Following the ousting of Kevin McCarthy, House Republicans have met in secret to pick a new House Speaker. Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana won Wednesday’s nomination but the House has delayed a vote. To discuss, we FEATURE Former Congresswoman Donna F. Edwards. Edwards represented Maryland’s 4th Congressional District, comprising portions of Prince George’s and Anne Arundel Counties. She was sworn in after a special election to become a member of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 110th Congress in June 2008, becoming the first African American woman to represent Maryland in Congress. She began her first full-term in the 111th Congress in 2009. Congresswoman Edwards has enjoyed a diverse career as a nonprofit public interest advocate and in the private sector on NASA’s Spacelab project. As the executive director of the Arca Foundation in Washington, D.C., she led the foundation’s effort in support of worker justice at home and abroad, campaign finance reform, government and corporate accountability, and civic participation. Edwards participates on numerous nonprofit boards, including the NNEDV, Proteus Fund/Proteus Action League, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, and is a member of the National Governing Board of Common Cause. Media includes: ABC’s Nightline, CNN's Crossfire, McLaughlin One on One, NBC’s Today Show.

President Biden is making another attempt at student loan cancellation. To discuss, we FEATURE Angela Peoples. Peoples is a strategist, trainer, and social justice economist focused on building movements for gender justice and Black liberation. Born and raised in Ypsilanti, MI, Peoples started organizing in 2006 as a student activist with the USSA. She is co-founder of The South—a brand where unapologetic Black culture defines political power. She also spent three years working to improve consumer protection laws for student loan borrowers and young consumers at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. A graduate of Western Michigan University, where she studied political science and Africana studies, Angela got her start as a progressive advocate in 2006, fighting to stop an anti-affirmative action ballot initiative. She continued building student power and fighting for college access and affordability as legislative director of the United States Students Association and as policy and advocacy manager of the Center for American Progress' youth organizing division. Media includes: The Hill, MetroWeekly, The New York Times.

The Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences has been given to Claudia Goldin for her work exploring women in the labor market. To discuss, we FEATURE Noreen Farrell. Farrell is the executive director of Equal Rights Advocates (ERA), one of the nation’s leading women’s rights organization, where she has led landmark litigation and policy reform efforts to improve the lives of women and girls at work and school. She has written extensively on women’s economic issues, including discrimination based on pregnancy, pay, and caregiver status. Farrell plays a leadership role in state and national coalitions advocating for the development of policy and legislation to assist working families and expand workplace fairness, including the Equal Pay Today! Campaign. ERA has also launched an ambitious worker justice campaign with ROC-United to tackle rampant sexual harassment, job segregation, and wage theft against women in the restaurant industry. Media includes: The New York Times, The Huffington Post, Propublica, NBC.

Two worker walkouts have occurred in the U.S.—the first one being the United Auto Workers after they rejected a renewed contract with Mack Trucks and the second being Walgreen's workers who are protesting unsafe working conditions. To discuss, we FEATURE Terri Gerstein. Gerstein is the Director of the Project on State and Local Enforcement at the Harvard Law School Labor and Worklife Program and a Senior Fellow at the Economic Policy Institute. She is an expert on workers' rights, labor and employment policy, enforcement of labor standards, and employment contracts (non-competes, no poach agreements, forced arbitration, other contract terms). Previously, she was the Labor Bureau Chief for the New York State Attorney General’s Office and a Deputy Commissioner in the New York State Department of Labor. Media includes: The New York Times, The Washington Post, Slate, The Nation, The Guardian, The Hill, NBC News.

In two recent German state elections, the far-right party AfD has gained ground. To discuss, we FEATURE Terri Givens. Givens is a professor of political science at McGill University. She is the author/editor of books and articles on immigration policy, European politics, and the politics of race. Her most recent book is the memoir, Radical Empathy: Finding a Path to Bridging Racial Divides. Her other publications include Voting Radical Right in Western Europe, Immigration Policy and Security and Legislating Equality: The Politics of Antidiscrimination Policy in Europe. She was the founding director of the Center for European Studies at the University of Texas and led the faculty and staff at Menlo College in developing programs for first generation students, updating curriculum and creating infrastructure for evidence-based assessment. Media includes: BBC, PBS, NPR.

ABC's former Good Morning America producer, Michael Corn, recently settled out of court in a sexual misconduct lawsuit. To discuss, we FEATURE Thea Ducrow. Ducrow started her career delivering sexual harassment prevention training in the 1990’s, when the need was less obvious than now. She worked as an assistant professor with Louisiana State University (LSU) Health Sciences Center before leaving to pursue consulting and speaking full-time. She researched sexual violence against women sixty and over for her dissertation. Her work over the past twenty years includes bringing proven business policies, procedures, and practices to organizations. Ducrow is the author of Sexual Harassment Explained: How To Save Money And Increase Profits. Media includes: Good Housekeeping, Fox Morning, Show, WBRZ, WAFB.

On October 14th, the annular eclipse will happen. The occurance has an important significance for many Indigenous communities. To discuss, we FEATURE Jonel Beauvais. Beauvais is a Wolf Clan, Mohawk. She works diligently to empower and induce healing within all Native/Indigenous communities in order to prosper in the Haudenosaunee teachings of good medicine and good minds. She recently moved from working for Kahwatsiraien:ton which is founded in supporting the families of Ohero:kon. She has dedicated seven years as a council member and Lead Auntie for all adolescent girls entering their first year of fasting in Ohero:kon “Under the Husk”, which is the Rights of Passage for youth in Akwesasne. Through ceremony these youth commit to four years of fasting in which they attend weekly gatherings throughout the winter months where traditional/modern teachings are presented to the young fasters and their families. Extensive media experience.

Hispanic Heritage Month runs from September 15 to October 15. To discuss, we FEATURE Michelle Rivera. Rivera is a champion for equity and inclusion across multiple public sectors. She is a postdoctoral scholar in Northwestern University's School of Communication and a DEI consultant for Catalyst:Ed. Rivera has taught and mentored communications, PR, advertising, media, and Latina/o studies students at the University of Illinois and the University of Michigan. She has been invited to present at media and communications conferences across the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Spain, Finland, Australia, and Argentina. Her published work on global Latin(x) media and popular culture appears in Anti-fandom: Dislike and Hate in the Digital Age; 50 Events that Shaped Latino History: An Encyclopedia of the American Mosaic; The Routledge Companion to Latina/o Media; The Routledge international handbook of children, adolescents and media; and Seeing in Spanish: From Don Quixote to Daddy Yankee. Rivera’s work sheds light on the complexities of Latinidad—challenging outmoded and static representations of authenticity that often circulate through Latin(x) popular culture, and which increasingly demand intervention in a global and digital age. Media includes: RazeTV, Billboard Magazine, Remezcla, Fusion (now Splinter).