Patrice Onwuka joins the podcast to discuss this month’s policy focus: the IRS. The 1099-K tax form may lead to increased confusion and even a higher tax bill for you this year. If you’re one of the millions of people who resell items online or use gig platforms to supplement your income, we discuss how much you may owe on Tax Day.

Chad Robichaux joins the podcast this week as we examine the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 and consider how an independent rescue mission led to the successful evacuation of 17,000 people from the Taliban’s terrorist regime. Chad led this daring operation, and is the author of the book Saving Aziz: How the Mission to Help One Became a Calling to Rescue Thousands from the Taliban. We also discuss the resilience of Afghanistan and its people, his direct interaction with the Taliban, and what we can learn from this twenty-year war.

Hadley Heath Manning joins the first She Thinks episode of the new year to discuss IWF’s policy priorities in 2023. We start with an overview of the current work at IWF, including its existing policy centers, as well as big victories in 2022, and then turn to the plans to develop new policy centers focused on energy and safety, the continued efforts to promote women’s rights in this country, and how you can be a part of Independent Women’s Network.

Hadley Heath Manning is vice president for policy at Independent Women’s Forum and Independent Women’s Voice and a Senior Blankley Fellow at the Steamboat Institute. Hadley has testified before Congress and state legislatures on various policy issues. She also appears frequently in radio and TV outlets across the country.

Naomi Schaefer Riley joins to discuss this month’s policy focus: Fixing Our Child Welfare System to Help America’s Most Venerable Kids. This is an important topic because data show that children increasingly lack a safe, permanent, and loving home in America. We discuss the specific reforms that need to come from many different sectors in this country and why the underpinning of any policy needs to focus on children’s safety instead of adults’ needs.

On this week’s episode, we focus on the efforts by Independent Women’s Forum and others to protect female-only athletics. Increasingly, we watch as female athletes around the country are forced to compete against boys and men, and so today we have a former D1 athlete joining us to talk about what it means for women’s participation and women’s records if we do not have equal opportunities.

On this week’s episode, Miles Yu joins to discuss the ongoing tension in China and the rise of the Chinese protestor. We talk about reasons why people are putting their lives on the line to defy the China regime: is it all about the zero-COVID policies instituted by President Xi Jinping? We also focus on President Biden and his administration’s response to the Chinese protestor. Has the narrative, or lack thereof, been a help or a hindrance? What does effective diplomacy look like?

Antonia Okafor joins the podcast to talk about the right to protect yourself through gun ownership — because gun rights are women’s rights. We discuss how the increase of crime across the country has led to an increase in gun ownership, including the trend of women buying a gun for the first time. We also get into the importance of learning how to use a weapon properly. So, if you’ve considered getting a gun and don’t know where to begin, this episode is for you.

Antonia Okafor is the Director of Women’s Outreach and National Spokesperson for Gun Owners of America. Her written work has been published by the New York Times, NBC Universal, and Fox News among others. She appears regularly on CNN and Fox News and is a certified firearms trainer, regularly teaching female, first-time shooters.

Small businesses are the engine of the U.S. Many people would be shocked to know that Washington is working against entrepreneurship and against small businesses. The Biden administration’s latest anti-small business effort is a crackdown on independent contracting. Here to discuss what’s going on is IWF Visiting Fellow Karen Anderson.

Lindsey Stroud joins the podcast to discuss November’s Policy Focus: E-Cigarettes and Public Health. Tragically, 480,000 Americans die each year from smoking-related diseases and illnesses. Many want to stop but struggle to do so and instead have transitioned from combustible cigarette use to safer e-cigarettes and vaping products. Despite the good news of harm reduction products, there is a large effort by health organizations and lawmakers to eliminate their use. In this episode, we’ll look at the data behind e-cigarettes and vaping products, the regulations imposed on them, and the best policies and products to reduce tobacco harm, especially among young people.

John Tillman joins the podcast to discuss what voters really want, especially the persuadable middle. With midterms behind us and a lot of data at our disposal, we analyze what’s going on and answer the question — do free market principles still sell? We also consider the importance of the right message, the right messenger, and the right amount of money.

Physician, former Member of Congress, and IWF board member Nan Hayworth talks with Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, former Associate Dean for Curriculum at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, about the experiences with “woke” politicization of academic medicine that inspired him to found Do No Harm.

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On this week’s timely episode, Kristen Soltis Anderson joins to discuss the science of polling and whether or not we can trust the results, as midterms are around the corner. We also discuss the latest polling trends, especially as the digital landscape has changed so much. And finally, we look at where the different generations are lining up on specific issues and whether or not “it’s about the economy, stupid.” The results may surprise you.

Nick Deiuliis joins the podcast this week to discuss the delicate balance of transitioning from fossil fuels to clean energy. How far has innovation taken us? And how do we factor in national security as well as environmental concerns? We also consider how the Appalachian region has been an enormous boon for the energy space.

Meghan McCain joins the podcast this week. We discuss it all — motherhood as a soon-to-be mom of two, her decision to leave The View and life after, and what it’s like to be a conservative woman who is often attacked for her opinions.

Laura Carno joins the podcast to discuss this month’s policy focus: Gun Control Doesn’t Keep Us Safer. We expose the realities of increasing crime across the country, the common misperceptions about gun control, the solutions that have worked, and why public safety should be the first responsibility of elected officials.

On this week’s episode, Yali Nuñez joins to highlight National Hispanic Heritage Month. We discuss the contributions of the largest minority group in America. We also look at new polling that shows a decline in Hispanic pride in the U.S. due to poor leadership and how the community views the immigration crises at the border.

Yali Nuñez is a visiting fellow at IWF and the former Executive Director of Communications for the City of Hialeah. Before her role as Executive Director, she worked for approximately 4 years as the Director of Hispanic Media and Spokesperson for the Republican National Committee (RNC), giving the Latino community a voice inside the Republican Party. Prior to her work with the RNC, Ms. Nuñez was invited to join as Director of Hispanic Communications for the successful reelection campaign of Senator Marco Rubio. She worked for five years as a journalist for prestigious national and international media outlets, including FOX and Univision.