Melissa Farley is a clinical and research psychologist with San Francisco based nonprofit Prostitution Research & Education and an associate scholar with the Center for World Indigenous Studies. She wrote Prostitution and Trafficking in Nevada: Making the Connections (2007) and Prostitution, Trafficking, and Traumatic Stress (2003). She has published 22 peer-reviewed articles on prostitution and trafficking. An abolitionist, Farley advocates for alternatives to the institution of prostitution. She manages the Prostitution Research & Education website (prostitutionresearch.com) and cofounded the Nevada Coalition Against Sex Trafficking.

Catharine A. MacKinnon specializes in sex equality issues under international and constitutional law. She pioneered the legal claim for sexual harassment and, with Andrea Dworkin, created ordinances recognizing pornography as a civil rights violation. The Supreme Court of Canada largely accepted her approaches to equality, pornography, and hate speech. Her scholarly books include Sex Equality (2001) and Are Women Human? (2006). She is one of the most widely-cited legal scholars in English.

Wendy Shalit received her BA in philosophy from Williams College in 1997. Her first book, A Return to Modesty: Discovering The Lost Virtue (1999) argues that modesty is misunderstood as “repression”; and her followup, The Good Girl Revolution: Young Rebels With Self-Esteem and High Standards (2008) showcases a new generation of female role models. Her essays on literary and cultural topics have appeared in Commentary, Slate, the Wall Street Journal and other publications. Through her writing and mentoring, Wendy has worked closely with young women who are trying to escape prostitution.

Sydney Biddle Barrows perhaps better known to millions as the “Mayflower Madam,” found herself moonlighting as a phone girl at an escort service after having been fired for refusing to participate in a kickback scheme. Less than a year later she opened up her own agency. Relatively small but very upscale, Cachet prospered for 5 ½ years until New York’s Finest closed it down, only to later publicly concede that it was the most honest and professionally run business of its kind ever operated in New York City. Her first book, Mayflower Madam, went right to the top of the New York Times bestseller list, and her fourth will be published in January of 2009. She is now in the information marketing business.

Tyler Cowen is Holbert C. Harris Professor of Economics at George Mason University and director of the Mercatus Center. He has written numerous books on the relationship between commerce, the arts, and morality, including In Praise of Commercial Culture and most recently Discover Your Inner Economist. He co-writes a blog at www.marginalrevolution.com and writes frequently for the popular press.

Lionel Tiger is the Charles Darwin Professor of Anthropology at Rutgers University. Among his books are Men in Groups (1969, 1987), which introduced and developed the concept of male bonding, The Imperial Animal (1971,1989), The Pursuit of Pleasure (1992),and The Decline of Males (2000). He has lectured on all the continents, published widely in general and professional journals and is currently a columnist for Forbes.com.