Silvia Usuriaga, 02/23/12

Program Coordinator for Nature and Culture International

A healthy ecosystem is essential to all of our livelihoods, but for indigenous groups,many of whom have suffered slave-like treatment at the hands of missionaries, robber barons, loggers, miners, industrial farmers and drug gangs, protecting their environment means saving themselves from utter obliteration.

Ariston Anderson, 02/21/12

Culture & Travel Writer

When Frémaux is not running the Cannes Film Festival, he is directing the Institut Lumière in his hometown of Lyon. We spoke with him on the increasing importance of world film festivals in today's market.

Rog Walker, 02/22/12

New York-based Storyteller

Many would agree that a child deserves to see the entire world and to know that he or she can be anything that they want to be. This is what we are taught in elementary school, and yet, the primary options are always limited.

Holly Cara Price, 02/22/12

Agent Provocateur

Just imagine you're sitting in your own living room and it's nice and cozy and quiet, and across from you in two comfy chairs are Dion DiMucci and Steven Van Zandt talking, for 90 minutes, about Dion's long and amazing career.

MutualArt, 02/21/12

World's largest online art information service

Talk about making an impression: Mark Rothko's 1961 solo show at Whitechapel is still described as nothing short of electrifying. The gallery is now hosting an exhibit which pays homage to the artist and the show that stunned a nation.

David Wallechinsky, 02/21/12

Editor-in-Chief, AllGov.com

I saw 50 of the 63 films entered in the Best Foreign Language Film category and I am happy to report that this was an exceptionally good year. If no single masterpiece stood out, there were a couple dozen good films that I would recommend for film fans of various tastes.

Marlynn Snyder, 02/21/12

Freelance Writer and Cultural Critic

A good friend introduced me to Gregory Porter's music initially, which, once his vocal gifts hit me, led to a round of frenzied YouTube and Google searches.

Zorianna Kit, 02/21/12

www.zoriannakit.tv

The animation is breathtaking. Not in that computer animated we-see-every-piece of hair-follicle-sway-in-the-wind, but more like a Matisse painting come to life.

Cosima Cabrera, 02/22/12

Student at Yale University

This year Demián Bichir from Mexico received best actor Oscar nominations. While Bichir deserves to win, it is unlikely perhaps because Oscar voters are 94% Caucasian and Latinos are less than 2% of the Academy's voting members.

Evan Shapiro, 02/22/12

President, IFC

Consider what is now reality -- television is an important way to expand your talents, extend your career and rid yourself of cubas (named for the epitome of the post-Oscar slump, Cuba Gooding, Jr.). With that in mind, here are 11 Oscar Winners Who Need a TV Show, STAT.

K. David Harrison, 02/21/12

Linguist and leading specialist in the study of endangered languages

Pressed by a tide of globalization, and a barrage of negative messages telling them their cultures and ways of thinking are outmoded, a global cohort of language warriors are pushing back.

Suleika Jaouad and Seamus McKiernan, 02/22/12

If it takes a village to raise a child, you might say it also takes one to care for the sick. Cancer is at once personal and communal. And yet, caring for the sick can feel like writing a travelogue about a country you've never visited. You can't know where you haven't been.

Ellen DeGeneres, 02/22/12

Animatrice, 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show'

The Oscars are this Sunday, and I have a feeling The Artist is going to do very well. It's nominated for 10 awards, and if I hadn't lost all my money on the Super Bowl, I'd be placing my bets.

Michael Shaw, 02/22/12

Publisher of BagNewsNotes, topping LIFE.com's 2011 Best Photo Blogs

Witness the residue after a week scaring hell out of anybody with even a drop of centrism in them, spewing venom over the mere existence of contraception and public education.

Jennifer Boyd-Einstein and Paula Mangin, 02/22/12

Founding Partners, blankstareblink.com

Years ago, when I took the hardest class of my life, CDFP (cut/drape/flat/pattern) at the San Francisco Academy of Art, we all had to choose a dress-form with which to display our finished assignments. Of course I chose Vivienne Westwood.

Karen Dalton-Beninato, 02/22/12

New Orleans Writer

As the moon rises over Mardi Gras 2012, I'm recovering from a day in which we met Mayans with End of the World 2012 signs, a honey badger and a Dogs Against Romney mascot, all within a block.

Liz Kozak, 02/22/12

Writer, Mom

I wish I could call up every single person who told me, "Sleep while you can!" and inform them that their advice was terrible. I wish I had used all that nap time to go to the movies, because I miss it a whole lot.