The family of Henrietta Lacks has announced a settlement with biotech company Thermo Fisher over the use of her cells in scientific research after they were taken without consent in the 1950s. To discuss, we FEATURE Stephanie Morain, PhD, who is a core faculty member at the Berman Institute of Bioethics, and an assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Bloomberg School of Public Health. She conducts both empirical and normative research into issues at the intersection of ethics, law, and health policy. Dr. Morain’s work examines political and ethical issues concerning the scope of government authority in public health and the role of stakeholder opinion in shaping decision-making in public health policy. Specific research interests include the ethics and politics of disease control and injury prevention; public health law; and ethical and policy challenges presented by the transition to learning health care systems.

The Biden administration has launched an income-based student loan repayment plan, Saving on a Valuable Education or SAVE, two months before federal loan repayments will resume in October. To discuss, we SPOTLIGHT Betsy Mayotte. Mayotte is the president and founder of The Institute of Student Loan Advisors (TISLA). She has been working in the student loan industry doing compliance and advocacy work for over 20 years and has helped thousands of borrowers with their student loans. Betsy has served as a primary negotiator for several federal Title IV negotiated rulemaking sessions on topics such as the use of student loans at foreign schools, loan rehabilitation and borrower defense to repayment. In addition, Mayotte frequently conducts regulatory trainings for the higher education financing industry both in the United States and as far away as the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Media includes: U.S. News and World Report, Death Sex and Money Podcast, Bloomberg, CNBC.

Trucking giant Yellow is in danger of shutting down. The company has been in business for nearly a century and its closure would lead to more than 30,000 people losing their jobs. To discuss, we FEATURE Chandra Childers. Childers is a senior policy and economic analyst with the Economic Analysis and Research Network (EARN) at EPI. Her work is primarily focused on supporting EARN’s state and local policy research and advocacy network in the Southern United States. Childers is committed to economic justice and ensuring that all workers have a voice in their workplaces and that they experience real economic security independent of race, sex, or economic status. Using an intersectional lens, her research focuses on employment, earnings, job quality, and worker power. Media includes: Voice of America, 1A, Al Jazeera, Refinery29, Wisconsin Public Radio.

In light of the Deshaun Watson case, the NFL has increased penalties for sexual misconduct. Watson was accused of sexual harassment and misconduct by more than two dozen women last year. To discuss, we FEATURE Jessica Luther. Luther is an investigative journalist who has written extensively on the intersection of sports and gendered violence. Her most high-profile work includes reporting with Dan Solomon atTexas Monthly and Deadspin about how Baylor University’s football team responded to reports of sexual violence by players, investigating the toxic workplace culture on the business side of the Dallas Mavericks’ operation alongside Jon Wertheim at Sports Illustrated and working with USA Today’s Nancy Armour and Kenny Jacoby to reveal Louisiana State University’s failures to respond adequately to reports of sexual harassment and assault both within the athletic department and also the school at large. She is the author of Unsportsmanlike Conduct: College Football and the Politics of Rape and Loving Sports When They Don’t Love You Back: Dilemmas of the Modern Sports Fan (co-authored with Kavitha Davidson). Luther also co-hosts a feminist sports podcast titled Burn It All Down. Each week, they bring an intersectional feminist lens to the biggest stories in sports, toss the most abominable people in athletics on the proverbial Burn Pile, celebrate some of the torchbearers leading the way in sports, and interview some of the most influential figures in the game. Media includes: ESPN Magazine, New York Times Magazine, The Texas Observer, Austin Woman, Bitch Magazine.

The Center for Countering Digital Hate, a non-profit organization that tracks hate speech and false information on social media, received a letter from Twitter threatening legal action. The social media corporation is accusing the Center of intentionally trying to harm the platform. To discuss, we FEATURE Jae Lin. Lin is the Programs Manager at Feminist Frequency, advocating for a more just and equitable media landscape and the end of abuse in the games industry. They helped to launch Feminist Frequency's latest initiative, the Games and Online Harassment Hotline, which offers free, confidential emotional support to anyone who makes or plays games. They are an expert on #MeToo, online harassment, racial justice, trans liberation, LGBTQ liberation, representation in video games, abolition, transformative justice. Media includes: The 1099, Tiny Island Diary, Mxiety, The Austin Chronicle.

President Biden has signed an executive order that will strengthen protections for sexual assault victims in the military. Reports of sexual assault in the military have risen over the past few years. To discuss, we FEATURE Antonieta Rico. Rico is Women, Peace, and Security Advisor at Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute (PKSOI). Previously, she was the Director of Communications and Policy at the Service Women's Action Network (SWAN), where she led their public affairs efforts. In addition to her work at SWAN, she was a program associate at Women in International Security where she worked for the Combat Integration Initiative supporting the successful integration of women into combat arms units. She has written for TIME about the military's sexual assault epidemic and #MeToo. She also speaks on different panels and forums on the challenges women veterans and military women face. Rico served in the U.S. Army from October 2001 to September 2008, working as a military journalist and public affairs NCO. She has served in Iraq and embedded with various Army and infantry units during day-to-day missions and combat operations. Media includes: USA Today, TIME, Task & Purpose, La Opinión.

Saudi Arabia has agreed to host talks to discuss Ukrainian President Zelensky's plan for peace in Ukraine. Many countries are expected to attend the summit. To discuss, we FEATURE Lisa Schirch. Schirch is Richard G. Starmann chair in peace studies at Kroc Institute for International Studies, University of Notre Dame. She also holds the title of Senior Research Fellow with the Toda Peace Institute, where she coordinates with civil society and technology companies to experiment and innovate new technologies that can scale social cohesion. In 2018, Schirch published an edited book on “The Ecology of Violent Extremism,” an action guide for “Synergizing Nonviolent Action and Peacebuilding” with US Institute of Peace, and a report on “Peacebuilding Perspectives on Social Media Impacts.” In 2015, Schirch finished a 3-year project coordinating a global network to write a “Handbook on Human Security: A Civil-Military-Police Curriculum” and set of 40 peacebuilding case studies on “Local Ownership in Security.” She holds a PhD in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason University. She taught in the graduate programme on peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University for 23 years.

A political rally in Pakistan turned deadly when it became the target of an explosion set off by a suicide bomber that killed at least 54 people and injuring more than 200,. To discuss, we FEATURE Samina Ahmed. Ahmed oversees the International Crisis Group’s work in Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Nepal. Together with their analysts throughout the region, she prepares reports on the political, social, economic and military factors that increase the risks of extremism, internal conflict and war, and she makes policy recommendations to overcome those threats. Her team focuses on political, security and stability issues in South Asia, including problems of authoritarianism; Islamic extremism, domestic and regional terrorism; educational, judicial, and security sector reform; international involvement and intervention in the region, including US relations with authoritarian states; and domestic insurgencies and the risk of inter-state conflict. She also frequently briefs representatives of foreign ministries and international organizations, and is regularly involved in advocacy efforts internationally.

While attending an Africa-Russia summit, Egyptian leader Abdel Fatah al-Sisi urged Putin to return to the Black Sea grain deal. The country is facing a food crisis and gets about 80% of its grain imports from Russia and Ukraine. To discuss, we FEATURE Christine Abely. Abely is an assistant professor at New England Law, Boston. Her research focuses on sanctions and international trade (including export controls and import regulations), and the courses she teaches include international business transactions and compliance. She is the author of The Russia Sanctions: The Economic Response to Russia's Invasion of Ukraine, which looks at the economic response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. She is a licensed customs broker and a member of the American Society of International Law and Trade Experettes. She also previously served on the executive board of the Organization of Women in International Trade. Media includes: The Hill, Just Security, The Wall Street Journal, Boston Public Radio.

In light of the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, the Emmy Awards have officially been postponed without a new date confirmed. To discuss, we FEATURE Rachel Feldman. Feldman is an accomplished Hollywood film and television director and screenwriter, as well as an activist for gender parity for women directors. She is currently in late development to direct LILLY, a feature film based on the remarkable life of fair pay icon Lilly Ledbetter, championed by Meryl Streep. With over directing 75 credits in broadcast television, she has also taught directing and screenwriting at USC School of Cinematic Arts MFA program. Feldman is former chair of the Directors Guild of America Women's Steering Committee, and can be seen in the Geena Davis produced documentary This Changes Everything. Media includes: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, The LA Times, CBS, ABC, PBS.

The FIFA Women’s World Cup continues in Australia and New Zealand. 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. She has appeared attempting to sound smart on SportsCenter, Outside the Lines, CBS, CNN, and MSNBC. She currently sits on the Board of Directors of the Yogi Berra Museum.