Join PBS Books National Director Heather-Marie Montilla in conversation with Wisdom Keepers host Ray Suarez and executive producer Dr. William Baker.
This exclusive conversation offers a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Wisdom Keepers, a profound new docuseries exploring life’s essential questions through interviews with leading thinkers in philosophy, faith, science, and ethics. The series premieres June 9, 2025 on the PBS App.
More than a preview, this discussion invites viewers to reflect, listen, and engage in meaningful dialogue about belonging, hope, and the pursuit of wisdom.
Host
Heather-Marie Montilla
Heather-Marie Montilla, a dynamic integrative leader, is an educator and nonprofit manager. She has worked in the nonprofit sector and libraries for over two decades, making a positive impact in arts, cultural, educational, and community-building arenas.
Having joined the PBS Books team as their Library Bureau Chief in Fall 2018, Montilla is now the National Director of PBS Books and has interviewed more than 150 writers. In addition, she is a faculty member at Michigan State University and Eastern Michigan University for their Arts and Cultural/Entertainment Management Programs. Having been an Executive Director for 8 years, Heather has a wide range of experience in management, finance, strategic planning, marketing, and fundraising. Heather holds a MPA From Columbia University, a MLIS from Wayne State University, and a bachelor’s from Duke University. She lives in Chicagoland, and is married with four children, a dog, and a bird.
Guests
Ray Suarez
Veteran journalist Ray Suarez was most recently the host of Al Jazeera America’s daily news program, Inside Story. Before coming to AJAM, Suarez spent 14 years as a correspondent and anchor at public television’s nightly newscast, The PBS NewsHour where he rose to become chief national correspondent. During his years at The NewsHour, Suarez covered the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington, four presidential elections, among hundreds of other stories. In 2004, and again in 2008, Suarez moderated presidential candidates debates broadcast on PBS and HDnet. Before PBS NewsHour, Suarez was the Washington-based host of NPR’s Talk of the Nation for six-and-a-half years. The New York Times called Suarez the “thinking man’s talk show host,” and “a national resource.” Along with years of daily deadline journalism, Suarez has done extensive work in long-form broadcast storytelling. During his decades as a broadcaster, Suarez also did extensive work as a writer. He wrote the 2013 companion volume to the PBS documentary series, Latino Americans. In 2005 he published an examination of the tightening relationship between religion and electoral politics, The Holy Vote: The Politics of Faith in America. His first book looked at the decades of transition in urban America, The Old Neighborhood: What We Lost in the Great Suburban Migration (Free Press, 1999). Over the years many organizations and institutions have recognized and honored Suarez and his work. He was a co-recipient of two DuPont-Columbia Silver Baton awards, for coverage of the 1994 South African elections, and the Gingrich Revolution and the 1995 Republican takeover in the House of Representatives. UCLA’s School of Public Policy awarded Suarez its Public Policy Leadership Award for his coverage of urban America, and his coverage of global public health has won national and international citations, including four CINE Golden Eagle Awards. The National Council of La Raza gave Suarez its Ruben Salazar Award, and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists inducted him into the organization’s Hall of Fame in 2010. Suarez holds a BA in African History, from New York University, where he won the Parke Honor in History and the K.Y. Daaku Prize in African Studies. He began his studies at the University of Chicago after winning a Benton Fellowship there in 1991, and later completed an MA in the Social Sciences. In 2005, NYU named Suarez a Distinguished Alumnus of the College of Arts and Sciences. He holds 14 honorary doctorates from colleges and universities across America.
William Baker
William Franklin Baker is an American broadcaster, author, academic, and explorer.
Baker directs the Bernard L. Schwartz Center for Media, Education, and Public Policy at Fordham University, where he is a Journalist in Residence and professor in the Graduate School of Education. He is also a Distinguished Professor of Media & Entertainment at IESE Business School, Barcelona, Spain, and Professor President Emeritus of WNET (New York’s public television station). He teaches a business class at the Juilliard School in New York City.
Baker has received seven Emmy Awards, including the 1987 Trustees Emmy Award. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has been inducted into the Management Hall of Fame by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS), the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame, and the New York State Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame. He received the Mark Schubart award from the Lincoln Center Institute. He has also received two Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Awards and the Gabriel Personal Achievement Award. In 2016, he was honored by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center for his work in the performing arts.
