Tomorrow, President Biden will announce executive actions on combatting climate change, which includes a ban on new oil and gas leasing on federal land. To discuss, we FEATURE Brenda Ekwurzel. Ekwurzel works on the national climate program at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). She is leading UCS's climate science education work aimed at strengthening support for strong federal climate legislation and sound U.S. climate policies. Media includes: USA Today, Good Morning America, CNN, ABC, NPR.

Confirmations for Biden's cabinet continue this week including Lloyd Austin, secretary of defense; Janet Yellen, Treasury secretary and Antony Blinken secretary of state. Gina Raimondo's confirmation hearing for Secretary of Commerce was today, and to discuss, we FEATURE Lori Wallach. Wallach is Director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch division. Public Citizen, founded in 1971, is a nonprofit citizen research, lobbying and litigation group based in Washington, D.C. Launched by Wallach in 1995, Global Trade Watch is a leader in the global citizen movement for fair trade and investment policy. Media includes: The New York Times, THe Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, CNN, NPR.

Lawmakers met with White House officials on Sunday to discuss Biden's coronavirus relief plan and a way to target those who need the money most. To discuss, we FEATURE Constance Hubbell. Hubbell is considered a crisis management expert known for handling high-profile, high-stakes situations such as COVID-19 response, environmental contamination, safety violations, cybersecurity breaches, insider trading, union strikes and sexual harassment. She is the founder and CEO of The Hubbell Group, Inc., a highly respected strategic communications firm and trusted partner to some of the world's most respected brands. Media includes: Fast Company, WealthManagement.com.

President Biden has said that everyone who wants the Covid-19 vaccine will be able to get it by spring. He increased the target number of daily vaccinations to 1.5 million. As the roll out continues, we FEATURE Elena Conis to discuss the logistics of getting everyone vaccinated. Conis is the author of Vaccine Nation: America’s Changing Relationship with Immunization (University of Chicago Press). 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.

Many schools across the U.S. have begun in-person classes again despite the ongoing pandemic. To discuss the concern for both teachers and students, we FEATURE Ileana Jiménez. Jiménez is a leader in the field of social justice education. Passionate about creating inclusive schools, Ileana believes in transforming education for gender, racial, and economic justice. In 2005, she founded the New York Independent Schools LGBT Educators Group, providing educators professional development and networking opportunities. Media includes: Feministing, Gender Across Borders, the Huffington Post, Ms. Magazine, On the Issues.

According to Oxfam, the super rich have already recovered from the pandemic, with the ten richest men seeing their combined wealth increase, while it could take the poorest people over a decade to recover. To discuss, we FEATURE Valerie Wilson. Wilson is 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. She has written extensively on various issues impacting economic inequality in the United States—including employment and training, income and wealth disparities, access to higher education, and social insurance. Media includes: EBONY Magazine, BET, NPR, Fox News.

Instacart is laying off all its employees who voted to unionize. To discuss, we FEATURE Sarita Gupta. Gupta is director of the Ford Foundation’s Future of Work(ers) program, leading the team that oversees Ford’s efforts to actively shape a future of work that puts workers and their well-being at the center. Gupta joined the foundation with more than 20 years of experience working to expand people’s ability to come together to improve their workplaces, their communities, and their lives by creating solutions to the problems they face. She has deep expertise in policy advocacy, organizing, and building partnerships across the workers’ rights and care movements, having served as executive director of Jobs With Justice and co-director of Caring Across Generations. Media includes: The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, MSNBC, CNN, Fox News.

Warner Music Group has fired senior VP of A&R in its Australian office, Scott Maclachlan, after an investigation into sexual harassment claims. Separately, CBS has placed two of its top executives – Peter Dunn and David Friend – on administrative leave following a report that they made disparaging remarks about female and Black employees. To discuss, we FEATURE Katherine Elizabeth Giscombe. Giscombe is a Diversity & Inclusion thought leader, researcher, and organizational change practitioner. She designed and led the groundbreaking study on race and gender in the workplace, Women of Color in Corporate Management: Opportunities and Barriers, which was sponsored by the Ford Foundation and the non-profit organization Catalyst. Media includes: Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, The Hill, Bloomberg, CBS.

Thousands of Russians took to the street on Saturday to support jailed opposition leader Aleksei A. Navalny. To discuss, we FEATURE Nina Khrushcheva. Khrushcheva is a professor in the Graduate Program of International Affairs at the New School, where she teaches courses Russia’s Contemporary Politics and History. She is also a senior fellow of the World Policy Institute, where she heads the Russia Projects, which examines the contours of the current national identity of Russians and its impact on Russian politics. Media includes: Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, New York Times, The Nation, Wall Street Journal, International Herald Tribune, Financial Times, CNN, BBC, NPR.

President Biden has lifted the transgender military ban, which was put in place by the Trump administration. To discuss, we FEATURE Kalpana Kotagal. Kotagal is a Partner in Cohen Milstein, and a member of the firm’s Civil Rights & Employment practice and Chair of the firm’s Hiring and Diversity Committee. Kotagal focuses almost exclusively on employment class actions involving allegations of discrimination, including discrimination against transgender people. She is also the co-author of the "Inclusion Rider," referenced by Oscar-winning actress Frances McDormand in her 2018 Best Actress acceptance speech. Media includes: The Hill, The Washington Post, Variety.