The Beat Creators & Guests

Ayman Mohyeldin is an Egyptian-born journalist based in New York for NBC News and MSNBC.

Ari Naftali Melber is an American attorney and journalist for NBC News and host of MSNBC's The Beat.

Katie S. Phang is an American attorney, legal analyst, and television host. She hosts The Katie Phang Show, which airs on the weekends on MSNBC and Thursdays to Fridays on Peacock.

Richard L. Hasen is a legal scholar and expert in legislation, election law, and campaign finance. Currently, he is a Professor of Law at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Corant Lynn is better known by his stage name Common (formerly Common Sense), he is a rapper, actor, writer, philanthropist, and activist.

Garrett Haake is a senior Capitol Hill correspondent at NBC News.

Chris Hayes is a journalist and author. Hayes hosts All In with Chris Hayes, a weekday news and opinion television show on MSNBC. He also hosts the show Why Is This Happening? with Chris Hayes.

Oliver Stone is a writer, filmmaker, and conspiracy theorist.

Timothy J. Heaphy is a white-collar criminal defense attorney, law professor and a former United States Attorney for the Western District of Virginia.

Colin Quinn is a stand-up comedian, actor, and writer.

David Wallace Wells is a journalist.

Sherrilyn Ifill is a lawyer, and expert on voting rights and judicial selection. Currently, she is a law professor at the University of Maryland Law School and also president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.Ifill began her legal career in a fellowship with the ACLU in New York. She then served as assistant counsel at the Legal Defense Fund, where she litigated Voting Rights Act cases. Her first book, "On the Courthouse Lawn: Confronting the Legacy of Lynching in the 21st Century," was published in 2008.Ifill was born and raised in Jamaica, Queens, New York. She received her B.A. from Vassar College and her J.D. from the New York University School of Law. She interned for Judge A. Leon Higginbotham Jr. and at the United Nations Centre for Human Rights.

Lev Parnas is a former Giuliani associate.

Will Sommer is a journalist and currently reports on technology for The Daily Beast. Prior to that, he was a campaign editor at The Hill and a political columnist for Washington City Paper.Sommer also publishes Right Richter, an online blog that rounds up the week's ideas, conspiracy theories, and personalities in conservative media.Sommer was raised in Texas.

Andrew Slavitt is a former Acting Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Leon Cooperman is an American billionaire investor and hedge fund manager.

Alicia Menendez is the creator and host of the Latina to Latina podcast.

Emily Bazelon is a journalist.

Robert Draper is an American journalist, and author, he is a correspondent for GQ and a contributor to The New York Times Magazine. Previously, he worked for the Texas Monthly.