Future Hindsight

Roland Augustine is an art dealer, tireless activist, and active member at the Bard College Prison Initiative. We discuss the necessity of finding new ways of activism for social justice in our daily lives. Be an Advocate: Civic engagement means becoming an advocate for social equality and social justice. It can begin at the most basic level such as your town or school. You can give hands-on support and/or money to a cause that is important to you. Consistent and rigorous advocacy creates more knowledge and inspire change. Art Matters: The visual arts can effectively transform one’s thinking. There are many powerful works of art, from paintings to monuments, that serve as beautiful and potent reminders of inhumanity in our collective history. Use your voice: Our silence on the world’s humanitarian crises is deafening. Use your voice in your community to start a conversation about what we can do right now. Start with forwarding this podcast to your friends and family. Find out more: Roland Augustine is on the board of trustees at Bard College, where he is actively involved in the Bard Prison Initiative, as well as in supporting refugees at Bard College Berlin. He is also an active member of the Equal Justice Initiative in the US.

James R. Doty, MD, is a neurosurgeon and clinical professor at Stanford University. He shows us how to shape our own lives and of those around us by reframing, practicing compassion, and living with an open heart. Reframe Negative talk dominates our narrative. What we tell ourselves manifests in our lives. Positive talk is based on kindness towards oneself.     Practice Compassion When you change the way you look at the world, then the world changes the way it interacts with you. Accepting the reality of a situation means that we can be free of reacting with anger. We can be compassionate and kind.    Live with an Open Heart When we are kind and respectful, and treat every human being with dignity, people will bend over backwards to help us. The greatest gifts in life often come through painful events, which give us character, depth, wisdom, and insight. Find out more: James R. Doty, MD, is the founder of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE) at Stanford University. He is also the author of "Into the Magic Shop", a book about how we can change our lives by practicing compassion and mindfulness.

Richard K. Betts, Ph.D, is the Director of the Saltzmann Institute of War and Peace Studies at Columbia University. We talk about how we can be meaningful stakeholders in foreign policy by voting and supporting political movements. Vote & Support We must use our power to vote and support political movements in order to activate fundamental change in our world. Be an active volunteer in an organization Historically, the United States has been a country of joiners in various organizations to promote solutions to public policy programs. People joined organizations and devoted their volunteered time in large numbers because it is one of the basic ways in which people indirectly affect bigger issues that they don't feel much direct control over. Don’t take it for granted! Demand and create a more peaceful future It's very damaging to the political process when people participate irresponsibly. Make the effort to learn enough to make responsible decisions. Read newspapers, inform yourself, and stay curious about what is going on.  Then vote for the candidate that comes closest to your point of view. Find out more Richard Betts is the Director of the Saltzmann Institute of War and Peace Studies, and the Director of the International Security Policy Program at the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University in New York.

Matt Kalmans is the CEO and co-founder of Applecart, a strategic political consultancy and lab. We discuss the power of voting, how social pressure can influence our actions, and the ways in which science and technology can help us understand our political behavior.  Human communication is the strongest tool for high civic engagement Most decisions we make on a day-to-day basis are based on what our friends and co-workers tell us. Real life conversations are deeply influental in our political behavior. Social pressure can bring about social change. Voting is our political power! Voting is our civic duty and is a matter of public record. Changing behavior from not-voting to voting continues in the long term. Higher voting turnout will lead to radically different people being voted into office. People who are not only solution-oriented, but will also be a better representative of us as a society! We respond to social pressure for civic duty People respond to social pressure for higher civic engagement and voter participation. Voting is understood to be a social good, and studies have shown that we respond to social pressure for higher civic engagement and voter participation. Find out more Matt Kalmans is the CEO and co-founder of Appelcart, a strategic political consultancy and lab that aggregates and processes publicly available online and off-line data with the goal to redefine how political organisations mobilize voters, how nonprofit organisations fundraise or how advocacy groups lobbies elected their officials.

Bernard Harcourt, an author, lawyer, and critical theorist, discusses the importance of civic engagement as a learned skill and the power of collective action. He emphasizes the significance of promoting civic engagement in children and young people, the daily practice of discussing political questions, communicating with representatives, writing reflections, and remembering to vote. Harcourt also encourages self-reflection to determine personal values and ethical beliefs. The podcast touches on the eternal struggle for justice and the initiative to support students' pursuit of social justice.

A sneak peak of the first episode of Future Hindsight — Bernard Harcourt discusses why and how civic engagement matters.

The Future Hindsight podcast launched on January 20, 2018. Join us for our premier episode where we interview Bernard Harcourt to speak about civic engagement and The Holder Initiative.