Hurricane Irma, a Category 5 storm in the Atlantic Ocean, is expected to make it's way through the Caribbean and towards Florida in the next few days. With this following closely behind the devastation of Hurricane Harvey, conversations about hurricane preparedness have increased and we FEATURE Junko Mochizuki. Junko is a natural disaster risk expert at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Austria. Her research focuses on the linkages between risk management, economic growth, and changing risks from climate extremes in connection with socioeconomic change.  Her particular interest lies in the interface between policy and scientific knowledge, investigating how governments and researchers can work together to redcuce the financial risk of disasters. Media includes: The Research Blog of IIASA, International Journal of Disaster Risk Science, PLOS Current Disasters, Risk Analysis. 

Following a North Korean nuclear test, President Trump has decided allow Japan and South Korea to buy more weapons from the United States and we FEATURE Former US Ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Nina Hachigian. Previously Nina was a Senior Fellow at American Progress. Based in Los Angeles, she is the co-author of The Next American Century: How the U.S. Can Thrive as Other Powers Rise (Simon & Schuster, 2008). She focuses on great power relationships, international institutions, the U.S.-China relationship, and U.S. foreign policy. Prior to American Progress, Hachigian was a senior political scientist at RAND Corporation and served as the director of the RAND Center for Asia Pacific Policy for four years. Media includes: Fox News, Bill Maher Show, CNN International, Tavis Smiley, All Things Considered. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin has recently made comments about cutting further diplomatic ties with the U.S. following the closing of Russia's consulate in San Francisco. To discuss what this could mean for U.S.-Russian ties, we FEATURE Nina L. Khrushcheva. Professor Khrushcheva is a professor in the Graduate Program of International Affairs at the New School, where she teaches courses on International Media, Comparative Propaganda, Culture and Capitalism, Film and Empire, and Russia’s Contemporary Politics and History. She is also a senior fellow of the World Policy Institute, where she heads the Russia Projects, which examines the contours of the current national identity of Russians and its impact on Russian politics. Media includes: Newhour With Jim Lehrer, Charlie Rose, Lou Dobbs, NPR, BBC, CNN.

NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, who set U.S. space records along with her crewmates Jack Fischer and Fyodor Yurchikhin and who was the first woman to command the International Space Station, has safely landed back on Earth. To discuss this momentous occasion, we FEATURE Meg Urry. Meg is the Israel Munson Professor of Physics and Astronomy and Director of the Yale Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics; she served as Chair of the Physics Department at Yale from 2007 to 2013. She is currently the President of the American Astronomical Society. Prior to moving to Yale in 2001, Prof. Urry was a senior astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which runs the Hubble Space Telescope for NASA. Media includes: CNN, ABC (Australia), The Conversation (UK).