Congress has approved a bill that would ban forced arbitration in sexual assault cases, making it easier for victims to speak up about sexual assault and harassment in the workplace. To discuss, we FEATURE Karla Altmayer. As the co-founder and co-director of Healing to Action, Altmayer advances a multidisciplinary, community-driven model to transform individuals, neighborhoods, and broader communities, to break the silence of gender-based violence. She also co-founded the Coalition Against Workplace Sexual Violence (CAWSV), a collaboration among sexual assault advocates, attorneys, and labor organizers in Chicago, and co-authored its popular education curriculum and legal guide. Funded by the Department of Justice, Altmayer co-authored and edited a curriculum to train anti-violence advocates across the country on working at the intersection of labor organizing and anti-violence. Media includes: Univision, La Raza, Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, In These Times, CBS, WBEZ.

The federal hate crime trial of the men that killed Ahmaud Arbery has begun. All three men were found guilty of murder in state court in November. To discuss, we FEATURE Cherri Gregg. Gregg is an expert on racial justice, economic justice, criminal justice, policing and gun violence. She is an afternoon drive host/news anchor for WHYY radio. Prior to her current position, the award-winning journalist covered civil rights, social justice, race, and public affairs issues impacting marginalized communities in the Philadelphia region, spending nearly a decade on air at KYW Newsradio. Gregg, who is also a licensed attorney, is a past president of the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists. She has a B.S. from Boston University, a J.D. from Howard University School of Law and a M.J. from Temple University's College of Communications and Theater. Media includes: The Philadelphia Tribune, CNN, CBS.

The U.S. has halted avocado imports from Mexico following a threat to an American inspector. To discuss, we FEATURE Alyshia Gálvez. Gálvez is a cultural and medical anthropologist and professor of Latin American and Latino Studies at Lehman College of the City University of New York. She is the author of a new book entitled Eating NAFTA: Trade, Food Policies and the Destruction of Mexico (UC Press, 2018) on changing food policies, systems and practices in Mexico and Mexican communities in the United States, including the ways they are impacted by trade and economic policy, and their public health implications. Media includes: The New York Times, Forbes, Dallas Morning News, Scientific American, NPR.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has declared a national public order emergency in order to stop protests over COVID-19 mandates, which will allow police to stop blockades along the border and at airports. To discuss the role of political rhetoric in the protests, we FEATURE Dr. Lee M. Pierce. Pierce is assistant professor of rhetorical communication at the State University of New York (SUNY) Geneseo and an instructor for the Harvard Debate Council. Lee holds a PhD in Speech Communication from the University of Georgia. As a researcher, their specializes in rhetoric, race, and U.S. political culture. Pierce's first book titled Tense Times: Syntax and Surprise in U.S. Crisis Culture is forthcoming from the University of Alabama press. Media includes: Hello Giggles, Newsmax, The Conversation, ABC7.

New research has found that COVID infection can cause long-term heart risks for at least a year after infection. To discuss, we FEATURE Dr. Shoshana Ungerleider. Dr. Ungerleider is an internist practicing hospital medicine at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. She received her medical degree from Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, OR and completed residency at California Pacific Medical Center where she is now on the teaching faculty and serves on the Foundation Board of Trustees. Dr. Ungerleider is passionate about improving how seriously ill patients are cared for throughout the continuum of life. Media includes: Vox, Sacramento Mercury News, Red Carpet Bay Area, KevinMD.

Palin v. The New York Times is currently being deliberated by the jury. The case will most likely be dismissed by a federal judge, though an appeal is likely. The libel case was brought to court when Sarah Palin sued The New York Times saying it defamed her by linking her to a mass shooting that wounded Democratic U.S. congresswoman Gabby Giffords. To discuss, we FEATURE Anne Voigts. As a partner in a Appellate, Constitutional and Administrative Law practice, Voigts represents clients in appellate litigation in a wide variety of criminal and civil matters. She also frequently advises trial teams on legal issues and motion practice, before, during and after trial, and counsels clients on rapidly changing, complex legal issues. Previously, she was a litigation associate at Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, where she focused on litigation in the U.S. and California Supreme Courts, as well as federal and state appellate and trial courts. Voigts worked on matters involving unfair competition claims, antitrust, civil procedure, First Amendment, campaign finance reform and defamation. Extensive media experience.

Christina Yuna Lee has become the latest person of Asian descent to be attacked in New York City. Lee was followed into her building by a man and stabbed to death in her Lower Manhattan apartment. To discuss, we FEATURE Karin Wang. Wang is the Executive Director of UCLA School of Law's David J. Epstein Program in Public Interest Law and Policy. In that role, she heads the nation’s leading academic program focused on training the next generation of lawyers working in nonprofit, advocacy, and government sectors. Previously, she was the Vice-President of Programs & Communications for Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles, the nation’s largest legal organization for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Media includes: The New York Times, The Atlantic, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Times, NBC.

The Winter Olympics are underway. To discuss, we FEATURE Kavitha A. Davidson. Davidson is a sports writer based in New York. She was previously co-host of The Lead, The Athletic's daily podcast. Before that, she was a columnist at ESPN and Bloomberg, focusing on the intersection of sports and business, culture, race, and gender. Her work has also been published in Rolling Stone, The Guardian, and NBC News THINK, and has been noted in Best American Sports Writing.

February is Black History Month and to commemorate, we FEATURE Kristal Brent Zook. Zook is the author of three books, her latest is I See Black People: Interviews with African American Owners of Radio and Television, to be published by Nation Books in February 2008. 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. Published by Nation Books in 2006, it is already in its third printing. 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. She is an award-winning journalist whose work has appeared in publications such as Essence, The New York Times Sunday Magazine, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe Sunday Magazine, USA Weekend, Vibe, Savoy, Honey, The Nation, The Village Voice, and many others.

WMC SheSource also has a list of experts for Black History Month.