The Trump administration’s war on DEI, diversity, equity and inclusion policies, has left many companies that value a welcoming workplace more than a little confused. What is allowed — and legal? Barbara L. Johnson, the founder of BLJohnsonLaw and counsel with Potter & Murdock, is an accomplished employment lawyer and workplace consultant with a passion for creating safe, productive and thriving workplace cultures. She is a guest on this episode of Equal Time.

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Being a college president has never been the easiest job. But today, it seems an impossible one. The campus may still be a place that encourages students to think critically and to cultivate a network of fellow creative problem-solvers. But those goals have been overshadowed by concerns over academic freedom and free speech, the challenges of building a welcoming community in the face of anti-DEI legislation and more. In her latest book, “Perils and Promise: College Leadership in Turbulent Times,” Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum, an award-winning psychologist, president emerita of Spelman College and best-selling author, sees room for hope -- and solutions.

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There had been progress on the issue of environmental justice, with the contributions of citizen-activists, who spurred the government to protect historically marginalized communities. But in the past few months, the Trump administration has made staff, program, and budget cuts that leave rural, coastal, and frontline communities vulnerable. That’s one observation of Cameron Oglesby, internationally awarded environmental justice organizer and solutions journalist. But, Oglesby says, organizations, communities and grass-roots efforts aren’t giving up on their vision for a cleaner, greener country. She joins Equal Time to explain.

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It’s back to school time, with excitement mixed with uncertainty and anxiety. News from the Department of Education is primarily about cutting its budget or eliminating the department altogether. How will these and other proposed changes affect students? Will the traditionally underserved be short-changed, and fall further behind? James E. Ford, a former teacher of the year in North Carolina, is founder/director of CREED: the Center for Racial Equity in Education, a stand-alone nonprofit that deals explicitly with race and education issues in the state. He is also Principal at Filling the Gap Educational Consultants. Ford and his organizations have been working on solutions to education challenges the nation faces, and he is a guest on Equal Time.

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In “Backroom Deals in Our Backyards: How Government Secrecy Harms Our Communities and the Local Heroes Fighting Back,” Miranda Spivack tells the stories of ordinary citizens who discovered that local and state governments they thought were there to protect them weren’t doing their jobs. Instead, these “accidental activists” found not only a lack of transparency but also often resistance when searching for information about how to resolve community issues. Does their work provide a roadmap – and hope – for others? Spivack, author and former Washington Post editor and reporter, is this episode’s guest on Equal Time.

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It’s been 10 years since a 21-year-old gunman murdered nine church members who welcomed him to Bible study. The attack on Charleston, S.C.’s historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church on June 17, 2015, killed nine good people. They were targeted for that reason and for their race. The brother of one of the nine, Malcolm Graham, reflects on the life and legacy of his sister Cynthia Graham Hurd, on the world that nurtured such hatred in someone so young, and perhaps the hardest part — on how to do the work needed to change that world. His book is “The Way Forward: Keeping the Faith and Doing the Work Amid Hatred and Violence.” Graham, a Charlotte, N.C., city councilman, entrepreneur and civic activist, offers a path that won’t be easy, but may be necessary. And he joins Equal Time.

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The personality and outreach of Pope Francis attracted worldwide admiration. Though he did not stray from Catholic doctrine, he connected those teachings to issues such as immigration and climate change. He was not as progressive as some progressives hoped, and he also frustrated traditionalists, a split that played out in the United States. So, what’s next? Maureen K. Day is one of the authors of “Catholicism at a Crossroads: The Present and Future of America’s Largest Church,” a survey informed by interviews. What does Catholic identity mean in America today, and how did it adapt to the modern papacy of Pope Francis. Day, research affiliate at the University of Southern California’s Center for Religion and Civic Culture and the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies, joins Equal Time.

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Fights over how American history is taught. Labels of “Communist” and “Socialist” used to smear. Civil rights gains seen as a loss for the “real” America. While all that might sound like last week’s headlines, those battles and the hysteria surrounding them are nothing new. In “Red Scare: Blacklists, McCarthyism and the Making of Modern America,” Clay Risen details how the conspiracy-mongering and cultural backlash of that post-World War II period speak to the divisiveness of today. The award-winning historian and New York Times editor joins Equal Time.

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As America’s health-care system is not being spared in policy shake-ups from the very top, Equal Time takes a look at one case and what it says about disparities in health care and why that matters. In “Transplant: A Memoir,” the resilient Bernadine Watson takes us on her journey, a perilous one, even with support from doctors and family. The nonfiction writer and poet has focused on social policy research around youth and community issues during her career. She joins Equal Time to talk about her experiences, and why challenges remain.

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In 2025, you don’t have to reach very far to reach those dark corners of the internet where fringe conspiracy theories and racist memes once hid. In award-winning journalist Elle Reeve’s book, “Black Pill: How I Witnessed the Darkest Corners of the Internet Come to Life, Poison Society, and Capture American Politics,” the CNN correspondent takes readers on a journey that leads to the violence of Charlottesville and January 6. You could say the Equal Time guest saw it coming; that doesn’t mean some things about today’s political scene don’t surprise her.

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