Thursday, June 1st, 2023   Beto O’Rourke is a fourth-generation Texan, the former US Representative of Texas’s 16th Congressional district, the Democratic Party’s nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2018, and the Democratic nominee for the 2022 Texas gubernatorial election. He is also the author of We've Got to Try: How the Fight for Voting Rights Makes Everything Else Possible.   We discuss the outsized importance of Texas politics for the nation. Republicans have relied on winning Texas’s electoral college votes to clinch presidential races. However, even without investment from the Democratic party, the trend over the last three presidential elections is improving for Democratic candidates. Texas is currently the hardest state in which to vote and to register to vote. Broad and consistent participation from citizens is vital to changing the status quo. The fight for democracy goes on forever and no victory is ever final.  Follow Beto on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/BetoORourke    Follow Mila on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/milaatmos    Follow Future Hindsight on Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/futurehindsightpod/   Check out Beto’s organization, PoweredXPeople.org: https://poweredxpeople.org/   Love Future Hindsight? Take our Listener Survey!  http://survey.podtrac.com/start-survey.aspx?pubid=6tI0Zi1e78vq&ver=standard    Take the Democracy Group’s Listener Survey! https://www.democracygroup.org/survey   Want to support the show and get it early?  https://patreon.com/futurehindsight    Check out the Future Hindsight website!  www.futurehindsight.com   Read the transcript here:  https://www.futurehindsight.com/episodes/democracy-in-texas-beto-orourke      Credits:  Host: Mila Atmos  Guests: Beto O’Rourke Executive Producer: Mila Atmos Producer: Zack Travis and Sara Burningham

Thursday, May 25th, 2023   Representative Anna Eskamani serves on behalf of Florida’s 42nd district of Orange County in the state House of Representatives. We discuss her victories at the ballot box and her work to represent her constituents. Her campaign slogan is “Working for you. Fighting for us.”   When serving in the minority of the Florida state legislature, you only pass legislation by working across the aisle. Anna is a firm believer in calling people in before calling them out, and on finding common ground on issues of good government. Her formula for success is showing up for people by focusing on real life issues, like on tax fairness, versus the manufactured culture war debates.   Follow Anna on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/AnnaForFlorida    Follow Mila on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/milaatmos    Follow Future Hindsight on Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/futurehindsightpod/   Sponsor Thanks, HelloFresh! Go to HelloFresh.com/HOPEFUL16 and use code HOPEFUL16  for 16 free meals plus free shipping!   Love Future Hindsight? Take our Listener Survey!  http://survey.podtrac.com/start-survey.aspx?pubid=6tI0Zi1e78vq&ver=standard    Take the Democracy Group’s Listener Survey! https://www.democracygroup.org/survey   Want to support the show and get it early?  https://patreon.com/futurehindsight    Check out the Future Hindsight website!  www.futurehindsight.com   Read the transcript here:  https://www.futurehindsight.com/episodes/fighting-for-good-governance-anna-eskamani      Credits:  Host: Mila Atmos  Guests: Anna Eskamani Executive Producer: Mila Atmos Producer: Zack Travis & Sara Burningham

Thursday, May 18th, 2023   Chris Wiggins and Matthew L. Jones are co-authors of How Data Happened: A History from the Age of Reason to the Age of Algorithms. Chris is an associate professor of applied mathematics at Columbia University and the New York Times’s chief data scientist and Matt is a professor of history at Columbia. Together, they taught a course called “Data: Past, Present, and Future," and their book is an extension thereof. We discuss the history of how data is made; the relationship between data and truth; and the unstable three-player game between corporate, state, and people power.    We are currently in an unstable and unpredictable three-player game between state power, corporate power, and people power. In fact, we have a lot of collective influence via the way we construct norms. Our constant human activity is the grist of the mill for machine learning. Corporations do not have all the power. Still, the mix between advertising and data has created a lot of the most pressing concerns in the world’s algorithmically mediated reality.   Follow Chris on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/chrishwiggins   Follow Matt on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/nescioquid   Follow Mila on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/milaatmos    Follow Future Hindsight on Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/futurehindsightpod/   Love Future Hindsight? Take our Listener Survey!  http://survey.podtrac.com/start-survey.aspx?pubid=6tI0Zi1e78vq&ver=standard    Take the Democracy Group’s Listener Survey! https://www.democracygroup.org/survey   Want to support the show and get it early?  https://patreon.com/futurehindsight    Check out the Future Hindsight website!  www.futurehindsight.com   Read the transcript here:  https://www.futurehindsight.com/episodes/people-power-and-ai-chris-wiggins-matt-jones     Credits:  Host: Mila Atmos  Guests: Chris Wiggins & Matt Jones Executive Producer: Mila Atmos Producer: Zack Travis

Thursday, May 11th, 2023   Judge Victoria Pratt was Chief Judge in Newark Municipal Court in New Jersey and the author of The Power of Dignity. She is currently the Executive Director of Odyssey Impact, an interfaith non-profit driving social change through innovative storytelling and media. We discuss procedural justice, municipal court reform, and increasing the public's trust in the justice system.    Tough-on-crime laws are ineffective. Punishing people for wrongdoing does not change behavior. Judge Pratt asserts her authority when she understands the people who appear in court before her. People obey the law when they are treated with respect and dignity, because then they view the people who impose rules and laws as legitimate authorities. Engaging with the criminal justice system is punishment enough, whether you're innocent or not.    Follow Judge Pratt on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/JudgeVPratt    Follow Mila on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/milaatmos    Follow Future Hindsight on Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/futurehindsightpod/   Love Future Hindsight? Take our Listener Survey!  http://survey.podtrac.com/start-survey.aspx?pubid=6tI0Zi1e78vq&ver=standard    Take the Democracy Group’s Listener Survey! https://www.democracygroup.org/survey   Want to support the show and get it early?  https://patreon.com/futurehindsight    Check out the Future Hindsight website!  www.futurehindsight.com   Read the transcript here:  https://www.futurehindsight.com/episodes/dignity-and-justice-judge-victoria-pratt      Credits:  Host: Mila Atmos  Guests: Judge Victoria Pratt Executive Producer: Mila Atmos Producers: Zack Travis and Sara Burningham

Thursday, May 4th, 2023   Craig Aaron is the Co-CEO of Free Press and Free Press Action. We discuss the civic information bill in New Jersey and the promise of centering civic information in the media.   A vibrant multiracial democracy requires civic information media, which delivers the information that helps us live better lives in our communities. Journalism or civic media are a public good, and the public needs to invest in media along those lines. In New Jersey, bipartisan legislative support led to the civic information bill and the founding of the Civic Information Consortium. The best thing all of us can do right now is to support our local media. Read it and engage it!   Follow Craig on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/notaaroncraig    Follow Mila on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/milaatmos    Follow Future Hindsight on Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/futurehindsightpod/   Love Future Hindsight? Take our Listener Survey!  http://survey.podtrac.com/start-survey.aspx?pubid=6tI0Zi1e78vq&ver=standard    Want to support the show and get it early?  https://patreon.com/futurehindsight    Check out the Future Hindsight website!  www.futurehindsight.com   Read the transcript here:  https://www.futurehindsight.com/episodes/civic-information-media-craig-aaron      Credits:  Host: Mila Atmos  Guests: Craig Aaron Executive Producer: Mila Atmos Producers: Zack Travis and Sara Burningham