Candace Helson is a pastry chef and Food Network judge for series “Cupcake Wars” and “Sugar Rush”. Her store, ‘Sprinkles Cupcakes’, is noted for spurring a nationwide cupcake craze. Helson started baking at a young age. She is a graduate of Wesleyan University and Tante Marie’s Professional Pastry Program in San Francisco. Helson’s sophisticated take on the cupcake led her... read full bio
Celeste Headlee is a radio journalist, speaker, author, and singer. Headlee is the host of On Second Thought, which is on the Georgia Public Broadcasting. She began her career with Arizona Public Radio where she was an anchor and writer on KNAU. While doing that she was also an on-air personality host with KVNA. She started on TV co-hosting for... read full bio
Charissa Thompson is known best for her work with Fox Sports 1 and NBC. With an extensive background in television, Thompson has hosted a multitude of sports network entertainment shows. Her experience includes work with ESPN, Versus, GSN, and the Big Ten Network. Thompson has also starred as a host of Netflix reality show, ‘Ultimate Beastmaster’. Apart from sports, she... read full bio
A multidimensional creative force, David Kwong excels as a magician, producer, speaker, and creator of crossword puzzles. Notably, he creates intriguing puzzles that reveal his intricate and engaging artistry for prestigious publications like the New York Times and the LA Times. Beyond words and deception, Kwong contributes his knowledge as a consultant for well-known television shows and motion pictures, putting... read full bio
Dr. Kate Biberdorf is a lecturer and works as both a Professor and Director of Demonstrations and Outreach for the Department of Chemistry at University of Texas in Austin. Biberdorf is known to break stereotypes and blow stuff up. She uses a theatrical, hands on approach to teach her audience and uses this to reach out to students who would... read full bio
Ernesto Zedillo, a distinguished Mexican economist, politician, and former President of Mexico, stands as a prominent figure in the realms of academia, governance, and global affairs. Currently serving as the Director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization and holding multiple prestigious professorships at Yale University, he continues to shape the discourse on international economics, politics, and environmental... read full bio
Garrett Reisman is an extraordinary person with a wide range of enthralling and inspirational experiences. He is well-known for his work as a speaker, engineer, former NASA astronaut, and director of crew operations at SpaceX. His journey on the International Space Station (ISS) began as a backup crew member for Expedition 15 and continued when he joined Expedition 16. Later... read full bio
Heribert Watzke is a food scientist. He set up the department of food material science at Nestl in Switzerland. Using chemistry, nutrition, and neuroscience, Watzke is familiar with how the body and brain react to food. At Nestl, Watzke studies the chemistry of food. The scientist has shared his food knowledge with audiences via TED Talks.... read full bio
Janna Levin is an expert in physics and astronomy. She is the Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Barnard College, a counterpart of Columbia University. Levin has authored a variety of books, covering topics of the early universe, chaos, and black holes. Her novel, A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines, won a PEN/Bingham Fellowship for Writers. Levin has worked at... read full bio
Jim Acosta is the CNN Chief White House correspondent and former national political correspondent. Acosta studied at James Madison University where he graduated with a bachelors degree in mass communication with a minor in political science. He always had a liking to speaking publically and while in school he volunteered for a student-run radio station and then worked as a... read full bio
John Bellaimey is a voiceover artist for TED-Ed. Bellaimey has a Bachelors of Arts degree in Sociology and Anthropology from Haverford College and received an MDiv. from Harvard University. He has published a book titled, The Tree of World Religions, sharing his views on religion in relation to the questions of life (or questions that cannot be answered with scientific... read full bio
Kayla Itsines is a successful personal trainer, author, and entrepreneur. Itsines decided to develop her own fitness program after working at a womens gym in Adelaide, Australia. She started a mobile personal training business, which focused on routines using minimal equipment and space. This allowed her clients to easily practice their workouts. Seeing success with this business plan, Itsines began... read full bio
Kevin Young is a poet and professor. He has authored eleven books, edited eight other books, won the Guggenheim Fellowship and was a finalist for the National Book Award for his poetry collection, Jelly Roll: A Blues. As an Atticus Haygood Professor of English and Creative Writing at Emory University, Director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture... read full bio
Lauren Galante is a senior fellow for Atlantic Council and the founder of Galante Strategies. Prior to her work with Atlantic Council, Galante was the Director of Global Intelligence at FireEye Inc., a cybersecurity business. Galante has worked to expose nation state and criminal cyber operations, develop intelligence capabilities, and contribute to publications like APT28: A Window into Russias State... read full bio
Leon Logothetis is a motivational speaker. Upon realizing his life situation was uninspiring, Logothetis embarked on a journey across the world. Inspired by ‘The Motorcycle Diaries’, Logothetis began his life on the road fueled by his inner rebel, kindness, and human connection. He has visited more than 90 countries and traveled to every continent. Good Morning America, Los Angeles Times,... read full bio
Logan Laplante is a homeschool student, avid skier, and an inspiration to those searching for happiness. He shares his views on a different path of education called hackschooling with communities across the nation. Laplante has demonstrated his hacker mindset on Ted Talks. He shows youre able to optimize your health, happiness, and creativity by taking advantage of opportunities given to... read full bio
Mark Wright is the new Extra correspondent. He will host alongside Mario Lopez, Tanika Ray, Renee Bargh, and AJ Calloway. Known best as one of the stars of The Only Way Is Essex, The Royals, Murder in Successville, Lock Stock_, and Im a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! NOW!. Wright has collected millions of followers on social media. He... read full bio
Megan Phelps-Roper is an educator on extremism, bullying, and empathy. As a former member of the Westboro Baptist Church, an extremist group against a variety of communities including LGBT, Jewish, and the military, Phelps-Roper turned away from her radical life to share her story. Now, Phelps-Roper speaks to universities, faith groups, and law enforcement agencies around the world regarding empathetic... read full bio
Melissa Ben Ishay is the founder of ‘Baked by Melissa’, a chain of bakeries that specializes in miniature cupcakes. Currently, Baked by Melissa has over 14 locations in the New York City area. Ishay has also released her first cookbook titled, “Cakes by Melissa: Life Is What You Bake It”. Ishay grew up hoping to have her own business some... read full bio
Olivier Jean Blanchard is a French economist who has spent most of his professional life in Cambridge, MA where he attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He taught at Harvard before returning to MIT as the chair of the economics department. Blanchard then went on to be the economic counselor and director of the Research Department at the International... read full bio
