October 11, 2019
“Our enemy is not capitalism, it’s not conservatism, its cynicism.”
Billy Bragg is an acclaimed songwriter, activist, and author. We recently sat down in front of a live audience at Columbia University’s Holder Initiative to discuss his latest book, The Three Dimensions of Freedom, the current state of Western Democracy, how we got here, and what we can do to make it better.
October 4, 2019
“The government is us.”
Mila Atmos is the Founder and Host of Future Hindsight, this very podcast whose mission is to spark civic engagement. In this mini episode with Associate Producer Myriam Zumbühl, we discuss what the term civic engagement means, and why we can only be represented if we participate in our society.
September 27, 2019
“We need to be committed to participating in our democracy.”
Mila Atmos is the Founder and Host of Future Hindsight, this very podcast whose mission is to spark civic engagement. In this mini episode with Associate Producer Myriam Zumbühl, we discuss how the podcast came to be and why we all need to participate in our democracy.
September 13, 2019
“The only way we're going to change our democracy is if we participate in our democracy.”
Ezra Levin is the Co-Executive Director of Indivisible, whose mission is to cultivate a progressive grassroots movement. We discuss the urgency of democracy reform, structural issues that relate to our nation’s history, and how we can achieve a democracy that truly reflects the will of the people.
July 26, 2019
“We have a responsibility to create more equity and justice in the world.”
Melissa Mark-Viverito is the former Speaker of the New York City Council and co-founder of the 21 in ’21 Initiative. She argues that electing women into government is critical for our society and democracy because their perspectives and experiences need to be represented in budgets, public policy, and legislation.
July 19, 2019
“Though the future might be hard, humanity will persist.” In this upcoming season, we examine what our probable future is going to look like and interviewed guests with expertise in a variety of fields. We discuss the economics of healthcare, the probabilities of tolerable climate futures, the enormous collateral consequences of the current cash bail […]
April 27, 2019
“We have to make democracy deliver better.”
This is a bonus episode from the Democracy Works podcast, which examines what it means to live in a democracy. Host Jenna Spinelle interviews David Frum, the author of Trumpocracy: The Corruption of the American Republic. He discusses how we can use the tools of civic engagement to build the democracy we want for ourselves and for future generations.
November 16, 2018
“Education should prepare kids for life.”
Ted Dintersmith is an avid education advocate and the author of “What School Could Be: Insights and Inspiration from Teachers Across America”. We discuss why developing a child’s human potential as a fulfilled and self-supporting citizen should be the top priority, and how equitable access to high quality education is imperative to achieve this goal.
July 6, 2018
“Fighting corruption is not an end in and of itself, it's an effort toward improving society at large.”
Paul Lagunes is a Columbia University political scientist whose scholarship focuses on corruption in the Americas. His current book project is “Corruption and Oversight: Insights from Field Experiments”. We define corruption, discuss how it relates to democracy, and learn that voting is a tool to fight against it.