Future Hindsight

Future Hindsight

A weekly show that takes big ideas about civic life and democracy and turns them into action items for you.

Episodes

We discuss the great reshuffle of land in the last few centuries and the intersection of land, power, and democracy. 

 

Michael’s civic action toolkit recommendations are: 

  1. Support conservation easements

  2. Learn about the indigenous communities that have been displaced from the ...

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We discuss the anti-democratic and reactionary nihilistic nature of the Christian nationalist movement. Christian nationalism is an ideology that functions as a tool for a leadership driven organization machine that turns mythology into political power. 

 

Katherine’s civic action toolkit recommendations are: 

  1. Mobilize the pro-democracy ma...

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We discuss mobile voting as the definitive way to make elections more accessible for everyone — especially for Americans with disabilities and overseas citizens — and therefore finally increase turnout in significant numbers. 

 

Bradley’s civic action toolkit recommendations are: 

  1. Sign up and get involved at mobilevoting.org

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March 13, 2025 57 mins

We discuss whether executive orders can change the Constitution, the ongoing transformation of executive power, and the true intersection of the Constitution and democracy.

 

Julie’s civic action toolkit recommendations are: 

  1. Get a pocket Constitution and read it over with a red pen!

  2. Read more

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March 6, 2025 49 mins

We discuss why joining a club or an association is the glue that binds civic society to democracy. They are the classrooms for our citizenship!

 

Pete’s civic action toolkit recommendations are: 

  1. Join a club!

  2. Re-inhabit the world that you’re in, by learning about it.

 

...

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We discuss a vision for the Democratic Party that goes back to its roots and represents working people and champions issues such as healthcare, student debt, and wages through a class lens. 

Faiz’s civic action toolkit recommendations are: 

  1. Call your member of Congress. Write a letter to the editor.

  2. Read more

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February 20, 2025 55 mins

We discuss the influence of Karl Marx in American politics and the continued relevance of Marxism today.

 

Andrew’s civic action toolkit recommendations are: 

  1. Form a reading group to change your collective political consciousness

  2. Read something challenging at an intellectual, ...

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February 13, 2025 47 mins

We discuss that Americans should prize truth over tribe. A lot of disinformation is hiding behind the First Amendment – using the right to free speech to tell lies. The muddy media and information ecosystem is turning us against our neighbors.

 

Barb’s civic action toolkit recommendations are: 

  1. Meet people in real life because when we know...

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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: 

  1. Focus on state and local go...

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January 30, 2025 49 mins

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: 

  1. Organize in your community with like-minded Americans 

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January 23, 2025 40 mins

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: 

  1. Know what your rights are and speak up.

  2. Read more

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January 16, 2025 43 mins

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 recommendati...

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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 secto...

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January 2, 2025 49 mins

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: 

  1. Organize! Join an organization.

  2. Create conditions where people can govern and decide the direction of their coun...

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December 26, 2024 58 mins

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 l...

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December 19, 2024 51 mins

We discuss how ungoverning is the equivalent of a bull in a china shop. Many institutions will be destroyed, but we don't know which ones and to what extent!

 

Nancy’s civic action toolkit recommendations are: 

  1. Don’t let unpredictability strip you of your agency

  2. Vote in local,...

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December 12, 2024 47 mins

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: 

  1. Talk to your town or county clerk and offer to help.

  2. Be a poll worker for a day!

 

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December 5, 2024 51 mins

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: 

  1. Use your platform!

  2. Do ...

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November 26, 2024 51 mins

We discuss the long history of vigilante democracy in the US and its return in our current politics. The playing field is currently tilted in favor of these vigilante policies, but blue states can level the playing field by playing constitutional hardball. David Noll reminds us that the American people have beat back movements to use vigilante power to enforce a reactionary agenda time and again.

 

David’s...

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November 21, 2024 50 mins

We discuss how the Democratic party continues to ignore AAPI voters in schools despite their increasing power at the ballot box and the necessity to build coalitions with them to win elections. Between 2016 and 2020, voter turnout in this community increased by 47%. The near doubling of AAPI voters in Georgia and Arizona effectively made the Biden victory in 2020 possible. 

 

Varun’s civic action toolkit r...

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