Dominique Dawes —The three-time Olympian gymnast, now a coach in Maryland, can offer insider tips about the summer Olympics in Beijing.

Melissa Block —The NPR All Things Considered host found herself in the middle of one of the year’s biggest stories while reporting from Chengdu as the earthquake hit China.

Jack Gerard —Summer gas prices got you down? Talk to the new head of the American Petroleum Institute, a.k.a. Big Oil.

Julianne Brienza —The indie-arts bonanza that is the Capital Fringe Festival owes much to its founder as it offers its largest and longest lineup of performances yet in July—some 18 days and 130 groups.

Reggie Love —Barack Obama’s 26-year-old “body guy” is at the candidate’s elbow every step of the day and knows all the candidate’s whims, like his preference for Washington’s own Black Forest Berry Honest Tea.

Ron Suskind —The best-selling author’s June book on the Bush administration promises to be another blockbuster.

Lenny Harris —The Nationals’ hitting coach better have some insight into how he expects to turn around a team that’s last in the National League in batting.

Nicolle Wallace —The former White House communications director and now unofficial John McCain adviser has lots of insights into the GOP nominee-to-be as well as Scott McClellan’s surprising tales.

Who would be on your dinner-party guest list? Tell us in the comments.

This article appears in the July 2008 issue of Washingtonian. To see more articles in this issue, click here.