It has been a little more than a year since we launched CQ Future. At the time, the pandemic was in full swing, as was the Black Lives Matter movement. It was a moment of great uncertainty and we set out to explore what the future would look like for many policies that would shape our lives coming out of all this change. While there are still a lot of open questions, we believe it is the right moment to end this podcast as the country stabilizes. So for the last episode, CQ Roll Call's Shawn Zeller speaks with political experts on where the politics of our nation are headed. Thanks for listening.

Ransomware attacks, in which hackers shut down computer systems and demand payment to undo the damage, are growing more brazen. The attacks have hit local governments as well as companies. Will the U.S. be able to get a handle on the growing problem? CQ Roll Call's Shawn Zeller talks with Rep. Jim Langevin, a Rhode Island Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee’s cybersecurity panel, who two years ago co-chaired a congressional commission seeking collaboration between the public and private sectors in fighting the hackers.

Amazon is at the center of a firestorm from employee activists and shareholders who want the company to pay more attention to environmental justice — a social movement that focuses on equality in the distribution of environmental benefits and burdens. Environmental justice is emerging as the latest corporate sustainability issue and CQ Roll Call's Laura Weiss sits down with Shawn Zeller to discuss how its impacting companies, Congress and the country.

Amtrak, the nation's rail system, has been on the brink for years. It went on life support during the pandemic and survived thanks to a $2 billion infusion from the government. But things may change. "Amtrak Joe," as the president was affectionately called during his three decades of commuting from Washington DC to Wilmington, has asked for $80 billion to fix long standing maintenance issues and expand service. We take a look at America's rail line and what the future may hold -- first with a report from CQ Roll Call's Thomas McKinless, and then a conversation between Shawn Zeller and transportation reporter Jessica Wehrman.

Is “Big Tech” too big to dismantle? That is the question on our minds. It appears to be the one industry that has galvanized both Democrats and the GOP as they try to dismantle these behemoths, albeit for different reasons. CQ Roll Call’s Shawn Zeller speaks with Diana Moss, the president of the American Antitrust Institute, about what will come next for the tech giants.

"It is deeply broken." That is the overall assessment of the process and policy to let refugees into the country from the former head of the agency in charge of immigration. Both sides of the aisle likely agree with Doris Meissner, a senior fellow with the Migration Policy Institute. CQ Roll Call's Shawn Zeller takes a deep dive into the current policies on refugees and what needs to come next.

The political money game is changing. Small donor fundraising is at an all-time high, while corporations are holding off on donating in the wake of the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol. What do these changes mean for political contributions, and how will they change campaigning going forward? Sheila Krumholz joins us this week to discuss the long view. She's the director of the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks political money and advocates for curtailing its influence.

President Donald Trump is ensconced at Mar-a-Lago and everyone — on all sides of the aisle — is curious to know what his influence will be on the GOP. We turn to Rep. Mike Johnson, Republican of Louisiana, who has risen fast in the party ranks since his 2016 election. He is a former lawyer, defends religious liberty and opposes same-sex marriage. He is vice chair of the House Republican Conference and joins CQ Roll Call's Shawn Zeller to discuss the future of the Republican Party.

The EU is considering requiring citizens to get a vaccine passport to move freely around Europe. After more than a year of lockdowns, some may embrace the idea. The U.S. is also weighing its options. But could a vaccine passport be a vehicle for discrimination? CQ Roll Call's Shawn Zeller speaks with Bryan Del Monte, a former director at the Department of Defense and now president of The Aviation Agency, about what a passport could mean.

We began this series last year to examine how the COVID 19 crisis has influenced public policy decisions. This week we reprised some of our podcasts to mark the one-year anniversary of the realization that the world was facing a pandemic. In this episode, we look at one of the industries hardest hit: Restaurants.