Mary Roach is the author of several best-selling books of science journalism, including Stiff (about cadavers) and Bonk (about sex). Her most recent is Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void. It's an investigation of the science of human travel in space, from the high-minded (cosmic rays, interpersonal relationships, muscle degeneration) to the less-high-minded (farts, poops, barfs).

Standup comedian Nick Adams is the author of Making Friends with Black People and a writer on the upcoming NBC sitcom Perfect Couples. He performed this set at The Sound of Young America Presents: Laugh Night at Art Share in Los Angeles.

Samantha Bee is the Daily Show's longest-tenured correspondent, having joined the program in 2003. She's also the author of a new memoir, I Know I Am But What Are You?

Bee grew up in an unusual tripartite family, splitting time between a matronly grandmother, a conservative, re-married father and a bohemian, Wiccan mother. She met her husband, the Daily Show correspondent Jason Jones, while working in a Sailor Moon-themed stage show at the Canadian National Exposition.

She talked with us from New York City.

Colson Whitehead is one of America's most acclaimed novelists. He was the recipient of a MacArthur "genius" grant for his fiction, which includes Apex Hides the Hurt and John Henry Days. His latest novel is Sag Harbor, about the African American beach enclave.

We talk with Whitehead about why he chose to write a coming-of-age novel without any grand revelations - no bodies found in caves, no one hit by cars. We also chat about why he made such a firm turn away from high-concept fiction towards unassuming naturalism, and how he overcame his fear of teenagers and his own teenage years.

Dan Clowes is the author of numerous acclaimed comics. His works include Ghost World, Art School Confidential and the latest, Wilson.

Wilson is the story of a middle-aged man who has lived his life in an effort to avoid social relationships, only to realize that time is running out to build a family.

Mark Frauenfelder is the founder of the seminal zine and blog BoingBoing, the editor of Make Magazine, and the author of the new book Made By Hand: Searching for Meaning in a Throw-Away World, about the pleasure of making things yourself.​

In 2003, Frauenfelder, his wife and two small children moved to a remote island in the South Pacific. They hoped to escape modern life, but they found that they were instead isolated and beset by health problems. When they returned, four and a half months later, Frauenfelder considered what he really enjoyed about his trip, and realized it was working with his daughter on the laborious process of preparing coconuts to be eaten. He resolved to make more.

In Made By Hand, he writes about the movement towards "making," and about his own efforts. He got rid of his lawn to plant food, started whittling his own spoons and making cigar-box ukeleles, among other activities. He found that what he was looking for when he moved to the South Pacific was available to him right in Southern California.

"The Coolest Writer in America is obviously Mr. Freeze, DC Comics villain and author of the memoir Early On I Made A Decision To Incorporate A Cold Motif Into My Crime Sprees: A Life." - Colson Whitehead

Walter Mosley is the author of more than 30 books in a broad variety of genres, but he's best known for his detective fiction. His Easy Rawlins series began with 1989's best-selling Devil in a Blue Dress. His latest series features a new hero, the pugnacious, middle-aged Leonid McGill. He just released the second novel featuring McGill, Known to Evil.

Before he was a novelist, Mosley was a computer programmer. Originally born in Los Angeles, Mosley spent time in the Bay Area before moving to New York City, where the McGill novels are set.

Jim Lehrer has anchored The Newshour on PBS for 35 years. He's also written 20 novels, the most recent of which is a charming mystery called Super. Lehrer talks with us about growing up in Kansas, his love of buses and trains, and the role of television journalism, and particularly public television journalism, in the 21st century. Super takes place on The Super Chief, one of the last American luxury trains. The Super Chief passed through Kansas, where Lehrer grew up; as a young man, Lehrer worked in a bus depot owned by the same company as the legendary train.

Julie Klausner has written for Saturday Night Live and Best Week Ever with Paul F. Tompkins. Her new book is a dating memoir called "I Don't Care About Your Band: What I Learned from Indie Rockers, Trust Funders, Pornographers, Felons, Faux-Sensitive Hipsters, and Other Guys I've Dated." It chronicles her struggles dating man-children of all ages.