The U.S. is evacuating Afghans trying to flee Afghanistan following the country's takeover by the Taliban. To discuss, we SPOTLIGHT Noorjahan Akbar. Akbar is an outspoken women right's advocate and author from Afghanistan. She has worked with several Afghan and global organizations focusing on women’s empowerment and ending gender-based violence and led nation-wide campaigns and protests in defense of human rights. She runs Free Women Writers, a collective of activists and writers in Afghanistan and the diaspora advocating for gender equality and social justice, and is the Communications Manager for the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights. Media includes: Al Jazeera, The New York Times, CNN, ABC, NPR.
The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine has become the first coronavirus vaccine to be approved by the FDA for use beyond emergencies. To discuss, we FEATURE Elena Conis. Conis is a professor in the Graduate School of Journalism and the Center for Science, Technology, Medicine and Society at the University of California, Berkeley, where she also directs the joint graduate program in Journalism and Public Health. Conis is author of Vaccine Nation: America’s Changing Relationship with Immunization. A former journalist, award-winning columnist, and historian, she studies how culture, values, politics, and media have shaped modern American medicine, public health, and environmentalism over time, and how scientific ideas about health and medicine are communicated to and received by the public in the present. Media includes: TIME, Bloomberg, NPR.
Kids have started going back to school, many returning to in-person learning for the first time since the pandemic began last year. To discuss, we FEATURE Emma Garcia. Garcia is an economist at the Economic Policy Institute. She specializes in the economics of education and education policy. Her areas of research include analysis of the production of education (cognitive and noncognitive skills); returns to education; evaluation of educational interventions (early childhood, K-12, and higher education); educational equity; human development; international comparative education; and cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analysis in education. Extensive media experience.
Nabisco factory workers are on strike to protest the company outsourcing to Mexico and against contract changes that the union says would downgrade benefits and cut overall wages. To discuss, we FEATURE Erica Smiley. Smiley is the executive director of Jobs With Justice. A long-time organizer and movement leader, Smiley has been spearheading strategic organizing and policy interventions for Jobs With Justice for over 15 years. Prior to taking up her current position with the organization, Smiley served as organizing director for Jobs With Justice developing campaigns that resulted in transformative changes to how working people organize and are civically engaged at their workplaces and in their communities. Media includes: Chicago Tribune, The Washington Free Beacon, Reuters, MSNBC.
On August 28th, the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s March On Washington, activists will march in D.C. and various other cities across the U.S. to fight against voter suppression. To discuss the March On For Voting Rights, we FEATURE Jeralyn Cave. Cave is a Senior Communications Associate with Advancement Project's Power & Democracy Campaign. In this role she provides strategic communications support to grassroots organizations to remove barriers to voting. Extensive media experience.
Time's Up is conducting an impact review process following an investigation by The New York Times into the organization’s internal turmoil and its relationship with Andrew Cuomo. To discuss, we FEATURE Linda Seabrook. Seabrook is General Counsel and Director of Workplace Safety & Equality at Futures Without Violence, where she leads a number of programs aimed at reducing violence against women and children. Prior to Futures Without Violence, Seabrook was at Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, a national top-tier labor and employment law firm where she focused on employment discrimination and sexual harassment cases, and occupational safety and health law. Media includes: The Post & Courier, USA Today, NPR.
Jeopardy producer Mike Richards has stepped down as the game show's host after misogynistic and offensive remarks he made on a podcast were published in The Ringer. Two models from The Price Is Right, a show he was previously a producer on, also filed lawsuits against him for insensitivity towards pregnant women. Despite this, he still remains a producer of Jeopardy. To discuss, we FEATURE Rebecca G. Pontikes. Pontikes is a lawyer and founder of Pontikes Law, LLC. She represents employees in all areas of employment law, specializing in gender and family responsibility (caregiver) discrimination and sexual harassment against employees and students. Media includes: The Boston Globe, The New York Times, NECN.
Egypt has closed its Gaza border amidst tensions with Hamas leaders. To discuss, we FEATURE Anna Therese Day. Day is an independent journalist and social media researcher, specializing in global civil society organizing, new media activism, and Middle East politics. She has reported on the ground from Bahrain, Egypt, Israel & the Palestinian Territories, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Mexico, Syria, Turkey, and the United States, with extended time in Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and the Palestinian Territories. Media includes: Al Jazeera English, The Huffington Post, The Nation, Ms. Magazine. BBC, CNN.
Vice President Kamala Harris is in Southeast Asia, arriving today in Vietnam after visiting Singapore for two days. She is discussing ways to strengthen trade with both nations, assuring them that the U.S. will not make them choose between the U.S. and China. Harris is the first U.S. vice president to visit Vietnam. To discuss, we FEATURE Susan Shirk. Shirk is Ho Miu Lam Professor of China and Pacific Relations and Director of the 21st China Program at the University of California, San Diego School of International Relations and Pacific Studies. Shirk's publications include her books, China: Fragile Superpower; The Political Logic of Economic Reform in China; How China Opened Its Door: The Political Success of the PRC's Foreign Trade and Investment Reforms; Competitive Comrades: Career Incentives and Student Strategies in China. Media includes: The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, San Diego Union Tribune.
The Tokyo Paralympics began today in Tokyo. To discuss, we FEATURE Emily Ladau. Ladau is a passionate disability rights activist, writer, storyteller, and digital communications consultant. She is the author of Demystifying Disability: What to Know, What to Say, and How to be an Ally. She is the Editor in Chief of the Rooted in Rights Blog, a platform dedicated to amplifying authentic narratives on the disability experience through an intersectional lens. Her career began at the age of 10, when she appeared on several episodes of Sesame Street to educate children about her life with a physical disability. Media includes: The Daily Beast, HuffPost, The New York Times, Newsday, Salon, Variety, CNN, NPR.
Thursday is Women's Equality Day. On that same day, there will be a Rally 4 ERA in front of the Supreme Court. To discuss, we FEATURE Carol Jenkins and Eleanor Smeal.
Jenkins is the Co-President and CEO of The ERA Coalition and the Fund for Women’s Equality, sister organizations dedicated to the passage and enactment of the Equal Rights Amendment.
Thursday is Women's Equality Day. On that same day, there will be a Rally 4 ERA in front of the Supreme Court. To discuss, we FEATURE Carol Jenkins and Eleanor Smeal.
Smeal is President of The Feminist Majority Foundation. She has been at the forefront of almost every major women’s rights victory – from the integration of newspaper help-wanted ads to the passage of landmark legislation, including the Violence Against Women Act and Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act.
Liz Theran
