Bonus episode! We share four perspectives about the impact the global pandemic is having on America’s poor. We discuss healthcare, housing, cash transfers, homelessness, and bail.

Joshua Goldstein is a political scientist, nuclear advocate, and co-author of Bright Future, How Some Countries Have Solved Climate Change and the Rest Can Follow. We discuss why we should be thinking of nuclear as a clean alternative to coal, and how nuclear energy could be the technology for rapid decarbonization and a green future.

Jojo Mehta is the co-founder and director of Ecological Defense Integrity, a non-profit organization working to establish ecocide as a core international crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. We discuss the power of criminalizing ecocide in order to change the behavior of corporate perpetrators.

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.

Julian Brave NoiseCat is Vice President of Policy and Strategy at Data for Progress, Narrative Change Director of The Natural History Museum, author, and a First Nations member. We discuss the need for climate justice, what we can learn from our indigenous communities, and why durable clean energy policy is key to stopping climate change.

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.

Jussara Lee is a renowned fashion designer living in New York City. She promotes ‘slow fashion’, hand-made garments, as well as reusing and recycling clothing. We talk about the high cost of fast fashion, our purchasing power as consumers, and the future of sustainable fashion.

Lenore Newman holds the Canada Research Chair in Food Security and Environment at the University of the Fraser Valley. Her latest book is Lost Feast: Culinary Extinction and the Future of Food. We discuss achieving food security through better management of food supplies, which include eating lower on the food chain and using technology such as artificial meats.

Bill McKibben is an author, educator, and legendary environmentalist. He is the Founder of 350.org, spearheaded the resistance to the Keystone Pipeline, and launched the fast-growing fossil fuel divestment movement. We talk about his new book Falter, reducing our carbon footprint, and the power of working together to face climate change.

Katherine Richardson is the Leader of the Sustainability Science Centre at the University of Copenhagen and a Professor of Biological Oceanography. We discuss the needs of billions of people for food and energy, finding solutions within our finite resources, and tipping points in climate and in societal behavior.

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.

David Greising is the President and CEO of the Better Government Association, Illinois’ only non-partisan full-service watchdog organization. Through investigative reporting and policy advocacy, BGA works towards transparency, efficiency, and accountability in government. We discuss the value of exposing corruption and empowering citizens to engage and act.