Today, the Supreme Court will look at a Louisiana redistricting case. The ruling in this case can have rippling effects on the 1965 Voting Rights Act. To discuss, we FEATURE Khalilah L. Brown-Dean. Brown-Dean is executive director of the Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life and Rob Rosenthal Distinguished Professor of Civic Engagement. A scholar of voting rights, punishment, and civic engagement, she is author of the book Identity Politics in the United States and hosts the Gracie Award-winning radio show and podcast, "DISRUPTED." In her book, Brown-Dean shows us how we got here, and more importantly, how we move forward. She has published numerous academic and popular pieces including a co-authored report on the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that was presented during the 50th anniversary celebration of the historic Bloody Sunday March in Selma, Alabama. Media includes: Democracy Now, Al-Jazeera, The Hill, The New York Times, Fox News Radio, NPR.

Last week, a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas came into effect. The deal would see the return of Israeli hostages and 2,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. To discuss, we FEATURE Frances Z. Brown. Brown is a vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where she focuses on U.S foreign policy, democracy, conflict, Africa, and the Middle East. At the vice-presidential level, she oversees the Democracy, Conflict, and Governance program; the American Statecraft program; and Carnegie California.  Brown served on the White House National Security Council (NSC) staff over the past three presidential administrations. Before re-joining Carnegie in February 2025, she served as special assistant to the president and senior director for Africa on the Biden NSC. Previously, from 2016-17, she served as director for democracy and fragile states on the NSC under the Obama and first Trump administrations.  Prior to the NSC, Brown worked at the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Office of Transition Initiatives, managing political transition programs in Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. Media includes: The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Christian Science Monitor, International Herald Tribune.

As the government shutdown continues, Democrats and Republicans have been going back and forth on Affordable Care Act tax credits. To discuss, we FEATURE Laura Packard. Packard is a health care advocate and stage 4 cancer survivor. She founded a non-profit, Health Care Voices, to organize adults with serious medical conditions for affordable comprehensive health care. Packard is executive director of Health Care Voter, a national campaign to hold elected officials accountable for their votes on health care, and support those who fight to protect our care. She also hosts CareTalk, a weekly consumer call-in TV show on act.tv and podcast, tackling health care and health insurance questions and topics. Media includes: USA Today, US News & World Report, People, Newsweek, The Guardian, MSNBC.

In an ongoing trade war, China has proposed a new licensing system to cover rare-earth minerals, a resource the U.S. relies on. To discuss, we FEATURE Ann Lee, an internationally recognized leading authority on China’s economic relations. Lee is the author of the book What the U.S. Can Learn from China, an award winning international bestseller, and the book Will China’s Economy Collapse? She is a former faculty member at Peking University, New York University, and Pace University where she taught macroeconomics and financial derivatives and was made an honorary professor at Sias University. Media includes: The New York Times, The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Businessweek, Fortune, Forbes, ABC, CBS, CNN.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro's home was set ablaze by an arsonist, who this week pleaded guilty to attempted murder. This is another case of politcal violence this year, which saw the assassination of Minnesota state representative Melissa Hortman in June, Charlie Kirk’s murder in September, and South Carolina judge Diane Goodstein’s house burnt to the ground earlier this month. To discuss, we FEATURE Lauren C. Anderson. Anderson is a trailblazing national and global security expert, public board director, and former senior FBI executive with nearly 30 years of experience confronting terrorism, political violence, and international threats, while championing women in conflict and post-conflict regions. She serves on corporate and nonprofit boards, is a non-resident Fellow at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy and is a frequent media commentator and speaker on terrorism, political violence, global risk, and women’s leadership. Media includes: The New York Times, The Washington Post, Politico, and Forbes, BBC.

ICE agents have been using aggressive tactics in Chicago, causing residents to form volunteer groups to keep their neighborhoods safe. To discuss, we FEATURE Laboni Hoq. Hoq is an experienced civil rights lawyer who founded Hoq Law in 2020. Her practice draws from her over twenty-year career successfully litigating high-profile cases on behalf of workers, immigrants and those seeking government accountability. Hoq was lead counsel in James v. City of South Pasadena, a case against a police department that violated the Constitutional rights of peaceful Black Lives Matter protesters. Among the notable immigrants’ rights cases Ms. Hoq has litigated is Gomez v. Trump, a case which resulted in summary judgement against the Trump administration for its policy that effectively ended the 2020 Diversity visa program. The case resulted in over 13,000 diversity lottery winners regaining their once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to immigrate to the U.S. Ms. Hoq was also class counsel in Chhoeun v. Homan and Trinh v. Homan, two cases that stopped the Trump administration’s policies of targeting refugees from Cambodia and Vietnam for prolonged detention and summary deportation without due process. Media includes: Los Angeles Times, OC Register, The Sacramento Bee, NBC News.

OpenAI has announced that they will begin allowing verified users to create erotic content using ChatGPT. To discuss, we FEATURE Soraya Chemaly. Chemaly is an award-winning author and activist. As a cultural critic, she writes and speaks frequently about gender norms, social justice, free speech, sexualized violence, politics, and technology. The former Executive Director of The Representation Project and Director and co-founder of the Women’s Media Center Speech Project, she has long been committed to expanding women’s civic and political participation. She is a co-producer of a WMC #NameItChangeIt PSA highlighting the effects of online harassment on women in politics in America. As an activist, Chemaly also spearheaded several successful global campaigns challenging corporations to address online hate and harassment, restrictive content moderation and censorship, and institutional biases that undermine equity and negatively affect free speech. Media includes: Huffington Post, The Feminist Wire, The Guardian.

On October 18, No Kings protests against the Trump administration will be happening nationwide. To discuss, we FEATURE Rahna Epting. Epting was the executive director of MoveOn and MoveOn Political Action, the largest member-led political campaigning organization with nearly ten million members, transitioning out of the position after nearly six years in summer 2025. MoveOn mobilizes the left to win elections and enact progressive change. Before taking on this role, she served as MoveOn’s 2018 elections program director. Previously, she served as Every Voice’s Chief of Staff, where she managed state and national campaigns to make democracy work for all. Media includes: The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, MSNBC, NBC, CNBC.

Significant cuts have been made to the CDC, with thousands being laid off. To discuss, we FEATURE Dr. Elena Conis. Conis is a professor in the Graduate School of Journalism and the Center for Science, Technology, Medicine and Society at the University of California, Berkeley, where she also directs the joint graduate program in Journalism and Public Health. A former journalist, award-winning columnist, and historian, she studies how culture, values, politics, and media have shaped modern American medicine, public health, and environmentalism over time, and how scientific ideas about health and medicine are communicated to and received by the public in the present. Media includes: TIME, Bloomberg, NPR.