Over the past decade, bad policing has been a constant presence in the headlines, particularly in coverage of police violence against people of color. It makes us wonder if policing can be improved and changes in culture can be achieved. In his new book Walk the Walk, today’s guest Neil Gross examines three cities where he argues police chiefs were able to make significant improvements and culture changes in policing. In addition to being an author and former police officer, Neil is a professor of Sociology at Colby College.

Since the right-wing activist judges on the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade, pregnant people across the country have been put in great jeopardy. Our guests today are fighting back. Amanda Zurawski nearly lost her life when a Texas law prevented her from receiving an abortion after a medical emergency made her pregnancy nonviable. Molly Duane is an attorney helping Amanda and four other women sue the state of Texas in collaboration with the Center for Reproductive Rights.

46,000 deaths in America, every single year. We have more guns than people in the United States. And yet somehow, many states across the country are working to make it easier to get guns, easier to carry guns, and easier to kill people without consequence. This is partly because of the lies of the gun industry. To help us sort through the myths and find the truth, we’ve invited one of my favorite humans back on the show. Fred Guttenberg’s daughter Jaime was murdered in the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas school shooting in 2018. Since then, Fred has been one of the world’s leading voices in gun violence prevention. He is the co-author of the new book American Carnage, which is now available.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“American Carnage by authors Thomas Gabor and Fred Guttenberg is a must read. Fred, like far too many Americans, understands gun violence because of the murder of his daughter Jaime. His work with Thomas Gabor to take on the myths around guns and gun violence in America and to present an evidence-based approach has resulted in a book that should be read by everyone who cares about this issue.”

―Congressman Eric Swalwell, US Representative to California's 15th congressional district

“This book, one I will go back to many times, gives you every essential tool to become a well-informed member of a club I want you to join: committed citizens lifting their voices for the lifesaving changes to gun laws the vast majority of Americans want.”

―Steve Kerr, son, husband, father, grandfather, and head coach of the Golden State Warriors

“Let me say at the outset that Fred Guttenberg and I agree on very little when it comes to gun policy. But we listen to each other and we constantly search for common ground. This book written by Thomas Gabor and Fred Guttenberg is an important one. And even though I disagree with some of what's written here, I recommend this book to anyone interested in saving lives. Fred and Tom make a passionate & evidenced-based case for facts to consider when pursuing certain reforms, which I'm sure will spur further passionate debate on this issue between us. I highly recommend American Carnage.”

―Former Congressman Joe Walsh of Illinois's 8th district

“There’s no single voice more important in the conversation in America about gun safety and avoiding the unthinkable tragedy of losing a child to gun violence than Fred Guttenberg. Fred’s voice rings like a clarion in American Carnage where he, along with Thomas Gabor, explores the crucially important issue of misinformation when it comes to gun violence. The assault on truth spreads through every aspect of American politics, and there is no issue more uniquely American or deadly than gun violence. American Carnage is an essential read on one of the most important issues of our time.”

―Nicolle Wallace, host of Deadline: White House on MSNBC and former White House communications director

“There are few issues in American life where the stakes are as high as gun violence, nor where the steps to prevent it are more straightforward. Virtually every American wants to see changes put in place to strengthen our laws and enforcement mechanisms to make gun violence more rare. Yet, those changes have been much harder to enact than popular sentiment would dictate. Why is that? Tom Gabor and Fred Guttenberg lay out why in this exceptional book, which explains the lies, half-truths, and myths propagated by the gun industry to fight common sense gun laws and to sell as many guns as possible, no matter the lives lost or cost to our society. For those of us in the gun violence prevention movement―which is all Americans wanting a safer country where gun violence is rare―this book provides all you need to break through those lies and mistruths, and help lead and participate in conversations that can result in real change, where public safety laws are advanced that protect all Americans from gun violence.”

―Kris Brown, president of Brady, United Against Gun Violence

Ben the Producer here! Every so often, we like to switch things up here, and we're doing it again this week. Alyssa Milano switches roles and joins us as the guest to discuss the GOP's immoral and dangerous attacks against women and women's autonomy.

As Putin's war in Ukraine continues to rage on more than a year after his initial invasion, the toll it is taking is astonishing. A private Russian army seems to be running rampant without Kremlin oversight, civilians and civilian infrastructure are routinely and illegally attacked, and the people of Ukraine continue to suffer. To help make sense of it all, we've invited Owen Matthews on to the show. Owen is a longtime Moscow-based award-winning journalist who served as Newsweek's Moscow Bureau Chief. He is the author of the new book Overreach: An Astonishing Investigation into the Russo-Ukrainian War.

Donald Trump fulfilled one of the decades-long goals of the American far right when he transformed the Supreme Court into a far-right majority body that will have huge impacts long after he is gone. To look at that shift, what it means for the court, and what it means for the country, we've invited Joan Biskupic into the show.  Joan is CNN's Senior Supreme Court Analyst and author of the new book Nine Black Robes: Inside the Supreme Court's Drive to the Right and Its Historic Consequences.

Our guest this week is Jane Roper. Jane is the author of two previous books: a memoir, Double Time, and a novel, Eden Lake. Her short fiction, essays, and humor have appeared in publications including McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, The Millions, The Rumpus, Salon, and Poets & Writers and on NPR. Her new novel, The Society of Shame, is now available.

“If you liked Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, read The Society of Shame by Jane Roper.” —The Washington Post
In this timely and witty combination of So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed and Where’d You Go, Bernadette? a viral photo of a politician’s wife’s “feminine hygiene malfunction” catapults her to unwanted fame in a story that’s both a satire of social media stardom and internet activism, and a tender mother-daughter tale.
Kathleen Held’s life is turned upside down when she arrives home to find her house on fire and her husband on the front lawn in his underwear. But the scandal that emerges is not that Bill, who’s running for Senate, is having a painfully cliched affair with one of his young staffers: it’s that the eyewitness photographing the scene accidentally captures a period stain on the back of Kathleen’s pants.
Overnight, Kathleen finds herself the unwitting figurehead for a social media-centered women’s right movement, #YesWeBleed. Humiliated, Kathleen desperately seeks a way to hide from the spotlight. But when she stumbles upon the Society of Shame—led by the infamous author Danica Bellevue—Kathleen finds herself part of a group who are all working to change their lives after their own scandals. Using the teachings of the society, Kathleen channels her newfound fame as a means to reap the benefits of her humiliation and reclaim herself. But as she ascends to celebrity status, Kathleen’s growing obsession with maintaining her popularity online threatens her most important relationship IRL: that with her budding activist daughter, Aggie.
Hilarious and heartfelt, The Society of Shame is a pitch-perfect romp through politics and the perils of being “extremely online”—without losing your sanity or your true self.

As we wrap up Women's History Month, the Equal Rights Amendment is on the cusp of being adopted into the Constitution, if Congress gets its stuff together. It’s the product of more than a century of work of women and allies, and I’ve invited my friend Julie Suk, author of the new book “We the Women: The Unstoppable Mothers of the Equal Rights Amendment” on the podcast to talk about the history of this movement. - Alyssa

Praise For We The Women: The Unstoppable Mothers Of The Equal Rights Amendment…

“We talk as if only men make constitutions. Julie Suk changes this. She introduces us to the diverse cast of women constitution makers who supported, and opposed, the Equal Rights Amendment over the last century. Their quest showcases concerns missing in standard accounts of the Founding, and shows us how these concerns differed among women and over time. Essential reading for those interested in the future of gender justice.”

—REVA SIEGEL, Nicholas deB. Katzenbach Professor, Yale Law School

“Julie Suk’s We the Women is a fascinating and nuanced recounting of the history of the ERA. It brings to light the many women who made constitutional equality for women across generations, highlighting complexities not widely known; documents the unending opposition; and showcases the potential of the ERA’s meaning for the twenty-first century. It will soon be recognized as the go-to resource for the ERA’s long legislative history.”

—LOUISE MELLING, Deputy Legal Director, American Civil Liberties Union

“Meticulously researched and compulsively readable, We the Women draws important connections between the past and present, making clear how, despite long odds and many obstacles, generations of women have come together to debate and demand the conditions necessary for a more perfect union.”

—MELISSA MURRAY, Frederick I. & Grace Stokes Professor of Law, NYU School of Law

“In We the Women, Julie Suk shows us that the Equal Rights Amendment at its core was—and still is—about freedom and power. The mothers of the ERA laid the groundwork of the battle waging in this country today, and though this campaign can feel long and arduous, We the Women has left me more hopeful.”

—FATIMA GOSS GRAVES, President and CEO, National Women’s Law Center

The past decades have seen a steady erosion of Democratic support from what used to be core voters: blue collar workers in factory towns.  There are many reasons for this, and to explain what's happened and how to fix it, I've invited Mike Lux, founder of American Family Voices on to discuss.  Mike is a writer and thought leader, and as the co-founder of Democracy Partners, one of the most influential voices in progressive politics in the United States.

If it seems like the richest people in the world are getting richer—at the expense of everyone else—it’s because they are. A recent report from Oxfam illustrates just how much richer the wealthiest people in the world are getting, and to discuss what it means for the rest of us, I’ve invited Nabil Ahmed onto the podcast. Nabil is the Director of Economic Justice for Oxfam America.