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: 

1. Get clarity on what you’re good at and what brings you joy.

2. 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: 

1. Get engaged on the local level so you can be part of the solution.

2. 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: 

1. Organize! Join an organization.

2. 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

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, county, and state elections

Nancy Rosenblum is the Senator Joseph Clark Professor of Ethics in Politics and Government Emerita at Harvard University, and the co-author of Ungoverning: The Attack on the Administrative State and the Politics of Chaos.

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 Nancy on X: 

https://x.com/Nlrosenblum 

Listen to our previous episode with Nancy: 

https://www.futurehindsight.com/episodes/episode/the-new-conspiracism-nancy-rosenblum

Sponsor: 

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: 

Host: Mila Atmos 

Guests: Nancy Rosenblum

Executive Producer: Mila Atmos

Producer: Zack Travis

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!

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: 

1. Use your platform!

2. 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

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 civic action toolkit recommendations are: 

1. Get involved in local politics

2. Resistance works and there are a lot of opportunities to resist authoritarianism 

David Noll is the co-author of Vigilante Nation: How State-Sponsored Terror Threatens Our Democracy. He’s also the Associate Dean for Faculty Research and Development and a professor of law at Rutgers Law School, as well as an academic fellow of the National Institute for Civil 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 David on X: 

https://x.com/davidlnoll 

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: David Noll

Executive Producer: Mila Atmos

Producer: Zack Travis

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 recommendations are: 

1. Show up to a school board meeting

2. Gather insight from engaging in your local community

Varun Nikore is Executive Director of the AAPI Victory Alliance, an organization that works to build Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) political power across the country by providing education on progressive issues; creating and advocating for policies that affect our communities; and building alliances with organizations to help AAPIs exert their power and be the margin of victory at the local, state, and national levels.

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 Varun on X: 

https://x.com/varunnikore

Sponsor: 

Thanks to Shopify for supporting Future Hindsight! 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: Varun Nikore

Executive Producer: Mila Atmos

Producer: Zack Travis

We discuss the intersection of feminism and democracy and discover how the egalitarian underpinnings of feminism are fundamental to an equal society. Abortion bans illustrate this well. “Any time there's a conflict between the Constitution and someone's personal bodily autonomy and the subject of rights under the law, that is anti-democratic.” 

Nicole’s civic action toolkit recommendations are: 

1. Start small, engaging directly in your community

2. Maintain hope and optimism and believe that you’re going where you want to go

Dr. C. Nicole Mason is the founder and president of Future Forward Women, a project at the New York Women’s Foundation.

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 Nicole on X: 

https://x.com/cnicolemason  

Sponsor: 

Thanks to SelectQuote! Go to SelectQuote.com/hopeful

Thanks to Shopify for supporting Future Hindsight! 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: Dr. C Nicole Mason

Executive Producer: Mila Atmos

Producer: Zack Travis

We discuss the importance of shifting our mindset to one that is infused with hope. Positive change comes when we choose hope. Though nobody can fix it all, we can all do something and make an impact. Sharon reminds us that if something is worth doing for everyone, it’s worth doing for one person. 

Sharon’s civic action toolkit recommendations are: 

1. Choose hope.

2. Get involved in an issue that is important to you because your actions do matter.

Sharon McMahon is the creator of “Sharon Says So” and host of the “Here’s Where it Gets Interesting” podcast. She's also the author of The Small and the Mighty: Twelve Unsung Americans Who Changed the Course of History, from the Founding to the Civil Rights Movement.

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 Sharon on Instagram: 

https://www.instagram.com/sharonsaysso/ 

Sponsor: 

Thanks to Shopify for supporting Future Hindsight! 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: Sharon McMahon

Executive Producer: Mila Atmos

Producer: Zack Travis