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June marked the 50th anniversary of the occupation of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem. After visiting the occupied territories, renowned novelists and essayists Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman marked the anniversary by inviting international writers to bear witness to the human cost of the occupation and share their experiences.

On this week’s media roundtable, we’ll have a conversation with Brooke Gladstone, co-host of WNYC's On the Media, about her new book The Trouble with Reality: A Rumination on Moral Panic in Our Time.

Biometric scans, automated online spies, and facial recognition software were featured in the 1999 science fiction film The Minority Report. Today, they are becoming embedded into the fabric of our daily lives.

In the new documentary The Force, an Oakland police officer tells new recruits, “I don’t want bad cops. Period. I don’t need them.” In the film, director Peter Nicks follows the Oakland Police Department over two years.

In his new book Caesar’s Last Breath: Decoding the Secrets of the Air Around Us , science writer Sam Kean writes that with every breath you take, you inhale the history of the world.

In his new book, The Golden Shore: California's Love Affair with the Sea , marine conservationist David Helvarg takes us on a geographic and cultural journey of the 1,100-mile Pacific coastline.

Why do young people join ISIS and Al-Qaida? In her new book I Was Told to Come Alone: My Journey Behind the Lines of Jihad , Washington Post national security correspondent Souad Mekhennet provides on-the-ground reporting on the rise of Al-Qaida, ISIS, and their victims.

Over 100 million Americans have no dental insurance -- and that number could grow if the Affordable Care Act is repealed. In her new book Teeth , veteran health journalist Mary Otto takes readers on a disturbing journey into America’s silent epidemic of oral disease.

On this week’s media roundtable, we’ll discuss the worsening economic and political crisis in Venezuela, which has led to a widespread shortage of food and medicine, rising crime, and skyrocketing inflation. As of last year, nearly 82 percent of Venezuelans lived in a state of poverty. How are the media covering the underlying reasons for Venezuela’s catastrophic economic and political meltdown?

Native Americans who opposed the Dakota Access Oil Pipeline were subjected to tear gas, water cannons, rubber bullets, and strip searches. The Intercept reports that they were also heavily surveilled.

142 Americans die of a drug overdose every day, according to the CDC. A White House commission is urging the Trump administration to declare a national emergency. A number of states, cities, and counties, including Ohio and Missouri, are suing pharmaceutical companies saying they caused the crisis with a campaign of fraud and deception.

After the savings-and-loan scandal of the 1980s, 1,100 people were prosecuted, including top executives at many of the largest failed banks. After the 2008 financial crisis, the government charged just 47 low-level employees.

Even though the Republican plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act is dead for now, far too many of us are still stuck with high premiums and plans that don’t provide adequate coverage. We’re constantly told that we need to shop around for the best plan.

On this week’s media roundtable, we’ll discuss coverage of Jared Kushner and Steve Bannon’s plan to privatize the war in Afghanistan by handing it over to Erik Prince, founder of the mercenary army Blackwater, and Stephen Feinberg, the owner DynCorp, the largest US contractor in Afghanistan.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Senate rejected a plan to repeal major parts of the Affordable Care Act without providing a replacement. Seven Republicans and every Democrat voted against it.