Thomas Piketty(01 of10)
Open Image ModalIn this June 30, 2014 file photo, French economist Thomas Piketty speaks during his seminar at the Almedalen political week in Visby on the island of Gotland, in Sweden. Novelist Marilynne Robinson, economist Piketty and cartoonist Roz Chast are among the finalists for National Book Critics Circle prizes. The 30 nominees for six competitive categories were announced Monday, Jan. 19, 2015. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Yanis Varoufakis(02 of10)
Open Image ModalGreek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis arrives for a meeting with Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos in Athens, on Tuesday, March 24, 2015. Varoufakis visited Greek President to discuss economic developments. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Naomi Klein(03 of10)
Open Image ModalCanada's author Naomi Klein gestures during an interview on Bolivian state television during the World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth in Tiquipaya on the outskirts of Cochabamba, Bolivia, Wednesday, April 21, 2010. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Russell Brand(04 of10)
Open Image ModalThis June 30, 2012 file photo originally released by the David Lynch Foundation shows Russell Brand at David Lynch Foundation: A Night of Comedy honoring George Shapiro in Beverly Hills, Calif. Brand must perform 20 hours of community service and pay a $500 court fee to resolve a misdemeanor charge stemming from a confrontation with a photographer in New Orleans. Brand did not appear in Municipal Court Thursday morning, but his attorney, Robert Glass, entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf to a charge of criminal damage to property. Glass said that under a deal with the district attorney's office, the case would be dismissed if the actor provides proof he has completed the service requirement by Aug. 31. (credit:INVISION FOR DAVID LYNCH FOUNDATION)
Paul Krugman(05 of10)
Open Image ModalNobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman speaks during a press conference at the World Capital Markets Symposium in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Monday, Aug. 10, 2009. Aggressive stimulus spending by governments helped the world avoid a second Great Depression but full economic recovery will take two years or more, Krugman said. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Arundhati Roy(06 of10)
Open Image ModalWriter activist Arundhati Roy speaks during a meeting protesting the killing of freelance journalist Hem Chand Pandey in a police encounter, in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, July 7, 2010. Pandey was killed along with Maoist leader Azad in an encounter on July 2 in the Wankhidi forests of Adilabad in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Jurgen Habermas(07 of10)
Open Image ModalThe winner of the Erasmus Prize, German philosopher Jurgen Habermas delivers a speech after being awarded at the Royal Palace in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, on November 6, 2013. The Erasmus Prize is an annual prize awarded by the Praemium Erasmianum Foundation, a Dutch non-profit organization, to individuals or institutions that have made notable contributions to European culture, society, or social science. (credit:JERRY LAMPEN via Getty Images)
Daniel Kahneman(08 of10)
Open Image ModalPsychology professor Daniel Kahneman, 68, a U.S. and Israeli citizen based at Princeton University waits for a news conference to begin at the school in Princeton, N.J. to give his reaction to winning the Nobel prize in economics Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2002. Kahneman shared the prize for integrating research about decision making into economics with another American. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
John Gray(09 of10)
Open Image ModalJohn Gray, political philosopher and writer, attends the Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival at the Bodleian Library on March 19, 2013 in Oxford, England. (credit:David Levenson via Getty Images)
Dr. Atul Gawande(10 of10)
Open Image ModalWriter/surgeon Dr. Atul Gawande speaks onstage during the 'FRONTLINE ÂBeing MortalÂ' panel discussion at the PBS Network portion of the Television Critics Association press tour at Langham Hotel on January 19, 2015 in Pasadena, California. (credit:Frederick M. Brown via Getty Images)