Future Hindsight

In the 8th and last episode of Season 1, we discuss the elder boom, and the increasing importance of home care and domestic work in our society. Award-winning activist Ai-Jen Poo, a leading advocate for domestic workers' rights and family care, discusses the challenges of the elder boom. She lays out how home care can help us face the coming demographic change and the ways in which we can engage to demand a new Caring infrastructure. The Care Crisis is Here: Baby boomers are aging at a rate of 10,000 people per day. This means that 4 million turn 65 every year. The 85 and older demographic is the fastest growing demographic in the country. The demand for care workers is exploding, but we have no program in place to support these people to be able to afford elder care. Home Care is the Future: Elders want to age at home. It is cheaper and has better outcomes. Good care giving is the best prevention, which avoids unnecessary and expensive end-of-life hospitalization or institutionalization. We need a Care infrastructure that provides affordable, high quality care for families and creates professional jobs for care workers with dignity, benefits, and a living wage. Demand a Solution: Track and follow Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. Create demand by supporting political candidates who are champions for a care agenda. States can be a laboratory for federal policy. Hawai'i passed a family caregiver benefit program in 2017. Maine has a ballot initiative called "Home Care for All" in November. Find out more: Ai-Jen Poo is the Executive Director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA) and the Co-Director of Caring Across Generations.

Andrea Miller is the president of the National Institute for Reproductive Health. We talk about the broad support among men for Roe vs. Wade, the Hyde Amendment, and the two most damaging misconceptions about abortions. This interview belongs to a two-part episode in which we discuss the importance of reproductive rights and why we should engage with this issue for the general welfare of our communities. Listen to the first part here. Men Are Supportive: There is no huge gender gap in attitudes and opinions about support for Roe vs. Wade. Men are also outraged by laws that shame, pressure, and punish women who have decided to have an abortion. They care about health and safety, individual rights, and autonomy. Hyde Amendment: Federal government health coverage does not cover abortion care. This affects a wide range of women from those who work for the federal government or serve in the military to those who receive healthcare through Medicaid and Indian Health Services. The amendment is a rider, which means that it is attached to budget bills every year. We can demand that the rider not be put in. Have a conversation and bust the myths: In an environment where people don't talk about abortions, damaging misconceptions and falsehoods are easy to spread and thus easy to believe. The real attitudes and public opinion are pro-choice. Access to abortion is important to the women who are a part of our daily lives. Find out more: Andrea Miller is the president of the National Institute for Reproductive Health and a nationally recognized expert in reproductive rights and women's health for more than two decades.

Andrea Miller is the president of the National Institute for Reproductive Health. We talk about the impact that reproductive legislation has in society and how it's historically been affected by safety and public health concerns. This interview belongs to a two-part episode in which we discuss the importance of reproductive rights and why we should engage with this issue for the general welfare of our communities. Listen to the second part here. Learn the Facts: Polls show that 80% of the public supports safe, affordable, quality abortion care, as long as it is legal, which it is. The percentage of women who are already mothers and obtain an abortion is 59%. The highest abortion rate is among women who are 20 to 29 years old. A woman spends approximately 30 years of her life trying not to get pregnant. Say no to taboos: Treat talking about reproductive rights and health like talking about healthcare issues that affects all families in our communities. One in four women have an abortion in their lifetime. Over 90% of poll respondents say that it should be supportive, safe, and informed by medically accurate information. Talk to your elected officials: There is a divergence between policymakers and the public. Be informed about ballot initiatives to roll back rights and be engaged in the voting booth. Have a direct conversation with your elected representatives and communicate your priorities. Find out more: Andrea Miller is the president of the National Institute for Reproductive Health and a nationally recognized expert in reproductive rights and women's health for more than two decades.

Joe Hartigan has cracked the code on how to effect change. He is a retired NYC Fire Department lieutenant and community activist since 1995. His passion, dedication, and consistency over many years brought about ferry service for the residents of Rockaway, Queens. Every community would benefit from a fervent advocate like Joe. We can become advocates for our communities by focusing on specific issues, joining forces, and staying persistent. Show Up: Showing up and pushing the point helps you to stay focused and keep going. Planning meetings, community board meetings, and conferences are excellent opportunities to speak to officials, share your priorities, and demand accountability. Use Your Passion: Pick something that is important to you because not everybody is going to be as committed as you to show up consistently. Be willing to dip into your own pocket. Do your research and become an expert. Learn how others have achieved their civic goals. Make Your Cause a Political Issue: Push your civic agenda by highlighting its importance for your community's citizens. With attention in local elections, there is more likely success for your issue to be addressed. Find out more: Joe Hartigan was the driving force behind getting ferry service from Rockaway to Brooklyn Army Terminal and Wall Street, Pier 11. He is also been a tireless advocate for the revitalization of the Rockaway area after Superstorm Sandy in 2012 and the Jacob Riis Park in his community.

Roland Augustine is an art dealer, tireless activist, and active member at the Bard College Prison Initiative. We discuss the necessity of finding new ways of activism for social justice in our daily lives. Be an Advocate: Civic engagement means becoming an advocate for social equality and social justice. It can begin at the most basic level such as your town or school. You can give hands-on support and/or money to a cause that is important to you. Consistent and rigorous advocacy creates more knowledge and inspire change. Art Matters: The visual arts can effectively transform one's thinking. There are many powerful works of art, from paintings to monuments, that serve as beautiful and potent reminders of inhumanity in our collective history. Use your voice: Our silence on the world's humanitarian crises is deafening. Use your voice in your community to start a conversation about what we can do right now. Start with forwarding this podcast to your friends and family. Find out more: Roland Augustine is on the board of trustees at Bard College, where he is actively involved in the Bard Prison Initiative, as well as in supporting refugees at Bard College Berlin. He is also an active member of the Equal Justice Initiative in the US.

James R. Doty, MD, is a neurosurgeon and clinical professor at Stanford University. He shows us how to shape our own lives and of those around us by reframing, practicing compassion, and living with an open heart. Reframe Negative talk dominates our narrative. What we tell ourselves manifests in our lives. Positive talk is based on kindness towards oneself. Practice Compassion When you change the way you look at the world, then the world changes the way it interacts with you. Accepting the reality of a situation means that we can be free of reacting with anger. We can be compassionate and kind. Live with an Open Heart When we are kind and respectful, and treat every human being with dignity, people will bend over backwards to help us. The greatest gifts in life often come through painful events, which give us character, depth, wisdom, and insight. Find out more: James R. Doty, MD, is the founder of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE) at Stanford University. He is also the author of "Into the Magic Shop", a book about how we can change our lives by practicing compassion and mindfulness.

Richard K. Betts, Ph.D, is the Director of the Saltzmann Institute of War and Peace Studies at Columbia University. We talk about how we can be meaningful stakeholders in foreign policy by voting and supporting political movements. Vote & Support We must use our power to vote and support political movements in order to activate fundamental change in our world. Be an active volunteer in an organization Historically, the United States has been a country of joiners in various organizations to promote solutions to public policy programs. People joined organizations and devoted their volunteered time in large numbers because it is one of the basic ways in which people indirectly affect bigger issues that they don't feel much direct control over. Don't take it for granted! Demand and create a more peaceful future It's very damaging to the political process when people participate irresponsibly. Make the effort to learn enough to make responsible decisions. Read newspapers, inform yourself, and stay curious about what is going on. Then vote for the candidate that comes closest to your point of view. Find out more Richard Betts is the Director of the Saltzmann Institute of War and Peace Studies, and the Director of the International Security Policy Program at the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University in New York.

Matt Kalmans is the CEO and co-founder of Applecart, a strategic political consultancy and lab. We discuss the power of voting, how social pressure can influence our actions, and the ways in which science and technology can help us understand our political behavior. Human communication is the strongest tool for high civic engagement Most decisions we make on a day-to-day basis are based on what our friends and co-workers tell us. Real life conversations are deeply influental in our political behavior. Social pressure can bring about social change. Voting is our political power! Voting is our civic duty and is a matter of public record. Changing behavior from not-voting to voting continues in the long term. Higher voting turnout will lead to radically different people being voted into office. People who are not only solution-oriented, but will also be a better representative of us as a society! We respond to social pressure for civic duty People respond to social pressure for higher civic engagement and voter participation. Voting is understood to be a social good, and studies have shown that we respond to social pressure for higher civic engagement and voter participation. Find out more Matt Kalmans is the CEO and co-founder of Appelcart, a strategic political consultancy and lab that aggregates and processes publicly available online and off-line data with the goal to redefine how political organisations mobilize voters, how nonprofit organisations fundraise or how advocacy groups lobbies elected their officials.

Bernard Harcourt, an author, lawyer, and critical theorist, discusses the importance of civic engagement as a learned skill and the power of collective action. He emphasizes the significance of promoting civic engagement in children and young people, the daily practice of discussing political questions, communicating with representatives, writing reflections, and remembering to vote. Harcourt also encourages self-reflection to determine personal values and ethical beliefs. The podcast touches on the eternal struggle for justice and the initiative to support students' pursuit of social justice.

A sneak peak of the first episode of Future Hindsight — Bernard Harcourt discusses why and how civic engagement matters.