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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

ABOUT THE SOCIETY OF SHAME

“If you liked Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, read The Society of Shame by Jane Roper.” —The Washington PostIn 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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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International Women’s Day is March 8th. To talk about the state of women in the workplace in 2023, I’ve invited Laura Casselman on the show. Laura is a former Radio City Rockette who beat the boys club to become CEO of JVZoo.com. Her book "Trust Your Increments" is now available to order.

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We live in a time where our speech has unlimited potential reach given the communications advancements of the 21stcentury. Of course, that has led to a national and international debate on free speech. Our guest today, Dennis Baron, literally wrote the book on Free Speech. His book, You Can’t Always Say What You Want, is now available to order. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/alyssa-milano-sorry-not-sorry/message

This year, Alyssa is celebrating her twentieth year as a UNICEF ambassador. That work has taken her around the world, including a trip she made to Egypt in 2022. To talk about the state of affairs in Egypt, and the UNICEF Ambassador program in general, we’ve invited Dina Heikal, UNICEF’s Social and Behavioral Change officer, who Alyssa met while in Egypt.

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