Stay ConnectedA show that takes the big ideas in civic life and democracy and turns them into action items for everyday people.
Join host Mila Atmos for in-depth conversations with citizen changemakers that inspire civic action and hope. Citizen participation is fundamental to a thriving democracy. Now more than ever, our engagement is critical.
Copyright: © 2023 Mila Atmos
Braxton Brewington is the Press Secretary of the Debt Collective. We discuss the origins of the Debt Collective in the Rolling Jubilee and its history in canceling student debt. Their example is a powerful model for canceling student debt, which continues to be important for all Americans in this election cycle and beyond.
Education is a public good, yet the cost of college over the past couple of decades has risen eight times faster than the average wages. The average student debt is $30,000-$35,000. Two thirds of student debt is owed by women, and a large number of student loan borrowers don't have a college degree. This means that they are paying down student debt on non-college degree wages. The Debt Collective started out as the Rolling Jubilee, which canceled tens of millions of dollars of debt and gave instant relief to borrowers. Canceling student debt creates millions of jobs, boosts the economy, and advances racial and gender justice. Although the Biden administration has canceled billions in student debt, it is only making a small dent in over $1.7 trillion worth of student loans.
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Credits:
Host: Mila Atmos
Guests: Braxton Brewington
Executive Producer: Mila Atmos
Producer: Zack Travis
Rachel Bitecofer is a political scientist and election forecaster turned political strategist. Her most recent book is Hit 'Em Where it Hurts: How to Save Democracy by Beating Republicans at Their Own Game. We discuss why it's time for Democratic Party candidates to embrace negative partisanship in their campaigns.
Half of America's electorate doesn't vote – even in the most consequential elections – because they aren't interested in politics. The Knight Foundation took a very large sample survey of non voters and discovered that the most commonly cited reason for not voting is lack of interest. The US has raised and created a political culture that encourages lack of civic participation and views politics as dirty. Turning the tide on disinterest and bolstering American democracy must include fixing the civic culture.
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Host: Mila Atmos
Guests: Rachel Bitecofer
Executive Producer: Mila Atmos
Producer: Zack Travis
Richard L. Hasen is Professor of Law and Political Science at UCLA and director of UCLA Law's Safeguarding Democracy Project. We discuss his most recent book, A Real Right to Vote: How a Constitutional Amendment Can Safeguard American Democracy.
A country that believes that its people are equal should ensure equal voting rights. However, the US Constitution does not currently protect the right to vote. All adult non-felon citizens should have a constitutional right to vote where they reside. That vote should be equally weighted and eligible voters should not face unnecessary burdens to voting. Furthermore, minority voters should have voter protection and Congress should have broad powers to protect voting rights. Even though the US has not enacted a constitutional amendment since the 1970s, Americans should start thinking about a movement towards passing a voting rights amendment with the expectation that it might take decades. Rich Hasen reminds us that "Nobody is coming to save American democracy. We have to do it ourselves, and people are stepping up."
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https://www.futurehindsight.com/episodes/a-real-right-to-vote-richard-l-hasen
Credits:
Host: Mila Atmos
Guests: Richard L. Hasen
Executive Producer: Mila Atmos
Producer: Zack Travis
Phillip Atiba Solomon is the chair and Carl I. Hovland Professor of African American Studies, Professor of Psychology at Yale University, and co-founder of the Center for Policing Equity. We discuss policing equity, investing in communities, and taking police out of the mental health crisis business.
Policing equity is multi-faceted and requires collaboration with communities. Proven solutions to reduce violence include anti-poverty investments, stopping low level traffic stops, sending non-police to mental health crises or to interventions for the houseless, as well as having clear limits and rules to when force can be used.
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Credits:
Host: Mila Atmos
Guests: Phillip Atiba Solomon
Executive Producer: Mila Atmos
Producer: Zack Travis
Sam Wang is the Director of the Electoral Innovation Lab and a professor of neuroscience at Princeton University. We discuss how we can better understand the current state of district maps across the US, and how they can be made more fair and representative of their constituents.
Gerrymandering is not only unfair but also anti-democratic. It favors one party over another, effectively shutting out the possibility of accurate representation in a legislative body. The current electoral system forces voters into opposite camps and then rewards them for doing so. For example, primary elections reward a partisan loyalist who is unlikely to represent the views of the majority of voters. But, local and state elections are a hope for the future because voters are less polarized.
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Host: Mila Atmos
Guests: Sam Wang
Executive Producer: Mila Atmos
Producer: Zack Travis
Jess Piper is the Executive Director of Blue Missouri and the host of the Dirt Road Democrats podcast. We discuss the reality of living in rural Missouri, the state of education, and the dearth of Democratic candidates across the state.
Rural candidates have little to no support from the state party, but Republicans enjoy the support of local churches. One-third of Missouri is rural, but there is not a single elected Democrat representing these areas. Uncontested races are bad for democracy and without Democrats in the race, there is no contest of ideas. In Missouri, for example, multiple school districts only have four days of school, but there have not been elected Democrats who are willing to push back and properly fund these public schools.
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Host: Mila Atmos
Guests: Jess Piper
Executive Producer: Mila Atmos
Producer: Zack Travis
Ken Harbaugh is the host of the Burn the Boats podcast, a former United States Navy pilot, and executive producer of Against All Enemies, a documentary film that explores the critical role of military veterans in domestic violent extremist groups.
We discuss why veterans are equally sought out to work in Fortune 500 companies and to be in leadership positions of extremist groups. Most veterans make a successful transition to civilian life, but a small minority become radicalized. Anger and resentment is a common through line for them. Fueled by the big lie about the 2020 election, extremists continue to become more popular. In fact, the big lie has torn our country apart. Ken stresses that "fundamentally, our elections are secure and the will of the people will be honored in November of 2024, as it was in November of 2020."
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Host: Mila Atmos
Guests: Ken Harbaugh
Executive Producer: Mila Atmos
Producer: Zack Travis
Cynthia Richie Terrell is the founder and executive director of RepresentWomen. We discuss institutional reforms that can reduce the barriers for women to run, win, and govern.
There are approximately 520,000 elected office holders in the U.S., but incumbency is the biggest barrier to electing more women. Term limits make more seats open to competition. In addition, ranked choice voting eliminates vote splitting if there is more than one woman on the ballot. In NYC, for example, the combination of term limits and ranked choice voting has resulted in a city council where 61% of the seats are held by women. Policy solutions that address the structural barriers do work.
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Credits:
Host: Mila Atmos
Guests: Cynthia Richie Terrell
Executive Producer: Mila Atmos
Producer: Zack Travis
Anat Shenker-Osorio is the host of the Words to Win By podcast and the Principal of ASO Communications. We discuss the winning messages for 2024 and the importance for pro-democracy voters to turn out on Election Day.
2024 is yet another do-or-die election for American democracy, and thus the first and most important message to Americans is to vote. We need to marshal a sense of defiance to participate because if we don't decide for ourselves, someone else will decide for us. This election is a contest between freedom and fascism. What's at stake is whether the US is going to continue to be a place where citizens have the freedom to cast their votes and have them counted.
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Host: Mila Atmos
Guests: Anat Shenker-Osorio
Executive Producer: Mila Atmos
Producer: Zack Travis
Marietje Schaake is International Policy Director at Stanford University Cyber Policy Center, International Policy Fellow at Stanford's Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, and also serves on the UN's A.I. Advisory Body. We take a deep dive into how the digital revolution can still fulfill its promise of a democratic revolution. In other words: make A.I. work for democracy.
Over the past 20 years, power became more and more concentrated in the hands of big tech companies, while both Democratic and Republican administrations have chosen to trust market forces, rather than intervening to put on some guardrails. Unsurprisingly, public interest issues are under-addressed. Voluntary commitments by tech companies are often not powerful or enforceable enough to change behavior. But in the last year, more governments and multilateral institutions are recognizing that there are risks with the use of AI. For example, the EU AI Act was just passed to mitigate the risks from the use of AI applications.
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Credits:
Host: Mila Atmos
Guests: Marietje Schaake
Executive Producer: Mila Atmos
Producer: Zack Travis
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