In Georgia, Adriana Smith, a brain dead pregnant woman, is being kept on life support under the state's strict abortion laws. The family have had no choice in medical decisions due an anti-abortion law that gives personhood to fetuses. To discuss, we FEATURE Jennifer Driver. Driver is the senior director of reproductive rights with the State Innovation Exchange. She is a reproductive health, rights, and justice policy and advocacy leader with nearly 15 years in the field. Her work centers on addressing systems that add burdens or barriers to accessing full reproductive health information and services— paying particular attention to communities of color, immigrants, system involved youth, and LGBTQ communities. Her previous experience also includes working for Power to Decide and the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Power and Potential. Media includes: The Washington Post, Vogue, The New York Times, Rewire, The Hill, CNN.

As House Republicans work to pass Trump's "big, beautiful bill"—which proposes spending cuts that would kick 8.6 million people off Medicaid according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget—U.S. health advocacy groups have begun a campaign to save Medicaid. To discuss, we FEATURE Carole R. Myers. Myers a Professor in the College of Nursing at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, coordinates interdisciplinary graduate health policy courses and a certificate program in health policy. Myers uses of policy, advocacy, and media to promote population health, focusing on healthcare access, rural health and healthcare disparities, Medicaid, and the value of Advanced Practice Registered Nurses. Myers frequently contributes to discussions on national health reform, the transformation of healthcare, full practice authority, and grassroots advocacy. Media includes: The Hill, Knoxville News Sentinel, i-24 News.

President Trump has won an appeal to overturn a court order that prevented the federal government from implementing his limiting federal workers’ collective bargaining rights. To discuss, we FEATURE Erica Smiley. Smiley is the executive director of Jobs With Justice. A long-time organizer and movement leader, Smiley has been spearheading strategic organizing and policy interventions for Jobs With Justice for nearly 15 years. Prior to taking up her current position with the organization, Smiley served as organizing director, developing campaigns that resulted in transformative changes to how working people organize and are civically engaged at their workplaces and in their communities. Serving as one of the lead architects, Smiley has been instrumental in developing the strategic vision of Jobs With Justice to build power for impacted working people through expanding their collective bargaining power as one way to redefine and claim their democracy, while addressing issues of inequality and poverty. Media includes: Chicago Tribune, Bill Moyers, The Washington Free Beacon, Reuters, MSNBC.

Monday, President Trump met with Vladimir Putin to discuss Ukraine after JD Vance made a statement on how the U.S. could step away from the Russia-Ukraine peace process. To discuss, we FEATURE Michèle Flournoy. Flournoy is co-founder and managing partner of WestExec Advisors, and former co-founder and chief executive officer of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), where she currently serves on the board. She served as the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy from February 2009 to February 2012. She was the principal adviser to the Secretary of Defense in the formulation of national security and defense policy, oversight of military plans and operations, and in National Security Council deliberations. Previously, she was a distinguished research professor at the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University (NDU) and, prior to joining NDU, she was dual-hatted as principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and threat reduction and deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy. In that capacity, she oversaw three policy offices in the Office of the Secretary of Defense: Strategy; Requirements, Plans, and Counterproliferation; and Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasian Affairs. Extensive media experience.

The U.S. has closed its Office of Palestinian Affairs in Jerusalem, officially cutting off Palestinians direct access to Washington. To discuss, we FEATURE Isra Chaker. Chaker is a Syrian-American civil rights activist, humanitarian advocate, and public speaker. She currently serves as a Campaign Strategist at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) where she leads national campaigns on issues including immigrants’ rights, racial justice, and work related to Arab, Middle. Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian (AMEMSA) communities and indigenous people. Previously, Isra has served as the Senior Refugee, Migration and Protection Campaign Lead at one of the leading international NGOs in the world, Oxfam America; where she advocated for vulnerable people such as refugees, asylum seekers, immigrants, and opposed discriminatory policies such as the Muslim Bans. She is a Public Advocate for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency USA (UNRWA). Media includes: Democracy Now, NowThis, AJ+, Al Jazeera, Associated Press, VICE, The Washington Post, CNN, ABC News.

Sean "Diddy" Combs' sex-trafficking and racketeering trial is currently underway. Last week, Cassie Ventura took to the stand to speak about her previous relationship with the former hip-hop mogul alleging that she endured significant abuse from him. To discuss, we FEATURE Carolyn M. West. West is professor of clinical psychology in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences and affiliate professor in the Department of Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies at the University of Washington. She is a nationally recognized Black feminist scholar who investigates gender-based violence in the lives of African American women, with a focus on domestic violence, sexual assault, and sexual harassment. West has authored more than 70 academic publications and is editor/contributor of "Violence in the Lives of Black Women: Battered, Black, and Blue". She has taught courses on Sex Crimes and Sexual Violence, Family Violence, and the Psychology of Black Women for more than 30 years. Media includes: The New York Times and The Washington Post, Essence Magazine, NBC, NPR.

President Trump has threatened to cut federal funding to K-12 education in Maine. The move was made when Governor Janet Mills refused to ban transgender students from participating in school sprts despite an executive order to do so. To discuss, we FEATURE Jill Habig. Habig is a former civil rights prosecutor and policy advisor to Kamala Harris, and the founder and president of Public Rights Project (PRP). PRP works with local governments and community partners to help ensure that laws are enforced equitably and civil rights are protected, including workers rights, voting rights, immigrant rights, housing rights, and more. Habig's work emphasizes consumer fraud, corporate power, health, and civil rights, including issues related to gender and LGBT rights. In 2015, she led the creation and launch of the Attorney General’s Bureau of Children’s Justice and managed its work, including civil rights investigations of school districts, child welfare departments, and juvenile justice systems. Media includes: USA Today, The 19th, Daily Kos, Fortune Broadsheet, Washington Post, Reuters, CNN.

May is Asian American Heritage Month. To discuss, we FEATURE Deepa Iyer. Iyer is a South Asian American writer, strategist, lawyer, and racial justice advocate. Currently, Deepa is a Senior Director at Building Movement Project and Director of Solidarity Is, a project that provides trainings, narratives, and resources on building deep and lasting multiracial solidarity. Deepa’s areas of expertise include the post 9/11 America experiences of South Asian, Muslim, Arab and Sikh immigrants, immigration and civil rights policies, and racial equity and solidarity practices. Iyer has worked at various national and local organizations with a focus on immigrant and racial justice. She served as executive director of South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT) for a decade, and has also held positions at Race Forward, the US Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, the Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center, and the Asian American Justice Center. Media includes: USA Today, Huffington Post, The Washington Post, NPR.