President Trump has announced new sanctions on Iran after a U.S. surveillance drone was shot down last week. To discuss, we SPOTLIGHT Alexandra Bell. Bell is the Senior Policy Director at the Center for Arms Control & Non-Proliferation, where she focuses on nuclear weapons policy, emerging threats, and broader U.S. and international security issues. Bell was the Director for Strategic Outreach in the Office of the Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security at the Department of State. Before joining the Department of State in 2010, she was the Project Manager at the Ploughshares Fund and a Research Assistant for Nuclear Policy at the Center for American Progress. Media includes: The Washington Post, POLITICO, Foreign Policy, Vanity Fair, The Hill.
President Trump's transition vetting documents were recently leaked to the public and revealed multiple red flags in his cabinet and administration. To discuss, we FEATURE Ciara Torres-Spelliscy, Esq. Torres-Spelliscy is a professor, teaching courses in Election Law, Corporate Governance, Business Entities, and Constitutional Law at Stetson University College of Law. She is the author of the book Corporate Citizen? An Argument for the Separation of Corporation and State (Carolina Academic Press, 2016) and the book Political Brands (Edward Elgar forthcoming 2019). Professor Torres-Spelliscy has testified before Congress, and state and local legislative bodies as an expert on campaign finance reform. She has also helped draft legislation and Supreme Court briefs. Media includes: The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, The New York Times, Time, Bloomberg, Mother Jones, Newsweek, Politico, USA Today, NPR.
The Democratic debates are on Wednesday and Thursday. To discuss, we FEATURE Lori Cox Han, PhD. Han is Professor of Political Science at Chapman University in Orange, California. With research and teaching interests in the presidency, media and politics, women and politics, and political leadership, Han is the author of several books, including Presidents and the American Presidency, 2nd ed. (Oxford University Press, 2018); Women, Power, and Politics: The Fight for Gender Equality in the United States (Oxford University Press, 2018); In It to Win: Electing Madam President (Bloomsbury, 2015); A Presidency Upstaged: The Public Leadership of George H.W. Bush (Texas A&M University Press, 2010); and Governing From Center Stage: White House Communication Strategies During the Television Age of Politics (Hampton Press, 2001). Media includes: Los Angeles Times, Orange County Register, USA Today, KNBC, KPCC.
Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg recently had a town hall where he addressed concerns about the handling of a case in Southbend, Indiana— the city he is mayor of— involving a white police officer that shot and killed an unarmed black man. The case is said to be one of the reasons why he has low support from black voters. To discuss, we FEATURE Melanie L. Campbell. Campbell is the CEO and President of the National Coaltion On Black Civic Participation. She is an expert and passionate advocate on issues impacting African Americans, women, immigrants and youth and the intersection of how politics, public policy, race, gender, class and age impacts quality life for all Americans. Campbell has a strong knowledge base in Black voter participation, civil rights, voting rights, women’s rights, election reform. Media includes: The Washington Post, The New York Times, Philadelphia Tribune, BET, CNN, NPR.
Hundreds of migrant children are currently detained in Clint, Texas. Overcrowding at detention centers has made conditions worse, with multiple children unable to wash up due to lack of soap and toothpaste. To discuss, we FEATURE Claire R. Thomas, Esq. Thomas directs the Asylum Clinic at New York Law School, where she teaches law students how to represent immigrants seeking asylum and other humanitarian immigration protections in the United States. She is an attorney, advocate, and adjunct professor. Her interests and expertise include: U.S. immigration law, asylum and refugee law, unaccompanied children, immigrant access to public benefits, and empowerment for women and girls facing poverty and gender-based violence. Media includes: The New York Times, Voice of America, The Bangkok Post, The New Stateman, The Queens Daily Eagle.
President Trump has announced that he will be planning ICE raids on immigrant communities, tweeting that "two weeks and big deportation begins!" To discuss, we FEATURE Marisa Franco. Franco is a Phoenix-based organizer, writer and strategist. She is the Director and co-founder of Mijente, a digital and grassroots organizing hub for Latina/o and Chicana/o people. She led the #Not1More Deportation campaign, recognized in 2014 by the National Organizing Institute as Campaign of the Year and co-authored How We Make Change is Changing, which describes Not1More’s campaign strategy and structure that activated hundreds of organizations across sectors and communities to demand a stop to deportations. Media includes: Politico, The Washington Post, Univision, MSNBC, CNN.
June 28th is the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, which is considered one of the most important events in LGBTQ history. To discuss, we FEATURE T.F. Charlton. Charlton is an Associate Research Fellow at Political Research Associates, tracking pushback from the U.S. Religious and Political Right against racial, gender, and LGBTQ justice. She is a writer, editor, and researcher whose work focuses on the intersections of race, gender, and sexuality in American culture. She is the editor of Are Women Human?, which she founded in 2010 to bring an antiracist and queer feminist perspective to critiques of misogyny in U.S. Evangelical Christianity. Media includes: The Guardian, Salon, Religion Dispatches, R.H. Reality Check, Ebony.com.
The Women's World Cup is currently ongoing and yesterday the U.S. beat Spain to make it into the quarter finals. To discuss, we FEATURE Shireen Ahmed. Ahmed is a sports activist, a freelance writer and a dynamic public speaker who focuses on Muslim women, and the intersections of racism and misogyny in sports. Ahmed is part of the “Burn It All Down” feminist sports podcast team. Media includes: The Guardian, Sports Illustrated, PRI's The World, CBC Radio.
The G20 Summit will see the world's leading economies meeting in Osaka, Japan this week. To discuss, we FEATURE Lilac Nachum. Nachum is a Professor of International Business at Baruch College and is the Director of the Centre for the study of Russian and Emerging Market Multinationals of St. Petersburg State University, Russia, and leads a consulting project for Deloitte Tohmatsu Consulting on value creation and appropriation in global supply chains, with application to the garment industry. Her areas of interest and expertise are globalization and the strategic management of Multinational Corporations, topics she has been teaching, consulting and publishing on extensively for three decades. Media includes: Forbes, International Business Review.
Liz Theran
