Professor Carlos M. N. Eire is Riggs Professor of History and Religious Studies at Yale University. He specializes in the social, intellectual, religious, and cultural history of late medieval and early modern Europe but his books and other publications deal with topics as diverse as the history of the great monotheistic religions and the Cuban revolution. His memoir, Waiting for Snow in Havana, won the National Book Award for nonfiction in 2003. His newest book, A Very Brief History of Eternity (Princeton University Press), is scheduled to be released this fall.

Dr. C. John Sommerville is Professor of History (Emeritus) at the University of Florida. He's been described as a "principled contrarian" and a careful thinker concerned about (among other things) our use of words, the importance of our childhoods, and the role of the modern university in society. His book, How the News Makes Us Dumb: The Death of Wisdom in an Information Society, was published by Inter-Varsity Press in 1999.

Dr. Thomas G. Long is Bandy Professor of Preaching at the Candler School of Theology, Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. He's a graduate of Erskine College, Erskine Theological Seminary, and Princeton Theological Seminary. His newest book (of many he's previously authored or edited) is: Accompany Them With Singing: the Christian Funeral (Westminster John Knox Press, 2009).

Dr. Jean Bethke Elshtain is Laura Spelman Rockefeller Professor of Social and Political Ethics at the University of Chicago Divinity School. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, chair of the Council on Civil Society, and a Presidential appointee to the Council of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Professor Elshtain also serves as co-chair of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. She is the author of Just War Against Terror: The Burden of American Power in a Violent World (2004, Basic Books).

Clarke Forsythe is past-President and now Senior Counsel at Americans United for Life, a non-profit organization that seeks to change the law to protect human life, state by state. As an attorney, Clarke has argued cases before federal and state appellate courts and has testified before Congress and state legislatures. In addition to numerous legal articles on Constitutional and bioethical issues he's also the author of Politics for the Greatest Good: The Case for Prudence in the Public Square (Inter-Varsity, 2009).

Professor Alan Jacobs' research and teaching interests are far-ranging, including British literature, African literature, Christian theology, and philosophy. His thoughts on literary and cultural criticism have appeared in a wide variety of periodicals. His book, Original Sin: A Cultural History was published by Harper-Collins in 2008.

Peter J. Thuesen is professor of religious studies at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, where he also serves as co-editor of the journal Religion and American Culture and as chairman of his department. His particular specialties include the history of American religion, the Christian tradition since the Protestant Reformation, and the works of Jonathan Edwards. His most recent book is: Predestination: The American Career of a Contentious Doctrine (Oxford, 2009).

Dr. Scott H. Moore is associate professor of philosophy and great texts at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. In addition to his professional interest in the philosophy of religion, he also likes to concoct homemade hot sauce and salsa for family and friends. He's the author of The Limits of Liberal Democracy: Politics and Religion at the End of Modernity (Inter-Varsity Press, 2009).

Mark Galli is senior managing editor of Christianity Today. He has also been an editor with Christian History and Leadership magazine. He is a graduate of the University of California and Fuller Theological Seminary. He's a commuter bicycler, and, as an eternal optimist, he follows the Chicago Cubs. In this his second visit to our program, our focus is his book, Beyond Bells & Smells: The Wonder and Power of Christian Liturgy (Paraclete, 2008).

Gordon Hempton is an acoustic ecologist and an Emmy Award-winning sound recordist who has provided audio services to Microsoft, Discovery, National Public Radio, and other organizations. He's been profiled by major media including CBS News Sunday Morning, National Public Radio, and People magazine. He's the author, with John Grossmann, of One Square Inch of Silence: One Man's Search for Silence in a Noisy World.

Gordon Hempton is an acoustic ecologist and an Emmy Award-winning sound recordist who has provided audio services to Microsoft, Discovery, National Public Radio, and other organizations. He's been profiled by major media including CBS News Sunday Morning, National Public Radio, and People magazine. He's the author, with John Grossmann, of One Square Inch of Silence: One Man's Search for Silence in a Noisy World.

Professor Davis A. Young is professor of geology emeritus at Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan. Dr. Young is a graduate of Princeton University, Pennsylvania State University, and Brown University where he received his Ph.D. in geological sciences. He taught geology at New York University and the University of North Carolina at Wilmington before spending 26 years teaching at Calvin College. Upon retirement he and his wife moved to Tucson, Arizona. His lifelong passion has been to work out the relationships between geology and Christian faith. Dr. Young is the author or co-author of nine books, the most recent of which he co-authored with Ralph F. Stearley (a previous guest on our program): The Bible, Rocks and Time: Geological Evidence for the Age of the Earth (InterVarsity Press, 2008).

Dr. Larry Schweikart is a native Arizonan who attended Arizona State University. After getting his MA from ASU, he got a Ph.D. from the U. of California, Santa Barbara. In 1985, he took a position at the U. of Dayton, where he has taught since. His research, which has resulted in over 30 books, has included banking and financial history, military history, and U.S. history in general. His 2006 book, America's Victories: Why the U.S. Wins Wars, impressed Pres. George Bush, who invited him to the Oval Office to discuss military history in 2006. He has been on the Rush Limbaugh Show, and hundreds of other shows, including Laura Ingram, Hugh Hewitt, Denis Prager, and Michael Medved, and has appeared on such television shows as "Fox and Friends" (where he is a regular analyzing textbook errors), "Al-Jazeera Television," the "700 Club," and BookTV.