Cornel West is a prominent and provocative democratic intellectual. A current professor at Union Theological Seminary, he has also taught at Yale, Harvard, and Princeton. The recipient of more than twenty honorary degrees, he has written many important books, including Race Matters and Democracy Matters. He appears frequently on Real Time with Bill Maher, The Colbert Report, CNN, C-SPAN, and other national and international media. His forthcoming book, Black Prophetic Fire, will be published in October.
Astra Taylor is a filmmaker, writer, and activist. Her films include Zizek! and Examined Life. Taylor’s writing has appeared in The Nation, the London Review of Books, and Bookforum. Most recently she is the author of the book The People’s Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age.