On The Issues With Michele Goodwin

Women make up the fastest growing incarcerated population in the U.S—yet, politicians and the media frequently frame incarceration as an issue that affects only boys and men.  Why is so little attention paid to women and mass incarceration?  What does the failure to include women in the analysis on mass incarceration mean for communities, families and the women themselves? What are the unique challenges women and girls face behind bars and after they are released? 
 
Helping us sort out these questions and more are very special guests:
 

• Sue Ellen Allen, founder and executive director of Reinventing Reentry. A University of Texas grad, educator, community leader, former inmate at Arizona State Prison and current activist, she found her purpose from serving time in prison. She is the author of The Slumber Party from Hell, a memoir about prison life, and the recipient of the Dawson Prize in Memoir in the 2009 Prison Writing Contest for PEN American Center. 
• Piper Kerman, author of the memoir Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison. The book has been adapted by Jenji Kohan into an Emmy Award-winning original series for Netflix, which ran for seven seasons. Piper collaborates with nonprofits, philanthropies and other organizations working in the public interest and serves on the board of directors of the Women’s Prison Association and the advisory boards of the PEN America Writing For Justice Fellowship, InsideOUT Writers, Healing Broken Circles and JustLeadershipUSA. 
• Kamilah Newton, a writer for Yahoo Lifestyle and associate producer for MAKERS. Her background is in advocacy, activism and social justice reform. She has been featured on CNN, Career Contessa, Miss Grass and Hello Beautiful among other publications. Most recently, she participated in a virtual reality piece directed by Al Jazeera called Still Here, which will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival this year. 

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Friday, January 22 marked the 48th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court’s landmark decision affirming a constitutional right to abortion. Yet, decades later, reproductive health care access remains illusory for many women and people of birthing capacity. 

Is the constitutional right to abortion a reality today? If so, for whom? How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted women’s health and exacerbated existing disparities? What can we expect from the first 100 days of the Biden-Harris administration? What is the status of reproductive health, rights and justice—48 years after Roe? 
 
Helping us to sort out these questions and and more are special guests:
 

• Carrie Baker, a frequent Ms. contributor, lawyer, professor and director of the program for the study of women and gender at Smith College. Dr. Baker was a co-founder and former co-director of the Five College Certificate in Reproductive Health, Rights and Justice, a certificate available to undergraduate students at Amherst College, Hampshire College, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College and the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
• Joia Crear-Perry, founder and president of the National Birth Equity Collaborative. Dr. Crear-Perry is a thought leader around racism as a root cause of health inequities, as well as a speaker, trainer, advocate, policy expert and fighter for justice. Recently, Dr. Crear-Perry addressed the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to urge a human rights framework to improve maternal mortality. 
• Julia Kaye, a staff attorney with the ACLU’s Reproductive Freedom Project, Kaye leads the ACLU’s litigation challenging the FDA’s unjustified restrictions on medication abortion, as well as the project’s advocacy efforts to remove outdated laws banning nurse practitioners and other qualified clinicians from providing abortion care. 
• Leah Litman, assistant professor of law at the University of Michigan Law School, where she teaches and writes on constitutional law, federal post-conviction review and federal sentencing. She is co-founder of Women Also Know Law and is one of the co-hosts and creators of Strict Scrutiny, a podcast about the U.S. Supreme Court. 

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On today’s show, we planned to introduce listeners to the new feminists in Congress—and we do.  But, in the period since our team at Ms. curated the design and content of this episode, another shoe has dropped in American politics: the insurrection.  

We examine what the Jan. 6 riot and insurrection at the U.S. Capitol signify for our nation, including what we can learn from it. Why did it happen? Will the president be impeached?  And what does this atmosphere mean for the new feminists in Congress? 

Helping us to sort out these questions and more are very special guests:
 

• Rep-Elect Carolyn Bourdeaux: Carolyn Bourdeaux is a representative-elect of the U.S. House, representing Georgia's 7th Congressional District. She is an associate professor of public management and policy at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University in Atlanta, as well as the director of the Center for State and Local Finance. From 2007-2010, Rep-Elect Bourdeaux was on leave from the university to serve as director of Georgia’s Senate Budget and Evaluation Office. 
• Rep-Elect Teresa Leger Fernandez: Teresa Leger Fernandez is a representative-elect of the U.S. House, representing New Mexico's 3rd Congressional District. She was counsel and strategist at Leger Law & Strategy and worked for 30 years as counsel for tribes and their business entities, as well as with community leaders on affordable housing, Hispanic civil rights and community development. From 2013 to 2016, Rep-Elect Leger Fernandez was appointed by President Obama to serve as vice chair of the Council on Historic Preservation in the Obama administration. 
• Rep-Elect Marie Newman: Marie Newman is a representative-elect of the U.S. House, representing Illinois’s 3rd Congressional District. After founding her own anti-bullying non-profit, she founded a national non-profit program called “Team Up To Stop Bullying” with her partner, Sears, to address the problem—ultimately expanding it to a coalition of 70 anti-bullying groups working nationwide. Rep-Elect Newman become a partner in one of the largest ad agencies in the U.S. before leaving to start her own successful consulting business, Marie Newman & Associates. 
• Jennifer Steinhauer: Jennifer Steinhauer has been a New York Times journalist for more than 30 years, covering Congress, the West Coast, politics, business and health care. She has worked on the Metro, Business and National desk, and served as City Hall bureau chief and Los Angeles bureau chief before moving to Washington in 2010. She is the author of a novel, two cookbooks, and her most recent book, The Firsts: The Inside Story of the Women Reshaping Congress—the story of the women of the 116th Congress who changed Congress and Washington. 

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This year has been defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, a reckoning on racism and policing in America, the 2020 election, and the ongoing fight for justice.   
 
What does the 2020 election and the Biden/Harris win mean for our democracy? How important is the outcome of the Georgia runoff for the incoming administration? Where are we on immigration? How are we to undo the damage to our federal courts and address the legitimacy of the U.S. Supreme Court? How do we reckon with the racial unrest that exists in our country—especially when it comes to police violence? What hope lies ahead in the realm of reproductive health, rights and justice? 
 
Helping us to sort out these questions and more are very special guests:

• Russ Feingold, president of the American Constitution Society, and a former U.S. senator from Wisconsin, as well as a state senator.  The author of While America Sleeps: A Wake-Up Call for the Post-9/11 Era, Feingold contributes regularly to various publications, and appears frequently on MSNBC and CNN. 
• Deirdre Fishel, a producer/director whose films have premiered in 35 countries worldwide. She just finished “Women in Blue,” a feature documentary that follows women officers of the Minneapolis Police Department and explores the intersection of gender, power and violence in American policing, which will broadcast on PBS’s Independent Lens Series on Feb 8, 2021.   
• Stephen Vladeck, a nationally recognized expert on the federal courts, constitutional law, national security law, and military justice and the A. Dalton Cross Professor in Law at the University of Texas School of Law. Vladeck has argued multiple cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, the Texas Supreme Court and the lower federal courts. He is also the co-host of the award-winning National Security Law Podcast.  
• Andrea Young, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia. Young is the former vice president for external affairs for Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, as well as the former vice president of the National Black Child Development Institute. 

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Government leaders worldwide met the election of President-Elect Joe Biden with a collective sigh of relief. But while many celebrate Biden’s win, many still wonder if the possibility of another presidency that devalues global treaties and relationships related to protecting global health, the environment, and stemming nuclear proliferation is in America’s future. 

How is the U.S. viewed abroad? What are the opportunities and challenges ahead for the next administration? Where are the biggest tensions in U.S. foreign relationships and diplomacy? Does the U.S. have an international legitimacy problem? The world has witnessed amazing leadership from women in other nations, especially during COVID — so what can the U.S. learn from that? 
 
Helping us to sort out these questions and more are special guests:  
 

• Penelope Andrews is the president of the Law and Society Association and a professor of law at New York Law School, where she co-directs their Racial Justice Project. Andrews is a trainer for the Judicial Institute for Africa, and has served as an acting judge of the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, as well as being an arbitrator in hearings on racial discrimination in South Africa. From 2016 to 2018, she served as the first Black dean of the University of Cape Town faculty of law and, from 2012 to 2015, she served as the first female dean of Albany Law School. 
• David Kaye, former United Nations special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, and the independent board chair of the Global Network Initiative. He is the author of Speech Police: The Global Struggle to Govern the Internet and a professor of law at the University of California, Irvine (UCI). 
• Gregory Shaffer, chancellor’s professor of law at UCI, and director of the UCI Center on Globalization, Law and Society. He is former vice president of the American Society of International Law and a member of the board of editors of the American Journal of International Law, the Journal of International Economic Law, and Transnational Environmental Law. Shaffer is among the world’s leading scholars on international economic law and the World Trade Organization. His forthcoming book is called Emerging Powers and the World Trading System. 
• Lyric Thompson, senior director of policy and advocacy at the International Center for Research on Women.  Thompson leads the institution’s formulation of evidence-based policy recommendations and oversees her organization’s advocacy efforts with the U.S. government and internationally. Thompson is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations Advisory Committee on Advancing Gender Equality in Foreign Affairs and a member of the Civil Society Strategic Planning and Leadership Group for the  Global Forum for Gender Equality. 

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.

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COVID-19 has had an undeniable negative impact on the economy—an impact felt most deeply by women, especially women of color. Women are being pushed out of their jobs and there are significant barriers to pursuing new ones—from an imbalance in the division of household responsibilities, to stagnancy and job loss in women-dominated industries like retail, dining and the government sector. 
 
What should be at the top of the economic agenda for the Biden-Harris administration? How should women fend for themselves in a COVID economy?  What are the keys to negotiating for what women deserve? 
 
Helping us to sort out these questions and more are very special guests:
 

• Sandra Finley, president and CEO of the League of Black Women, a national organization that provides strategic leadership research to communicate the collective voices of Black Women with attention toward sustaining joyful living in families, communities and workplaces. Finley is also president of Praxis Leadership Institute and has lectured nationwide for Fortune 100 companies.  
• Dr. Patricia Jones-Blessman, a licensed clinical psychologist with over three decades of experience as a clinician and administrator of mental health programs. Dr. Jones was the founder and president for the Institute for Psychodiagnostic Interventions and Services—one of only a few minority-owned, private sector psychological service corporations nationwide. 
• Jennifer “JJ” Justice, an entertainment and live-experience executive known for her expertise in building artists’ careers and business portfolios by marrying art with commerce. The former attorney for Jay-Z, in 2019, JJ founded The Justice Dept, a management, strategy and legal firm that works with female entrepreneurs, executives, talent, brands and creatives to build and maximize their value focusing in the areas of tech, consumer product, finance, media, entertainment and fashion. 
• Rachel Payne, managing director and head of innovation and technology at FullCycle and a technology executive, entrepreneur, investor, inventor and philanthropist. She is the CEO of FEM Inc. and a former executive at Google, as well as a startup mentor for Techstars and the University of California Berkeley Blockchain Xcelerator. 

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On Saturday, Nov. 7, 2020, Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. was elected the 46th president of the United States. Vice President-Elect Kamala Devi Harris made history becoming the first woman, the first Black person, and the first South Asian person to ever hold the office. This news resulted in widespread celebrations throughout the country and all across the world. Additionally, a significant number of down-ballot victories also mark historic milestones in U.S. politics—including countless firsts for people of color, LGBTQ+ candidates and women.
 
But while there is cause for celebration, there is more work to be done and more questions to be asked. Was the election free and fair across the nation? What did we learn from this election? Where and how did democracy flourish? What does the 2020 election mean for our democracy, our courts, and our state and federal agencies?
 
Helping us to sort out these questions and more is a very special guest: Vanita Gupta. 

Gupta is president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. She is an experienced leader and litigator who has devoted her career to civil rights work. From 2014 to 2017, she served as acting assistant attorney general and head of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. Under her leadership, the division engaged in critical work in a number of areas, including advancing constitutional policing and criminal justice reform; prosecuting hate crimes and human trafficking; promoting disability rights; protecting the rights of LGBTQ individuals; ensuring voting rights for all; and combating discrimination in education, housing, employment, lending and religious exercise. 

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.

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Dr. Goodwin and her guests answer some of your pressing election questions—and have a bit of fun. Let them keep you company (and keep you calm!) while you wait for results.

Joining host Michele Goodwin to keep you company, and to reflect on what this election means for our nation, are very special guests: 

• Sandra Bernhard is a performer, actor, singer and author. She is currently starring as Nurse Judy in the Emmy nominated and Peabody Award winning show POSE on FX Networks. She is also the host of “Sandyland," a daily radio show on SiriusXM’s Radio Andy channel 102, for which she won a Gracie Award. 
• Russ Feingold is the president of the American Constitution Society. He served as a U.S. senator from Wisconsin, as well as a state senator. He is the author of While America Sleeps: A Wake-Up Call for the Post-9/11 Era, contributes regularly to various publications, and appears frequently on MSNBC and CNN. 
• Lizz Winstead is the co-creator and former head writer of "The Daily Show" and Air America Radio co-founder. She now dedicates her life not only to important comedic commentary, but also forging new ground as the founder of the Abortion Access Front, a NYC-based reproductive rights organization that she launched in 2015, which uses humor and outrage to expose anti-choice hypocrisy and to mobilize people across all 50 states. 

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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At the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, voting activist and civil rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer described the violent injustice she and others had endured while living under the South's Jim Crow rules and fighting for the right to vote: "I am sick and tired of being sick and tired!”

Over 50 years later, ahead of the 2020 election, we see record early voting across the country. Even so, serious efforts aimed at voter suppression persist, including curbing access to mail-in voting and shutting down polling locations.  

So, what are the biggest threats to voting rights today? How is voter suppression showing up in the 2020 election? What can we do to ensure that our elections remain free and fair? 

Helping us to sort out these questions and more are very special guests:

• Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the National Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Clarke leads one of the nation’s most important national civil rights organizations in the pursuit of equal justice for all. She is the author of Barack Obama and African American Empowerment: The Rise of Black America’s New Leadership.
• Judge Glenda Hatchett, who served as senior attorney at Delta Airlines before becoming the chief presiding judge of Fulton County Georgia Juvenile Court in Atlanta.  Her law firm, the Hatchett Firm, represented Philando Castille’s estate in the wake of his tragic death. She presides over the two-time Emmy-nominated courtroom series, Judge Hatchett, now in its 16th season. Most recently, she has returned to TV in her new television court series, The Verdict with Judge Hatchett.   
• Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson, executive director of the Highlander Research and Education Center—and the first Black woman to hold that title.  She is an active participant on the governance council of the Southern Movement Assembly, and an organizer with Concerned Citizens for Justice. She has served on the National Council of the Student Environmental Action Coalition. 

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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Recently, Justice Clarence Thomas, joined by Justice Samuel Alito, lashed out at the Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges decision, which guaranteed marriage equality, calling it ruinous for religious liberty.  In response, the New Yorker posed a sobering question: “Does Clarence Thomas now speak for the majority of the Supreme Court on LGBTQ Rights?"

The use of religious liberty to discriminate against LGBTQ people is nothing new. And marriage is not the only issue on the line. Among other things, the Trump administration has worked to discriminate against gay parents in foster care and adoption, take away vital healthcare under the ACA, and prevent transgender people from serving in the military. 

The attacks are not limited to the federal government either: This year alone, there have been clear, coordinated efforts at the state level to legalize discrimination against people based on their LGBTQ identity. 

What is the current legal landscape for LGBTQ rights and justice? What is the significance of the impending election for the rights of the LGBTQ community? What's at stake? 
 
Helping us to sort out these questions and more are very special guests:
 

• Jessica Clarke, professor of law, FedEx research professor and co-director of the George Barrett Social Justice Program at Vanderbilt University Law School. She studies constitutional and statutory guarantees of non-discrimination based on traits such as race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion and disability.   
• 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.   
• Chase Strangio, deputy director for transgender justice with the ACLU’s LGBT & HIV Project and a nationally recognized expert on transgender rights. Strangio's work includes impact litigation, as well as legislative and administrative advocacy, on behalf of LGBTQ people and people living with HIV across the United States. Chase was counsel in the case of Aimee Stephens, a transgender woman whose historic lawsuit resulted in the landmark Supreme Court decision that federal civil rights law protects LGBTQ workers.

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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