G.O.P. voting bills in Texas, Georgia, and Florida are seeking to restrict voting access in ways that would affect disabled voters who need accommodation to be able to vote. To discuss, we SPOTLIGHT Emily Ladau. Ladau is a passionate disability rights activist, writer, storyteller, and digital communications consultant. She is the author of Demystifying Disability: What to Know, What to Say, and How to be an Ally. Ladau is the Editor in Chief of the Rooted in Rights Blog, a platform dedicated to amplifying authentic narratives on the disability experience through an intersectional lens. She also provides communications and social media strategy consulting as well as editorial services for multiple disability-related organizations and initiatives. Media includes: The New York Times, SELF, Salon, Vice, HuffPost, PBS, NPR.
President Biden and Russian leader Vladimir Putin are meeting privately in Geneva. To discuss, we FEATURE Nina Jankowicz. Jankowicz is a Global Fellow at the Kennan Institute currently working on a book about the evolution of modern Russian influence campaigns in Eastern Europe. In 2018 she testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on responses to disinformation. She is a frequent commentator on disinformation and Russian and Eastern European affairs. Media includes: The New York Times, The Washington Post, BuzzFeed News, Foreign Policy, The Wilson Quarterly, MSNBC, CNN.
Benjamin Netanyahu has been voted out as Prime Minister of Israel and has been replaced by right-wing leader Naftali Bennett. To discuss, we FEATURE Naomi Chazan. Chazan is Dean of the School of Government and Society at the Academic College of Tel-Aviv-Yaffo. She completed three terms as a Member of Knesset on behalf of the Meretz (Democratic Israel) party in February, 2003. She was considered one of Israel’s top legislators at the time, specializing in human rights, gender equality, and consumer affairs. Chazan has authored and edited eight books on comparative politics and written numerous articles on Arab-Israeli relations, Israeli politics, African politics, and women and politics. Media includes: The Jerusalem Post, Israel Broadcasting Authority.
The head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, John Demars, has stepped down following controversy over the DOJ secretly seizing records from Democrats and journalists. To discuss, we FEATURE Nancy Libin. Libin is a partner at Jenner & Block LLP, a Washington, D.C. law firm, where she focuses on privacy law, cybersecurity, and related technology policy issues. She previously served as the Chief Privacy and Civil Liberties Officer of the U.S. Department of Justice, where her portfolio focused on the intersection of privacy, technology, national security, and law enforcement. Media includes: CNN, PBS, ABC, NPR.
Anti-vaccine activists have been using the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) to spread misinformation about vaccinations. VAERS is a federal database used by epidemiologists to study adverse reactions to vaccines. To discuss, we FEATURE Elena Conis. Conis is the author of Vaccine Nation: America’s Changing Relationship with Immunization. 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.
Gun violence was up in 2020, according to the Gun Violence Archive, but experts fear that that 2021 will be worse as gun violence deaths in the first five months of 2021 have already exceeded those during the first five months of 2020. To discuss, we FEATURE Ameshia Cross. Cross served as manager of government affairs for the Noble Network of Charter Schools in Illinois. In addition to designing and implementing advocacy strategies, Cross tracked legislation and worked to build relationships among local, state, and congressional leaders. During her tenure at Noble, Cross was tapped by Organizing for America to lead a fellowship program in Chicago that taught selected fellows the key components of effective advocacy, with a particular focus on service initiatives designed to counter gun and gang violence. Media includes: Sinclair Broadcast Group, C-SPAN, CNN.
Lyft has not yet disclosed the number of sexual assault incidents that occurred when people used their services. This is three years after Lyft and Uber had vowed to share safety reports disclosing such incidents. Uber released theirs in 2019. To discuss, we FEATURE Sunnetta "Sunny" Slaughter. Slaughter brings over 35 years of executive consultancy, tactical guidance, strategic thinking, policy compliance, safety preparedness, and crisis management expertise to a cross-section of professionals in government, corporate, business, organization, institution, agency, and community. Media includes: ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX. CNN.
People of Praise, a Christian group with ties to Justice Amy Coney Barrett, has been faced with sexual misconduct allegations by several former members. Nine people from the Facebook group "PoP Survivors" have told The Washington Post that they were molested as children. To discuss, we FEATURE Renita J. Weems. Weems is a nationally renowned theologian whose scholarly insights into biblical text and the role of spirituality in everyday lives have made her a popular author and speaker. Weems has numerous academic books and articles to her credit related to issues of sex, gender, and religion. The include Battered Love: Marriage, Sex, and Violence in the Hebrew Bible (1995); Song of Songs: A Commentary for the New Interpreter’s Bible Series published by Abingdon Press (1990), focusing on issues of sex and sexuality in the bible; and Jeremiah: A Commentary for the Global Bible Commentary, (2004). Extensive media experience.
Juneteenth is on Saturday. The day is commemorated as the day that enslaved people were freed. To discuss, we FEATURE Donna A. Patterson. Patterson is chair of the Department of History, Political Science, and Philosophy. She also directs the Africana Studies Program. She regularly participates in meetings in the U.S. and abroad on global health, epidemics, security, African and African American studies, and African politics. Patterson is also on the advisory board of the Mitchell Center for African American Heritage. Media includes: The Washington Post, Huffington Post, Christian Science Monitor, Vox, NPR.
June is LGBTQ Pride Month, which is celebrated annually to honor the 1969 Stonewall riots. To discuss, we FEATURE Kierra Johnson. Johnson is the Executive Director of the National LGBTQ Task Force. She has a wealth of experience in program development, youth leadership and reproductive justice. Johnson previously served on the National LGBTQ Task Force’s board of directors and on its National Action Council, and has keynoted at the organization’s annual Creating Change Conference. Media includes: The New York Times, The Huffington Post, The Nation, US News & World Report.
Liz Theran
