This past weekend, French, British and American forces launched a missile attack against Syria following a chemical attack on the Syrian city of Douma. Currently, chemical weapons experts are being prevented from entering Syria. To discuss, we FEATURE Dr. Kimberly Marten. Dr. Marten is a professor (and former department chair) in the political science department at Barnard College, Columbia University. She is a faculty member of Columbia's Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies, and a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Dr. Marten specializes in international relations and international security.  Her fourth book,Warlords: Strong-Arm Brokers in Weak States (Cornell University Press, 2012, appearing in the Cornell series on Studies in Security Affairs), traces the development of warlordism and its consequences in the tribal areas of Pakistan, in Sunni Arab areas of Iraq, and in post-Soviet Georgia and the Republic of Chechnya in Russia. Media includes: The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, Fox, WNYC Radio, MSNBC, PBS. 

James Comey's book A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership comes out today. To discuss, we FEATURE Jennifer Mercieca. Jennifer is an historian of American political discourse, especially discourses about citizenship, democracy, and the presidency. Her scholarship combines American history with rhetorical and political theory in an effort to understand democratic practices. Her presidency research argues that we have heroic expectations for the presidency that are both unrealistic and unconstitutional and that these expectations burden the presidency. She is the author of Founding Fictions and the co-Editor of The Rhetoric of Heroic Expectations: Establishing the Obama Presidency. Media includes: The New York Times, The Washington Post, BBC World News, Huffington Post, WPR. 

On Sunday night, a riot erupted in a South Carolina maximum security prison. The riot lasted seven hours and has left seven inmates dead and seventeen injured. To discuss, we FEATURE Evie Litwok. Evie is the Founder and Director of Witness to Mass Incarceration. Witness is a digital library of firsthand in-depth interviews with formerly incarcerated women and men. America’s 40-year history of mass incarceration is detailed through those who were inside prisons, jails and detention centers. Evie was incarcerated in two Federal Women’s prisons. She has firsthand knowledge of what its like to lose your freedom and your family. Media includes: The Nation, Forward, Talk Poverty, The Heat, CCTV, NY1.

Protestors gathered inside a Philadelphia Starbucks yesterday to bring attention to racial profiling following the arrest of two black men who were waiting in the Starbucks last week. To discuss, we FEATURE Chantá Parker. Chantá is the Special Counsel for New Initiatives at the Innocence Project in New York, N.Y. In this position, she directs the development of strategies by using the unique lens of innocence to address three main problems: the growing crisis in indigent defense, racial bias in the criminal justice system, and how this massive system forces many people, including the innocent, to plead guilty to misdemeanors. Media includes: NYU Law Website, Essie Justice Group, New Orleans Times-Picayune, The Gambit. 

On Saturday, the National March Against Rape Culture will take place in D.C. to kick off National Sexual Assault Awareness Month. To discuss, we FEATURE Soraya Chemaly, who is scheduled to be a speaker at the march. Soraya is the Director of the Women's Media Center Speech Project and organizer of the Safety and Free Speech Coalition, both of which are involved in curbing online abuse, media and tech diversity, and expanding women's freedom of expression. In 2013, Soraya won the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication’s (AEJMC)'s Donna Allen Award for Feminist Advocacy and the Secular Woman Feminist Activism Award. In 2014, she was named one of Elle Magazine's 25 Inspiring Women to Follow on Twitter. She writes and speaks regularly about gender, media, tech, education, women's rights, sexual violence and free speech. Media includes: TIME, The Guardian, The Nation, Huffington Post, The Atlantic.

Today is Tax Day. To discuss, we FEATURE Jennifer Streaks. Jennifer is a finance expert, multi-platform journalist, empowerment speaker, and financial author with an edgy voice on practical tips to thrive in today’s economic climate. In an age when, depending on the political pundit or financial contributor you’re watching, one can easily experience mass confusion on how to manage their income, Ms. Streaks offers a refreshing shift in thinking on saving, purchasing, and all matters of the pocketbook. She is also frequently on FOX detailing end of the year tax tips and everyday ways to save money. She advises businesses on taxation questions, creative ways to obtain financing and acquiring assets wisely. Media includes: MNSBC, CBS, Fox, TV One, US News and World Report, Yahoo!Finance.

This Sunday is Earth Day and this year's focus is on plastic pollution. To discuss, we FEATURE Betsy Lopez-Wagner. Betsy is a communications officer at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. She brings to the foundation expertise in bilingual communications, political and advocacy campaigns, branding, and media relations with a racial justice lens. She most recently worked at the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) as the communications director of LCV’s Chispa, a community organizing program that is growing the political power and leadership of Latino families to influence climate action at the national and state levels in six states. Media includes: Univison, Telemundo, Associated Press, LA Opinion.   

The Pulitzer Prize winners were announced and we FEATURE Miranda Spivack. Miranda is an award winning journalist who is examining state/local government secrecy, which is on the rise as news coverage declines. She spent nearly 20 years at The Washington Post Co. as an editor and reporter, tussling often with local officials to obtain essential documents that they preferred to conceal. While covering politics and government, she wrote about the high cost to taxpayers of out-of-court settlements;  major zoning abuses; and favoritism by planning officials Media includes: WAMU, NewsChannel8, WTOP, WMAL, CJR, Center for Investigative Reporting.

On April 23rd, the FCC's repeal of net neutrality comes into affect. To discuss, we FEATURE Valarie Kaur. Valarie is a seasoned civil rights activist, award-winning filmmaker, lawyer, faith leader, and founder of the Revolutionary Love Project. She founded the Yale Visual Law Project, where she trained law students how to make films for social change, and co-founded Faithful Internet to build the movement for net neutrality.  She has also made films and led story-based campaigns on hate crimes, racial profiling, immigration detention, solitary confinement, marriage equality, and Internet freedom. She is the founder of Groundswell Movement, considered “America’s largest multifaith online organizing network,” recognized for “dynamically strengthening faith-based organizing in the 21st century.” Media includes: MSNBC, CNN, PBS, NPR, The Washington Post. 

April 26th is Campus Equal Rights Amendment Day, which aims to seek awareness of and gain support for the revitalized push to get the Equal Rights Amendment into the U.S. Constitution. To discuss, we FEATURE Carol Robles-Román. Carol is the Co-President and CEO of The ERA Coaltiion and the Fund for Women's Equality. Formerly, she was the President and CEO of Legal Momentum – The Women’s Legal Defense and Education Fund.  She leads projects with big cities and organizations in gender justice, personal safety and access to justice reform. Media includes: CNN, ABC, Seattle Times, Miami Herald, Variety, New York Daily News, La Prensa, The Guardian, Fordham News, Huffington Post.