With tech giants being major party donors for Democratic candidates, politicians flocked to SXSW this year. To discuss, we FEATURE Sarah Granger. Granger is the founder of the Center for Technology, Media & Society and is dedicated to educating, informing and connecting stakeholders around converging topics like transparent e-government, high-tech workplace flexibility, and gender bias online. Granger has more than 25 years of experience working at the intersection of technology, media and government. She is an award-winning digital media innovator and bestselling author of The Digital Mystique: How the Culture of Connectivity Can Empower Your Life – Online and Off. Media includes: ABC, CBS, Good Morning America, The New York Times, Huffington Post, The Washington Post, NPR.

President Trump is looking to get $8.6 billion to build a border wall and increase defense spending. In order to do so, he has proposed cutting budgets to the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development. To discuss, we FEATURE Shanthi Kalathil. Kalathil is Director of the International Forum for Democratic Studies at the National Endowment for Democracy. Her work focuses on China's global impact, the implications to international security of growing authoritarian influence and disinformation, and the role of media, communication and technology. Previously in her career, she has served as a senior fellow or associate with the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University, and as a consultant for the World Bank and other international organizations. Media includes: NPR, BBC, Voice of America.

Venezuela is currently is the midst of an power and communications outage. The situation has been going on for five days, leaving Venezuelans unable to contact people for days, patients at hospitals in danger, and many without water. To discuss, we FEATURE Laura Carlsen. Carlsen is Director of the Americas Program based in Mexico City. An expert on Latin-American politics, she has published numerous articles and chapters on social, economic and political aspects of Mexico, co-edited Confronting Globalization: Economic Integration and Popular Resistance in Mexico and is a frequent radio and TV guest discussing the region. Media includes: Washington Post, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, InterPress Service, Guardian, Christian Science Monitor, NBC, CBC, BBC.  

The British Parliament will be making a crucial vote on Brexit today that will determine whether the U.K. will be leaving the European Union on March 29th or whether the date will be postponed. To discuss, we FEATURE Valerie Rouxel-Laxton. Rouxel-Laxton is a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council's Global Business and Economics Program. She is also a Consultant on economics and development impact at the IFC (International Finance Corporation, the World Bank Group). Before taking on her role at the Atlantic Council, Rouxel-Laxton was Head of Economics and Finance for the EU delegation in the U.S. and prior to that she was Head of Sector, Countries of the G20, for the European Commission. Extensive media experience.

Following weeks of protest in Algiers, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has announced that he will not be running for a fifth term in the next election. To discuss, we FEATURE Zeina Zaatari. Zaatari, an academic, is the former Program Officer for the Middle East and North Africa at the Global Fund for Women. She conducted fieldwork with women’s groups and women activists in South Lebanon detailing their life histories and the ways they negotiated their work in civil society of a post-war country. Prior to joining the Global Fund for Women, she had been teaching courses on women of the Arab and Muslim worlds, on gender and sexuality as well as religion and society. Media includes: Al Jazeera, KFPA.

Captain Marvel was released over the weekend and had a box office opening of $455 million worldwide, dispelling beliefs that female-led superhero films were not a box office draw. To discuss, we FEATURE Melissa Silverstein. Silverstein is the founder and publisher of Women and Hollywood, an initiative and website that educates, advocates, and agitates for gender diversity and inclusion in Hollywood and the global film industry. She is a speaker and consultant with extensive expertise in the area of women and Hollywood. In 2013, she published the first book from Women and Hollywood, In Her Voice: Women Directors Talk Directing, which is a compilation of over 40 interviews that have appeared on the site. Media includes: The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Guardian, Forbes, More Magazine, CNN BBC. 

The Trump administration has proposed cuts to the research budgets of a number of science agencies-- including the Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, and NASA. To discuss, we FEATURE Brenda Ekwurzel. Ekwurzel works on the national climate program at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). She is leading UCS's climate science education work aimed at strengthening support for strong federal climate legislation and sound U.S. climate policies. Prior to joining UCS, Dr. Ekwurzel was on the faculty of the University of Arizona Department of Hydrology and Water Resources with a joint appointment in the Geosciences Department. Media includes: CNN, Fox News, ABC, NPR, USA Today, Good Morning America.

Many have called for Tucker Carlson to resign from Fox News following Media Matters for America's publication of comments he made on previous radio shows. In the clips, Carlson is heard making a number of misogynistic and offensive comments. To discuss, we FEATURE Cristina Azocar. Azocar is the chair of the Journalism Department and an associate professor of journalism at San Francisco State University. Prior to becoming chair she directed the Center for Integration and Improvement of Journalism for more than 10 years. She teaches classes on the intersection of race and journalistic practice. Extensive media experience. 

Mumps outbreaks are happening in ICE detention centers and thousands of migrants have been quarantined. To discuss, we FEATURE Laura Jiménez. Jiménez is the Executive Director of California Latinas for Reproductive Justice. She has over 20 years of experience working with women of color organizations across the country on issues of reproductive justice, including the National Latina Health Organization (Oakland), the Dominican Women’s Development Center (New York) and being part of the founding of the SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective (Atlanta). Media includes: Univision, Cosmopolitan, Huffington Post.