Tuesday, the U.N. General Assembly voted to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza after a similar resolution was vetoed by the U.S. at the U.N. Security Council on Friday. Calls for a ceasefire are also echoed by protesters worldwide. To discuss, we FEATURE Melanie Cohen Greenberg. Cohen Greenberg is the managing director, Peacebuilding, at Humanity United. Previously she was president and CEO of the Alliance for Peacebuilding. Before that, she was the president and founder of the Cypress Fund for Peace and Security, a foundation making grants in the areas of peacebuilding and nuclear nonproliferation. In her work on international conflict resolution, Greenberg has helped design and facilitate public peace processes in the Middle East, Northern Ireland, and the Caucasus. She has taught advanced courses in international conflict resolution, multi-party conflict resolution and negotiation at Stanford Law School and Georgetown University Law Center and was an adjunct faculty member at the Elliott School of George Washington University. She was lead editor and chapter author of the volume Words over War: Mediation and Arbitration to Prevent Deadly Conflict. Extensive media experience.

Kate Cox, a woman from Texas, was denied an abortion last week by the Texas Supreme Court. Cox had learned that her fetus had a fatal genetic condition and carrying the fetus to term could result in infertility. To discuss, we FEATURE Alexa Garcia-Ditta. 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, Texas Observer, TribTalk.

University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill, Massachusetts Institute of Technology President Sally Kornbluth, and Harvard University President Claudine Gay were brought before a U.S. House of Representatives committee and were asked about antisemitism on campuses. They faced backlash after declining to answer whether antisemitic speech violated school conduct, instead saying that it was a case-by-case basis. To discuss speech policies on campuses, we FEATURE Chris Demaske. Demaske is a nationally recognized First Amendment law scholar. Demaske has authored two books in the field of First Amendment law. Her first book, Modern Power and Free Speech: Contemporary Culture and Issues of Equality, called for a radical shift in the fundamental way we think about the assumptions of how free speech protection operates in society. Her most recent book, Free Speech and Hate Speech in the United States: The Limits of Toleration, addresses the question: What can be done to curb the proliferation of hate speech and hate acts in the United States? Free Speech and Hate Speech develops a concrete framework grounded in social justice theory that can be used initially for assessing hate speech restrictions specifically, but also has ramifications for the entirety of free speech theory and First Amendment law. Media includes: The Seattle Times, Jackson Clarion Ledger, Pittsburgh Post Gazette.

On Tuesday, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Joe Biden at the White House and with lawmakers on Capitol Hill to appeal for aid for Ukraine in the war against Russia. To discuss, we FEATURE Susan Podziba. Podziba, Principal at Podziba Policy Mediation, has served as a public policy mediator for more than 30 years. Most of her projects include working with senior leadership of governments, representative stakeholders, civil society, and the general public. Her clients have included the United States Departments of Commerce, Defense, Education, Labor, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, and Transportation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Senate, U.S. Institute for Peace, United Nations, The World Bank, British Council, Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research, Emilia Romagna Regional Authority of Italy, and Negotiation Strategies Institute of Jerusalem. Podziba is author of Civic Fusion: Mediating Polarized Public Disputes and Our City: From Corruption to Participatory Democracy as well as numerous book chapters and journal articles. Media includes: The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Fast Company.

The Supreme Courts in Wyoming, New Mexico, and Arizona will be hearing cases that would determine abortion access this week. To discuss, we FEATURE Jennifer Driver. Driver is the senior director of reproductive rights with the State Innovation Exchange. She is a reproductive health, rights, and justice policy and advocacy leader with nearly 15 years in the field. Her work centers on addressing systems that add burdens or barriers to accessing full reproductive health information and services— paying particular attention to communities of color, immigrants, system involved youth, and LGBTQ communities. Media includes: The Washington Post, Vogue, The New York Times, Rewire, The Hill, CNN, The Harvard Political Review, MSNBC.

2024 presidential election polls have shown Donald Trump and Joe Biden are in for a tight contest if they are their parties’ nominees next year. To discuss, we FEATURE Jennifer Mercieca. Mercieca is an award-winning Professor in the Department of Communication atTexas A&M University. She writes about American political discourse, especially as it relates to citizenship, democracy, and the presidency. Jennifer has published three books: Founding Fictions, The Rhetoric of Heroic Expectations: Establishing the Obama Presidency, and Demagogue for President: The Rhetorical Genius of Donald Trump. Media includes: The Conversation, USA Today, The Washington Post, Politico, Salon, Slate, USA Today, CNN, ABC News, NPR.

Actor Jonathan Majors' assault and domestic violence case has entered its second week. Grace Jabbari, the actor's ex-girlfriend, had alleged that he has been abusive throughout their relationship, culminating in Majors getting arrested in March following a dispute. To discuss, we FEATURE Candice Cook Simmons. Simmons has expertise in media law, legal cases in Hollywood, domestic violence in sports, and domestic violence in the music business. She is the managing partner at The Cook Law Group, PLLC, a published writer, noted philanthropist, and business strategist in the technology, entertainment, and corporate sectors. Her career began in private practice as a litigator where she represented luxury hotels, television and cable executives, real estate developers, technology companies, and an assortment of Forbes' and Fortune's notable business executives and corporate giants. Cook later expanded her experience beyond litigation to include a vast array of intellectual property, media, telecommunications, and social media issues. Media includes: O Magazine, Elle Magazine, The Today Show, Forbes.

Golden Globe nominations are out. To discuss, we FEATURE Aviva Dove-Viebahn. Dove-Viebahn is an assistant professor of film and media studies at Arizona State University with a PhD in visual and cultural studies, a graduate certificate in gender and women's studies, an MA in art history, and over a decade of experience teaching courses in film, television, women's studies, writing, and undergraduate honors. She previously served on the programming committee of the ImageOut film festival in Rochester, NY and was an ex-officio member of the Board of Directors of the Society of Cinema and Media Studies for seven years. Dove-Viebahn specializes in articulations of gender, race, and sexuality in popular culture, and is currently working on a solo-authored book project exploring representations of so-called feminine intuition in contemporary television as well as co-editing an anthology, along with Dr. Carrie Baker, on public feminisms. Media includes: The New Republic, The Root, Ms. Magazine.

Fossil fuel phase out discussions are dividing countries at COP28. To discuss, we feature Daphne Wysham. Wysham is a member of the Board of Directors for Climate Protection & Restoration Initiative, a senior methane policy coordinator at the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development, and a fellow at the Center for Sustainable Economy's Climate Justice Program. For 20 years, Daphne was a fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) in Washington, DC, where she founded and directed their climate justice program and served on the executive committee of the board of directors. Her team’s groundbreaking research drew attention to the disproportionate ratio of fossil fuel investments by international financial institutions, the World Bank in particular, and resulted in world leaders, including former Vice President Al Gore, and members of the US House and Senate calling for reforms. Media includes: The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, BBC, NPR.