The federal government has decided to split up the task of regulating Silicon Valley's big tech giants– which includes Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple– between the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission. Regulators will look at whether the companies have been stifling competition and breaking antitrust laws. To discuss, we SPOTLIGHT Anne MacGregor. An antitrust lawyer for 25 years in large law firms in Brussels, MacGregor launched the Brussels Bureau of the DC-based specialist antitrust investigatory news service The Capitol Forum in 2018. Over the course of her career, Anne has acted for merging companies, third party interveners, and event-driven merger arb hedge fund investors in a series of high-profile global deals. She is adept at explaining both substantive competition problems as well as timing considerations in regulatory reviews of pending transactions. Media includes: EuroNews, Bloomberg, Reuters, Wall Street Journal.
Mexican officials met in Washington for immigration talks to discuss what Mexico can do to stop Central American immigration into the U.S. The meetings follow President Trump's threats on apply tariffs to Mexican goods. To discuss, we FEATURE Laura Carlsen. Carlsen is Director of the Americas Program in Mexico City, a program of the Center for International Policy. She publishes numerous articles and chapters on social, economic and political aspects of Mexico, co-edited Confronting Globalization: Economic Integration and Popular Resistance in Mexicoand is finishing a book called "Up Against the Wall: US-Mexico Relations from NAFTA to Trump". Media includes: Washington Post, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, InterPress Service, Guardian, Christian Science Monitor, NBC, CBC, BBC, Costa a Costa.
The Trump administration is planning to release a peace plan for the Isreal-Palestine conflict in the Middle East. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has issued concern over whether the plan can be executed and the possibility of it being rejected. To discuss, we FEATURE Noura Erakat. Erakat is a human rights attorney and writer. She is currently the Freedman Teaching Fellow at Temple Law School and the US-based Legal Advocacy Consultant for the Badil Resource Center for Palestinian Refugee and Residency Rights. She is a frequent commentator on the Palestinian-Israel conflict, US Middle East foreign policy, and international human rights in the Middle East. Media includes: Foreign Policy, Al Jazeerea, the Hill.com, The Interdependent, The Huffington Post, Fox, MSNBC, NBC.
Last Friday, a mass shooting in Virginia Beach resulted in the death of 12 people. The shooting took place at a municipal building, where the shooter worked. To discuss, we FEATURE Sanford Institute of Public Policy at Duke University Professor Kristin Goss. Goss, whose current research includes the evolution of gun related advocacy over the past decade, is the co-author (with Philip J. Cook) of The Gun Debate: What Everyone Needs to Know (Oxford University Press, 2014) and author ofDisarmed: The Missing Movement for Gun Control in America (Princeton University Press, 2006, 2009), which examines the strategic and political barriers to mass mobilization for stricter firearms regulation. Media includes: Raleigh News & Observer, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Newark Star Ledger, The Washington Post.
The Women Deliver 2019 Conference is currently happening in Vancouver, Canada. The conference began on June 3rd and will conclude on the 6th. To discuss, we FEATURE Erin Hohlfelder. Hohlfelder is a Senior Program Officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where she works to develop and implement the foundation's first-ever advocacy and communications strategy and grant portfolio on gender equality. Prior to joining the Foundation, Erin spent 6 years at the ONE Campaign, where she served as the Policy Director for Global Health and led health research and policy analysis across ONE’s global markets. Media includes: MSNBC, NPR, Financial Times, Reuters, America with Jorge Ramos, The Daily Beast, Deutsche Welle, Devex.
The Swiss court has suspended a rule made by the International Association for Athletic Federation's (IAAF) that would force South African athlete Caster Semenya to take hormones to supress her testosterone levels to compete. To discuss, we FEATURE Jill Pilgrim. Pilgrim is the Founder and President of The Center for the Protection of Athletes' Rights, Inc., a 501(c)(3) sports advocacy and education organization. She is also currently Acting Executive Director & General Counsel of the Track & Field Athletes Association (TFAA). Pilgrim is a former track and field athlete with longstanding involvement in Olympic and amateur sports, as an athlete, an attorney and business advisor. As an educator on the sports industry, Ms. Pilgrim has taught sports law at New York University’s Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Management, the University of Miami School of Law. Media includes: NBC, CNN, BBC Radio, ESPN.
Johana Medina Leon, a transgender woman from El Salvador, has died in an ICE facility in New Mexico. The facility has already faced scrutiny for mistreating gay and transgender immigrants. To discuss, we FEATURE Nadine Nakamura, PhD. Nakamura is an associate professor in the department of psychology at the University of La Verne where she teaches multicultural psychology at the masters and doctoral level. Her research relates to multiculturalism and intersectionality and include immigration, HIV, and ethnic and sexual minority health and mental health, as well as understanding the unique needs of LGBT people of color, LGBT immigrants and asylum seekers, and LGBT international issues. Media includes: CNN, APA Monitor.
The United States Supreme Court will be making a decision on whether the 2020 Census is allowed to add a question on citizenship. To discuss, we FEATURE Beth Jarosz. Jarosz is a senior research associate in PRB’s United States Programs division where she manages several projects and works on a variety of topics including child health and well-being, local population growth and demographic change, women's well-being, and inequality. She is on the board of the Association of Public Data Users (2019-2021) and is Vice President of the Southern Demographic Association (2019). She has published peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on a wide range of U.S. demographic topics including women's well-being, inequality, fertility, mortality, census data, and population estimation and forecasting methods. Media includes: Wall Street Journal, Fortune, USA Today.
Many candidates have announced their run for President in the 2020 election. To discuss this presidential election cycle, we FEATURE Jennifer Mercieca. Mercieca is an historian of American political discourse, especially discourses about citizenship, democracy, and the presidency. Her scholarship combines American history with rhetorical and political theory in an effort to understand democratic practices. Her presidency research argues that we have heroic expectations for the presidency that are both unrealistic and unconstitutional and that these expectations burden the presidency. She is the author of Founding Fictions and the co-Editor of The Rhetoric of Heroic Expectations: Establishing the Obama Presidency. Media includes: The New York Times, Huffington Post, BBC, WPR.
June is LGBTQ Pride Month. To discuss, we FEATURE Kierra Johnson. Johnson is the Deputy Executive Director of the National LGBTQ Task Force. She has a wealth of experience in program development, youth leadership and reproductive justice. Johnson previously served on the National LGBTQ Task Force’s board of directors and on its National Action Council, and has keynoted at the organization’s annual Creating Change Conference. Media includes: Newsweek, The New York Times, Fox News, Feministing.com, NPR.
Liz Theran
