Voting rights are taking a hit as states participate in voter suppression tactics. This includes new voter ID laws in North Dakota, strict absentee ballot rules in Arizona, and some states removing registered voters from rolls. To discuss, we FEATURE Kat Calvin. Calvin is the founder of Spread The Vote. A lawyer and social entrepreneur, Kat started STV after observing the results of local, state, and national elections without the full protections of the Voting Rights Act, and especially the many new voter ID laws that prevented millions of Americans from voting. Media includes: PBS, BET, Al Jazeera, Black Enterprise.

Paul Manafort, who was President Trump's former campaign chairman, continues his trial for money laundering and foreign lobbying. To discuss, we FEATURE Danielle Brian. Brian is the Executive Director of the Project On Government Oversight (POGO). She frequently testifies before Congress and regularly meets with Members of Congress and officials at the White House and federal agencies to discuss how to achieve a more effective, accountable, open, and ethical federal government. Media includes: ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox News, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, USA TODAY, NPR.

President Trump has removed security clearances for former CIA Director John Brennan and has threatened the latter to sue him for his actions. To discuss, we FEATURE Dana L. Gold. Gold is an attorney and currently serves as the Director of Education with the Government Accountability Project, the nation’s leading whistleblower protection and advocacy organization. In addition to having represented and/or worked with dozens of whistleblowers over the past 25 years, Gold is also a former Network Fellow with Harvard University’s Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics and the co-founder and former Director of the Center on Corporations, Law & Society at Seattle University School of Law. Media includes: WNYC's On the Media, KUOW, NowThis Politics, Slate, The Hill.

This past weekend, many Korean families were reunited with family they hadn't seen for decades as a result of the Korean War. North and South Korean leaders are also expected to meet in September. To discuss, we FEATURE Jean H. Lee. Pulitzer-nominated American journalist Jean H. Lee is a Seoul-based Global Fellow with the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. Lee led the Associated Press news agency’s coverage of the Korean Peninsula as bureau chief from 2008 to 2013. In 2011, she became the first American reporter granted extensive access on the ground in North Korea, and in January 2012 opened AP’s Pyongyang bureau, the only Western text/photo news bureau based in the North Korean capital. Media includes: The New York Times, CNN, AP, BBC, NPR, PBS.

In response to the deaths of seven inmates during a riot at a maximum security prison in North Carolina, a prison strike is planned for August 21st to protest humane living conditions and reform for prisoners. To discuss, we FEATURE Sara J. Totonchi. Totonchi is the Executive Director of the Southern Center for Human Rights (SCHR), a nonprofit law firm that provides legal representation to people facing the death penalty, challenges human rights violations in prisons and jails, seeks through litigation and advocacy to improve legal representation for poor people accused of crimes, and advocates for criminal justice system reforms on behalf of those affected by the system in the Southern United States. Media includes: The Economist, Al Jazeera America, The Atlanta Journal.