Shapiro, 05/18/12

President, Participant Television

The question is not "Is Lena Dunham racist?"; it's "Is Lena Dunham any more racist than the rest of us?"

R. Gil Kerlikowske, 05/17/12

Director, White House Office of National Drug Control Policy

The findings are clear evidence of the link between drugs and crime. It is imperative that we address our nation's drug problem not just as a criminal justice issue but as a public health issue. We cannot arrest our way out of the drug problem.