Iran has rejected an independent U.N. investigation into the country's anti-government protests. The protests begun as a response to the death of Mahsa Amini. To discuss, we FEATURE Mona Tajali. Tajali is Associate Professor of International Relations and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Agnes Scott College. Her areas of expertise are gender and politics, human rights, and social movements in Muslim countries. She is the author of Women’s Political Representation in Iran and Turkey: Demanding a Seat at the Table, which investigates how religious and cultural norms, attitudes, institutional structures, and voter behavior affect the representation of women and quality of democracy in Muslim contexts, with a comparative focus on Iran and Turkey. Dr. Tajali has also been a long-term collaborator with the research wing of the transnational feminist solidarity network, Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) and as of 2019, serves as member of their executive board. Media includes: The Conversation, Jadaliyya, The Nation, The Washington Post.

Across New York City burroughs, a new model for handling gender-based violence cases has been created where departments have been consolidated into one division. Previously, these cases were handled by multiple divisions, causing cases to drag on for longer. To discuss, we FEATURE Jane Manning. Manning is a former sex crimes prosecutor, a victim rights advocate, and a leading expert in criminal justice and violence against women. As Director of the Women’s Equal Justice Project, she helps survivors of sexual assault navigate the criminal justice system. She began her career as a prosecutor of domestic violence, sex crimes, and child abuse. In private practice, she represented a coalition of battered women’s organizations arguing, successfully, for reversal of a court decision allowing men who murdered wives or girlfriends to invoke the victim’s “nagging” as a mitigating factor. She served as president of the NYC chapter of NOW, where she helped lead successful campaigns to repeal New York’s statute of limitations on rape and to criminalize strangulation attacks. Media includes: The New York Times, the New York Daily News, Women’s Media Center Live with Robin Morgan, the Brian Lehrer Show, Buzzfeed, The New York Post, Good Day NY.

Former President Donald Trump recently hosted a dinner at his Mar-a-Lago resort with white supremacist Nick Fuentes and Kanye West causing some Republicans to speak up against his actions. To discuss, we FEATURE Leah Wright Rigueur. Leah is an author, historian, speaker, and SNF Agora Institute Associate Professor of History at the Johns Hopkins University. She is an expert in race and politics, U.S. political and social history, African American politics and history, and riots and American backlash, and holds a Ph.D. in History from Princeton University. Leah is the author of The Loneliness of the Black Republican: Pragmatic Politics and the Pursuit of Power (2015), a book that offers a much-needed critical examination of the tense relationship that exists between African Americans and the GOP. Providing a thorough reading of black voting behavior and opinion over a 60-year period, Leah’s book also analyzes the ideas and actions of black activists, politicians, officials, and intellectuals that worked with and within the Republican Party. In doing so, Leah provides a new understanding of black politics and American politics, and the tortured intersection of civil rights and conservatism. Media includes: The New York Times, The Washington Post, CBS News, MSNBC, PBS, NPR, CNN.

In Shanghai, China's strict COVID restrictions have led to clashes between police and demonstrators as people have taken to the streets to protest the restrictions. To discuss, we FEATURE Cora Jungbluth. Jungbluth Senior Expert on China and Asia Pacific at the German Bertelsmann Stiftung, Gütersloh. Before joining Bertelsmann Stiftung, Cora was assistant professor at the Institute of Chinese Studies of the University of Freiburg. As a freelancing consultant, she has worked on Asia-related projects with Roland Berger Strategy Consultants and the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), among others. Cora studied Chinese Studies and Economics at Heidelberg University, Shanghai International Studies University and Tsinghua University, Beijing. She holds a PhD degree in Chinese Studies from Heidelberg University. Her dissertation focused on the internationalization process of Chinese companies. Media includes: Reuters, Bloomberg, Financial Times, NPR.

The 2022 FIFA World Cup continues in Qatar. To discuss, we FEATURE Kavitha A. Davidson. Davidson is a sports writer based in New York and correspondent for Real Sport with Bryant Gumbel. She was previously co-host of The Lead, The Athletic's daily podcast. Before that, she was a columnist at ESPN and Bloomberg, focusing on the intersection of sports and business, culture, race, and gender. Her work has also been published in Rolling Stone, The Guardian, and NBC News THINK, and has been noted in Best American Sports Writing. She has appeared attempting to sound smart on SportsCenter, Outside the Lines, CBS, CNN, and MSNBC. She currently sits on the Board of Directors of the Yogi Berra Museum.

December 1st is World AIDS Day. To discuss, we FEATURE Phronie Jackson. Dr. Jackson is an expert on HIV/AIDS, population health, worksite wellness and stress management. She is a social change agent, mentor, and Founder of Ward 5 health coalition in Washington, DC. She is an Assistant Professor 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. Additionally, she serves on the University’s MSI/CBO SAMSHA grant team as the evaluator, data analyst, and assistance program coordinator. In 2016 Phronie was selected as an American Walks’ Walking College Fellow and is now the founder, director and walk leader for Walk With a Doc’s Washington, DC Chapter. 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. Extensive media experience.

December 2nd is International Day for the Abolition of Slavery. To discuss, we FEATURE Koritha Mitchell. Mitchell is a professor of English at Ohio State University. Her research centers on African American literature, racial violence in United States history and contemporary culture, and black drama and performance. She examines how texts, both written and performed, help communities to survive and thrive. She earned her PhD at the University of Maryland-College Park and is author of the new book From Slave Cabins to the White House: Homemade Citizenship in African American Culture and the award-winning book Living with Lynching: African American Lynching Plays, Performance, and Citizenship, 1890 - 1930. Media includes: Good Morning America, The Huffington Post, NBC News, PBS Newshour, NPR's Morning Edition, CNN.

Today is Giving Tuesday, a day that encourages people to give back in whatever ways they can. To discuss, we FEATURE Lisa M. Dietlin. Dietlin is an internationally recognized expert on philanthropy, charitable giving and transformational change who, as a leading figure in the American nonprofit sector, is a highly coveted keynote speaker, media personality, philanthropic consultant, coach and facilitator. Dietlin has provided her expert advice and structured counsel to entrepreneurial individuals, corporate leaders as well as nonprofit organizations to develop strategies that facilitate transformational change. Dietlin’s decades-long experience in the fundraising and nonprofit arenas, groundbreaking research on giving patterns, and influential ideas on transformational philanthropy have led her to become one of the most trusted philanthropic advisors in the nation. Media includes: USA Today, Marketwatch, Bloomberg, Reuters,The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Crain’s Chicago Business, NPR.