On Saturday, South Korea's parliament voted to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol following a failed attempt to impose martial law. The vote now moves to the Constitutional Court, which will decide whether to uphold the impeachment, in which case a new leader will need to be elected, or to reinstate Mr. Yoon. To discuss, we FEATURE Duyeon Kim. Kim is an adjunct senior fellow with the Indo-Pacific Security Program at Center for a New American Security based in Seoul. Her expertise includes the two Koreas, nuclear nonproliferation, arms control, East Asian relations and geopolitics, U.S. nuclear policy, and security. Media includes: The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Guardian, The Associated Press, Bloomberg, Donga Ilbo, Yonhap News, and The Japan Times, CNN, BBC, CBS, NBC.

On Monday in Madison, Wisconsin, a shooter opened fire at a school, injuring six students and killing three people, including herself. The shooter has been identified as 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow. To discuss, we FEATURE Kris Brown. Brown is president of Brady United Against Gun Violence and has a lifelong background in policy, law, and grassroots activism to lead the nation’s preeminent gun violence prevention organization. At Brady, Brown has brought together leaders across industries, from entertainment to advertising, business, and politics, to accelerate the movement to free America from gun violence. Under Brown’s leadership, Brady has embarked on groundbreaking projects to address gun violence from multiple angles. Media includes: USA Today, LA Times, Ms. Magazine, MSNBC, CNN, ABC.

The Supreme Court today agreed to decide whether a law banning TikTok in the U.S. is constitutional. They will decide during oral arguments, which are due to take place on January 10, whether to put the law on hold until their final decision is made. If they decide not to put the law on hold, TikTok will be banned in the U.S. from January 19 if it hasn't completed disinvested from its parent company, Bytedance. To discuss, we FEATURE Lisa Hayes. Hayes is the head of safety, public policy and senior counsel, Americas, for TikTok where she helps the company develop and implement innovative policies that improve the platform for its users. Lisa has spent more than twenty years working at the intersection of law and technology, with an emphasis on protecting civil liberties in the digital age. Before joining TikTok, Lisa helped lead the Center for Democracy and Technology, an NGO promoting democratic values by shaping technology policy and architecture, with a focus on the rights of the individual. Media includes: The Washington Post, Fox News, NPR, Cyberscoop, The Seattle Times.

Fifty years ago this week, Congress passed the Clean Drinking Water Act. To discuss, we FEATURE Emma Robbins, an artist, activist and community organizer with a passion for empowering Indigenous women. Robbins was the executive director of the Navajo Water Project at DigDeep Water for seven years, where she collaborated with communities to expand access to clean, running water to the one in three Navajo families without it. She now serves as the Managing Director of Planet Women, working to ensure the organization achieves its mission to partner with women to care for the planet. Media includes: NPR, PBS, NBC, Vox, NBC.

December is the busiest time of year for retailers and, as the holidays quickly approach, the Teamsters have authorized strikes at two Amazon warehouses in New York City and Chicago. To discuss, we FEATURE Erica Smiley. Smiley is the executive director of Jobs With Justice. Prior to taking up her current position with the organization, Smiley served as organizing director for Jobs With Justice developing campaigns that resulted in transformative changes to how working people organize and are civically engaged at their workplaces and in their communities. She co-authored The Future We Need: Organizing for Economic Democracy in the Twenty First Century, a book on collective bargaining and democracy with Sarita Gupta. Media includes: The Chicago Tribune, Bill Moyers, The Washington Free Beacon, Reuters, MSNBC.

Following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria, the new transitional government are working to prove they can provide Syrians with basic services, but they have many obstacles to overcome. To discuss, we FEATURE Mouna Ghanem. Ghanem is the founder and coordinator of the Syrian Women’s Forum for Peace. She is also vice president of the Syrian political movement Building the Syrian State. A senior gender advisor with extensive experience in the Arab region, Ghanem worked for more than a decade as the Deputy Representative for UNFPA in Syria and chaired the Syrian Commission for Family Affairs. She also served as the Regional Director for the United Nations Fund for Women (UNIFEM) in Jordan, Amman and as Deputy Chairperson for the United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW). Media includes: The Guardian, WMC Live with Robin Morgan.

Anne Neuberger, deputy national security adviser, has revealed that at least eight U.S. telecommunications companies have been part of a Chinese hacking campaign. To discuss, we FEATURE Judith H. Germano. Germano advises public and privately-held companies on cybersecurity and privacy matters, and represents companies and individuals on complex white-collar criminal and regulatory-compliance issues. As the founding member of GermanoLawLLC, she has counseled clients on matters of cybersecurity governance and risk management, internal investigations, and criminal as well as civil defense. A federal prosecutor for 11 years, Judith supervised and prosecuted complex criminal cases of national and international impact, involving cybercrime, securities and other financial fraud, identity theft, corruption and national security. Media includes: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, New Jersey Star Ledger.

No federal death row prisoners have been executed whilst Joe Biden has been president whilst 13 were executed during Trump's first term. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, there are now 40 inmates on the U.S. federal death row, and advocates are urging the President to commute their sentences. To discuss, we FEATURE Diann Rust-Tierney. Professor Rust-Tierney is an expert on the death penalty and served as the Executive Director of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty from 2004 to 2022. She is now an associate professor of law at the University of the District of Columbia and a distinguished fellow of the Georgetown Human Rights Institute. Media experience includes: ABC News, Good Morning America, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, Crossfire, BET, BBC.

A survey conducted by Schoen Cooperman Research found that U.S. voters believe that Donald Trump's second presidency will be more effective, but that Trump's victory makes government less trustworthy. To discuss, we FEATURE Robin Leeds. Leeds is the CEO of Winning Strategies LLC, a public affairs and communications consulting firm based in Washington, DC. From the campaign trail to the boardroom, Leeds, who has been centrally involved in every presidential cycle since 1984, (in 2024 Leeds served on the Harris Victory Fund National Finance Committee and Women for Harris Kitchen Cabinet) has built sustained relationships with changemakers across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Media includes: The New York Times, Politico, The Chicago Tribune, France 24.

With the holidays fast approaching, some families have been struggling with food insecurity or homelessness. To discuss, we FEATURE Tamara Draut. Draut is the program director for economic justice at Wellspring Philanthropic Fund. Previously, she was Vice President of Policy and Research at Demos, where she was responsible for developing and advancing the organization's goals through research, idea generation and policy development. A member of the Demos team from 2001-2018, Draut developed the organization’s groundbreaking work on household indebtedness, middle class insecurity and the economic challenges facing young people. Draut is co-author of the Demos reports, The Plastic Safety Net: The Reality Behind Debt in America, Millions to the Middle: Three Strategies to Grow the Middle Class, Generation Broke: The Growth of Debt Among Young Adults, Retiring in the Red: The Growth of Debt Among Older Americans, and Borrowing to Make Ends Meet: The Growth of Credit Card Debt in the 90s, among others. Media includes:The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Boston Globe, BusinessWeek, Chicago Tribune, USA Today, Newsweek, CNN, ABC, NBC.