Republicans in Congress have introduced a $14 billion Israel aid plan, separating it from the $106 billion emergency funding plan President Biden had requested that included assistance for Ukraine and Taiwan. To discuss, we FEATURE Miriam Pemberton. Pemberton is currently a Research Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies. Her research focuses on overall federal budget priorities and demilitarizing our foreign policy and our economy. Formerly she served first as editor and then as director of the National Commission for Economic Conversion and Disarmament. With Lawrence Korb of the Center for American Progress, she heads up a task force of security experts that produces the annual “Unified Security Budget for the United States.” She produces the comparison of federal spending on military and climate security. She co-chairs the NGO Budget Priorities Working Group. She has testified in Congress on the economic consequences of going to war with Iraq. Media includes: The Baltimore Sun, the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the Richmond Times, The Nation, NPR All Things Considered, CNN, Fox News.

President Biden has unveiled the federal government's first restrictions on artificial intelligence. The executive order would prevent the use of AI in producing biological or nuclear weapons. To discuss, we FEATURE Elsa B. Kania. Kania is an adjunct senior fellow with the Technology and National Security Program at the Center for a New American Security. At CNAS, Kania has contributed to the Artificial Intelligence and Global Security Initiative and the “Securing Our 5G Future” program, while acting as a member of the Digital Freedom Forum and the research team for the Task Force on Artificial Intelligence and National Security. Her research focuses on Chinese military strategy, military innovation, and emerging technologies. She is author Fighting to Innovate: National Security and Technology in China's New Era. Kania has been invited to testify before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, and the National Commission on Service. Media includes: The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, The Economist.

The trial of Brett Hankison, the ex-cop who is charged with civil rights violations in connection to the killing ofBreonna Taylor after he fired into her home the night she was shot and killed. To discuss, we FEATURE Andrea M. Headley. Headley is a public management, social equity and criminal justice policy scholar. She is an assistant professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University. Her research focuses on policing to understand how organizational, managerial, and individual level factors affect policing services and outcomes, with a keen focus on inequities and disparities. Specific examples of her past work include assessing police-community relations, analyzing dispositional outcomes in citizen complaints, evaluating the effects of race during use of force encounters, as well as evaluating body-worn cameras. She teaches specialized courses on criminal justice policy and generalist courses on public management. Media includes: Dayton Daily News, The Conversation, NBC, PBS.

The United Auto Workers (UAW) has reached an agreement with General Motors, ending a six-week long strike. To discuss, we FEATURE Erica Smiley. Smiley is the executive director of Jobs With Justice. Prior to taking up her current position with the organization, Smiley served as organizing director for Jobs With Justice developing campaigns that resulted in transformative changes to how working people organize and are civically engaged at their workplaces and in their communities. Serving as one of the lead architects, Smiley has been instrumental in developing the strategic vision of Jobs With Justice to build power for impacted working people through expanding their collective bargaining power as one way to redefine and claim their democracy, while addressing issues of inequality and poverty. She co-authored The Future We Need: Organizing for Economic Democracy in the Twenty First Century, a book on collective bargaining and democracy with Sarita Gupta, released in April 2022. Media includes: Chicago Tribune, Bill Moyers, Reuters, The Washington Free Beacon, In These Times, MSNBC.

In a lawsuit brought up by six Colorado voters, Donald Trump will be facing trial on whether or not he is disqualified from holding office again. Under the 14th Amendment, anyone involved in a insurrection or rebellion cannot be president. To discuss, we FEATURE Gayle Alberda. Alberda is an assistant professor at Fairfield University. Her research focuses on election laws, political participation and civic engagement, and election administration. Alberda's prior work experience in the political field includes lobbying in Washington D.C. as well as the state and local levels, working on numerous campaigns including state house, city council, governor, president, and U.S. Senate races in multiple states. She received her PhD in Political Science from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, and her M.P.A. and B.S. degree from Central Michigan University. Media includes: The Daily Iowan, The Des Moines Register, Al Jazeera America, Voice of America, The Washington Post, NPR All Things Considered.

The death toll in Mexico’s southern Pacific coast has risen to 48 as Hurricane Otis makes its way through the region. To discuss, we FEATURE Carmen Yulin Cruz Soto. Cruz Soto was the mayor of San Juan when hurricanes Irma & María devastated Puerto Rico. She was vocal about the deficient response by Federal agencies. Cruz Soto became the voice of people literally dying when she said in a press conference "(w)e are dying here and you are killing us with your bureaucracy an your inefficiency". Having lead the city after two earthquakes, two coastal storms, political unrest resulting in then Governor resigning, two earthquakes and the pandemic Cruz Soto has first hand experience and expertise about Municipal readiness and disaster recovery and response. She is currently working on a book about her experiences after Hurricanes Irma & María. Media includes: The New York Times, NBC, MSNBC, ABC, BBC.

November is American Indian Heritage Month. To discuss, we FEATURE Michelle Schenandoah (Oneida Nation). Schenandoah is currently teaching a course on Indigenous law at Syracuse University College of Law. Her expertise draws on 40+ years of experience as a traditional member of the On^yota’:aka Oneida Nation of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy as well as her roles as founder of the nonprofit Rematriation; and co-founder, with her husband Neal Powless, of Indigenous Concepts Consulting. She creates healing narratives about truth telling, racial justice and intergenerational trauma for public and private audiences to process harmful histories and inspire meaningful action. Media includes: Associated Press, Al Jazeera, NEHA Magazine, APTN News (Aboriginal People Television Network), PBS.