Sunday morning, Israel unleashed an attack on Rafah, the sourthernmost region of Gaza where more than 1.4 million Palestinian civilians are taking refuge. To discuss, we SPOTLIGHT Nisha Varia. Varia is an experienced human rights investigator, author, advocate, and trainer who has worked in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and North America. Varia develops and leads trainings on human rights research and advocacy methodologies, including techniques for interviewing survivors of trauma and gender-based violence. Varia was advocacy director of Human Rights Watch's women's rights division between 2015 and 2022 and a researcher between 2003 and 2014. Varia is able to speak on a wide variety of human rights issues including gender discrimination and violence, women’s rights, labor, migration, corporate accountability, and ethics in human rights research and methods. Media includes: Al Jazeera, The Inter Press Service, The Mail, The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times, CNN, BBC.
Donald Trump faces four separate criminal indictments, which are all reaching an inflection point this week. To discuss, we FEATURE Lenese Herbert. Herbert is a professor of law at Howard University School of Law, where she teaches evidence, criminal procedure, criminal law, social media and the law, and administrative law. Prior to entering law teaching, Professor Herbert practiced extensively as agency counsel for the U.S. Department of Transportation, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia in both the Criminal and Civil Divisions under former U.S. Attorney General and U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Eric Holder. Herbert co-authors Constitutional Criminal Procedure, a problem-based casebook adopted in a number of law schools across the U.S., as well as Criminal Law: Skills and Values. Media includes: Voice of America, Al Jazeera, The Washington Post, NBC News.
Donald Trump has stated that, if he is reelected, he will not defend NATO allies who hadn’t spent enough on their own defense, and would even encourage Russia to attack them. To discuss, we FEATURE Sally Painter, co-founder and chief operating officer at Blue Star Strategies, LLC. Painter provides corporate, institutional, and public sector clients with external affairs, foreign and security policy guidance, and global business development strategies. She also serves on the board of directors of the Atlantic Council and as a senior advisor to its Future Europe Initiative. She is a key leader and trusted advisor in the European space, representing global businesses and governments on their most important investment and foreign policy issues, including NATO, EU, and OECD accession and the historic legislation passed by the U.S. Congress allowing their citizens to enter the U.S. visa-free. Media includes: The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Poltico, Financial Times, Fox News.
The U.S. Navy has added a new sexual harassment reporting option to its sailors. To discuss, we FEATURE Antonieta Rico. Rico is Women, Peace, and Security Advisor at Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute (PKSOI). Previously, she was a combat integration initiative fellow at the Women in International Security Global, and before that she was the Director of Communications and Policy at the Service Women's Action Network (SWAN), where she led their public affairs efforts. She has worked as deputy news editor at Army Times and Navy Times reporting on the Coast Guard, training cycles, gender integration and military quality of life issues. She has been published in various outlets including USA TODAY and most recently wrote in TIME about the military's sexual assault epidemic and #MeToo. She also speaks on different panels and forums on the challenges women veterans and military women face. Media includes: TIME, National Geographic, Task & Purpose.
On Monday, a woman with a mental illness entered entered Lakewood Church, a megachurch started by celebrity pastor Joel Osteen, and fired her AR-15 at attendees. She was killed by off-duty police officers, who also injured her 7-year-old son and one other person. To discuss, we FEATURE Valda Crowder. Crowder is a medical expert on the front line of the gun violence and mental health crises, four pandemics, natural disasters and the fallout of health disparities. During a rash of mass shootings at US postal offices, her clinical and public policy skills saved lives. She is a senior consultant at Capitol Health Partners and a senior emergency medicine physician. Media includes: The Baltimore Times, The Dallas Examiner, NPR.
Wednesday is Valentine's Day. To discuss, we FEATURE Ebony A. Utley. Utley is a professorpreneur. As a professor of communication studies at California State University Long Beach she researches, publishes, and teaches interpersonal communication. Her expertise includes improving communication patterns when it comes to initiating, maintaining, and terminating relationships. Her research explores how individuals talk about infidelity, love, marriage, intimacy, and the impact of early childhood sexual violations on adult romantic relationships. As an entrepreneur, Utley curates experiences and develops technology products for social impact. Her contributions include but are not limited to raising awareness about the dark side of technology, improving romantic relationship communication, supporting women recovering from infidelity, preventing domestic violence through entrepreneurship, and healing from trauma. Media includes: Los Angleles Magazine, Huffington Post, Ms. Magazine, New York Magazine, Teen Vogue, NPR.
February is Black History Month. To commemorate, we FEATURE Kristal Brent Zook. Zook is an award-winning journalist and the author of three books, her latest is I See Black People: Interviews with African American Owners of Radio and Television. Her previous book, Black Women's Lives: Stories of Power and Pain, is a collection of intimate portraits of women across the country, from an organic farmer in Vermont, to a filmmaker in Los Angeles. Zook speaks regularly on popular culture and gender, multiracial identity and blackness, as well as social justice issues involving health, the environment and criminal justice. Media includes: Essence, The New York Times Sunday Magazine, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, CNN, NPR.















