The U.S. women's soccer team won their first game World Cup 13-0. Despite this, the team is still fighting to be paid equally to the men's soccer team and suing the U.S. Soccer Federation for gender discrimination. To discuss, we FEATURE Noreen Farrell. Farrell is the Executive Director of Equal Rights Advocates (ERA), one of the nation’s leading women’s rights organization, where she has led landmark litigation and policy reform efforts to improve the lives of women and girls at work and school. She plays a leadership role in state and national coalitions advocating for the development of policy and legislation to assist working families and expand workplace fairness, including the Equal Pay Today! Campaign. Media includes: The New York Times, Times Magazine, Huffington Post, ProPublica, Los Angeles Times, NBC, BBC.   

Alabama has passed into law a bill that requires pedophiles to undergo chemical castration if they want to be released on parole. To discuss, we FEATURE Elizabeth L. Jeglic, PhD. Jeglic is co-director of the Sex Offender Research Lab and a Professor of Psychology at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York. She is an internationally renowned expert on criminal justice reform, sexual violence prevention, child abuse prevention, sexual offenders and sex offender legislation as well as suicide and suicide prevention. Jeglic is the co-editor of a new book on Criminal Justice Reform entitled New Frontiers in Offender Treatment: The Translation of Evidence-Based Practices to Correctional Settings (Springer, 2018). Media includes: The New York Times, Huffington Post, The Guardian.

In Sudan, protestors were gathered to demand civilian rule following Omar al-Bashir stepping down from presidency. The protests were interrupted by violent attacks from the military, attacks which have killed over a hundred people and injured hundreds more. To discuss, we FEATURE Margari Aziza. Aziza is co-founder and Programming  Director of Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative (MuslimARC). She earned her master’s in History of the Middle East and Islamic Africa from Stanford University in 2006. Her research includes colonial surveillance in Northern Nigeria, anti-colonial resistance among West Africans in Sudan during the early 20th century, and race in Muslim communities. Media includes: Time, SISTERS, Islamic Monthly, Al Jazeera English, Virtual Mosque. 

California has become the first state to provide healthcare to young, low-income undocumented immigrants. To discuss, we FEATURE Laura Jiménez. Jiménez is the Executive Director of California Latinas for Reproductive Justice. She has over 20 years of experience working with women of color organizations across the country on issues of reproductive justice, including the National Latina Health Organization (Oakland). Her current work at California Latinas for Reproductive Justice has presented the opportunity to work on issues of immigrant rights and economic justice. Media includes: Univisión, Cosmopolitan, Huffington Post.

Pope Francis has released a statement rejecting the idea that gender is a spectrum and that people can choose their gender. In the document released by the Vatican, the Pope claims that modern ideas of gender are a "contradiction of the model of marriage as being between one man and one woman." To discuss, we FEATURE Rev. Irene Monroe. Monroe is an ordained minister, motivational speaker and she speaks for a sector of society that is frequently invisible. She writes a weekly column in the Boston home LGBTQ newspaper Baywindows. As an religion columnist, she tries to inform the public of the role religion plays in discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. By reporting religion in the news, she aims to highlight how religious intolerance and fundamentalism not only shatters the goal of American democracy, but also aids in perpetuating other forms of oppression such as racism, sexism, classism and anti-Semitism. Media includes: Boston Globe, Baywindows, Huffington Post, The Advocate, Cambridge Chronicle, New England Channel NEWS, NPR. 

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki has apologized to the LGBTQ community but has refused to take any action against anti-gay channels that incite hatred. The website has also been accused of de-monetizing LGBTQ content in the past. To discuss, we FEATURE Kandace Creel Falcón. Creel Falcón is Director and Assistant Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies at Minnesota State University Moorhead. She teaches courses on feminist theory from a woman of color intersectional approach, digital media production for social justice, and popular culture. Her scholarly investments center women of color feminist methodologies and she has used this approach to examine the representation of (queer) Chicana/o identity in media. Her work has been published in women’s and gender studies anthologies, such as Feminist Cyberspaces: Pedagogies in Transition (2012). Media includes: CBS Minnesota, WDay News, Inforum. 

Vice President Pence has said that banning pride flags from U.S. embassies was the "right decision." To discuss, we FEATURE Tarah Demant. Demant  is the Director of the Gender, Sexuality, and Identity Program at Amnesty International USA. She leads the organization’s work on women’s rights, LGBTI rights, the rights of Indigenous Peoples, and sexual and reproductive rights. She brings over fifteen years of experience in global gender issues and has advocated for human rights at the United Nations, the White House, State Department, Department of Defense, USAID, Capitol Hill, and with many foreign governments. Media includes: The New York Times, Al Jazeera, Time, USA Today, The Nation, PRI, CNN, BBC.

Cameras at the southern border have been hacked and tens of thousands of photos of people crossing the border have been stolen. To discuss, we FEATURE Judith H. Germano. As the founding member of GermanoLawLLC, Germano has counseled clients on matters of cybersecurity governance and risk management, internal investigations, and criminal as well as civil defense. Judith also serves as a Senior Fellow on Cybersecurity, and Adjunct Professor of Law, at New York University School of Law, focusing on critical cybersecurity and privacy issues, and leading the Center on Law & Security’s cybersecurity task force of corporate executives and senior government officials. Media includes: The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, New Jersey Star Ledger.