Just ask, and they'll give you the information. Oh, and try to stay in topics were you know the general or specfic context, no need to know everything.
I'd echo Othniel in the first aspect - simply ask. Anyone who is serious in posting their POD will answer, vis the Lincoln/Booth one where I asked who Lane was. If there's no answer its probably a throw-away POD done for a moment's fun rather than a serious attempt to create a discussion.
And remember, ask Wikipedia.org for anything you don't know. Best thing on the internet. Otherwise, I do agree that we should probably make it easier for others and post information before announcing our POD and such.