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Critical Race Theory is widely maligned by those on the right, but poorly understood. Our guest for this episode, Dr. Victor Ray, can help us sort out the truth from the lies. Victor is nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. As an active public scholar, his social and critical commentary has appeared in outlets such as The Washington Post, Newsweek, Harvard Business Review, and Boston Review. His new book, On Critical Race Theory: Why it Matters and Why You Should Care is now available. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alyssa-milano-sorry-not-sorry/message

This is an episode you can't afford to miss. Malcolm Nance is a globally renowned expert on terrorism, extremism, and insurgency, and a multiple New York Times bestselling author. A 34-year, Arabic-speaking veteran of the US intelligence community's Combating Terrorism program, he is considered one of the Great African-Americans in Espionage by the International Spy Museum. He is counter-terrorism analyst for NBC News and MSNBC. And if that wasn’t enough, he’s just published a new book titled “They Want to Kill Americans: The Militias, Terrorists, and Deranged Ideology of the Trump Insurgency,” and spent time in a front-line combat unit in Ukraine. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alyssa-milano-sorry-not-sorry/message

Over the years, this podcast has focused on highlighting those people who are not only experts in identifying the significant problems facing the United States and its institutions, but those who propose bold solutions to those problems. In the past weeks, those problems have expanded significantly. Once again, Joe Manchin—a single senator representing a single state—has blocked critical environmental legislation. Despite being a democrat, he’s tanked the Democratic majority in the senate, and he can do this because of the filibuster. At the same time, a rogue, extremist supreme court has undermined very basic freedoms in our nation, from the right to access abortion, go to school free from religious influence, and even receive full Miranda protections if arrested. Today, we’ll look back at two of our episodes where our guests propose ways to get past these critical problems. First, we’ll hear from Adam Jentleson. Adam is a writer and former Deputy Chief of Staff for then Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. He joined us to discuss his book Kill Switch: The Rise of the Modern Senate and the Crippling of American Democracy. Next, we hear from Tamara Brummer, Executive Eirector for Outreach with Demand Justice, who joined us to discuss efforts to reform and expand the supreme court. Guest Hosted by Ben Jackson --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alyssa-milano-sorry-not-sorry/message

When you share your life with someone, you take on the idea of being a caretaker if something goes wrong, but only in the abstract. But when that idea becomes a reality, life changes in so many ways you may never expect. My guest this week is Abi Morgan. Abi is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter ("The Iron Lady") whose new book “This is Not a Pity Memoir” is now available. Editorial Reviews Review "With her trademark deadpan, trenchant wit, and a deeply soulful mindfulness, Abi Morgan takes a breathtaking hike on the cliff edge of a life upended by illness. By turns harrowing, cracking sharp and heartbreaking, it is...comforting to accompany someone with her sense of humor and the absurd on this trip- (this) book is a gift to anyone who has been similarly unmoored by fate and the furies.” -- Meryl Streep “The kind of book you will find yourself saying urgently, over and over, to friends. “Have you read it? Have you read it?" -- Caitlin Moran “Gripping, funny and always honest.”  -- David Nicholls "There are no words. I was stunned, in every sense, by this heart-breaking, profound and deeply human memoir. Like CS Lewis on grief, Morgan finds truth and beauty in the darkest places. I feel changed by this book. I will never forget it." -- Meg Mason, author of Sorrow & Bliss "From the very first line I couldn’t stop reading. Abi invites you in to what feels almost like a thriller, then quickly a heart bursting romantic comedy and a devastating drama. Even if this was fiction it would be impossible to stop thinking about this book long after reading. The fact that this is Abi’s real life experience brought forth as this astonishing piece of writing is truly breathtaking. It’s arrestingly honest, funny, profound and exquisitely written. I could not have loved it more."  -- Carey Mulligan “A mash-up of all the things I love in a book – honesty, comedy, pathos and what- happens-next. It’s brutal – in a good way – but above all else it’s a testament to kindness, stickability and enduring love.”  -- Kit de Waal "An extraordinary tale told extraordinarily well." -- Marina Hyde "I wept. I dared to hope. I felt my heart crack. Exceptional." -- Sam Baker “A profound look at the complexities of love, even at its most mundane. Equal parts savage and sublime, this obliterates notions of memory and intimacy with grace and precision….[A] raw and incandescent debut.”  -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) “A candid, intimate memoir of a harrowing time.” -- Kirkus Reviews --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alyssa-milano-sorry-not-sorry/message

Our guest this week is Gaby Dunn. Gaby is a New York Times bestselling author, comedian, and LGBTQ advocate living in Los Angeles. They are the host and creator of the podcast Bad with Money with Gaby Dunn. Their new piece Stimulus Wreck: Rebuilding After a Financial Disaster is now available on exclusively on Scribd. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alyssa-milano-sorry-not-sorry/message

We have a mass incarceration problem in America, with entire industries created to lock people up, keep them locked up, and make it difficult or impossible for many of the people they catch in their cycle to break free. Our guest this week learned this firsthand. Keri Blakinger is a Texas-based journalist and the author of the new book Corrections in Ink, a memoir tracing her path from figure skating to heroin addiction to prison and, finally, to life as an investigative reporter covering mass incarceration for The Marshall Project. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alyssa-milano-sorry-not-sorry/message

The Supreme Court has gone rogue. It's radically reduced the right to privacy, the right to bodily autonomy, the right to hold rogue police accountable, the ability of the government to protect the environment, and significantly weakened the wall between church and state--all very much against the wishes of the American people.  Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia has a plan to make the court more representative of the people.  He joined us to discuss. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alyssa-milano-sorry-not-sorry/message

The extremist extreme court just stripped away the right to bodily autonomy and reproductive freedom from millions of Americans when it overturned Roe v. Wade. One in four women in the U.S. will have an abortion by the age of 45. But since the beginning of 2019, more than 250 bills restricting access to abortion care have been introduced in forty one states. Throughout this episode, you will hear from women who share why they decided to have an abortion - women who sent in their own stories, women who have shared publicly in the media or in front of Congress, and Alyssa tells her own abortion story, joined by Amanda Palmer, Gloria Allred and others. This week, in light of the dangerous attacks on freedom from the American government, we'll be revisiting episodes that highlight the problems and offer solutions.  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alyssa-milano-sorry-not-sorry/message

It’s been nearly thirty years since the Congress passed meaningful gun violence prevention legislation despite overwhelming support for these measures from the American people. In those decades, more than a million people in America have died from gunshot wounds, and more than two million have been injured. After the latest high profile mass shootings in Buffalo New York and Uvalde, Texas, Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, a leading figure in efforts to reduce gun violence, led a bipartisan group of senators to a framework agreement on gun safety measures. He joins us today to discuss. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alyssa-milano-sorry-not-sorry/message

This week, we’re welcoming Bill McKibben back to the show. Bill is the author of more than a dozen books, including the best sellers Falter, Deep Economy, and The End of Nature, which was the first book to warn the general public about the climate crisis. His new book “The Flag, the Cross, and the Station Wagon: A Graying American Looks Back at His Suburban Boyhood and Wonders What the Hell Happened” is now available.  Guest hosted by Ben Jackson. Editorial Reviews Review “If we survive the interlocking plagues of climate change, right-wing authoritarianism, and savage inequality, future generations will utter the name of the New England moral visionary and activist McKibben with the reverence we speak of Emerson, Thoreau, and Garrison. This sparkling little diamond of a book illuminates the all-American boyhood and education of a radical Christian environmentalist in love with a broken world that, frankly speaking, may or may not exist at all a century from now. May McKibben's golden pen continue to flow swiftly and conquer―with both love and reason―the dangerous enemies of human civilization.“ ―Rep. Jamie Raskin (MD-8) “Plainspoken, direct, conversational, and inspiring, Bill McKibben offers us generous insight into who he is and how he has been shaped by his middle-class upbringing in the suburbs. We see through inner and outer choices, struggles, and influences, why one of the world's most effective and humble leaders in the climate justice movement committed himself to an activist's life on behalf of a warming planet. The Flag, the Cross, and the Station Wagon is more than a memoir, it is a bow to the power of social justice movements and a smart and savvy historical reflection on what has brought us to this crucible moment of climate collapse. Bill McKibben is an every-day hero who continues to show us not only what is possible, but necessary to our survival, the survival of our democracy, and all life in the places we call home.“ ―Terry Tempest Williams, author of Erosion: Essays of Undoing “What went wrong with America in the 1970s? In this searching book, Bill McKibben wrestles with a generation that lost its way, and why, and how to find the way back.” ―Jill Lepore, author of These Truths: A History of the United States “Bill McKibben has written a great American memoir, using the prism of his own life to reflect on the most important dynamics in our society. Bill McKibben’s writing is poignant, engrossing and revealing. His message is a clarion call for a generation to understand what happened to their American Dream, and to fight for our common future.” ―Heather McGhee, author of The Sum of Us: How Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together “Bill McKibben is such a heroic and consequential leader in the fight for the climate on behalf of all humankind, it's easy to lose sight of his humanity. As usual, this book is a thoughtful critique of wrong turns America has taken, but this time refreshingly and revealingly intertwined with his personal story. As a fellow former suburban boy who has also tried hard to figure out ‘what the hell happened,’ The Flag, the Cross, and the Station Wagon was like listening to a wise old pal preach.” ―Kurt Andersen, author of Evil Geniuses: The Unmaking of America “The prolific writer and activist finds some of the causes of our societal meltdown in the idyllic suburbs of his youth. . . . McKibben capably picks apart long-ago history to find present themes.” ―Kirkus Reviews --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alyssa-milano-sorry-not-sorry/message

There aren’t a lot of people who have a life which resembles Alyssa Milano's. As an actor from childhood who is still working on the cusp of fifty, our guest Wil Wheaton is one of the few. He joins us today to discuss his reappearance in Star Trek, his time on The Big Bang Theory, his time as a young actor and as a less-young actor, and his bestselling new book Still Just a Geek, which is now available. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alyssa-milano-sorry-not-sorry/message

Over the past several years, corporations and entire industries have quickly made statements and some policy changes in response to social and racial justice movements. Those statement and initiatives, however, often exist as feel-good marketing initiatives or sincere efforts with unintended consequences. In her new book “Some of My Best Friends: Essays on Lip Service,” Tajja Isen explores these efforts and the realities they mask and reveal. “[A] stellar debut collection...Some of My Best Friends shows a bracing willingness to tackle sensitive issues that others often sweep under a rug.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "Isen scrutinizes society’s attempts to bandage over such issues as race and gender inequality in her powerful debut. Isen’s voice is both wry and sensitive as she fearlessly lays out the limits of talk in solving inequality; fans of sharp cultural criticism, take note." —Publishers Weekly “Beautifully written, wildly funny, and whip smart, the essays in Some of My Best Friends are among the best I've ever read. Tajja Isen is unafraid to ask deep questions and embrace their messy answers. She's one hell of a writer.” —Kristen Arnett, New York Times bestselling author of Mostly Dead Things and With Teeth “Isen understands that our shared future demands we expose and call out wasted time, hollow gestures, and empty words. Some of My Best Friends is an inspiring, determined work of personal narrative and cultural criticism.” —Saeed Jones, author of How We Fight for Our Lives “The essays in this book dazzle stylistically, thrill intellectually and flip the finger to the many ways North America pretends to talk about racial experiences. Isen is a provocateur of the first order. Her wit and wisdom capture the current moment and soar above it.” —Kamal Al-Solaylee, author of Return and Brown “Sure-footed and illuminating, Some of My Best Friends brilliantly lays bare the lies that accompany some of the most insidious aspects of racism— lip service, pandering, and plausible deniability—and offers a bracing inoculation.” —Jess Zimmerman, author of Women and Other Monsters “Every essay in this collection reminded me of what makes Tajja Isen a must-read writer: her thoughtfulness, her incisive humor, and her deadeye aim. Some of My Best Friends is a genuine pleasure to read and the best kind of intellectual conversation.” —Nicole Chung, author of All You Can Ever Know “Some of My Best Friends is the rare essay collection that feels both modern and timeless. Hilarious and fresh, it's the type of analysis that feels vital and made me go, "Finally!" What a joy to read.” —Sarah Hagi, writer at Gawker "Often hilarious, always thought provoking." — ELLE, Canada --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alyssa-milano-sorry-not-sorry/message

We’re already into the midterm election season. California will host its primary elections on June 7th, and my guest this week is hoping to advance into the general. Kermit Jones is running for Congress in California’s 3rd Congressional District. He’s a doctor, a former White House Fellow, a former Navy Flight Surgeon, and a public policy expert. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alyssa-milano-sorry-not-sorry/message

Mothering is work. It’s creative, it’s exhausting, it can be financially crushing, and it is immeasurably rewarding. But always, it is work. Our guest this week is Angela Garbes, bestselling author of Like a Mother. Her new book, Essential Labor: Mothering as Social Change is now available. About Essential Labor From the acclaimed author of Like a Mother comes a reflection on the state of caregiving in America, and an exploration of mothering as a means of social change. The Covid-19 pandemic shed fresh light on a long-overlooked truth: mothering is among the only essential work humans do. In response to the increasing weight placed on mothers and caregivers—and the lack of a social safety net to support them—writer Angela Garbes found herself pondering a vital question: How, under our current circumstances that leave us lonely, exhausted, and financially strained, might we demand more from American family life? In Essential Labor, Garbes explores assumptions about care, work, and deservedness, offering a deeply personal and rigorously reported look at what mothering is, and can be. A first-generation Filipino-American, Garbes shares the perspective of her family's complicated relationship to care work, placing mothering in a global context—the invisible economic engine that has been historically demanded of women of color. Garbes contends that while the labor of raising children is devalued in America, the act of mothering offers the radical potential to create a more equitable society. In Essential Labor, Garbes reframes the physically and mentally draining work of meeting a child's bodily and emotional needs as opportunities to find meaning, to nurture a deeper sense of self, pleasure, and belonging. This is highly skilled labor, work that impacts society at its most foundational level. Part galvanizing manifesto, part poignant narrative, Essential Labor is a beautifully rendered reflection on care that reminds us of the irrefutable power and beauty of mothering. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alyssa-milano-sorry-not-sorry/message

It’s almost impossible to quantify the problems with the way we approach healthcare in this country. For something which should be a human right, high-quality healthcare is often provided in unlimited amounts to the rich at the expense of the poor—especially people of color. In his new book “The Emergency: A Year of Healing and Heartbreak in a Chicago ER,” our guest Dr. Thomas Fisher examines the injustices of our system through the eyes of a physician trying to do his best for his patients in a system that seems designed to prevent him from doing so. PRAISE for “The Emergency: A Year of Healing and Heartbreak in a Chicago ER” “This book reminds us how permanently interesting our bodies are, especially when they go wrong. Fisher’s account of his days is gripping. . . . His frustration, his outraged intelligence, is palpable on every page. . . . the best account I’ve read about working in a busy hospital during Covid.” —The New York Times “A briskly paced, heartfelt, often harrowing year in the life of an ER doctor on Chicago’s historically Black South Side.” —San Francisco Chronicle “The Emergency is graphic and gut-wrenching, as it should be. It is an undeniable call for a just health-care system, as it will be.”—Ibram X. Kendi, author of How to Be an Antiracist “With scalpel-like precision and searing patient stories, Thomas Fisher exposes the battlefield of medicine and the scarring—and often fatal—wounds of inequality. The Emergency is a bat call. Health care doesn’t care, inequality kills, and we must do better.”—Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, author of What the Eyes Don’t See “The Emergency is a doctor’s-eye view of the layered crises afflicting a single Chicago community and the entire nation that surrounds it. By turns brutal and beautiful, this is a tale of life, death, and the people whose efforts often determine which of those two will prevail.”—Jelani Cobb, co-editor of The Matter of Black Lives “Tired of reading about COVID-19? Don’t make the mistake of missing the best book about it to date. The Emergency is Thomas Fisher’s memoir of the first year of the pandemic’s grip on Chicago’s South Side, where he grew up and where he battled the disease, along with every other ailment and injury that reached his emergency room. This is no past-tense memoir but a gripping account of events as they happen. It’s beautifully rendered in the present tense and leavened by a series of letters he composed to, and in honor of, his patients. But this is also a book about our country, a wrenching and tender reflection on an aphorism Fisher invokes: When America catches a cold, black America catches pneumonia. It won’t take you long to read this fast-paced account, but you won’t forget it anytime soon.”—Paul Farmer, M.D., author of Pathologies of Power: Health, Human Rights, and the New War on the Poor “Riveting . . . [Fisher] eloquently captures the intensity of the situation . . . and shares heartrending stories of victims. . . . The result is a powerful reckoning with racial injustice and a moving portrait of everyday heroism.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Dramatic . . . well written and compassionate . . . a persuasive, sympathetic . . . insider’s report on a broken system.”—Kirkus Reviews SEE LESS --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alyssa-milano-sorry-not-sorry/message

The Supreme Court appears poised to rip bodily autonomy from millions of American women. The draft opinion written by Justice Alito relies heavily on historical rights. In this short film, Alyssa takes you through a primer of the history of abortion and the fight of pregnant people to control their own bodies and access essential reproductive healthcare despite a constant onslaught from an extreme religious right which does not represent the majority of Americans. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alyssa-milano-sorry-not-sorry/message

Our guest this week is Celeste Headlee. Celeste is award-winning journalist, professional speaker and best-selling author. In her 20-year career in public radio, Celeste has anchored programs including Tell Me More, Talk of the Nation, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition. She is the author of a new piece available on Scribd called “You’re Cute When You’re Mad.” --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alyssa-milano-sorry-not-sorry/message

The midterm elections are quickly approaching, and the stakes are so high. Our guest this week is Charles Booker, candidate for the United States Senate in Kentucky. His new book From the Hood to the Holler: A story of Separate World, Shared Dreams and the Fight for America's Future  is now available. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alyssa-milano-sorry-not-sorry/message

The internet is a cesspool of horrible people saying and doing horrible things. So much of the worst behavior is directed at women, in an effort to shame and silence us - and if you don't believe us, look at the the comments on every post our host Alyssa Milano makes or the trolling fake reviews of this podcast. So many men are abusive, hateful, and terrified of women who have the temerity to exist online. Our friend Nina Jankowicz’ new book “How to Be A Woman Online” is an essential toolkit for women to navigate the worst of it, to fight back, and to build a safer internet. She joined us this week to discuss. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alyssa-milano-sorry-not-sorry/message

We know Frederick Douglass as a towering figure in America’s fight for the abolition of slavery in the United States. In the early days of his ascent, he was allied with and managed by publisher William Lloyd Garrison and “The Contessa,” Maria Weston Chapman. In her new book The Color Of Abolition: How a Printer, a Prophet, and a Contessa Moved a Nation, our guest Linda Hirshman reveals the details of the tumultuous relationship between the three, and how it changed history. Praise For The Color Of Abolition: How A Printer, A Prophet, And A Contessa Moved A Nation… "Hirshman’s book is a lively depiction of the antislavery movement, in which the three charismatic characters at the heart of her story provide an engaging avenue into the competing philosophies and strategies that continually challenged abolitionism’s unity and effectiveness. Her writing is breezy, designed to engage readers who are not historians and whose interests may lie more in the present than the past." — Washington Post “Hirshman brings much-needed attention to the little-known triangulation between Garrison, Douglass, and Chapman, opening a new realm of inquiry for readers of the history of slavery and abolition.” — Library Journal “Linda Hirshman has two goals. One is to tell the story of the American antislavery movement. This broad narrative provides background for the author’s other focus, a group portrait of three deeply intertwined abolitionists [and reflects] the author’s interest in the current ‘lively and painful conversation about the possibility and conditions of an interracial alliance.’” — Wall Street Journal “Page-turning reading . . . . a wonderful cataloging of Americans, white and Black, who devoted their lives to ending slavery.” — Boston Globe “Linda Hirshman adroitly shows us that in the celebrated break up between Douglass and Garrison, a pivotal actor was Maria Weston Chapman. A brilliant but intrusive soul, Chapman stood watch over both men from a manager's desk in Boston. Beyond intrigue, though, this book provides a splendid lens into the nature of both the moral and political wings of abolitionism at their turbulent turning point. The ideologies of antislavery emerge here from vivid portraits of these three fascinating and rivalrous characters.”  — David W. Blight, Yale University, and author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom “By lucidly untangling the abolitionist movement’s complex web of alliances, Hirshman sheds light on the antebellum period and the dynamics of social movements in general. American history buffs will be engrossed.” — Publishers Weekly "A rousing account of America’s one truly great crusade, studded with fascinating characters playing for the highest of stakes: freedom.” — Megan Marshall, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Margaret Fuller “Viewing the abolitionist movement from a unique angle, Hirshman shows how the breakdown of the alliance among [activists Frederick Douglass, William Llloyd Garrison, and Maria Weston Chapman] was fueled in part by Douglass’ rising fame, burgeoning dissent among the nation’s political parties, and, not least, Weston Chapman’s aspersions about Douglass’ work ethic and character. A well-researched history of the fraught path to emancipation.” — Kirkus Reviews --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alyssa-milano-sorry-not-sorry/message