Kenneth Turan is a film critic for the Los Angeles Times and NPR’s Morning Edition. Before participating in a panel on L.A.’s onscreen image, he talked beer, birthdays, and Brooklyn in the green room, and offered his thoughts on how much is too much to pay for a movie ticket.

Q. Space travel or deep sea exploration—and why?

A. Space travel: I don’t know how to swim.

Q. What’s the last movie you saw?

A. In Darkness, directed by Agnieszka Holland.

Q. What’s a mystery to you?

A. Human nature.

Q. If you could have a beer with anyone in history, living or dead, who would it be?

A. Jesus.

Q. How did you celebrate your last birthday?

A. I went to a film festival in Sofia, Bulgaria. I really liked the city.

Q. What’s your favorite museum?

A. The museum I loved as a child, the Brooklyn Museum, which was a very exciting place while I was young.

Q. What’s the best thing about being a critic?

A. The chance to write about classic movies.

Q. What condiment do you use most often?

A. Mustard. French’s Mustard.

Q. How much is too much to pay for a movie ticket?

A. If you can’t afford it, it’s too much.

*Photo by Sarah Rivera.

Ricardo Salinas is founder and chairman of media, retail, and banking giant Grupo Salinas. Before talking about microfinance, philanthropy, and Mexico’s past and future in New York, he gamely stepped into the green room to answer questions ranging from the provenance of his fashionable eyeglasses to where he finds inspiration.

Q. Where did you get your glasses?

A. My wife is my decoration assistant here. I got them in Mexico—I think they’re Starck.

Q. What do you like best about New York?

A. The people. New York City is an incredibly dynamic, complex society. It probably represents the best of the U.S. and of the world—it attracts the best and brightest from around the world.

Q. If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

A. How about a lie detector! I might be terribly disappointed, huh?

Q. What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

A. Hard work pays off, and you have to stand by what you believe in, and do what you think is right.

Q. Where can we find you at 9:00 on a Friday night?

A. Probably reading on my computer at home. I have a very nice weekend home, and we go there on Friday afternoons.

Q. What Spanish phrase do you think Americans should know and use?

A. Family is the most important thing—and we say that a lot in Mexico: “La familia es la mas importante.”

Q. What are you superstitious about?

A. Number seven—it shows up an awful lot in craps.

Q. It’s your last meal. What do you order?

A. Probably a New York strip steak, with artichokes.

Q. What profession would you like to practice in your next life?

A. Dictator.

Q. What music have you listened to today?

A. When I travel and get on a plane, I listen to a lot of classical music. I love Mozart. I have a huge collection of music—30,000 songs in my iPod, of all kinds. I’m a frustrated disc jockey.

Q. What year, past or present, would you time-travel to if you could?

A. 1521—the conquest of Mexico.

Q. What was the last thing that inspired you?

A. A meeting with 1,200 women who are using our microcredit business in Chiapas. I was really struck to see how they live, and what they’re doing with these microloans. It’s really inspiring to come face to face with so much energy and optimism. I would recommend it to anybody: go see what these women are doing for a living and stop complaining, because they’re working really hard.

*Photo by Don Pollard.

Matthew Bishop is the U.S. business editor and New York bureau chief of The Economist. Before interviewing Mexican tycoon Ricardo Salinas in New York, he sat down in the green room and told us that even though the markets open early, he tends to sleep late.

Q. What websites do you find yourself reading most often?

A. The BBC, the Wall Street Journal, and Facebook.

Q. What word or phrase do you use most frequently?

A. Interesting.

Q. What do you wish you ate more of?

A. Healthy food.

Q. Where do you go to be alone?

A. I bike.

Q. Do you have a recurring dream or nightmare?

A. Scoring the winning goal in the World Cup final.

Q. If you could have one more hour in the day, what would you do with it?

A. Read a novel.

Q. Whom do you admire most?

A. Nelson Mandela—it’s an unimaginative answer, but it’s true nonetheless.

Q. What’s your favorite season and why?

A. Summer—I like warmth, and being outdoors.

Q. How do you order two eggs any style?

A. Poached.

Q. Where would you like to visit next?

A. Argentina.

Q. Who taught you how to ride a bicycle?

A. My dad.

Q. What time do you wake up in the morning?

A. Usually late.

*Photo by Don Pollard.

Meredith Stiehm is writer and producer for the television shows Homeland and Cold Case. Before participating in a panel on whether we live in TV’s golden age, she sat down in the green room to talk cheesesteaks, condiments, and her love of Gordon Lightfoot—but unlike most Homeland fans, Zócalo did not ask her to identify the show’s mole.

Q. What’s your favorite condiment?

A. Mustard. Spicy.

Q. What’s the best episode title of any TV show you’ve written?

A. The pilot of Cold Case: “Look Again.”

Q. Describe yourself in five words or less.

A. Writer, tennis player, theater lover, mother.

Q. Why did you get your last traffic ticket?

A. I got a ticket for kind of nosing into the crosswalk and almost hitting a pedestrian. I deserved it. I almost hit the guy.

Q. What question do people ask you most often about Homeland?

A. Plot questions like, “Who’s the mole?”

Q. What inspires you?

A. Music. Real stories.

Q. What’s the last event you saw live?

A. I don’t know if it was the last thing I saw, but the coolest thing I saw recently was Gordon Lightfoot at Royce Hall at UCLA. He’s almost 80. It was great. I went by myself.

Q. How do you exercise?

A. Tennis. Running.

Q. Where do you take visitors to L.A.?

A. We live in Santa Monica, so the beach, Malibu—and downtown, museums.

Q. You went to college in Philadelphia: Pat’s or Geno’s for cheesesteaks?

A. Geno’s. I was just there last year. It’s on a corner, near South Philly. But … is that Geno’s, or is that Pat’s?

*Photo by Aaron Salcido.

Mark Paul is the former deputy treasurer of the state of California and co-author of California Crackup: How Reform Broke the Golden State and How We Can Fix It. Before participating in a panel on whether California is too big, he made a return visit to the Zócalo green room where he dished on his cure for the hiccups and his iPad addiction.

Q. What was the last real letter you wrote?

A. When I resigned from the Sacramento Bee in 2004 … I’m guessing.

Q. How do you cure the hiccups?

A. Sucking on a lemon wedge. The remedy came from my mother, and it seems to work.

Q. What was the name of your childhood pet?

A. Willie—a poodle. Spelled like Willie Mays.

Q. What menu item do you find difficult to resist?

A. Chocolate ice cream.

Q. What’s underrated?

A. The California legislature.

Q. What’s the theme song to your life?

A. I guess the Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.”

Q. What’s your technology addiction?

A. These days, the iPad.

Q. Cowboys or Indians?

A. Indians.

Q. If you could go back to college, what would you major in?

A. I majored in history, and I’d probably do it again, but I would have taken more math. I got scared away, but it turned out I was very good at it.

Q. Who is your favorite comedian?

A. Robin Williams.

*Photo by Sarah Rivera.

Peter Weber is executive chairman of the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley. Before a panel on whether a divorce might fix California politics, he talked tango in the Zócalo green room.

Q. Who was your childhood idol?

A. My father.

Q. What’s your specialty in the kitchen?

A. Swedish pancakes.

Q. When did you last have to change a tire yourself?

A. Oh my gosh—it’s probably been 20 years.

Q. What did you wish for on your most recent birthday?

A. Just to have my kids and grandkids around me.

Q. If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

A. I’d like to be able to tango very well.

Q. What promise to yourself do you break most often?

A. Not eating ice cream.

Q. How would you describe yourself in five words or less?

A. Dedicated, hard-working, type-A, fun-loving, don’t-get-enough-sleep.

Q. What makes a good first impression?

A. Openness and tolerance.

Q. What music did you listen to today?

A. Beethoven’s Violin Concerto.

*Photo by Sarah Rivera.

Bill Maze is a former state assemblyman and longtime farmer. Before participating in a panel on the merits and perils of splitting California, he laughed and reminisced in the green room about his childhood hobbies.

Q. What is your favorite holiday and why?

A. Easter. It’s a fun time of year because it’s spring, and of course growing up in the San Joaquin Valley, there’s the fresh newness of everything coming out in the new year—new crops coming, new projects. I’ve got six granddaughters who love it. And sometimes it falls on my birthday!

Q. What did you have for lunch today?

A. An apple, some Fig Newtons, and a couple glasses of water.

Q. Do you have any secret talents?

A. Crafting furniture and cabinetry.

Q. What makes you impatient?

A. Not many things. I learned to roll with punches many years ago.

Q. When did you last laugh and why?

A. About a second ago—we’re enjoying the moment here! [Laughs.]

Q. If you could live in any time period, which would you choose?

A. I think we’re in the greatest time that there is. We’ve seen magnificent discoveries, methods of travel, computers. There’s never been a greater time in history.

Q. What was your childhood hobby?

A. Playing outdoors. That included riding steers, catching crawdads, fishing, swimming in the river, eating watermelons. We had a fun childhood.

Q. What’s your biggest pet peeve?

A. Men being discourteous to women.

Q. What do you put in your oatmeal?

A. Honey, brown sugar, and vanilla creamer.

Q. What do you drive?

A. A Honda MDX and a pick-up.

*Photo by Sarah Rivera.

Darcy Kuenzi is a founder and councilwoman of the Riverside County city of Menifee. Before participating in a panel on whether splitting the state might solve California’s problems, she revealed in the green room that she’d love to be a lion—the king of the jungle.

Q. What’s your favorite piece of art?

A. “Mona Lisa”—I like paintings.

Q. What’s your most recent online purchase?

A. A political purchase, and I just got the invoice: a phone banking database.

Q. What’s the last dessert you loved?

A. I love chocolate, I love desserts, and the last one I had was probably—oh, it was a chocolate-filled cannoli at the Edward-Dean Museum Gala.

Q. Are you on Twitter?

A. I am, but I don’t tweet! I don’t know how Tweet! I do Facebook. I’m afraid that Twitter will distract me. All I’ll be doing is tweeting, and I won’t be paying attention to what you’re talking about.

Q. What embarrasses you?

A. Stupidity. People who say dumb things for no good reason. Sometimes I say dumb things for no good reason.

Q. What profession would you like to practice in your next life?

A. I want to be a singer.

Q. What are you reading right now?

A. California Crackup by [moderator] Joe Mathews and [panelist] Mark Paul.

Q. Where would you like to travel next?

A. Tahiti—it’s on my bucket list.

Q. If you could be any animal, what would you be?

A. I’d like to be a lion—king of the jungle.

Q. What do you do to clear your mind?

A. Meditate and pray.

Q. Who last left you a voicemail?

A. The president of the Menifee action group, Bob Duistermars.

*Photo by Sarah Rivera.

Former state assemblyman Stan Statham is the president of the California Broadcasters Association. Before participating in a panel in Fresno that asked whether California is too big—and should be split up into multiple states—he talked Bakersfield, his career as a DJ, and why he wishes there were more days in the week.

Q. If you could be anyone in history, who would you be?

A. Well, not Tom Cruise. Maybe Denzel Washington, or is that too superficial? Abraham Lincoln.

Q. Who gave you your most memorable interview?

A. Alex Trebek from Jeopardy! He wanted to ask me if I was serious about dividing California. And as a result, he actually put the question of dividing California on the show.

Q. What’s your favorite thing about the Central Valley?

A. I’ve always been in love with Bakersfield, probably because I have a very close friend down there who got me involved in politics—and for that I’ll never forgive him.

Q. What’s the last secret you couldn’t keep?

A. A little something about my previous personal life that I had to relate to my present, beautiful and loving wife.

Q. How do you take your coffee?

A. With cream and sugar.

Q. What kind of music do you like to dance to?

A. I love Motown. I used to be a DJ in the ’50s and ’60s. The Supremes, Diana Ross, The Miracles, Marvin Gaye—it doesn’t get better.

Q. Where have you found inspiration?

A. In the ’50s I wanted to become America’s most famous DJ and play rock ’n’ roll on the radio. That didn’t work out. I was very inspired by trying to get into semi-show business, but I had to get into politics instead.

Q. How do you procrastinate?

A. I’m actually not a procrastinator. When you procrastinate, you can’t do things.

Q. How would you describe your style?

A. I like my style to be non-confrontational, relaxed, but hopefully intelligent. You have to sell yourself in order to get something done.

Q. What do you wake up to?

A. I’m in my early 70s, and tragically I wake up now to almost instantly getting on my laptop to find out what’s going on in the world. There has to be a better direction to take.

Q. What’s the best day of the week and why?

A. I don’t have a best day of the week. My job, representing all the radio and television stations in California, allows me to me come and go. I love every day of the week. I want more!

*Photo by Sarah Rivera.

Journalist Steven Brill, who founded CourtTV and American Lawyer magazine, is the author of Class Warfare: Inside the Fight to Fix America’s Schools. Before talking about teacher’s unions and the future of public education, he sat down in the green room to talk about the First Amendment, the many newspapers he reads, and his lack of regret about his choice of career.

Q. What would you do if you had one more hour in your day?

A. Sleep an extra hour because I only sleep six hours as it is.

Q. If you were a salad dressing, what kind would you be?

A. Blue cheese.

Q. What teacher or professor, if any, changed your life?

A. A whole bunch—one law school professor, one English teacher in high school, one math teacher in elementary school.

Q. If you could go back to college now, what would you major in?

A. Something more serious than what I majored in before, which was political science.

Q. What was the last live performance you watched?

A. The fifth game of the World Series.

Q. What’s your favorite cereal?

A. Cheerios.

Q. What Constitutional amendment do you think is most important?

A. The First.

Q. What takes up the most room in your closet?

A. My suits.

Q. What profession would you most like to practice in your next life?

A. The one I practice now: journalism.

Q. What do you read first in the morning?

A. The New York Times, Politico, The Financial Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal.

*Photo by Sarah Rivera.