She Thinks

I recently spoke with Victoria Vasconcellos, a former long time smoker and the owner of Cignot Inc., which is an Illinois based brick and mortar e-cigarette retail store that aims to help smokers switch to vaping. Victoria has made it her mission to insure that smokers receive support and affordable access to what she considers a life changing option to smoking. She has personally assisted tens of thousands of smokers as they navigate the path to no longer smoking. Vasconcellos is a founding member of the Illinois chapter of the Smoke Free Alternatives Trade Assiciation and is the current President of the Smoke Free Alternatives Coalition of Illinois. Vasconcellos is on the front line of the battle to preserve e-cigarette products. Like many states, Illinois is considering a ban on vaping products. Vasconcellos and I discuss this proposed ban, how e-cigarette users will suffer under these regulatory actions, and how these types of restrictions will grow the black market, which will result in more dangerous, unsafe products in the marketplace.

On this episode of the “She Thinks” podcast, Claudia Rosett joins to talk about the United Nations – a timely topic given the 74th session of the UN General Assembly in NYC this past week. Claudia explains how the UN came to be, analyzes whether or not it’s been an effective body since its establishment in 1945, and reviews what happened at their latest meeting. Claudia is a foreign policy fellow with Independent Women's Forum, and an award-winning journalist who has reported over the past 37 years from Asia, the former Soviet Union, Latin America and the Middle East. She is widely credited with groundbreaking reporting on corruption at the United Nations. She has contributed to numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. She makes frequent appearances on TV and radio, and has appeared before six U.S. Senate and House committees and subcommittees to testify on such topics as U.N. corruption and reform, and the Iran-North Korea strategic alliance.

Every fall, Americans find out how much their health insurance premiums will increase the following year. But this fall, they’ll have one new resource to understand (and one day fix) our broken healthcare system: a new book by Dr. Marty Makary titled “The Price We Pay.” I had the chance to interview Dr. Makary in a special pop-up edition of IWF’s She Thinks podcast. I also had the pleasure of reading an advance copy of the book. But, truth be told, at times I felt like throwing the book at a wall out of frustration. Reading stories about twisted incentives, predatory providers, and helpless patients made my heart ache. And it made me mad. But, as he says in the podcast, Dr. Makary doesn’t diagnose any problem without offering his prescribed solution and examples of those solutions in action. So the book has bright spots, too. Dr. Makary paints a realistic picture of American health care today. He doesn’t over-emphasize our problems, and he relates to the many doctors who entered their field to help and heal sick people. But he’s no Pollyanna. He calls doctors out and encourages them to also become advocates for sound policy and help heal our systemic problems, mostly related to the appropriateness of medical care and how we pay for it. I talked with him about price transparency, restoring doctor/patient relationships, and reforming healthcare laws. I enjoyed our conversation and I hope you will too.

On this episode of “She Thinks,” Rachel Campos Duffy joins us to talk about the inspiration behind her new book: “Paloma Wants to be Lady Freedom.” She also updates us on pregnancy, the next chapter for her husband Congressman Sean Duffy, and how she’s managed to be a reality TV star, stay-at-home-mom to 9, Fox News contributor and Fox Nation host, and now author—hint: it’s helpful to realize that even if we can’t do everything all at once, we have the freedom in this great country to make different choices as we go through life to make sure we “have it all” by the end.

On this episode of “She Thinks,” we talk big tech and privacy. With a bipartisan group of Attorneys General across the nation announcing an antitrust investigation into Google, we consider what it means for companies like Facebook and Amazon to bear federal regulations. Will it stifle competition? Or are these companies so large that they’ve already pushed out competitors? It’s a complex issue, but fortunately we have Roslyn Layton to break it down for us. Roslyn Layton is a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, where she focuses on evidence-based policy for information, communications, and digital technology industries. Using empirical methods, she assesses regulations and policies for digitally connected domains such as mobile wireless, telecom, cable, internet, among others. Dr. Layton is also a visiting researcher at Aalborg University in Copenhagen Denmark and a vice president at Strand Consult.

It's Back to School time already, but are your kids safe? The school safety conversation in the media has centered around gun control, but the gun violence narrative is obscuring risky education and discipline policies that might place students in danger. Education researcher Max Eden joins She Thinks to talk about the new book he co-authored with Parkland parent Andy Pollack, what every parent needs to know as they send their kids back to school this fall, and how families can get their power back to ensure their kids are safe.

Kristina Baum joins the podcast this week to walk us through her battle with cancer. She’s a personal friend and an inspiration to all who know her as she’s survived three occurrences of melanoma since 2012. Kristina is an advocate for melanoma patients and survivors, access to non-FDA approved drugs for cancer treatment (including her immunotherapy clinical trial), and innovation as a means to find a cure. Kristina is the current Communications Director of the House Committee on Natural Resources. Previously she served as Chief Spokesperson for Chevron Phillips Chemical Company, Communications Director for the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology as well as Press Secretary for the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. She is also an avid runner having completed five triathlons, ten half marathons, one marathon and is currently training for her first Abbot World Major race - the New York City Marathon.

Should government mandate diversity on corporate boards? California passed a law doing just that, and Massachusetts may not be far behind. Jennifer Braceras, Director of IWF’s Center for Law & Liberty, speaks with Anastasia Boden of the Pacific Legal Foundation.

Patrice Onwuka joins the podcast this week to help us clarify a thorny and emotional issue — immigration. Everyone from celebrities to pundits have given (and continue to give) their opinions, but we face unique challenges in America and the facts matter. Patrice shares her immigration story, explains President Trump’s efforts at the border, and outlines what policy reforms we should be pushing. Patrice Onwuka is a senior policy analyst at Independent Women’s Forum and has worked in the advocacy and communications fields for more than a decade. Prior to joining IWF, Patrice served as national spokeswoman and communications director at Generation Opportunity. She also held consulting roles as a speech writer for a United Nations spokesman and managing a student travel program to South Africa.

On this episode of the “She Thinks” podcast, Zilvinas Silenas refutes the claim that socialism makes life better by sharing his personal experience of growing up in the USSR. He discusses the massive income inequality that existed in the Soviet Union, what it’s like to wait in long lines, and why a free market system best addresses the needs of those living paycheck to paycheck. Z is the new President of the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE). He served from 2011-2019 as the President of the Lithuanian Free Market Institute (LFMI), bringing the organization and its free-market policy reform message to the forefront of Lithuanian public discourse. Z is the co-author of a textbook on economics entitled

The Maine state legislature recently defeated a bill that would have changed the way that state allocates it electoral votes in presidential elections. Under the bill, Maine's four electors would have been required to cast their ballots for the winner of the nationwide popular vote for president, even if Maine voters supported somebody else. In this episode of SheThinks, IWF Senior Fellow Jennifer Braceras talks with two Maine legislators who helped defeat the measure.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai joins the “She Thinks” podcast this week to dscuss the future of the Internet and bringing the benefits of the Internet age to all Americans. We talk about rolling back net neutrality, the introduction of 5G technology, and how the FCC is spearheading initiatives to expand broadband Internet access in rural America. He also shares his personal approach to social media usage and his best practices for handling unwanted robocalls. Ajit Pai is the 34th Chairman of the FCC-- designated Chairman by President Trump in January 2017. Previously, he served as a Commissioner at the FCC, appointed by then-President Barack Obama. At the FCC, Chairman Pai has been a champion of policies that aim to promote innovation, investment, and public safety. But his top priority is bridging the digital divide, the gulf between those who have ready access to the Internet, and those who do not.

Sam Sorbo, author of They’re Your Kids, joins the “She Thinks” podcast this week to talk about school choice and her family’s experience homeschooling three children. As the majority of kids head back to school, it’s an important time to champion what we at IWF believe about school choice: educational freedom isn’t suited only for a subset of children, but for all children in all zip codes. The reality is that while 85% of parents send their children to a public school, only 1/3 would choose that option if they had the ability to go elsewhere. Sam Sorbo is an American actress, author, and talk radio host. She played Serena on the television series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and hosts the weekday, syndicated radio program, The Sam Sorbo Show. She is married to actor Kevin Sorbo, and they have three children together, whom they homeschooled.

Jennifer Braceras talks with Christina Martin, counsel in Knick v. Township of Scott.

Rep. Mary Franson joins the podcast this week to discuss a tough and often ignored issue -- female genital mutilation or FGM. Rep. Franson is a state representative from Minnesota who recently introduced legislation to hold both doctors and parents accountable for the practice. In our conversation, she offers insight and explains what steps can be taken to protect the girls.