This Week on WURD: Vaccine Misinformation, Voting Rights, DEI Backlash & Middle East Conflict

Dr. Giridhar Mallya, senior policy officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, joined Dr. James Peterson on Evening WURDs to discuss the recent measles outbreak and the confusion many parents are facing around vaccines. Mallya warned that misinformation and cuts to public health funding are helping fuel the resurgence of a disease once thought eliminated in the United States.

Andrew McGinley, vice president of policy for the Committee of 70, joined Solomon Jones on Wake Up With WURD to break down the push for voter ID in California and the broader implications for voting rights nationwide. McGinley warned that proposals like the federal SAVE Act could create new barriers that disenfranchise millions of eligible voters.

Ann-Marie Johnson, actor, and Martin Gottlieb, writer and director, joined Tiffany Bacon on  The Midday Break Room to discuss “The Addiction of Hope,” a new film about reinvention, relevance, and purpose. They explored how ageism shapes opportunity, particularly for women, and why the film’s themes resonate in a moment when so many people are rethinking their place in the world.

Yolonda Ross, actor, director and producer, joined Wake Up With WURD to reflect on her long career and her evolving work on “The Chi,” where she recently directed an episode. Ross also spoke candidly about the emotional impact of her character’s exit and what it meant to close that chapter while stepping into a new creative role.

Dr. Janice Gassam Asare, organizational psychologist, workplace equity consultant and author of the new book “Rise and Resist,” joined Evening WURDs to discuss the backlash against DEI and the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs held by Black women.  urgent lessons in her new book, Rise and Resist. She argued that today’s attacks on equity, truth-telling and civil rights echo familiar patterns in history and require collective and strategic resistance.

Trita Parsi, political analyst, writer and expert on U.S.-Iran relations, joined Amadee Braxton on Solutions to assess the rapidly escalating war with Iran and the political miscalculations behind it. Parsi argued that the Trump administration underestimated Iran’s willingness to endure devastating losses rather than surrender, increasing the danger of a prolonged regional conflict.

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