Libsyn Directory

A Better Way to Vote: Deb Otis

Release Date: 01/11/2024

Fixing Immigration: Aaron Reichlin-Melnick

Future Hindsight

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick is the Policy Director at the American Immigration Council, a non-profit organization that strives to strengthen the United States by shaping immigration policies and practices. We discuss how out-of-date immigration laws are and why the only cure is comprehensive immigration reform from Congress. US immigration laws have not changed since the 1990s. The current border enforcement and asylum system dates back to 1996, and in fact, one of the reasons that asylum seekers are living in shelters is because Congress decided in 1996 to make it illegal for them to get a...

America’s Half a Billion Guns: Jonathan Metzl

Future Hindsight

Jonathan M. Metzl is the Frederick B. Rentschler II Professor of Sociology and Psychiatry and the Director of the Department of Medicine, Health, and Society at Vanderbilt University. His most recent book is What We’ve Become: Living and Dying in a Country of Arms. We discuss lax gun laws and gun ownership as an identity. The public health narrative is about how guns pose a health risk, a threat to mortality to our bodies. Those who vote based on guns see guns as symbols of power or protection. In fact, many people in the South own guns because they’re afraid of government tyranny....

Everyday Freedom: Philip K. Howard

Future Hindsight

Philip K. Howard is the founder and chair of Common Good, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that advocates for simplifying government, and has advised both parties on needed reforms. His latest book is Everyday Freedom: Designing the Framework for a Flourishing Society. Every community depends on democracy to deliver, whether that’s government services, schools, hospitals, or housing. Howard argues that a democracy depends on people being able to take responsibility, to interpret guidelines and perform their jobs or service accordingly. In a time when a significant percentage of...

Power Sharing Liberalism: Danielle Allen

Future Hindsight

Danielle Allen is the author of Justice by Means of Democracy. She is also the James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University and Director of the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation at Harvard Kennedy School's Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation. We discuss power sharing liberalism as a new paradigm in the practice of democracy. Whether it’s through ballot measures to introduce ranked choice voting or open primaries, we are experiencing great innovation in democratic practice that make it more possible for us to bring our whole selves and to share...

The Founders’ Intentions: Jeffrey Rosen

Future Hindsight

Jeffrey Rosen is the president and CEO of the National Constitution Center and the author of The Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America. We discuss how the Constitution is a framework for a productive conversation for people with fundamentally different points of view. For the Founders, personal self government was a pre-requisite for political self government. In order to deliberate with fellow citizens and vote wisely, citizens ought first be their best selves, which puts a high bar for citizens to educate...

Cancel Student Debt: Braxton Brewington

Future Hindsight

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...

Employ Negative Partisanship: Rachel Bitecofer

Future Hindsight

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...

A Real Right to Vote: Richard L. Hasen

Future Hindsight

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...

Policing Equity and Justice: Phillip Atiba Solomon

Future Hindsight

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...

Make Your Vote Pack a Punch: Sam Wang

Future Hindsight

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...

More Episodes

Deb Otis is the Director of Research & Policy at FairVote, a nonpartisan organization that researches and advances voting reforms that make democracy more functional and representative for every American. We discuss the benefits of ranked choice voting and the likelihood that it will become more popular after the 2024 presidential election.

Ranked choice voting addresses a variety of problems in “vote one” elections, such as vote splitting among similar candidates; ranking candidates in order of preference; proportional outcomes in multi winner races; more broad based support for the eventual winner; and more successful general election candidates if ranked choice voting is used in the primary. Maine is a state where ranked choice voting will be used in the presidential election. The Fair Representation Act is a bill that would implement ranked choice voting for members of Congress and also make redistricting more proportional and representative for voters.

Follow Deb on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/DebTheOtis

Follow FairVote on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/fairvote

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