Putin has announced that he will suspend the nuclear arms control pact Russia has with the U.S. To discuss, we FEATURE Isabelle Williams, Senior Director of the Nuclear Threat Initiative’s Global Nuclear Policy Program. Williams leads Horizon 2045, manages regional partnerships, and supports NTI’s efforts to strengthen global nuclear risk reduction and disarmament efforts. One of her areas of expertise is U.S.-Russia relations. Williams joined the NTI in 2007 as Senior Adviser to the Global Nuclear Policy Program. She has also co-authored reports on NATO nuclear policy and UK nuclear policy and helped manage the Nuclear Security Project, an initiative led by former Secretary of State George P. Shultz, former Secretary of Defense William J. Perry, former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger and former Senator Sam Nunn in their effort to galvanize global action to reduce urgent nuclear dangers and work towards a vision of a world free of nuclear weapons. Media includes: Politico.

A train derailment in eastern Ohio has caused a hazardous catastrophe as train operator Norfolk Southern burned off the chemicals to avoid an explosion. The chemical, vinyl chloride, has been linked to liver cancer. The EPA is now leading the cleanup effort To discuss, we FEATURE Betsy López-Wagner. Betsy has worked alongside attorneys, lobbyists, and coalition partners to safeguard the health of communities, protect clean air and water, fight arctic drilling, and protect the ocean’s resources. She's co-devised strategies alongside grassroots activists to ensure their power is seen, heard, and felt from regional to national and international levels by developing a culture of storytelling that elevates authentic personal narratives to emotionally connect with audiences and inspire action. She is Principal and Chief Strategist at López-Wagner Strategies, an equitable communications agency comprised of a multilingual team of visionaries, strategists and climate justice advocates. Media includes: Univision, Telemundo, La Opinion, Hoy.

Republican leaders in Jackson, Mississippi, have approved of a bill that dictates that courts in a predominantly Black area of Jackson will be ruled by state-appointed judges and served by the state-run police force. The decision has added to racial and political divides in the city. To discuss, we FEATURE Jilisa Milton. Milton is an Alabama based civil rights attorney, policy analyst, social worker, racial justice activist, community organizer, and relational strategist. She has nearly a decade of experience working at the intersection of racial equity, critical race & feminist theory, poverty, criminal justice reform, mental health, and reproductive justice. She practices law in Alabama, and is a former Equal Justice Works Fellow, while previously implementing a project in Alabama’s Black Belt region that protects the rights of children with disabilities from entering the school to prison pipeline. She continues work on police reform and economic justice. She is a media expert on racial justice, police reform, social policy, intercultural communications, and social movement strategy. Media includes: Bloomberg Law, Birmingham Times.

The Supreme Court has returned to the bench and on February 28 will hear oral arguments on Biden's student loan forgiveness plan which was stalled after six conservative states accused the administration of overstepping its authority. To discuss, we FEATURE Angela Peoples, an organizer, political strategist and freedom fighter. Peoples got her start as a progressive advocate in 2006, fighting to stop an anti-affirmative action ballot initiative. She continued building student power and fighting for college access and affordability as Legislative Director of the United States Students Association and as Policy and Advocacy Manager of the Center for American Progress' youth organizing division. Angela also spent three years working to improve consumer protection laws for student loan borrowers and young consumers at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. She is currently CEO and co-founder of The South, where she creates content that helps their audience live their politics, and to speak truth to power. Media includes: The Hill, MetroWeekly, The New York Times.

After complaints were made in Florida about an Advanced Placement African American studies course being too "woke" and politically charged, other states—Arkansas, Virginia, North Dakota and Mississippi—have also decided to review their courses. To discuss, we FEATURE Treva Lindsey, Professor of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Ohio State University. Treva is a Black feminist cultural critic, historian, and commentator. Her work covers topics ranging from violence against women to fashion at the Met Gala. Many of her pieces focus on the representation and experience of Black women, although her work on race, gender, sexuality, culture and politics encompasses the far-reaching and often untold effects of current events and pop culture moments. Her boldness, ability to connect history to current events, and wealth of knowledge about both pop culture and social justice issues brings readers to her work on multiple digital platforms. Her background as a historian, Black feminist, and media studies scholar anchors her approach to difficult conversations about violence, intersection of race, gender, sexuality, and politics, and media. Media includes: Huffington Post, Teen Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Vox.

Even though the #MeToo movement has shaken up many different industries, the film scoring industry hasn't faced the same reckoning. The Female Composer Safety League was created by Nomi Abadi to address these issues. To discuss, we FEATURE Audrey Roofeh. Audrey is the founder and CEO of Mariana Strategies LLC, a Washington, DC-based workplace culture consulting firm focused on preventing workplace harassment. Audrey is an employment lawyer and certified change management practitioner, who frequently speaks and writes on issues of workplace equity and inclusion. As CEO of Mariana Strategies, Audrey works with businesses in manufacturing, politics, fashion, sciences, and media, as well as national and international non-profits, think tanks and educational institutions to deliver workplace culture solutions to prevent harassment and build inclusion. Media includes: TurthOut, FairyGodBoss, The Startup.

Researchers have confirmed that a fifth person has been cured of HIV. To discuss, we FEATURE Phronie Jackson, PhD. Jackson is a social change agent, mentor, and Founder and Executive Director of Ward 5 health coalition in Washington, DC. She is an expert on HIV/AIDS; equity; public, community, population health; worksite wellness; and stress management. Her research interest includes addressing chronic disease prevention through a health equity lens. She applies lessons learned from over 20 years of public health experience to develop, implement, and evaluate public, community, population, and worksite health and wellness programs and trainings. She is an adjunct faculty member at the University of the District’s College of Agriculture, Urban Sustainability and Environmental Sciences (CAUSES), where she teaches undergraduate students in Health Education/Public Health. Extensive media experience.

February is Black History Month. To commemorate, we FEATURE Kristal Brent Zook, Ph.D. Kristal is an award-winning journalist and the author of four books, her latest is The Girl In The Yellow Poncho. Her previous books are I See Black People: Interviews with African American Owners of Radio and Television; Black Women's Lives: Stories of Power and Pain, a collection of intimate portraits of women across the country, from an organic farmer in Vermont, to a filmmaker in Los Angeles; and Color By Fox: then Fox Network and the Revolution in Black Television. Kristal speaks regularly on popular culture and gender, multiracial identity and blackness, as well as social justice issues involving health, the environment and criminal justice. Media includes: Essence, The New York Times Sunday Magazine, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, CNN, NPR, MYX, Fox, PBS.