Talks and More

Liz Cheney served as the U.S. representative for Wyoming's at-large congressional district from 2017 to 2023. She chaired the House Republican Conference, the third-highest position in the House Republican leadership, from 2019 to 2021, and served as the vice chair of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol. She was also a member of the House Armed Services Committee, China Task Force, Natural Resources Committee and the House Committee on Rules. Cheney served previously at the State Department as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, and in positions for USAID and the Department of State working in Poland, Hungary, Russia and Ukraine. Cheney practiced law with White and Case and at the International Finance Corporation.

Andrew Ross Sorkin is an award-winning journalist for The New York Times and a co-anchor of “Squawk Box,” CNBC’s signature morning program. He is also the founder and editor-at-large of DealBook, an online daily financial report published by The New York Times that he started in 2001.
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He is the author of “1929: The Inside Story of the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History–and How It Shattered a Nation,” the instant New York Times bestseller praised as a “vivid and forensic account . . . a real eye-opener” (Financial Times). With unparalleled access to historical records and newly uncovered documents, Sorkin’s book takes readers inside the chaos of the crash, behind the scenes of a raging battle between Wall Street and Washington and the larger-than-life characters whose ambition and naivete in an endless boom led to disaster. The dizzying highs and brutal lows of this era eerily mirror today’s world—where markets soar, political tensions mount, and the fight over financial influence plays out once again. The Wall Street Journal calls it “one of the best narrative histories [we’ve] read.” It was named a Best Book of 2025 by TIME, The Economist, The Financial Times and Bloomberg.

Palaeoanthropologist, evolutionary biologist and National Geographic Explorer Ella Al-Shamahi is a Neanderthal specialist with a passion for fossil hunting in paleolithic caves. A presenter on the BBC’s “Our Changing Planet” series, Al-Shamahi was also the presenter and associate producer for BBC’s two science series “Neanderthals: Meet Your Ancestors” and “Horizon: Body Clock.” She also hosted a National Geographic show “Viking Warrior Women” where—during filming—she discovered what might be the first evidence of a battle injury on a female Viking warrior.

A real life “Guardian of the Galaxy,” Moogega “Moo” Cooper holds the awesome responsibility of keeping the red planet safe from any of the Earth’s contaminants.  Cooper is the planetary protection lead of the famed NASA 2020 Mars mission—with a highly viewed landing on February 18, 2021.  Her work with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is integral to the ongoing mission to discern whether Mars could be habitable for humans and that we don’t harm what’s already there—a job she has been working up to for most of her life.