Future Hindsight

We discuss how the public interest movements in the 60s and 70s can be a source of inspiration for American democracy and why this movement was a formidable force in influencing public policy that benefits all of us, from traffic safety to the Clean Water Act.    Paul’s civic action toolkit recommendations are:  Focus on state and local government Make liberal cities and states compelling models for good governance to be replicated across the nation    Paul Sabin is the Randolph W. Townsend, Jr. Professor of History and Professor of American Studies at Yale University and previously served as the founding executive director of the non-profit Environmental Leadership Program. Paul is the author of Public Citizens: The Attack on Big Government and the Remaking of American Liberalism.     Let’s connect! Follow Future Hindsight on Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/futurehindsightpod/   Discover new ways to #BetheSpark:  https://www.futurehindsight.com/spark    Follow Mila on X:  https://x.com/milaatmos    Follow Paul on X:  https://x.com/paulesabin    Sponsor:  Thank you to Shopify! Sign up for a $1/month trial at shopify.com/hopeful.   Early episodes for Patreon supporters: https://patreon.com/futurehindsight  Credits:  Host: Mila Atmos  Guests: Paul Sabin Executive Producer: Mila Atmos Producer: Zack Travis

We discuss what we can all do to say "no" to Project 2025, including getting Democrats to play hardball in local, city, and state offices, and to protect and win elections this year and in the midterms next year.   Ezra’s civic action toolkit recommendations are:  Organize in your community with like-minded Americans  Use your constituent power to influence the political calculus of your elected representative   Ezra Levin is the Co-Executive Director of Indivisible, which he co-founded with Leah Greenberg in the wake of the 2016 presidential election. He’s also the co-author of We Are Indivisible: A Blueprint for Democracy After Trump.     Let’s connect! Follow Future Hindsight on Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/futurehindsightpod/   Discover new ways to #BetheSpark:  https://www.futurehindsight.com/spark    Follow Mila on BlueSky:  https://bsky.app/profile/milaatmos.bsky.social    Follow Ezra on BlueSky:  https://bsky.app/profile/ezralevin.bsky.social    Check out Indivisible: https://indivisible.org/    Sponsor:  Thank you to Shopify! Sign up for a $1/month trial at shopify.com/hopeful.   Early episodes for Patreon supporters: https://patreon.com/futurehindsight  Credits:  Host: Mila Atmos  Guests: Ezra Levin Executive Producer: Mila Atmos Producer: Zack Travis

We discuss many of our rights that are at risk under the new Trump administration, what our rights actually are–like due process and the 1st amendment, and an action plan for when they come under attack.    Monica’s civic action toolkit recommendations are:  Know what your rights are and speak up. Talk to your friends and family about DC statehood   Monica Hopkins is the Executive Director of the ACLU of the District of Columbia (ACLU-DC).   Let’s connect! Follow Future Hindsight on Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/futurehindsightpod/   Discover new ways to #BetheSpark:  https://www.futurehindsight.com/spark    Follow Mila on X:  https://x.com/milaatmos    Follow the ACLU D.C. on X:  https://x.com/ACLU_DC    Sponsor:  Thank you to Shopify! Sign up for a $1/month trial at shopify.com/hopeful.   Early episodes for Patreon supporters: https://patreon.com/futurehindsight  Credits:  Host: Mila Atmos  Guests: Monica Hopkins Executive Producer: Mila Atmos Producer: Zack Travis

We discuss the long history of organizing as a tool for fortifying American democracy, making it more equitable and just. Americans live from the benefits of organizing every day, whether that’s women’s suffrage or disability rights.  Organizing is the tool for everyday people who are not in positions of power to solve the problems their communities are facing.    Elyssa’s civic action toolkit recommendations are:  Get clarity on what you’re good at and what brings you joy. Organize for the long haul.   Elyssa Feder is the co-founder and executive director of Rising Organizers, which has trained nearly 4,000 activists and held fourteen intensive fellowship cohorts on community organizing skills.      Let’s connect! Follow Future Hindsight on Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/futurehindsightpod/   Discover new ways to #BetheSpark:  https://www.futurehindsight.com/spark    Follow Mila on X:  https://x.com/milaatmos    Follow Elyssa on X:  https://x.com/elyssafeder    Check out Rising Organizers: https://www.risingorganizers.org/    Sponsor:  Thank you to Shopify! Sign up for a $1/month trial at shopify.com/hopeful.   Early episodes for Patreon supporters: https://patreon.com/futurehindsight  Credits:  Host: Mila Atmos  Guests: Elyssa Feder Executive Producer: Mila Atmos Producer: Zack Travis

We discuss the role of political parties in representing your interests and turning those interests into public policies that meaningfully make a difference in your life. Since the 1980s, both major political parties have adopted neoliberal policies, marked by declining responsiveness to major policy areas, and instead prioritizing pro-market and anti-state policies for economic growth and reliance on the private sector.    Didi’s civic action toolkit recommendations are:  Get engaged on the local level so you can be part of the solution. Support the party builders!   Didi Kuo is a Center Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University and the author of The Great Retreat: How Political Parties Should Behave and Why They Don’t.     Let’s connect! Follow Future Hindsight on Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/futurehindsightpod/   Discover new ways to #BetheSpark:  https://www.futurehindsight.com/spark    Follow Mila on X:  https://x.com/milaatmos    Follow Didi on X:  https://x.com/didikuo1    Read The Great Retreat: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-great-retreat-how-political-parties-should-behave-and-why-they-don-t-didi-kuo/21705105?aid=11259&ean=9780197664193&listref=books-we-re-reading-in-2025&new-list-page=true    Sponsor:  Thank you to Shopify! Sign up for a $1/month trial at shopify.com/hopeful.   Early episodes for Patreon supporters: https://patreon.com/futurehindsight  Credits:  Host: Mila Atmos  Guests: Didi Kuo Executive Producer: Mila Atmos Producer: Zack Travis

We discuss why now is the time for a third political party to really take center stage in American democracy.   Maurice’s civic action toolkit recommendations are:  Organize! Join an organization. Create conditions where people can govern and decide the direction of their country and their democracy   Maurice Mitchell is the National Director of the Working Families Party. He's a nationally recognized social movement strategist, a visionary leader in the Movement for Black Lives, and a community organizer for racial, social, and economic justice.     Let’s connect! Follow Future Hindsight on Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/futurehindsightpod/   Discover new ways to #BetheSpark:  https://www.futurehindsight.com/spark    Follow Mila on X:  https://x.com/milaatmos    Follow Maurice on X:  https://x.com/MauriceWFP    Check out the Working Families Party: https://workingfamilies.org/    Sponsor:  Thank you to Shopify! Sign up for a $1/month trial at shopify.com/hopeful.   Early episodes for Patreon supporters: https://patreon.com/futurehindsight  Credits:  Host: Mila Atmos  Guests: Maurice Mitchell Executive Producer: Mila Atmos Producer: Zack Travis

We’re sharing an episode from our friends at Latino USA! In this episode, producer Reynaldo Leaños Jr. travels to southern Arizona where one of the first major concentrations of surveillance towers on the southern border were built, and he looks at what these towers mean today, and for the future of those crossing, and living, there.   The “virtual wall” across the U.S.-Mexico border is made up of things like drones, sensors, cameras and… surveillance towers. Both Democrats and Republicans have supported border technology through the years, but advocates and researchers argue that a virtual wall can be as controversial, and deadly, as a physical wall.     Let’s connect! Follow Future Hindsight on Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/futurehindsightpod/   Discover new ways to #BetheSpark:  https://www.futurehindsight.com/spark    Follow Mila on X:  https://x.com/milaatmos    Listen to Latino USA:  https://www.latinousa.org/    Sponsors:  Thank you to Shopify! Sign up for a $1/month trial at shopify.com/hopeful.   Thanks to SelectQuote for supporting Future Hindsight! Go to SelectQuote.com/hopeful now!   Need a gift idea? Head over to Masterclass.com/HOPEFUL for the current offer. Thanks to MasterClass for supporting Future Hindsight!   Early episodes for Patreon supporters: https://patreon.com/futurehindsight  Credits:  Featuring: Latino USA Podcast Host: Mila Atmos Executive Producer: Mila Atmos Producer: Zack Travis

Nancy Rosenblum, a Harvard professor and co-author of Ungoverning, dives into the chaos of 'ungoverning' and its potential to dismantle vital institutions. She warns it’s like a bull in a china shop—whose chaos poses a threat to democracy. Rosenblum emphasizes how personal authority can weaken democratic values and reflects on the dangers of rising vigilantism and aggressive immigration policies. She encourages active civic engagement, urging everyone to vote at local and state levels to reclaim agency amidst unpredictability.

We discuss election integrity and voting machines, the amazing work of election workers, and the logistics of election audits.   Ben’s civic action toolkit recommendations are:  Talk to your town or county clerk and offer to help. Be a poll worker for a day!   Ben Adida is the Executive Director of Voting Works, the only non-profit voting system vendor in the U.S. Their mission is to make election technology everyone can trust through transparency, simplicity, and demonstrable security.     Let’s connect! Follow Future Hindsight on Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/futurehindsightpod/   Discover new ways to #BetheSpark:  https://www.futurehindsight.com/spark    Follow Mila on X:  https://x.com/milaatmos    Follow Ben on X:  https://x.com/benadida    Sponsor:  Thanks to SelectQuote for supporting Future Hindsight! Go to SelectQuote.com/hopeful now!   Need a gift idea? Head over to Masterclass.com/HOPEFUL for the current offer. Thanks to MasterClass for supporting Future Hindsight!   Early episodes for Patreon supporters: https://patreon.com/futurehindsight  Credits:  Host: Mila Atmos  Guests: Ben Adida Executive Producer: Mila Atmos Producer: Zack Travis

We discuss why the American electorate voted the way they did in 2024, the history of various voter suppression tactics, and how we can bounce back from a feeling of post-election civic helplessness.   Michael’s civic action toolkit recommendations are:  Use your platform! Do the research. Read books. Go deep on what's going on and convey what you've learned.   Michael Waldman is the CEO and President of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law and a constitutional lawyer and writer who is an expert on the presidency and American democracy.     Let’s connect! Follow Future Hindsight on Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/futurehindsightpod/   Discover new ways to #BetheSpark:  https://www.futurehindsight.com/spark    Follow Mila on X:  https://x.com/milaatmos    Follow Michael on X:  https://x.com/mawaldman    Sponsor:  Need a gift idea? Head over to Masterclass.com/HOPEFUL for the current offer. Thanks to MasterClass for supporting Future Hindsight!   Thank you to Shopify! Sign up for a $1/month trial at shopify.com/hopeful.   Early episodes for Patreon supporters: https://patreon.com/futurehindsight  Credits:  Host: Mila Atmos  Guests: Michael Waldman Executive Producer: Mila Atmos Producer: Zack Travis