Jeff Biggers, 02/20/12

Journalist and author, 'Reckoning at Eagle Creek' and 'In the Sierra Madre'

"The Hand of Man" takes the listener to White Star Holler in Kentucky, where seven generations of mountain families have struggled to defend their lives and livelihoods from the toxic fallout from coal company destruction.

Maggie Neese, 02/21/12

Senior studying Public Relations at Penn State

2011-2012 will certainly be remembered as a famous and an infamous year for all those who hold Penn State close to their hearts. But when faced with the trials of this year, the community has rallied, especially around events like The Penn State Dance Marathon.

Lesley Girkins, 02/22/12

Student, UCLA

At the end of the night, everyone was more educated about the cause, and felt inspired to stay involved with the fight against pediatric AIDS. Involvement of this magnitude proves that this community cares.

Marcus Samuelsson, 02/22/12

Chef and author

Harlem is alive and thriving, more so now than ever before, and in many cases food is at the center of Harlem's new economic growth. Within the midst of great history and cultural diversity lies a food side of Harlem just waiting to be discovered by those foodies who seek it.

Margaret Cho, 02/22/12

Comedian, actor, and recording artist

My former bullies pay extra to come backstage and meet me after shows, and I pretend not to know them in front of their friends. It is the most divine pleasure to exact the revenge of the brutalized child that resides within.

Dylan Ratigan, 02/22/12

Host, MSNBC's 'The Dylan Ratigan Show'; Author, 'Greedy Bastards'; Founder, Get Money Out Foundation

I've found myself more enthusiastic than I've been in years as I've shifted my attention from D.C./NYC to cities both burgeoning with ideas and struggling with the excruciating pain that Washington and New York have inflicted on them. What's become apparent to me is that the rate of change on this planet, due to technological, ecological, and financial mechanisms, is the highest it's ever been. That means that our rate of adaptation must also be high, that we must adapt our communities, companies, and selves to what is quickly becoming a new and different world. We must experiment, or die.

Randall Amster, 02/22/12

Author, educator, and editor of New Clear Vision

I'd like to share a story, a personal story, a common story, an American story. For nearly two decades, I have carried the burden of a crushing student loan debt, well over six figures and impossible for me to fathom paying off in this lifetime.

Carrie White, 02/22/12

Hollywood hairdresser; author, 'Upper Cut: Highlights of My Hollywood Life'

I see a sign over another door: Tattoo Removal. I had noticed this place was filled with people who had more ink on them than I had seen at a lifetime of rock concerts. "Hard to get a job with F*^k You tattooed across your forehead," Bird says.

The Rev. Jacqueline J. Lewis, Ph.D., 02/21/12

Senior Minister, Middle Collegiate Church

It is not easy, nor simple for churches to "preach brotherhood and make it a reality within its own body." But the church is the place and our faith is the source with which we may be instruments of change.

Gloria A. Iribagiza, 02/21/12

Coordinator, White Ribbon Alliance Rwanda; Editor, 'The New Times'

Changing the stakes for Rwanda, to become the safest place for women to give birth in Sub-Saharan Africa, calls for persistent commitment and determination in the maternal and child health cause.

Julie Tilsner, 02/22/12

Parenting writer and food blogger

I can take all those little plastic bowls and cups from Ikea out of my cupboards, I guess. It's a whole new parenting enchilada, this 'tween/teen thing.

Georgiana Bloom, 02/22/12

DC-based writer

As a lifelong swimmer, when I get a whiff of chlorine, I get excited. But when I saw hundreds of kids swimming in every lane at D.C.'s Takoma Aquatic Center on President's Day weekend, I was thrilled.

Josephine Nabukenya, 02/22/12

Ambassador, Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation

My participation the Dance Marathon at UCLA was life-changing. In a room full of American students my age, I was able to see that regardless of where we come from, we are all passionate about saving lives.

Linda Novick O'Keefe, 02/22/12

Founding Executive Director, Common Threads

An elementary schooler got to participate in the biggest sports event in America through Fuel Up to Play 60, a program that uses the star-power of NFL players to get kids excited about exercise.