Nick Tilsen is the President and CEO of NDN Collective, an organization led by Indigenous People that builds Indigenous power and restores Indigenous self-determination. We discuss decolonization, revitalizing Indigenous cultures and languages, and creating sustainable solutions on Indigenous terms.

Alex Hertel-Fernandez is Associate Professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, and the author of State Capture: How Conservative Activists, Big Businesses, and Wealthy Donors Reshaped the American States – and the Nation. We discuss the efficacy of controlling state legislatures and implementing public policies to reshape the political terrain.

Eitan D. Hersh is associate professor at Tufts University and author of Politics is for Power: How to Move Beyond Political Hobbyism, Take Action, and Make Real Change. We discuss how politics is the way we solve our society’s problems and why building political power is the key to making our civic engagement effective.

Alexandra Minna Stern is a professor at the University of Michigan and author of Proud Boys and the White Ethnostate: How the Alt-Right Warped the American Imagination. We discuss the meta-political work of the Alt-Right in mainstreaming white supremacy and ways to counter this ideology.

Nicole Hemmer is a political historian and the author of Messengers of the Right: Conservative Media and the Transformation of American Politics. We discuss the birth of conservative media activism, the different way conservatives understand truth, and their impact on American society.

Peter Loge is the founding Director of the Project on Ethics in Political Communication and an Associate Professor at The George Washington University. We discuss making American civil religion the moral backbone of our body politic through ethical communication, substantive press coverage of politics and policy, and promoting the truth.

Nancy Rosenblum is Professor of Ethics in Politics and Government at Harvard University and co-author of A Lot of People are Saying: The New Conspiracism and the Assault on Democracy. We discuss why this kind of conspiracism is deeply destructive to our society and how enacting democracy can protect reality and relegimitate our institutions.

Lee C. McIntyre is the author of Post-Truth and a Research Fellow at the Center for Philosophy and History of Science at Boston University. We discuss what post-truth means and where it started, what the function of fake news is, and how propaganda plays a role in subordinating a population.

Thomas O. Melia is the Washington Director of PEN America, a non-profit organization that champions free speech and defends the liberties that make it possible. We talk about authoritarians worldwide consolidating power under cover of COVID, the ever-encroaching surveillance state, and the public perception of Trump’s pandemic response.

Leah Stokes is a professor at UCSB and the author of Short Circuiting Policy. She works on energy, climate and environmental politics. We talk about the successes and failures of clean energy policy in the US, and how energy companies are fighting back against decarbonizing the energy system.

Jerry Taylor is the President and co-founder of the Niskanen Center, a non-partisan think tank that works to promote an open society. We talk about his conversion from climate denier to climate advocate, working behind the scenes to persuade Republican lawmakers to act on climate change, and why a carbon tax is the most effective public policy to do so.

Revisit some of the highlights from Future Hindsight’s season on the forces that support democracy and a free society with Civics 101 Podcast hosts Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel, TurboVote founder Seth Flaxman, and founding members of the Irish Citizens’ Assembly Jane Suiter and David Farrell.

Thomas Abt is a Senior Fellow at the Council on Criminal Justice, and author of Bleeding Out, The Devastating Consequences of Urban Violence--and a Bold New Plan for Peace in the Streets. We talk about why violence must be tackled first, how it is the lynchpin of concentrated urban poverty, and what effective violence reduction strategies should look like.

Daniel Markovits is the author of The Meritocracy Trap as well as Guido Calabresi Professor of Law at Yale Law School. His book places meritocracy at the center of rising economic inequality and social political dysfunction. We talk about how the myth of meritocracy feeds inequality and erodes democracy.

Michael Baranowski is the founder and one of the hosts on the popular podcast The Politics Guys. The podcast is a place for bipartisan, rational, and civil debate on American politics and policy. We discuss why civil dialogue is critical in a democracy, the value of keeping an open mind, and the relative strength of our institutions and electoral system.

Suzanne Nossel is the CEO of PEN America, the world’s foremost human rights and free expression non-profit organization. We discuss the importance of the First Amendment for American democracy, Trump’s unprecedented attacks on the press, and the state of free expression around the world.

Robert L. Tsai is a law professor at American University and an expert in constitutional law. His latest book, Practical Equality, is a call to arms for equality and social progress. We discuss why equality is essential for citizens in a democracy and how the law can often serve as the primary mechanism to ensure justice.

Jane Suiter and David Farrell helped co-found the Irish Citizens’ Assembly, a deliberative forum that puts citizens at the heart of the considerations for constitutional and political reforms. We discuss how regular citizens can be trusted to weigh the evidence, make nuanced policy decisions, and become deep stakeholders in civic life.

Stephen Wertheim is the Deputy Director of Research and Policy at the Quincy Institute, an organization that promotes responsible statecraft. We discuss the history of our foreign policy, and why it is in the public interest of all Americans to move away from endless war and reinvigorate diplomacy for a peaceful world.