Contributing Writers

A sweeping anti-immigrant crackdown is underway in Florida by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who is expected to enter the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination this week. SB 1718 is set to take effect July 1, but has already led to walkouts by immigrant workers. It bans people who are undocumented from using driver’s licenses issued in other states, and prohibits state ID cards to be issued to them.

Wednesday marks one year since an 18-year-old gunman armed with a semiautomatic AR-15 rifle entered his former elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, and shot dead 19 children between the ages of 9 and 11 and two of their teachers, as nearly 400 officers rushed to Robb Elementary School but took 77 minutes to confront the gunman. Investigators later found officers “failed to prioritize saving innocent lives over their own safety.

Ecuador’s conservative President Guillermo Lasso has dissolved the opposition-led National Assembly in a move widely seen as an effort to block efforts to impeach him, and came as the body held its first hearing into corruption and embezzlement allegations against Lasso. Lasso used a constitutional power that has never been used in Ecuador before, allowing him to rule by decree until new elections are held.

We speak with PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel about the resignation of journalist Masha Gessen from the free expression group’s board following the cancellation of a Russian writers panel at the recent PEN World Voices Festival after Ukrainian writers threatened to boycott. “It’s unfortunate,” Nossel says, but notes Gessen plans to remain a PEN member and work on its project to archive Russian independent media.

As we speak with Professor Kellie Carter Jackson, who teaches Africana studies at Wellesley College and joined a teach-in in Florida over the weekend, we ask about the new Netflix documentary series African Queens: Njinga, which she is featured in and tells the story of the 17th century warrior queen who fought the Portuguese slave traders. The series is executive produced and narrated by Jada Pinkett Smith.

With Ron DeSantis expected to formally announce his run for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination this week, we look at his controversial record as governor of Florida, which has been marked by attacks on LGBTQ rights, immigrants, public education, antiracism initiatives and more. The NAACP recently issued a travel advisory for Florida, deeming the state to be “openly hostile” to Black Americans and other minority groups.

The G7 summit wrapped up Sunday in Hiroshima, where much of the summit focused on the war in Ukraine and China. While in Japan, President Biden and other world leaders paid tribute to the victims of the world’s first nuclear attack — the U.S. bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 — laying wreaths at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial and planting a tree.

Malcolm X was born 98 years ago today, on May 19, 1925, and assassinated at age 39 on February 21, 1965, as he spoke before a packed audience in the Audubon Ballroom in New York City. We end today’s show remembering his life and legacy with an excerpt of a speech Malcolm X gave at the Audubon Ballroom about half a year earlier called “By Any Means Necessary.

We hear from civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who filed a $100 million wrongful death lawsuit this year on behalf of the family of Malcolm X against the FBI, the CIA, New York City and state, the NYPD and the District Attorney’s Office for concealing evidence of their involvement in Malcolm X’s 1965 assassination.

We dedicate the show to remembering Malcolm X on what would have been his 98th birthday Friday. We begin with an address by world-renowned abolitionist, author and activist Angela Davis on Malcolm’s legacy, attacks on the teaching of Black history by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and more. “This is a time to reflect deeply on the long struggle for liberation,” Davis said.

In a dramatic hearing Tuesday, the CEO of the startup behind ChatGPT warned Congress about the dangers of artificial intelligence — his company’s own product. We discuss how to regulate AI and establish ethical guidelines with Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Center for AI and Digital Policy. “We don’t have the expertise in government for the rapid technological change that’s now taking place,” says Rotenberg.