The NAACP has warned Black and LGBTQ tourists from visiting Florida as policies in the state become more hostile towards people of color and LGBTQ people. To discuss, we FEATURE Nadia Aziz. Nadia serves as Senior Program Director, Fighting Hate and Bias Program at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. Previously she was Deputy Director at the Arab American Institute and before that, Policy Counsel of the Stop Hate Project with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, where she worked to ensure individuals and organizations targeted by hate have the resources they need to confront hate in their communities. She writes and speaks on issues relating to the representation of minorities in politics, hate crimes, and the securitization of communities of color. Media includes: The Hill, The Huffington Post, The Ed Schultz Show, CNN.

Eight more women have joined a lawsuit that alleges that Texas anti-abortion laws put their health at risk. To discuss, we FEATURE Alexa Garcia-Ditta, Principal and Vice President of Conway Strategic. Garcia-Ditta is a reproductive health, rights and justice communications, policy and media professional dedicated to expanding access to reproductive health services, including abortion, for all Texans. She has years of experience reporting on reproductive rights and health policy in Texas; has extensive strategic communications and messaging experience; has five years of expertise in the state legislative process. Media includes: Rewire, TribTalk, Texas Observer.

Ukrainian soliders have retreated from Bakhmut as Russian forces advance into the city. To discuss, we FEATURE Michèle Flournoy. Flournoy is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of WestExec Advisors, and former Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), where she currently serves on the board. She served as the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy from February 2009 to February 2012. She was the principal adviser to the Secretary of Defense in the formulation of national security and defense policy, oversight of military plans and operations, and in National Security Council deliberations. She was dual-hatted as principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and threat reduction and deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy. In that capacity, she oversaw three policy offices in the Office of the Secretary of Defense: Strategy; Requirements, Plans, and Counterproliferation; and Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasian Affairs. Extensive media experience.

Conversations around #MeToo surround the Cannes Film Festival. #MeToo has been a big topic in the French film industry, with actress Adèle Haenel announcing her retirement last month claiming that the industry protects abusers. This year feminist groups have denounced the festival for allowing Johnny Depp to attend. To discuss, we FEATURE Andreea Vintila. Andreea is Associate Research Professor of psychology at the University of Paris-Nanterre, a researcher with the Parisian Research Center for Social Psychology, an author, workshop leader and consultant on domestic abuse, and TEDx speaker. Her research focusses on the psychological and social foundations of violence (interpersonal, gender based, state, totalitarianism, terrorism). She carries out interdisciplinary work with other social scientists, frontliners, victims, and decision makers. She contributed to the Domestic Violence working group set up by the French government in 2019, which resulted in changing the French law to acknowledge the traumatic impact of domestic violence on children and its massive impact on parental abilities. Media includes: FranceTVInfo, Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS), Huffington Post, Slate.fr, The Conversation.

Pakistan elections are scheduled to take place this year, however, the government and main opposition party have failed to agree on a date after having been instructed to do so by the Supreme Court. To discuss, we FEATURE Shazia Z. Rafi. Rafi is the Managing Director, Global Parliamentary Services, LLC. Rafi also the UN Representative for the All Pakistan Women’s Association, the oldest and largest women’s organization in the country. From 1996 to 2013, she was the Secretary-General of Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA). PGA is a non-profit, non-partisan organization of elected legislators from over 100 countries that leverages parliamentary processes to promote peace, international law, gender equality and reproductive health. At PGA, Rafi developed projects on the Role of Parliamentarians in Conflict Management and Political mediation; the Role of Parliamentary Committees in Rule of Law and Good Governance; the Role of Parliamentary Leadership in gender equality and women’s empowerment; and the Role of Foreign Aid Committees of Donor parliaments in Development Assistance. Media includes: Ms. Magazine, The Christian Science Monitor, The New York Daily News.

SpaceX has landed private paying citizens on the International Space Station. This is only the second time a mission has been made up of mostly private citizens. To discuss, we FEATURE Natalie Panek. Natalie is a Staff Engineer in System Design at MDA Space, where she has contributed to a number of high-profile space projects including MDA’s satellite servicing initiatives and ESA’s 2022 ExoMars rover program. Her love of exploration led her to obtain a pilot’s license and build and drive a solar powered car across North America. She has participated in an internship at NASA’s Goddard Spaceflight Center and a Space Studies Program based at NASA’s Ames Research Center. Also an avid adventurer, Natalie is the 2013 recipient of the University of Calgary Graduate of the Last Decade Award and the Northern Lights Award Foundation 2013 Rising Star in Aerospace. Media includes: Financial Post, Calgary Herald, Toronto Star, Discovery Channel's Daily Planet.

May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. To discuss, we FEATURE Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner. Jetnil-Kijiner is a Marshall Islander poet, spoken word artist, and teacher. She has used her poetry to highlight the struggles of her people including social justice issues such as the threat of climate change for her islands, the American legacy of nuclear testing in her country, and racism against Micronesians in Hawaii. She received international acclaim after performing at the United Nations Climate Summit last September where she performed a poem to her daughter entitled, “Dear Matafele Peinam” which moved hundreds of world leaders to tears and has since launched her into global conversations on climate change. Media includes: Al Jazeera, Huffington Post, The Guardian, CNN.