On The Issues With Michele Goodwin – Détails, épisodes et analyse

It’s been a harrowing year for many families. The Trump administration’s budget cuts are giving tax breaks to billionaires at the expense of funding healthy meals for students experiencing food insecurity; legislatures are banning books and attacking LGBTQ+ students; and immigration crackdowns are leaving many students afraid to go to school at all. Families have had a lot to be worried about—more than just tests and grades—this year. What are students, parents, and teachers worried about—and what policies are advocates watching?

Helping us to sort out these questions and set the record straight is our very special guest, 

Becky Pringle: Becky Pringle is president of the National Education Association, the nation’s largest labor union. Becky is a middle school science teacher with more than three decades of classroom experience and has distinguished herself as a fierce social justice warrior and defender of educator rights.

Check out this episode’s landing page at MsMagazine.com for a full transcript, links to articles referenced in this episode, further reading and ways to take action.

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In the year since the Trump administration returned to office, there have been hundreds of executive orders, many of which district courts have ruled unconstitutional and illegal. As judges have noted, these actions have caused direct harm to Americans all across the country. And hard-hitting attorneys general have fought back. There are now over 450 lawsuits against the Trump administration, and in many of them district courts have ruled that the administration acted unconstitutionally. In this episode, recorded earlier this year, I’m joined by two Attorneys General who are leading this resistance: Massachusetts’s Andrea Campbell, and Michigan’s Dana Nessel. 

Joining me to discuss these important issues are two very special guests: 

Attorney General Andrea Campbell: Andrea Joy Campbell has been Attorney General for the state of Massachusetts since 2023. Prior to being elected AG, Campbell practiced law as a legal services attorney for the EdLaw project, defending the rights of children and their families; and at Proskauer LLP as an employment attorney. In her public service career, she has served as General Counsel at the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission and legal counsel to Governor Deval Patrick. In 2015, she became the first woman to represent District 4 on the Boston City, Council, and in 2018, she was unanimously elected City Council President – the first Black woman to hold the title.

Attorney General Dana Nessel: Dana Nessel has been Attorney General for the state of Michigan since 2019. Prior to being elected Michigan Attorney General, Dana Nessel served as a Wayne County Prosecutor for over a decade. In her private practice, she was lead attorney for the plaintiffs in DeBoer v. Snyder, a precursor to the landmark ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which codified same-sex marriage and granted adoption rights to same-sex couples nationwide.

Check out this episode’s landing page at MsMagazine.com for a full transcript, links to articles referenced in this episode, further reading and ways to take action.

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Trump has been in office for 200 days. In those 200 days, important institutions core to democracy have been dismantled. The rule of law has been challenged in countless ways—increasingly violent ICE raids and disappearances, dismantling of important agencies, canceling of funding for public broadcasts, significant rollbacks of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI)  initiatives, draconian cuts to healthcare and social services, executive orders singling out queer and trans people, and much more.

But we’ve also seen a coordinated effort to resist him, with millions across the country taking to the streets again and again to protest on behalf of the rights of their neighbors, their families, and themselves. Attorneys and advocates are also stepping up, demanding courts to defend our rights. Two hundred days in, what have we learned—and what’s  the playbook for the next four years?

Helping us to sort out these questions and set the record straight is our very special guest, 

Skye Perryman: Skye L. Perryman is President and CEO of Democracy Forward, a nonpartisan, national legal organization that promotes democracy and progress through litigation, regulatory engagement, policy education, and research. She previously served as Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. 

Check out this episode’s landing page at MsMagazine.com for a full transcript, links to articles referenced in this episode, further reading and ways to take action.

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"Other countries have social safety nets. The U.S. has women.” 

—Professor Jessica Calarco

In this episode, we're focusing on moms, child care, single parenting and teen parenting. We know that women have been hit hard by COVID—causing many to dub the economic downturn a “she-cession.” And as it stands, current U.S. laws and policies are woefully inadequate—leaving mothers, particularly mothers living with low incomes, behind. Luckily, women-led organizations are helping moms by filling in the gaps.  

How are moms making it through the pandemic? And, how do single moms fit in, especially teenage moms? What should parents generally, and mothers in particular, be demanding of lawmakers and the Biden administration? What are the best ways for the U.S. to 'build back better' after pandemic? 

We also hear from some of our listeners who are giving shoutouts to the mothers–and stand-in moms—in their lives!

 Joining us for this very special Mother’s Day episode are special guests: 

• Representative Katie Porter represents the 45th congressional district in Orange County, Calif. She is a member of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, the House Natural Resources Committee, and chair of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee. As a single working mom, Rep. Porter knows firsthand about the challenges that families face. She’s introduced bipartisan legislation that would more than double the amount families can set aside pre-tax to help pay for pre-school, summer day camp, before or after school programs, and child or adult day care.
• Nicole Lynn Lewis, founder of Generation Hope, which works with teen parents to apply to, enter and stay in college. She is a former teen mother herself, who put herself through the College of William & Mary with her three-month old daughter in tow. Lewis has been featured on major news outlets including Good Morning America, CNN, NBC Nightly News and The Washington Post. Nicole also serves as an Ascend national advisor with the Aspen Institute and a nationally known author and speaker. Her newest book, Pregnant Girl, was released on May 4, 2021 by Beacon Press. 
• Dr. Aisha Nyandoro, CEO of Springboard To Opportunities and director of Magnolia Mother’s Trust, which this year will give $1,000 per month for 12 months to 100 families headed by Black women living in federally subsidized housing. Nyandoro has more than a decade of experience developing, implementing and evaluating programs aimed at improving the quality of life for individuals with limited resources. She has worked in various capacities—as an academic, evaluator, philanthropist and nonprofit executive. Prior to serving with Springboard, Aisha served as a program officer with the Foundation for the Mid-South. 
• Tamara Ware, a caregiver and the mother of three beautiful girls. Ware was in Springboard To Opportunities’ second cohort of the Magnolia Mother’s Trust. 

Rate and review “On the Issues with Michele Goodwin" to let us know what you think of the show! Let’s show the power of independent feminist media.

Check out this episode’s landing page at MsMagazine.com for a full transcript, links to articles referenced in this episode, further reading and ways to take action.

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On March 31, the Biden administration released the American Jobs Plan, which establishes broad goals for achieving a cleaner and more equitable future, including significant investments in green jobs like caregiving and clean energy infrastructure. On April 22—Earth Day—Biden further raised the stakes, committing the U.S. to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. Even still, there are legislators at local, state and federal levels that continue to deny climate change as real.

Meanwhile, in Flint, Michigan, after a five-year water crisis, reports say the water is now clean—but many locals still refuse to drink it to this day, due to a loss of trust.

How do global warming and other environmental concerns affect the lives of listeners in coastal areas, or those who live near waste sites, or in areas where environmental concerns are hidden? What does environmental and climate justice look like? 

Now that the U.S. has reentered the Paris Climate Agreement, what next steps must be taken to address climate change and environmental injustice here at home? What can we expect from the Biden-Harris administration? 
 
Helping us to sort out these questions and more are very special guests:

• Nourbese Flint, a program manager with Black Women for Wellness, where she directs environmental and reproductive health work, organizes community advocacy and works on policy. In addition, Nourbese serves as the head of civic engagement with Californians for a Healthy and Green Economy, is founding member of Trust Black Women, and an active member of the Women’s Intercultural Network. 
• Osprey Orielle Lake, founder and executive director of the Women's Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) International. She is co-director of the Indigenous Women's Divestment Delegations, was the visionary behind the International Women’s Earth and Climate Summit, and co-founded the International Women’s Earth and Climate Initiative, the precursor initiative of WECAN International. She is the author of the award-winning book, Uprisings for the Earth: Reconnecting Culture with Nature.

Rate and review “On the Issues with Michele Goodwin" to let us know what you think of the show! Let’s show the power of independent feminist media.

Check out this episode’s landing page at MsMagazine.com for a full transcript, links to articles referenced in this episode, further reading and ways to take action.

Tips, suggestions, pitches? Get in touch with us at ontheissues@msmagazine.com. 

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In this episode, we confront the question at the center of Derek Chauvin’s trial: Who killed George Floyd? Our guests unpack that question as an issue central to police and societal violence. Examining who killed George Floyd means taking stock of legacies of racism in the Twin Cities, including redlining, school segregation, policies that undermine equality, and disparate rates of policing and mass incarceration.   
 
As attention has turned to the horrors of the old South, has racism of the new North been overlooked? And at what cost to Black lives? Have liberal allies made a difference or exacerbated harms in the Twin Cities?  
 
We also explore the trauma associated with George Floyd’s death and other officer-involved killings.  Experts on our show explain how racism produce physical and psychological health harms. 
 
Helping us to sort out these questions and how we should think about these issues and more are very special guests:

• Judge Pamela Alexander, a Fourth Judicial District judge for Hennepin County, Minnesota. She began her legal career as a criminal defense attorney with the Legal Rights Center and then moved to the Hennepin County attorney’s office as a prosecutor in the criminal division. Since 1983, she has been a Hennepin County district court judge where she presided over the juvenile division and served as assistant chief judge for the court as a whole. 
• Dr. Patricia Jones Blessman, a licensed clinical psychologist with over three decades of experience as a clinician and administrator of mental health programs. Jones Blessman is the founder and former president of the Institute for Psychodiagnostic Interventions and Services—one of only a few minority-owned, private sector psychological service corporations nationwide. 
• Tasha R. Green Cruzat, executive director of Voices for Illinois Children, an independent child advocacy group that champions strong public policies and investments for all Illinois children and their families. A U.S. Navy veteran, she brings more than 25 years of experience in the public and private sectors of education, business and government. Prior to joining Voices, Cruzat first served as deputy chief of staff then chief of staff to Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. 
• Dr. Roderick A. Ferguson, professor of women’s, gender and sexuality studies at Yale University. An interdisciplinary scholar, his work traverses such fields as American studies, gender studies, queer studies, cultural studies, African American Studies, sociology, literature and education. Most recently, he is the author of One-Dimensional Queer (Polity, 2019). He is currently working on two monographs—In View of the Tradition: Art and Black Radicalism and The Bookshop of Black Queer Diaspora. Ferguson is the 2020 recipient of the Kessler Award from the Center for LGBTQ Studies. 
• T. Mychael Rambo, a regional Emmy Award-winning actor, vocalist, arts educator and community organizer.  He also an accomplished residency artist and professor in the College of Liberal Arts, Theatre Arts and Dance at the University of Minnesota. 
• Dr. George Woods, a practicing physician, specializing in neuropsychiatry. His private practice focuses on neurodevelopmental disorders, acquired neurocognitive disorders, cognitive impairments secondary to neuropsychiatric disorders, traumatic brain injury, ethnopsychopharmacology and workplace safety. In addition to his clinical practice, Woods consults with legal teams dealing with complex criminal and civil litigation. 

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It's tax season! It’s time to talk race, taxation and D.C. statehood. The U.S. tax system raises serious questions about equity and inclusion and—according to our guests—taxation is at the root of many social and economic injustices. 

So, who does the U.S. tax code benefit? Who does it leave behind? How does racism manifest in the U.S. tax system? What role does D.C. statehood play in all of this? What roles can we expect the Biden administration to play in the fight for D.C. statehood and the larger fight for racial and economic justice? 
 
Helping us to sort out these questions and more are special guests:
 

• Dorothy A. Brown, an Asa Griggs Candler professor of law at Emory University School of Law and an advocate for economic and social justice. Most recently, she is the author of The Whiteness of Wealth: How the Tax System Impoverishes Black Americans—and How We Can Fix It (Crown, March 2021). She has appeared on CNN, MSNBC and Bloomberg, and has written numerous opinion pieces addressing current events in the New York Times, The Atlantic, CNN Opinion, Washington Post, Forbes, National Law Journal and Bloomberg View, to name a few. 
• Maura Quint, co-founder and executive director of Tax March, an organization that fights for an economy that works for everyone. She can be found talking taxes in publications such as the Hill, Ms. and Vox and can be heard on programs such as Pitchfork Economics and Stand Up with Pete Dominick. Quint also writes comedy and contributes to the Onion, The New Yorker, McSweeneys and other humor publications. She lives in Pennsylvania with her children and various part-time dogs.  
• Demi Stratmon, lead organizer with 51 for 51, a grassroots coalition to make D.C. the 51st state with 51 votes in the Senate. She works to combine the power of young advocates and national organizations to fight for representation for over 700,000 Washingtonians. In 2019, Demi traveled the country to make D.C. statehood a national issue, earning endorsements of 51 for 51's mission from leaders including President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Demi Stratmon is a recent graduate of Dartmouth College, majoring in government and minoring in Middle Eastern studies. 

Rate and review “On the Issues with Michele Goodwin" to let us know what you think of the show! Let’s show the power of independent feminist media.

Check out this episode’s landing page at MsMagazine.com for a full transcript, links to articles referenced in this episode, further reading and ways to take action.

Tips, suggestions, pitches? Get in touch with us at ontheissues@msmagazine.com. 

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Brooke Baldwin is a renowned CNN anchor and author of a new book, HUDDLE: How Women Unlock Their Collective Power, out this month. Huddle examines the phenomenon of "huddling,” or what happens when women lean on one another—in the arts, activism, politics, Hollywood and everyday friendships—to lift up each other and to provide empowerment, support, inspiration and the creativity and courage to enact change and solve problems.

Brooke Baldwin is a veteran journalist and Peabody Award finalist who has served as an anchor on CNN and in its newsroom for more than a decade. She played a major role in anchoring coverage of the Obama and Trump administrations and has also reported on stories from Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. She has covered gun violence, including the tragedies in Sandy Hook and too many others. As the creator and host of CNN’s digital series American Woman, she has dedicated the latest chapter of her career to shining a light on trailblazing women in politics and culture. She is the author of HUDDLE: How Women Unlock Their Collective Power—her first book.

Rate and review “On the Issues with Michele Goodwin" to let us know what you think of the show! Let’s show the power of independent feminist media.

Check out this episode’s landing page at MsMagazine.com for a full transcript, links to articles referenced in this episode, further reading and ways to take action.

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Gender-based and sexual violence are pervasive symptoms of a larger violence issue in this country. This reality is exemplified by recent reports that some insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol on January 6 have histories of violence against women, including domestic violence and sexual assault. Of course, we also remain in mourning for the lives lost to gun violence in America—most recently the horrific killings of eight people, including six women of Asian descent, in Atlanta, and 10 people at a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado.
 
What do these events convey about the U.S. and our culture of sexual violence? What connections can we make from gender-based violence and sexual violence to a broader culture of violence in the U.S.? How does gender-based violence intersect with race and racism? What can we do to begin to disrupt this culture? 
 
Helping us to sort out these questions and more are very special guests:

• Carmen Vasilio Balentine has spent 25 years working in the public sector to empower youth and to help them tell their stories.  He is the founder of CVB Wellness, which promotes wellness, equity and healing in underserved communities.  Most recently, he served as major gifts officer at American Foundation for AIDS Research.   
• Dr. Terrion Williamson, associate professor of African American and African studies with appointments in gender, women and sexuality studies and American studies at the University of Minnesota, as well as a Ms. contributor. Her research has tracked the serial killings of Black women. Her current book project, which builds upon work started in the last chapter of her first book, Scandalize My Name: Black Feminist Practice and the Making of Black Social Life, is a victim-centered study of the more than 60 cases throughout the U.S. in which Black women have been the sole or primary targets of serial killers since the 1970s. 

Rate and review “On the Issues with Michele Goodwin" to let us know what you think of the show! Let’s show the power of independent feminist media.

Check out this episode’s landing page at MsMagazine.com for a full transcript, links to articles referenced in this episode, further reading and ways to take action.

Tips, suggestions, pitches? Get in touch with us at ontheissues@msmagazine.com. 

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The 2020 election revealed the deep fractures in U.S. democracy and its electoral system. Many were already there, but this past election truly pushed our voting system to its limits. 
 
“Many of the familiar procedures for translating the people’s will into the choice of a president depend on norms of behavior, not laws,” guest Rick Hasen put it—evident from the significant efforts undertaken to undermine and interfere with the results of the election. 

Part of this dysfunction played out in the Senate, where the institution itself protects arcane rules and undemocratic processes. Is the Senate truly representative? Is the electoral system fair? Is it time to eliminate the electoral college? What other electoral reforms should we be considering? What does contemporary voter suppression look like? 
 
One of the important Senate rules at issue today is the filibuster, which has been weaponized at various times to defeat important legislation. What purpose does the filibuster serve? Is it a barrier to real progress? 
 
Helping us to sort out these questions and more are very special guests:

• Rick Hasen, chancellor’s professor of law and political science at the University of California, Irvine and a nationally recognized expert in election law and campaign finance regulation. He is co-author of leading casebooks in election law and remedies, and served in 2020 as a CNN election law analyst. He has authored over 100 articles on election law issues, published in numerous journals including the Harvard Law Review, Stanford Law Review and Supreme Court Review. 
• Barbara R. Arnwine, president and founder of the Transformative Justice Coalition. She also served as the executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law from 1989 until 2015. Arnwine is internationally renowned for contributions on critical justice issues, including the passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1991 and the 2006 reauthorization of provisions of the Voting Rights Act. She also serves as co-chair and facilitator of the National Commission for Voter Justice, the Millennial Votes Matters Convenings and the Voting Rights Alliance. She is the radio host of Igniting Change and is a regular presence in the national media.
• Cynthia Richie Terrell, founder and executive director of RepresentWomen (formerly Representation2020), a regular Ms. contributor and an outspoken advocate for rules and systems reforms to advance women’s representation and leadership in the United States. Terrell has been published in numerous print journals; appeared on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal; and has participated in numerous radio shows and panel discussions on the topics of electoral reform and structural strategies to elect more women.  

Rate and review “On the Issues with Michele Goodwin" to let us know what you think of the show! Let’s show the power of independent feminist media.

Check out this episode’s landing page at MsMagazine.com for a full transcript, links to articles referenced in this episode, further reading and ways to take action.

Tips, suggestions, pitches? Get in touch with us at ontheissues@msmagazine.com. 

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