“Invest in something that directly affects your community,” she says.Ĭreating Future Hindsight was Atmos’s own way to make a difference. If it’s just another boring meeting that you have to attend, it will mean nothing.”Ītmos wants to make the idea of participation accessible, and awaken listeners to the spectrum of ways they can engage. “But it should be something that enriches not just the life of your community, but also your own life. “It can be something small it doesn’t have to be big,” she adds. Then volunteer for the League of Women Voters. Or, say you’re interested in getting people to vote. “If you’re somebody who goes to the dog park a lot, then be involved in the decisions being made around the dog park. “Invest in something that directly affects your community,” she says. She wants to make the idea of participation accessible, and to awaken listeners to the spectrum of ways they can engage. She likes to end conversations by asking guests what makes them hopeful for the future of democracy, and often solicits ways that listeners can go out and immediately contribute to a cause.Ītmos is quick to acknowledge that being an engaged citizen is a broad concept. The show’s DNA is fundamentally optimistic Atmos brings a mix of practicality and idealism that suits the show’s aim. Her last season, on racism in America, explored critical race theory, race-conscious parenting, equity in health care, state-sponsored segregation and implicit teacher bias. The show features “citizen changemakers” - a term Atmos coined to describe people “who are deeply invested in and dedicated to improving the everyday experience of our society.” She likes to go deep on a topic, building entire seasons around a single theme and inviting guests who can speak to different facets of it. I think we have a common destination, and that’s much easier to talk about.”įor Atmos, the way to that common destination is through civic engagement and responsibility inspiring that commitment in her listeners is what drives her work with Future Hindsight. “People talk all the time about how we must find common ground - and I don’t think that we have common ground. “But I think that if you’re willing to have conversations with people one-on-one and be open-minded, there is a lot of common hope for a future that is good for all of us,” Atmos says. “Which is not to say that we don’t disagree. “What I’ve learned is that most people are committed to being good humans to each other in a way that I think is not obvious right now,” she says. Illustration by Peter Strain Mila Atmos ’96, SIPA’05 doesn’t buy the narrative that our country is polarized.Īs the host of Future Hindsight, a weekly podcast about improving our democracy, Atmos has spent the last three and a half years immersed in conversations on divisive topics such as climate, class, racism and politics.
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