Bill Kristol spent four decades as a top operative and editor of the American right - chief of staff to Dan Quayle, founding editor of The Weekly Standard, co-architect of the Project for the New American Century - before becoming one of conservatism's most prominent defectors. Today he runs Defending Democracy Together and is editor-at-large of The Bulwark, where the man once called 'Dan Quayle's brain' now spends his days arguing against the movement his family helped invent. In May 2026 he registered as a Democrat.
Ramesh Ponnuru is the editor of National Review, a contributing columnist for The Washington Post, and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. A Princeton-trained historian who started at National Review as an intern and never really left, he has spent more than two decades as one of the most cited voices in American conservatism, championing 'reform conservative' ideas like expanding the child tax credit and rethinking monetary policy. He is also a contributing editor to the policy journal National Affairs and a frequent television commentator.
Reihan Salam is the fifth president of the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, a Brooklyn-born son of Bangladeshi immigrants who climbed from editorial researcher to one of the most cited voices on the American right. A former executive editor of National Review and associate editor of The Atlantic, he co-wrote Grand New Party with Ross Douthat and authored Melting Pot or Civil War?, making the case for a working-class, multi-ethnic conservatism and a skills-based immigration policy.
Matt D'Avella is an Emmy-nominated filmmaker, YouTuber, and podcaster who turned a $97,000 debt crisis into a Netflix documentary career. Best known for directing Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things and The Minimalists: Less Is Now on Netflix, he now runs one of YouTube's most visually distinct self-improvement channels with over 4 million subscribers, combining cinematic production quality with sharp, skeptical takes on hustle culture, habits, and modern life.
Bari Weiss is the founder of The Free Press and, since October 2025, editor-in-chief of CBS News following Paramount's $150 million acquisition of her media company. A former Wall Street Journal and New York Times editor whose viral 2020 resignation letter made her a symbol of anti-groupthink journalism, Weiss built one of the fastest-growing independent news outlets in America - reaching 1.5 million subscribers in under five years - before landing the biggest job in legacy broadcast news.