Yesterday, a man ran down a packed Toronto street with a van, killing 10 people and injuring several others. The driver has been identified as Alek Minassian and is currently in police custody. To discuss, we SPOTLIGHTJuliette Kayyem. Julliette is on the faculty at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. She most recently served for President Obama as Assistant Secretary for Intergovernmental Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security. She has spent over 15 years in senior positions in state and federal government, including as Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick’s homeland security advisor and a legal advisor to U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno. Ms. Kayyem is the author of numerous books and articles on counterterrorism and national security, and her column is distributed worldwide by The New York Times wire. Media includes: CNN, MSNBC, NPR, The Boston Globe, The New York Times.
The United States Supreme Court will be hearing arguments against President Trump's executive order to restrict travel from Muslim majority countries. The order is known as the travel ban and is currently in its third version, but this will be the first time that the Supreme Court will be addressing it. To discuss, we FEATURE Deepa Iyer. As Senior Fellow at the Center for Social Inclusion, Deepa provides analysis, commentary and scholarship on the ways to build racial equity and solidarity in light of the rapid demographic transformation in America’s neighborhoods, schools and workplaces. Deepa is an attorney who has worked on civil and immigrant rights issues in the non-profit and governmental sectors for 15 years. Deepa is also author of We Too Sing America: South Asian, Arab, Muslim and Sikh Immigrants Shape Our Multiracial Future. Media includes: NPR, The New York Times, USA Today.
The full Senate is to vote on Mike Pompeo's nomination for Secretary of State this week after his nomination passed by the Senate Foreign Relations committee. To discuss, we FEATURE Lisa Maatz. As AAUW’s vice president of government relations, Lisa worked to advance AAUW’s priority issues on Capitol Hill, in the White House, and in coalition with other organizations. Lisa also provides leadership to several coalitions working to advance opportunities for women and girls, including the National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education and the Paycheck Fairness Act Coalition. Recently featured in the book “Secrets of Powerful Women,” Lisa has developed a reputation for her strategic approach to legislation and advocacy. She has done similar work for the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund and the Older Women’s League, and she was a legislative aide to U.S. Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY). Media includes: MSNBC, The Washington Post, USA Today, Associated Press.
A summit is planned for this Friday for leaders of North Korea and South Korea. This is following North Korea's decision to suspend nuclear missile tests. To discuss, we FEATURE Christine Ahn. Christine is the founder and international coordinator of Women Cross DMZ, a global movement of women mobilizing to end the Korean War, reunite families, and ensure women’s leadership in peacebuilding. In 2015, on the 70th anniversary of Korea’s division by Cold War powers, she led 30 international women peacemakers across the De-Militarized Zone, the world’s most fortified border, from North Korea to South Korea. Christine is also co-founder of the Korea Policy Institute, Global Campaign to Save Jeju Island, the National Campaign to End the Korean War, and the Korea Peace Network. Media includes: Al Jazeera, Anderson Cooper’s 360, BBC, Democracy Now!, NBC Today Show, NPR.
Tonight the Trump administration will be having its first state dinner, which will honor French President Emanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte Macron. To discuss, we FEATURE Lori Cox Han. Lori joined the Chapman University faculty in 2005 as Professor of Political Science. Her major area of expertise is American government, with research and teaching interests in the presidency, women and politics, media and politics, and political leadership. She is the author of Handbook to American Democracy (Facts on File, 2012); A Presidency Upstaged: The Public Leadership of George H.W. Bush (Texas A&M University Press, 2011); Women and U.S. Politics: The Spectrum of Leadership, 2nd ed.(Lynne Rienner, 2010); and Governing From Center Stage: White House Communication Strategies During the Television Age of Politics (Hampton Press, 2001). Media includes: Los Angeles Times, USA Today, KNBC, KPPC, Orange County Register.
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. To discuss, we FEATURE Angela Esquivel. Angela is an Assistant Dean at Stanford University’s Graduate Life Office. She is also Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the As One Project, a national 501(c)(3) organization that supports friends and family of survivors of sexual assault. The As One Project is the first national non-profit to provide resources and support exclusively for friends and family members of survivors of sexual violence. From 2011-2015, Angela taught a sex-positive, consent-based course in Human Sexuality to undergraduates at the George Washington University, work she was inspired to do after serving as a rape crisis counselor for the District of Columbia Rape Crisis Center (DCRCC). Media includes: SELF, Huffington Post, The GW Hatchet.
As California suffers from flooding, a new study predicts that California will be seeing a frequency of "whiplash events" — swings from extreme dry to wet conditions — as a result of climate change. To discuss, we FEATURE Rossana G. D'Antonio. Rossana is an Assistant Deputy Director for Los Angeles County Department of Public Works, the largest department of public works in the nation. She is responsible for directing the technical design of all public infrastructure facilities including highway, flood control and bridge structures. With 24 years of broad-based experience, Ms. D’Antonio has extensive background in many disciplines of engineering, management, operations and business processes. Media experience: Pasadena Now 92.3 FM, The Beat Radio Show, Ms. Foundation.
A gunman was arrested yesterday after he went on a shooting rampage in Nashville, Tennessee that left four dead. The shooting has brought up questions about gun laws as news surfaced that the gunman, Travis Reinking, had previously had his guns confiscated. To discuss, we FEATURE Kristin Goss. Kristin focuses on why people do (or don't) participate in political life and how their engagement affects public policymaking. Her current research projects focus on the role of philanthropic billionaires in policy debates and on the evolution of gun-related advocacy over the past decade. Professor Goss is also the co-author (with Philip J. Cook) of The Gun Debate: What Everyone Needs to Know (Oxford University Press, 2014) and author of Disarmed: The Missing Movement for Gun Control in America (Princeton University Press, 2006, 2009), which examines the strategic and political barriers to mass mobilization for stricter firearms regulation. Media includes: The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Raleigh News and Observer, Atlanta Journal.
Liz Theran
