On Monday, Russia launched strikes on Kyiv in what is one of the deadliest attacks on the city in months. To discuss, we FEATURE Karyn Grossman Gershon. Gershon is the CEO of Project Kesher (PK) in the US and architect of the PK international network of feminist Jewish leaders. Project Kesher’s programs build intergenerational Jewish life, advance gender equality, and promote public health and wellness. Karyn has helped raise over $40 million for Jewish women and girls in this region of the world. Most recently, she has been instrumental in helping to create a gendered response to the war in Ukraine. Karyn is a graduate of Cornell University and Northwestern University School of Law. She has spoken extensively about women's rights and Jewish life in post-Soviet countries on public radio and at universities including Stanford, Northwestern, Columbia and Wash U. Media includes: The Chicago Tribune, Sh’ma Magazine, The Jewish Journal, The Jewish Chronicle, WBEZ in Chicago, WBAI in NY.

On Tuesday, California, South Dakota, Iowa, New Mexico, and Montana voters took to the polls to vote in the state primaries. To discuss, we FEATURE Vanessa Tyson. As an expert on U.S. Congress, policy formulation, race, gender, and social justice, Tyson has an extensive background in both U.S. and California politics. Having worked on political campaigns since she was a teenager, including three Presidential campaigns, two U.S. Senate campaigns, and numerous state and local campaigns, she carefully considers how political dynamics affect policy formulation and consequent outcomes. She also formerly served as a committee consultant for the California State Senate analyzing criminal justice legislation including racial profiling and media access to prison inmates. A social scientist by training, Tyson currently teaches in the Department of Politics at Scripps College in Claremont, CA. Media includes: US News and World Report, The Sacramento Bee, The Huffington Post, The Bryan Callen Show, NPR.

Donald Trump has signed an executive order that would would allow government oversight over AI models. To discuss, we FEATURE Amy Webb. Webb is widely recognized as the global authority who transformed the practice of strategic foresight into a rigorous, data-driven discipline. As founder and CEO of the Future Today Strategy Group (FTSG), she built the world’s first foresight tools grounded in quantitative modeling. Her firm’s proprietary, data-driven foresight methodology identifies early signals of transformation across industries, converts them into actionable intelligence, and maps the implications of emerging technologies—from artificial intelligence and biotechnology to climate systems and geoeconomic realignments. Media includes: The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, Wired, The Atlantic, Fortune, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, NPR.

When Scott Pelley complained about CBS firing the “60 Minutes” leadership team, including on-air correspondents, Sharyn Afonsi and Cecilia Vega and executive producer, Tanya Simon, he was fired. To discuss we FEATURE Cristina L. Azocar. Azocar is a citizen of the Upper Mattaponi Indian Tribe and a Professor of Journalism at San Francisco State University. She is the author of News Media and the Indigenous Fight for Federal Recognition and the co-editor forthcoming Indigenous People and the Media. Her research focuses on the intersection of race and journalistic practice, particularly in the area of news coverage of Indigenous people. Azocar earned her doctorate in Communication Studies at the University of Michigan. She holds a master's degree in Ethnic Studies and a bachelor's degree in Journalism, both from San Francisco State University. Her interest in diversity in the news media spans more than 30 years. Extensive media experience.

Iran has suspended talks with the U.S. citing Israel's expanding offensive in Lebanon as a reason. To discuss, we FEATURE Frances Z. Brown. Brown is a vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where she focuses on U.S foreign policy, democracy, conflict, Africa, and the Middle East. At the vice-presidential level, she oversees the Democracy, Conflict, and Governance program; the American Statecraft program; and Carnegie California.  Brown served on the White House National Security Council (NSC) staff over the past three presidential administrations. Before re-joining Carnegie in February 2025, she served as special assistant to the President and senior director for Africa on the Biden NSC. Media includes: The Washington Post, International Herald Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, Foreign Policy.

Following weeks of protest, the state of New Jersey has sued the Delaney Hall immigration detention facility over inhumane conditions. To discuss, we FEATURE Madhuri (Madhu) Grewal. Grewal is an attorney and public policy consultant with expertise in civil rights, immigration, and criminal justice. She is the founder of Grewal Strategies, a firm that works primarily with civil and human rights organizations to develop and execute innovative and impactful campaigns, strategic communications, and policy initiatives. Prior to founding Grewal Strategies, she was a lobbyist in the political department of the ACLU, where she managed advocacy related to immigrants’ rights, including on appropriations, immigration detention, and the Trump administration’s family separation policy. She also worked at the intersection of immigrants’ rights and other civil rights and civil liberties issues, including reproductive health, criminal justice and mass incarceration, surveillance, and voting rights. Media includes: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, BBC, NPR.

North Carolina police officer Karson Hyder has been charged with assault following the release of footage from a security camera showed that he repeatedly punched a Black woman during an arrest. To discuss, we FEATURE Andrea M. Headley. Headley is an assistant professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University. She is also an affiliate fellow at the Center for Innovations in Community Safety at Georgetown Law. She is a scholar of public management, racial equity, and criminal justice policy. Headley’s research focuses on policing to understand how organizational, managerial, and individual level factors affect service delivery and outcomes, with a keen focus on inequities and disparities. Specific examples of her past work include improving police-community relations in communities of color, assessing the effect of race during use of force encounters, evaluating body-worn cameras, understanding national police reform commissions, analyzing dispositional outcomes in citizen complaints, and exploring the gendered norms and cultures in policing. Media includes: Dayton Daily News, Chicago Policy Review, The Conversation, NBC, PBS.

The European Union has agreed on new migration and asylum policies that will lead to more deportations and the expansion of detention centers abroad. To discuss, we FEATURE Terri Givens. Givens is a professor of political science at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. She is the author/editor of books and articles on immigration policy, European politics and right-wing politics. Her most recent published books are Radical Empathy: Finding a Path to Bridging Racial Divides, from Policy Press and The Roots of Racism: The Politics of White Supremacy in the US and Europe, published by Bristol University Press. Her book, Reckoning: Creating Positive Change through Radical Empathy was published in 2025. She was the founding director at the Center for European Studies at the University of Texas and led the university’s efforts in Mexico and Latin America as vice provost for International Activities as well as curriculum development. Media includes: Austin Statesman Newspaper, BBC, PBS, NPR.

June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month. To commemorate, we FEATURE Kierra Johnson, executive director of the National LGBTQ Task Force. Johnson joined the Task Force in 2018 as deputy executive director but was already engaged with the organization, previously serving on the National LGBTQ Task Force’s board of directors and its National Action Council. Johnson came to the Task Force after serving as URGE’s executive director with a wealth of experience in organizational leadership and management, program development, youth leadership and reproductive justice. As a bisexual Black woman, Johnson will become one of few out queer-identified women of color at the helm of a national LGBTQ organization. She is recognized as a national expert on queer and reproductive rights issues and has testified in front of the U.S. House of Representatives and has appeared in Newsweek, The New York Times, Fox News, Feministing.com and NPR.