Jon Wiener is a longtime Contributing Editor at The Nation and host and producer of “Start Making Sense,” the magazine’s weekly podcast. He is an Emeritus Professor of U.S.

H.G. Parry lives in a book-infested flat on the Kapiti Coast in New Zealand, which she shares with her sister, a cat, three guinea-pigs, and two overactive rabbits. She holds a Ph.D. in English Literature from Victoria University of Wellington and has taught English, film, and media studies.

Carrie Vaughn is best known for her New York Times bestselling Kitty Norville series of novels about a werewolf named Kitty who hosts a talk radio show for the supernaturally disadvantaged.

Gretchen Berg was born on the East Coast, raised in the Midwest, and spent a number of years in the Pacific Northwest. She has taught English in South Korea and in Northern Iraq and has traveled to all the other continents. A graduate of Iowa State University, she lives in Chicago, Illinois.