President Trump fired labor statistics chief Erika McEntarfer following the release of a report showing poor economic, trade and employment numbers. To discuss, we FEATURE Valerie Rawlston Wilson. Wilson is a labor economist and director of the Economic Policy Institute’s Program on Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy (PREE), a nationally recognized source for expert reports and policy analyses on the economic condition of America’s people of color. As PREE director, Wilson has worked to elevate EPI’s thought leadership on issues of racial and economic justice and expand PREE’s capacity to prescribe policy solutions that center racial equity. Throughout her career, Wilson has written extensively on various issues impacting racial economic inequality in the United States—including employment, wage, income and wealth disparities—and has also appeared in major print, television, and radio media. Media includes: Ebony Magazine, BET, Fox News, NPR.

As Israel continues to block aid from going into Gaza, the UN's World Food Programme has warned that children under five are at risk of life-threatening malnourishment. To discuss, we FEATURE Bree Akesson. Akesson is Canada research chair (Tier II) in Global Adversity and Wellbeing and an associate professor of social work at the Faculty of Social Work at Wilfrid Laurier University in Canada. She is also a faculty affiliate with the CPC Learning Network, the Centre for Research on Children and Families at McGill University, and the International Migration Research Centre at Balsillie School of International Affairs. Her program of research focuses broadly on international child protection issues, ranging from micro-level understandings of the experiences of war-affected children and families to macro-level initiatives to strengthen the global social systems. Her research with Palestinian children and families living in the West Bank and East Jerusalem received several awards. Media includes: Daily News Egypt, Toronto Star, 570 News.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs plans to remove abortion and abortion counseling from their medical benefits package. To discuss, we FEATURE Antonieta Rico. Rico is the senior strategic communications specialist at the U.S. Army Directorate of Prevention, Resilience and Readiness. Previously, she was women, peace, and security advisor at Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute (PKSOI). Earlier in her career, she was the director of communications and policy at the Service Women's Action Network (SWAN), where she led their public affairs efforts. She served in the U.S. Army from October 2001 to September 2008, working as a military journalist and public affairs NCO. She also speaks on different panels and forums on the challenges women veterans and military women face. Media includes: USA Today, TIME, Task & Purpose, National Geographic.

On Sunday, violence broke out in Syria over tensions between Kurdish-led forces and Druze armed groups in the southern province of Sweida. Syria's interim government is currently trying to maintain a ceasefire in the region. To discuss, we FEATURE Ghada Mukdad. Mukdad is a Syrian peace activist. Prevented by the civil war from returning to Syria, she has been in the US since June 2012. In 2007 she ran as an independent candidate for parliament in Syria. Her platform addressed issues concerning women, children, poverty, and the disabled and called for peaceful coexistence and an end to sectarian violence and religious intolerance. Her efforts to establish non-profit organizations for poverty alleviation and empowerment of women, and an association for the disabled were thwarted by the Syrian regime. Extensive media experience.

NBC recently released an article about Daniel Savala, a convicted sex offender and Pentecostal missionary from the Assemblies of God. The article explains how pastors would take young students, who were part of Christian ministry Chi Alpha, to Savala who would sexually abuse them. To discuss, we FEATURE Marie Alford-Harkey. Alford-Harkey is the former president and CEO of the Religious Institute, a national multifaith nonprofit dedicated to advocating for sexual health, education, and justice in faith communities and society. She is the lead author of the Religious Institute publication Making the Invisible Visible: Bisexuality in Faith Communities. Alford-Harkey leads workshops, writes, preaches, and teaches to promote a progressive vision of faith and sexuality on such issues as access to abortion and family planning, LGBTQ rights, comprehensive sexuality education, and prevention of sexual abuse, misconduct and harassment. Media includes: Palm Beach Post, State of Belief, Believe Outloud.

Nearly 4,000 fires have been recorded this calendar year in Canada. The smoke is currently affecting the air quality in the midwest and northeastern U.S. To discuss, we FEATURE Tiffany Yap. Yap is a senior scientist and a wildlife corridor advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. As a conservation scientist, Yap is passionate about protecting biodiversity and environmental health, especially in the wildland urban interface. She is an expert on mountain lions, amphibians, wildlife connectivity, and wildfire. Her research includes how human activities and land use impact sensitive species and habitats. She has also been interviewed on how human activities and land use affect wildfire risk, particularly in the wildland-urban interface. Media includes: The Los Angeles Times, Christian Science Monitor, San Diego Union Tribune, NPR.