To be successful, cultivate grit. That message caught fire worldwide when this MacArthur Genius released her hugely viral TED Talk and #1 New York Times bestselling book. With Situated: Find the People and Places That Bring Out Your Best, she’s turning her attention to another element in the story of success: the power of making your situation your ally.

The story of our country’s founding continues to hold deep relevance for our lives, says this MacArthur Genius. The first Black person to win the Pulitzer Prize for History, Annette is “one of the most important American historians of our time” (The New York Times)—and her new book, Jefferson on Race, is an indispensable read this America250 year.

Talking to people we disagree with can be hard. But this Harvard professor says the answer isn’t to avoid disagreement, but to learn to do it well. The author of How to Disagree Better (out now!), she’s developed a framework for conversations that leave the door open for dialogue—without compromising the values that are important to us.

When you face a personal, organizational, or social problem that seems too big for one person to handle, how do you solve it? You make art, says this renowned public artist. Michael was featured in the Netflix Top 10 hit Secret Mall Apartment and has spent his career helping audiences tap into their own creativity and find surprising solutions to big problems.

The most widely read Spanish-language author ever, Isabel Allende is a literary legend and feminist powerhouse whose “place as an icon of world literature was secured long ago” (Khaled Hosseini). This Women’s History Month, through her brilliant talks and epic books (The House of the Spirits to Violeta), she celebrates the stories that keep us connected.