On Monday, a journalist from The Atlantic published an article stating that he was mistakenly added to a Signal group chat created by national security adviser Michael Waltz and which included the Vice President, CIA director, cabinet members and senior advisors. The group used the Signal chat to discuss plans to bomb the Houthis in Yemen. The incident has been deemed a national security breach. To discuss, we SPOTLIGHT Liz Hempowicz. Hempowicz is deputy executive director at American Oversight and is a recognized expert in government ethics and transparency with more than a decade of experience in public policy, whistleblower protections, and congressional investigations. Prior to joining American Oversight, Hempowicz served as the vice president of Policy and Government Affairs at the Project on Government Oversight, where she developed and spearheaded projects to advance government transparency and combat corruption, including overseeing the work of the organization’s accountability, national defense, and civil liberties programs. Media includes: The New York Times, Washington Post, WNYC’s On the Media, Politico, CNBC, NPR.
President Trump has signed an executive order that would require voters to provide proof of citizenship such as a U.S. passport. To discuss, we FEATURE Tova Wang, the Director of Research Projects in Democratic Practice at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation. Wang is a nationally known expert on election reform and political participation in the United States and internationally. She was most recently Director of Policy and Research at the Center for Secure and Modern Elections, where she worked on voter registration reform and oversaw and conducted research on how to develop transformative strategies for increasing political participation among marginalized groups. Her critically acclaimed book, The Politics of Voter Suppression: Defending and Expanding Americans’ Right to Vote, was published in 2012 by Cornell University Press. Media includes: NBC’s The Today Show, ABC Nightly News, ABC Good Morning America, CBS Morning News, CNN, C-Span’s Washington Journal, MSNBC.
Hamdan Ballal, a Palestinian director who recently won an Oscar for co-directing No Other Land, was recently released from detainment after being beaten up by Israeli settlers and arrested by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank. To discuss, we FEATURE Noura Erakat. Erakat is a human rights attorney and a Professor at Rutgers University, New Brunswick Department of Africana Studies. Her research interests include humanitarian law, refugee law, national security law, and critical race theory. Noura is the author of Justice for Some: Law As Politics in the Question of Palestine. She has served as legal counsel for a Congressional Subcommittee in the House of Representatives, as a legal advocate for the Badil Center for Palestinian Refugee and Residency Rights, and as the national grassroots organizer and legal advocate at the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation. Media includes: CBS News, CNN, Fox News, NPR.
Wednesday, the CEOs of NPR and PBS appeared before a House subcommittee on government efficiency, chaired by Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene who has questioned whether public broadcasting should receive federal funds. To discuss, we FEATURE Judy Endejan. Endejan is a Seattle attorney whose practice focuses on telecommunications, media and intellectual property issues. Her background is a unique blend of private practice and in-house experience. Endejan has represented a wide range of clients with case under the First Amendment, the Federal Communications Act, intellectual property laws and the regulatory laws of California, Washington and Oregon. They include established, and new telecommunications providers that offer landline, wireless, VoIP and M2M services. Also, new and old forms of content providers, from broadcasters, publishers and newspapers to web-site owners and bloggers. Media includes: Green Tech, The Stranger.
President Trump’s nominee to lead the Social Security Administration went before the Senate Finance Committee this week at a time when the agency is seeking to reduce its workforce by 12% and has changed its services causing concern among social security recipients. To discuss, we FEATURE Maya Rockeymoore Cummings. Rockeymoore Cummings is a nonresident senior fellow at Brookings Metro and the founder, president and CEO of Global Policy Solutions. A wealth, health, and education equity expert, she has conducted extensive research and policy analysis on aging, Social Security, the social determinants of health, and the racial wealth and achievement gaps. Rockeymoore Cummings is the author of RAGEISM: Racism, Ageism, and the Quest for Liberation Policy (Routledge) and co-editor of Strengthening Community: Social Insurance in a Diverse America, among many other articles and chapters. Media includes: The Washington Post, The New York Times, Fortune, The Atlantic, Baltimore Sun, Houston Chronicle, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News.
During his presidential campaign Donald Trump said he wanted to reclaim “our once great educational institutions from the radical left.” Now in office, his administration is putting pressure on universities and colleges and cutting their funding when they don’t make changes he demands. To discuss, we FEATURE Jasmine Banks. Banks spent the last five years dedicated to leading an intervention campaign, UnKoch My Campus, addressing the impact of far-right billionaires leveraging their philanthropic donations in higher education to erode democracy. She has traveled to a number of higher ed institutions to speak with students and faculty about donor transparency and academic freedom. As a first-generation high school and university graduate, she understands the critical role that all education plays in shaping our democracy. Media includes: The Nation, Wall Street Journal, Teen Vogue.
March is Women's History Month. To discuss, we FEATURE Anushay Hossain. Hossain is a feminist author, podcast host, and a powerful women’s health advocate committed to ending the systemic sexism and racism baked into the American healthcare system. Her Audible bestselling book, The Pain Gap: How Sexism and Racism in Healthcare Kill Women and her show, “The Pain Gap Podcast” provide vital platforms for critical conversations about medical gaslighting and misogyny, creating a much needed examination of the women’s health crisis in America. Media includes: Forbes, USA Today, Newsweek, CNN, MSNBC, PBS.
Liz Theran
