Republicans and Democrats in Congress have until March 14th to reach a spending deal or the government wil be shut down. To discuss, we SPOTLIGHT Rachel Snyderman. Snyderman is managing director of economic policy for the Bipartisan Policy Center. Snyderman joined BPC following federal service with the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the Department of Commerce, and the Office of Management and Budget. Prior, Snyderman worked with the Mexican Ministry of Finance’s Economic Productivity Unit in Mexico City to design innovative financial products that promoted financial security and social inclusion. Earlier in her career, Snyderman was a senior analyst with EY’s Quantitative Economics and Statistics practice in Washington, DC. Media includes: The Hill, The Washington Post, NY Daily News, Newsweek.
Today, President Trump will be addressing a joint session of Congress. To discuss, we FEATURE Jennifer Mercieca. Mercieca is an award-winning professor in the Department of Communication at Texas A&M University. She writes about American political discourse, especially as it relates to citizenship, democracy, and the presidency. Mercieca 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 New York Times, The Washington Post, Boston Globe, BBC.
President Trump is expected to speak about immigration in his address to Congress. To discuss, we FEATURE Arianna Genis, a visionary leader fellow at the University of Minnesota. Genis is a xicana organizer, political campaigner, digital strategist, and storyteller. In 2020, she dedicated her time to building the political power of the Latinxs with Mijente, leading efforts in the battleground state of North Carolina as part of Fuera Trump, a successful nationwide campaign dedicated to mobilizing the Latinx vote against Trump. As the NC State Director, Genis built a statewide team in a region where the number of Latinxs involved in electoral politics is minimal. Working alongside a deportation defence organization, Genis led a team of 50 organizers who were of mixed immigration status. As a co-founder of Latina Theory (LT), a podcast she co-hosted for three years, she brought discussions of reproductive rights, immigration, elections to the forefront for Latinas, while getting into the latest pop culture. Media includes: The Lily, The Atlantic, Rolling Stone.
One of the themes of President Trump's address to Congress is expected to be "what the Trump administration has done for the economy." To discuss, we FEATURE Lauren Bealore, former associate director of state and local policy for Prosperity Now. Bealore led the national work of advancing Prosperity Now’s policy development at the state and local level to support championing economic opportunity to build power for all communities. In this role, Bealore had specific policy expertise that includes financial security, business & entrepreneurship, housing, workers rights, and consumer protection. Bealore‘s experience in the fields of policy and advocacy has allotted her a career that spans across the areas of political strategy, policy implementation and civic engagement. Media includes: Forbes, POLITICO, Comcast Newsmakers, News One, NowThis, CNBC, NBC.
As the Ukraine-Russia war continues, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy assured the U.S. that Ukraine wants peace. To discuss, we FEATURE Nina L. Khrushcheva. Khrusheva is a professor in the graduate program of International Affairs at the New School, where she teaches courses on international media, comparative propaganda, culture and capitalism, film and empire, and Russia’s contemporary politics and history. She is the author of Imagining Nabokov: Russia Between Art and Politics, and The Lost Khrushchev: A Journey into the Gulag of the Russian Mind. Media includes: Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, New York Times, The Nation, Wall Street Journal, International Herald Tribune, Financial Times.
United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has ordered the Pentagon to stop offensive cyber operations against Russia. To discuss, we FEATURE Irina Tsukerman. Tsukerman is a human rights and national security lawyer based in New York. She specializes in information warfare; she has written and spoken extensively on active measures by Russia, China, and Iran and influence campaigns by Middle Eastern state actors, as well as on the impact of active measures and influence campaigns on the human rights and NGO world; she has also published on a wide range of global issues touching on energy, geostrategy, strategical alliances, Great Power competition and its impact on geopolitics, domestic policy, and business, information security and digital rights/cybersecurity, big tech, terrorism and extremism, as well as issues in intelligence and counterintelligence. Media includes: Al Jazeera, The Epoch Times, CyberNews.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has drawn criticism over his clothing—a black sweatshirt with black trousers—following a meeting at the White House. To discuss, we FEATURE Kimberly Chrisman Campbell. Campbell is an award-winning fashion historian, curator, and journalist based in Los Angeles. She is the author of Fashion Victims: Dress at the Court of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, which won the Costume Society of America's prestigious Millia Davenport Publication Award, as well as Worn on This Day: The Clothes That Made History and The Way We Wed: A Global History of Wedding Fashion. Media includes: The Atlantic, Politico, The Boston Globe, The Wall Street Journal.
More than 150 wildfires are currently raging in South Carolina and have spread to Georgia and North Carolina. To discuss, we FEATURE Tiffany Yap. Yap is a senior scientist and a wildlife corridor advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. As a conservation scientist, Yap is passionate about protecting biodiversity and environmental health, especially in the wildland urban interface. She is an expert on mountain lions, amphibians, wildlife connectivity, and wildfire. Her research includes how human activities and land use impact sensitive species and habitats. Media includes: Los Angeles Times, Christian Science Monitor, Wired, NPR.
Saturday, March 8th, is International Women's Day. To commemorate, we FEATURE Christian F. Nunes, president of the National Organization for Women. As the second African American president in the organization’s history, the youngest person of color and the youngest president in more than 40 years, Nunes is leading the organization through an intersectional lens, bringing a diverse coalition of grassroots activists to work against structural sexism and racism. Since assuming a leadership role at NOW, she has launched key initiatives such as the Unlock the Future campaign, which demands humane treatment for detained immigrant families, in particular women and girls seeking refuge from sexual violence, assault and poverty. Nunes launched NOW’s Racial Justice Summit in 2020 and has launched the 100 days of the Feminist Agenda Campaign in partnership with Black Women's Blueprint and is planning webinar training institute for NOW members that will cover various topics. Media includes: Business Insider, PRISM, Politico, the Huffington Post, Ebony, Black Enterprise, MSNBC.















