Gen Z for Change: Aidan Kohn-Murphy & Jack Petocz
October 6th, 2022
“Our coalition is reaching more people every single day than MSNBC, CNN, and Fox News combined.”
Aidan Kohn-Murphy is the founder and Executive Director of the organization Gen Z for Change, a youth-led nonprofit working to educate and create change on issues that affect young people. Jack Petocz is a political strategist who also mounted a campaign to recall his local school board in Florida to fight back against anti-LGBTQ board members.
With the tool of social media, Gen Z for Change, is reaching millions of youth across the country to mobilize them to be citizen changemakers. They’re leading school walkouts in the face of discriminatory laws, knocking on doors to turn out the vote, unseating anti LGBTQ school board members, raising money for abortion funds, voting themselves, and running for office.
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https://twitter.com/aidankohnmurphy
Follow Jack on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/Jack_Petocz
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Credits:
Host: Mila Atmos
Guest: Aidan Kohn-Murphy and Jack Petocz
Executive Producer: Mila Atmos
Producers: Zack Travis and Sara Burningham
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Gen Z for Change Transcript
Mila Atmos: [00:00:00] This episode is sponsored by the Jordan Harbinger Show, a podcast you should definitely check out. I enjoy the show and I think you will as well. Search for the Jordan Harbinger show. That's Jordan H A R BINGE R in Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you're listening now.
Mila Atmos: [00:00:21] Welcome to Future Hindsight, a podcast that takes big ideas about civic life and democracy and turns them into action items for you and me. I'm Mila Atmos. Hope is a practice. It's something we can choose to do. And it's also the primary renewable fuel source for activism. In spite of everything going on in the world, all the challenges we face, this show is doggedly, stubbornly hopeful. And that is why, at the end of every conversation here on Future Hindsight, I ask our guests what makes them hopeful. And often the answer is young people. From university professors to community organizers to writers, they say young people give them hope for the future. So this week on Future Hindsight, we're asking what makes young people hopeful? What motivates them? I'm guessing they're not pointing to us older folks as a source of hope. In fact, they would have every right to be pissed off by the way we seem to have hung our hopes on them, cleaning up the many messes we are in; the many messes we've had a large hand in making. So I'm thrilled to welcome two Gen Z citizen changemakers to the show. I feel like this generation is very connected to the stakes. Climate catastrophe, racism, authoritarianism, they get it. And it's high time we listen to them. Aidan Kohn-Murphy is the founder and executive director of Gen Z for Change, and Jack Petocz is a political strategist at Gen Z for change, working on the midterm elections. Gen Z for Change is a nonprofit organization leveraging social media to promote civil discourse and political action. Aidan and Jack, welcome to Future Hindsight. Thank you for joining us.
Aidan Kohn-Murphy: [00:02:15] Thanks so much for having us. Jack Petocz: [00:02:16] Yeah, super excited to be here.
Mila Atmos: [00:02:18] So, Aidan, I kind of want to start with hope. We'll end with it, too. But I'm struck by, to borrow a phrase, the audacity of hope for young people. We face such huge challenges, and there does seem to be a generational divide in terms of
the urgency with which we treat those challenges. You all have had your lives turned upside down by COVID and lockdowns; your futures are threatened by climate change; high school shootings are a fact of life; Trump was the president for most of your teenage years; you were born after 9/11; and we've waged war in Afghanistan your entire lifetime so far. And statistics tell us the chances of your lives being better than your parents are growing ever slimmer. So how do you maintain hope?
Aidan Kohn-Murphy: [00:03:04] It's a good question, especially after listing all of the very, very rough things that have happened in our lifetimes. I mean, to some of them. I think that hope is the only option for young people. I think that we want to make change and we want to make a difference. And we can't do that without feeling like we have the power and ability to do something that can create or lead to a better world. The way that I view things is if I leave like a positive impact on the world, if I help like one person, if Gen Z for Change is able to like, to support in any way at least one person, then we are leaving our positivity on the world. And I think that that's the way that you have to view it, especially when you grow up through a billion concurrent crises.
Mila Atmos: [00:04:02] So Jack, I had listed a parade of horribles here in that last question, but you tell me, what are the issues that are most pressing for your generation?
Jack Petocz: [00:04:11] I think for a long time we've seen politicians in power kind of ignore our generation as we've been forced to endure such abuses. And right now, analyzing research from sources such as the Harvard Kennedy School, we're seeing that young people are being affected by the things that are most targeted to us. We're getting our rights taken away. We're losing our right to abortion. We're losing our right to identity in public schools. Looking at the economy, inflation has adversely affected young people and minority communities. So when you look at the issues that are predominantly affecting young people, that is what we are riled up about. That is what we are ready to fight about.
Mila Atmos: [00:04:47] So Aidan, all that can seem utterly overwhelming, but you have stepped up, right? You founded Gen Z for Change. What are the big goals and hopes for your organization?
Aidan Kohn-Murphy: [00:04:59] When I founded Gen Z for Change, I was not trying to create a nonprofit. I was a high school junior and I was trying to organize a phone bank for Joe Biden and things got very out of hand through the power of relational organizing. I ended up recruiting what was initially about 20 of my friends to join me with a phone bank for Joe Biden so we could use our platforms as TikTokers to support Joe Biden. And from there it started snowballing and creators would say, "Oh, before we start planning, let let me text my friend who has a million followers." "Let me text my friend who has 2 million followers." And so it ended up going from there. And by Election Day, it was a coalition of, I think, 400 creators with a combined following of 200 million. Now that's 500 creators with a combined following of half a billion. And I think that if I had looked at things in the big picture or thought too far ahead, Gen Z for Change would never have existed. Because the approach that we had from the beginning, whether it was TikTok for Biden and then eventually to our transition to Gen Z for Change, our approach was take this day by day and do what we can today to set ourselves up for success, to make the world a slightly better place. And the stars happened to align and we were able to scale and build a very successful non-profit. But I think going into it because the goal was like to make change, not to create a nonprofit, we were able to prioritize goals for our work, not for our organizational structure, because that's not what we were doing at first. It just happened to be the most effective way that we thought we could do so. And so I think that that's the biggest thing is that like we are always adapting, is that like our commitment to our values is much greater than our commitment to whether it's ourselves or branding. And I think that that's something that we always try to keep front and center in our minds as we continue our work.
Mila Atmos: [00:07:04] Yeah, that's a good reminder to stay on mission, right, to pursue the goal. So we're going to go from the macro, 500 creators and half a billion followers, I mean, that's huge. But we often talk about the importance of local races here on Future Hindsight. So going from those big numbers to on-the-ground in real life activism, Jack, you led the walkout over the don't say gay bill in Florida and you founded the recall Flagler County School Board campaign to oust two anti-LGBTQ members of the school board. And you succeeded. Tell us about that victory and how did you get there?
Jack Petocz: [00:07:44] Yeah, so I think a lot of the times local elections are often, you know, they're not in the limelight. You know, federal elections, of course, are always going to receive the press. They're always going to receive the attention. But in reality,
local elections are what affect us the most. So growing up in a red rural part of Florida, I've always experienced, you know, a lot of hate and bigotry in these local bodies, these local boards. And, you know, they adversely affected me growing up. They would remove LGBTQ narratives from our libraries. They would ban things such as safe space stickers from being in our classroom doors. So these things had always affected me as a young gay child. So I decided to take action and fight against it. So I founded an activism organization about two years ago, and over the past two years, we've worked to mobilize about 100 youth across our efforts where we've held protests. We've knocked on tens of thousands of doors and talked to voters directly about why we feel certain school board candidates do not reflect our values and why we should support candidates who support, you know, love and inclusivity. And through all of these efforts, through hundreds and hundreds of hours of hard work, in addition to school work and my other efforts, we were successful in the end. Just this past August, we ousted one of the members and then the other member's going to a runoff with a progressive candidate, and the progressive candidate is most likely to win. So very, very happy about that outcome.
Mila Atmos: [00:09:01] It's one of those things where people forget that we really do have the power to influence local elections. I mean, you're talking about 100 people, which is in the big scheme of things, not that many people, but to go door-to-door and talk to people directly about your issues and your values I think is so powerful. So I have a follow up for you here, Jack. We just had Jonathan Friedman on from PEN America to talk about book bans on the show, and I wondered what you're hearing and seeing about book bans in Florida and elsewhere of course, after you have led the walkout and advocated to get those books back.
Jack Petocz: [00:09:37] Unfortunately, it's worsening here in Florida. So Moms for Liberty is this big parental fringe group. It was started in Florida, and it's slowly making its way throughout the nation. And they are basically going after any themes of inclusivity within our libraries. So local school districts across Florida are being targeted by these book bans. We're seeing narratives of LGBTQ stories, people of color stories, you know, anything that could challenge their beliefs, any story that doesn't portray a white heterosexual relationship. So it's unfortunately worsening. But, you know, we just have to continue to counteract it. We have to continue to to protest to go to these school board meetings and advocate for change. Yeah.
Mila Atmos: [00:10:17] So I have a question about the elections for the school board. Will that then actually influence what you can do about the book bans?
Jack Petocz: [00:10:26] It will. So, when the don't say gay bill was being filed, it was written to be intentionally vague so that school districts can kind of impose whatever restrictions they want based upon what fits best in the local community. So typically, in the redder counties, you have more intense restrictions, you know, outright bans on pride flags and, you know, forced outing of students. And in a more progressive and urban area districts, you have kind of lessened restrictions and sanctions. So in these local school board elections, if we can elect more progressive candidates, we won't have such heightened restrictions in our local school districts. So, you know, with book banning when it comes about, they are more apt to support inclusivity and keep the books within our libraries.
Mila Atmos: [00:11:08] Got it. Aidan, I want to talk about the power of digital organizing. Where and how do you see it as most effective? Because sometimes it's being derided as slacktivism and, you know, how silly to think that we can meme our way out of disaster. But that's probably missing the power of the tools that you're using. What has been the most impactful action that has really moved the needle in your experience?
Aidan Kohn-Murphy: [00:11:34] Digital organizing is an incredibly powerful tool that I think is very frequently misunderstood by adults. There are two components to the role that digital organizing can play. I think one, there is the awareness component where the numbers that you are able to reach on social media, the numbers that we are able to reach are huge. And when we're bringing young people accurate information, especially on platforms where misinformation is running rampant, this is for a lot of people where young people get their news. This is where young people are learning about the issues that are affecting their communities if they're not already experiencing it firsthand. And I think that the awareness piece plays a big role in shifting dialogue and shifting the cultural perspective on these issues. So that's the awareness piece. Our coalition is reaching more people every single day than MSNBC, CNN, and Fox News combined. That's awareness. And then I think that there is the action piece and we at Gen Z for Change, we always try to to keep the action piece front and center, where you've gotten the awareness you've heard from us. Now, what can you do to actually
get involved yourself? And the way that we do that have been through many different ways. I think one of the most successful has been our labor efforts that have been led by Deputy Executive director Elise Joshi. We have an amazing team of coders and digital strategists such as Sean Wiggs and Sofia Ongele, and they both developed codes that would spam the Starbucks job application portal, where they're trying to hire scabs for fired unionizing workers. And so, but by providing that tool to young people, we were able to spam the Starbucks job application portal with over 140,000 false job applications to prevent them from their union busting tactics. So there is that piece. There's also the $2.3-$2.4 Million that our director of political strategy, Olivia Julianna, raised, that split among 50 abortion funds across the country. And I think that there are all of these clear paths to action that we have been able to provide that I think have gotten a lot of people involved. And so, yeah, Jack, do you have anything to add?
Jack Petocz: [00:13:59] Yeah, I also want to comment on the communication factor of digital organizing. So when I was planning the don't say gay walkouts, I don't think that I could ever have scaled it in a week to the level that it was without the tool of social media. You know, I was communicating through Instagram DMs for that week that I was organizing and I was able to talk to people in San Francisco, in Key West, you know, in Sarasota. And that is why the don't say gay walkouts was so incredibly successful. And that's how we were able to mobilize thousands and thousands of youth. Without that incredible tool, we wouldn't have been able to have that reach, you know? So it is an incredible tool with digital organizing, with coding, and with awareness. But it's also great to mobilize people on the ground as well.
Mila Atmos: [00:14:45] We're taking a short break, but when we come back, we're going to talk about youth voter apathy and what Gen Z for Change is doing to tackle it. But first, thanks to the Jordan Harbinger Show for supporting Future Hindsight. Jordan combines in-depth interviews with some of the world's most fascinating minds, like former U.S. Senator and Representative Barbara Boxer. You always learn something useful from these conversations how to get tough when the odds are stacked against you, or how to seek common ground and get things done when it seems impossible. And that's just the beginning. Jordan responds to listener questions on Feedback Friday episodes on a range of topics like how to ask for a raise at work, or how to help your relative escape a cult. Whether Jordan is conducting an interview or giving advice to a listener, you'll find something that you can apply to your own life. That could be
discovering a slight mindset tweak that changes how you see the world or learning how to ask for advice the right way. Search for the Jordan Harbinger show. That's Jordan H A R BINGE R in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're listening now.
The Democracy Group: [00:15:53] When election season rolls around, it's easy to get distracted by the candidates, the polls and the pundits. But elections, how they're run, how they're funded, how they're covered by the media and who votes in them are critical to the health of American democracy. Something that you might have noticed is in some trouble right now. 2022 midterms. What's at stake? A series from the Democracy Group podcast network will go beyond horse race politics to look at some of the deeper issues that could shape American democracy for the next two years and beyond. You'll hear from scholars and other experts from across our network of podcasts devoted to democracy, civic engagement, and civil discourse. Subscribe to 2022 Midterms: What's At Stake, wherever you're listening right now.
Mila Atmos: [00:16:49] And now let's return to my conversation with Aidan Kohn- Murphy and Jack Petocz. So, Jack, when you talk to your peers about the news and legislation and the issues, what are the most common blind spots, like what are younger people unaware of, especially if you're organizing them to walk out and knock on doors, what is the feedback that you hear from your peers about messaging?
Jack Petocz: [00:17:14] I think a lot of the time there's a lot of voter apathy, unfortunately, in our generation. I think a lot of young people feel like their vote doesn't matter because politicians have been in power for decades and have not done anything to address the issues that are affecting us most. So I think we just have to counteract that and get candidates into power that reflect the values of Gen Z and who look like Gen Z, who reflect the diversity of Gen Z. You need to get young people in power. You need to get people of color in power. You need to get LGBTQ people in power and show them that, you know you are represented in Congress, you're represented in these races. And that is what's going to mobilize people, not politicians constantly pedaling talking points and going to Congress and not doing anything about them. So I think just getting people into power that reflect the diversity of Gen Z and, you know, who care about the issues that are affecting us most is what's going to counteract that voter apathy. And we're seeing that trend already. We had record turnout in the 2018 midterm elections. We had on par with record turnout in the 2020 presidential election.
You know, and we're getting candidates in office like Maxwell Frost, who's the first Gen Z member to ever be elected to Congress. He's most likely going to be elected now here in November. So I think we're seeing very encouraging signs. But yeah.
Mila Atmos: [00:18:26] So from all that you've said, do you believe that 18 plus year olds really, you know, are going to turn out to vote in the midterms? Both of you?
Jack Petocz: [00:18:35] Very hopeful. It's going to be my first election that I can vote in. So that's very exciting. I was briefed by the HYP, Harvard Youth Poll, in July, and they said that, you know, they were on track for record turnout to exceed the 2018 levels. So that was very encouraging to see.
Aidan Kohn-Murphy: [00:18:50] I'm also confident. I think, that especially what we've seen in primary and special elections post the Dobbs decision, as well as all of the amazing on the ground organizing, has made it very clear that young people are not going to take the curtailing of of our generation's and our species's basic human rights, like, we're not going to take that lying down. I mean, I'm very hopeful that young people are going to come out in record numbers. I think that digital organizing, I think, can be a big part of that. I think that on the ground, organizing can be a big part of that. And I think the way that we think about voting is a big part of it. I think that sometimes young people are resistant to voting because they don't think that it can make a difference or they don't think that it's significant. And I think that what's important to think about is that like, imagining your vote as just one tool in your civic engagement toolkit or toolbox, rather, you have all of these tools that you can use to make change, and this is just one of them. So it's not... So it's added, it's not just you vote and then you've made your positive difference for the day. No, it's you vote, and then what do you do? You vote for the candidate that you think is going to make the world a better place and lead us to a slightly more just society. And then you go out and do the all the other things in your power to make that a reality. So I think that that's important.
Mila Atmos: [00:20:17] So since you just mentioned your Civic Action Toolkit, is this basically what you have to explain over and over to your peers that you need to build a box of tools and one of them is voting, or what do you find you have to explain a lot?
Aidan Kohn-Murphy: [00:20:32] I don't really think of it as explaining. I think of it as kind of making, like making my case a bit because I can understand why some people feel like their vote couldn't make a difference. I understand where they're coming from. I think that I try to make my case for why your vote actually does matter and why you can make a difference. And I think that part of the messaging has been diluted by party establishment of like, you need to cast your vote or everything is going to get so much worse, which is true. But because it's just politics, it centers action only on voting. And there are so many ways that you can make a difference, and there are so many ways that social movements have been more effective than political movements. And there are so many ways, and almost every major systemic change has been a social movement that led to political action and put pressure on lawmakers. And I think that remembering that, like that voting is additive and it's not your sole piece of action.
Mila Atmos: [00:21:35] Yeah, well put. So, Jack, since you have been knocking on doors, I'm curious what you hear in those conversations that you have as a Gen Z activist...
Jack Petocz: [00:21:44] I think that people are tired of the politicizing of a lot of our key institutions here in America. I think they're tired of education being under attack. I think they're tired of the constant back and forth between parties. So I think they really just want to, you know, go back to a time when we all understand each other and we're ready to make progress together and ready to progress the nation together. And everything isn't so tumultuous. Everything isn't so, so, so scary and dangerous and, you know, how we don't have to frame voting as a defense system, unfortunately. So I think, you know, we just want to make progress together. We want to go back to a time period when we can do that. And we're not fighting for basic human rights, unfortunately. And that's basically what I'm hearing is, you know, we're just tired of having to constantly fight back against attempts to suppress our voices, to suppress our basic human rights.
Mila Atmos: [00:22:35] Um hum. Yeah. I'm also reflecting here about how centering on just voting cuts out a whole bunch of your generation, right. To kind of say, sit this one out until you can vote and, you know, your activism is basically useless without your vote. So, Aidan, what could progressives be doing better to communicate with and activate Gen Z? What are the tools they need to pick up and run with?
Aidan Kohn-Murphy: [00:23:00] I think the biggest thing that I would say is listen to and uplift Gen Z, because I know that for a lot of groups and organizations, staffers that I've been in conversation with, are like, "How do we make young people do this? How do we make young people do that?" And I think that that framework is wrong because they are trying to fit Gen Z around their, like the structures that they understand and the tactics and messaging that they understand rather than actually like uplifting the Gen Z advocates and activists who understand their own generation and are putting in the work already. And I think that's the biggest part where the reliance on traditional campaign tactics is not going to be as effective for our generation as it is for previous generations. I don't know about the rest of my generation, but I know that I very rarely pick up the phone. And when I get a call from a campaign, I very rarely talk to them, even if I myself am a former phone banker and future phone banker. So I think that that that being that being able to adapt to the actual perspective of young people and not being too set in your ways, I think is the biggest piece of advice that I would give.
Mila Atmos: [00:24:24] How about you, Jack?
Jack Petocz: [00:24:25] Yeah, I think I totally agree with you, Aidan, and I think that young people just want a seat at the table. They just want to be heard. They want our experiences to be valued. I think a lot of the times navigating political spaces as a young activist, I'm told that, you know, I don't have enough experience in making political statements that, you know, I should kind of wait until I'm done with college. You know, I was told before I was 18 that I wasn't even a voting age yet. How could you be thinking that you're making such a change in the world? And one thing that I think that the Biden administration has done great is that they've actually involved Gen Z activists at every level of government. Gen Z for Change has experienced this over and over again, where on a variety of issues we've been invited to the top levels of government. Anyone from Secretary Cardona to the Second Gentleman to the President himself. So I think that, you know, that is something that the White House is doing great. I would love to see it incorporated into other levels of government. But.
Mila Atmos: [00:25:14] Yeah, I think this is the plight of young people that they basically get used as pawns.
Aidan Kohn-Murphy: [00:25:18] Yeah. If I can just add on, I think that that the question that more established figures often give and often ask to young people is "how can we get your message out there" rather than what it should be, which is "how can we uplift your voice" where instead of trying to adapt like a series of principles that that you're told by someone in Gen Z, actually work with people in Gen Z. Work with us to make this targeted messaging, because I think that sometimes adults, and I actually think all of us, have a hard time admitting when something new comes along that perplexes us and confuses us and that we don't understand. Social media and social media messaging, a lot of it is not intuitive. Like it's not something that you're able to master. Going into it with no experience and we've seen a lot of political campaigns try and fail to use social media, whether it be TikTok or Twitter or Instagram. So like it's it's not enough just to be on the platforms. It's about working with people in Gen Z who understand what appeals to our generation and uplifting their voice rather than just repackaging their messaging.
Mila Atmos: [00:26:49] What would that look like for adults to uplift your messages? In an ideal world, you know, as opposed to trying to package you into what they want to say.
Aidan Kohn-Murphy: [00:27:02] I think just just part of it is giving young people the platform to talk about the issues that they care about. I think especially for political parties or governmental bodies, that's what it looks like, is giving young people access to actually talk to policymakers and people who are enforcing this policy, which I think the Biden administration has done a good job of giving this actual platform and giving young people the access to talk to these people.
Mila Atmos: [00:27:34] Well, I think you really hit the nail on the head here about it being a little perplexing for us, like it can totally blow up in your face a la Matt Gaetz and the thumb comment becoming the fuel of a massive fundraising campaign, which you mentioned earlier, and so unexpected, like dark Brandon. You know, like, what do you think about that? Aidan, go first.
Aidan Kohn-Murphy: [00:27:56] Social media is impossible to predict. I guarantee you the things that will be viral in a week, if you try to explain them to us now, they would seem absolutely bizarre. I think that that being able to think on your feet and being able
to adapt and understanding that things change rapidly on social media, whether it's trends or or engagement, where we're on TikTok, you can go from ten views to 500,000 views in 10 seconds, like social media and especially TikTok are so different from any other medium.
Mila Atmos: [00:28:33] So I have a follow up question here for you, Jack. When you think about Tik Tok, do you know which ones are going to be taking off and which ones won't?
Jack Petocz: [00:28:43] Truly, I do not. You know, it's all a matter of chance and what the algorithm picks up. It depends on how viral the news story is, how much content is pushed out there already. So it's kind of just all about chance, you know, some Tiktoks that I put not a lot of effort into, do great. Some Tiktoks that have put a ton of effort into, you know, they kind of flop and they don't do that great. And so it's really, it's random. It's just what the algorithm wants, you know, to uplift on people's feeds.
Mila Atmos: [00:29:08] So then, Jack, what is your message about the midterms?
Jack Petocz: [00:29:12] I think that for the midterms, I just want to get young people out there to vote. You know, unfortunately, that is what's constantly said, but that is how we are going to create change in the world today. And I think that we have to, unfortunately view this as a defense mechanism against the terrible things that are ongoing in the world. You know, if we want to maintain our right to abortion, if we want to maintain equity and education, if we want to finally progress on issues such as climate change and gun control, we have to elect candidates that reflect our values, that are going to make this change in every level of government. And I just want young people to feel like they matter, that their voices matter. And, you know, these politicians being in power for a long time, I think we elect candidates like Maxwell Frost to Congress that we can finally create real change and, you know, get ourselves on a pathway to success for us all.
Mila Atmos: [00:30:01] So speaking of Maxwell Frost, do you guys actively endorse candidates?
Jack Petocz: [00:30:08] Coming soon.
Aidan Kohn-Murphy: [00:30:09] Work in progress.
Mila Atmos: [00:30:10] Got it. So Aidan, what are two things a Gen Z listener can do to
join your efforts?
Aidan Kohn-Murphy: [00:30:17] One thing would be to check us out on social media channels at Gen Z F O R for change on all platforms. We are very frequently putting our efforts up there and providing people with with with ways that they can get involved. Another thing I would say, which doesn't necessarily directly relate to Gen Z for Change, but it relates to the mission is: Get involved. Like, as much as you are willing and able work in your city council member, interning at your city council member's office, if that's an opportunity available to you. Phone bank for a local campaign. There are so many ways to get involved and there are so many places that need interns and volunteers and they are out there. I promise. And I think that getting involved, especially at a young age in the civic process, is one of the most effective things that you can do to set yourself up to be a changemaker in the future.
Mila Atmos: [00:31:18] Good advice. So, Jack, what are two things a Gen X listener can do to support your work?
Jack Petocz: [00:31:26] I would say the same thing. Follow us on social media and constantly uplifts our content and our messaging. You know, if you are in a position of power, always, always, always uplift our voices, give us a seat at the table. And oftentimes older people are the ones that are in a financial position to support our efforts. So if you would like to please donate to Gen Z for Change to help support the incredible work that is ongoing in the organization.
Mila Atmos: [00:31:49] So I know I said at the very top that we'd cycle back to hope. As you said, it's really not optional. We don't have a plan B without hope. So right now, what is making you hopeful and where are you recharging your hope? How about Aidan first?
Aidan Kohn-Murphy: [00:32:06] It's challenging because when you try to think about hope analytically, it's hard to understand where hope comes from and where you can
get hope from, especially in a time when things are very, very, very, very challenging. But where I get hope is by both watching and witnessing the young people that I work with and the young people around me who are so dedicated to putting changemaking and putting their advocacy above themselves and above any personal impact. I think that that is so inspiring and inspires me into action, which is a big source of hope. And I also think when it comes to hope and especially with recharging, you've got to make time for the people that you love and the people who bring you joy. Self-care and finding moments of happiness and joy is not selfish. And if you don't do it, then you're not going to be able to put yourself fully into your work and into making change. So I think that that's that's the biggest source, I would say.
Mila Atmos: [00:33:31] How about you, Jack? What makes you hopeful and how do you recharge?
Jack Petocz: [00:33:36] I think what makes me hopeful is seeing the resistance that's happening right now, especially in the younger generations. We've seen millions march this year for a variety of issues that affect us. We've seen so many testify in government meetings and hopefully that will channel into civic engagement. And that is what keeps me hopeful. Going from a larger scale to a smaller scale, I think what keeps me hopeful is the little DMs I get. You know, it's kids who are struggling with their identity telling me that they felt comfortable coming out because of my efforts, that they felt, you know, worthy in this world. And that small change in the world really keeps me going. And it makes my week whenever I get a message like that.
Mila Atmos: [00:34:13] That is indeed very hopeful. Well, thank you both, Aidan and Jack, for joining us on Future Hindsight. It was really a pleasure to have you on.
Aidan Kohn-Murphy: [00:34:21] Thank you so much. Jack Petocz: [00:34:23] Yes, thank you.
Mila Atmos: [00:34:24] Aiden Kohn-Murphy is the founder and executive director of Gen Z for Change. And Jack Petocz is a political strategist at Gen Z for Change and the founder of Recall Flagler County School Board. Next week On Future Hindsight, we're
joined by Ryan Busse, a former firearms executive, senior policy advisor to Giffords, and author of Gunfight: My Battle Against the Industry That Radicalized America.
Ryan Busse: [00:34:53] This "Hell No ism" which now infects so much of our politics, including right down to our local school board elections, where we often see this. bunch of parents get together, if they can't have their way 100%, then they're just going to like raise hell until they get it, like that started with NRA-ism.
Mila Atmos: [00:35:06] That's next time on Future Hindsight. To hear all the latest on the show, find Future Hindsight on twitter. Follow us at @futur_hindsight and our DMs are open. We'd love to hear from you about anything from what your civic engagement toolkits look like to suggestions for guests. Search for Future Hindsight on Twitter now. This episode was produced by Zack Travis and Sara Burningham. Until next time, stay engaged.
The Democracy Group: [00:35:43] This podcast is part of the Democracy Group.