Futures Forum podcast is a space for collectively dreaming, imagining, and co-creating ideas. Our guests have made significant contributions either to scholarly knowledge, public discourse, or higher education, and they join us to cultivate a fresh, free-thinking, future-forward space to carry ideas and knowledge into the world in new and different ways.
Futures Forum is a production of the Center for Racial Justice and Equitable Futures at Cornell University. Visit equitablefutures.cornell.edu (https://equitablefutures.cornell.edu/futures/) to learn more.
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Center for Racial Justice and Equitable Futures at Cornell University
War, Workers, and Political Struggle: Tej Nagaraja on solidarity and freedom movements in World War II and beyond
What does the Pentagon have to do with labor strikes? When did the term “racism” enter mainstream popular discourse? What do we miss when we remember World War II as a time of national unity rather than a time of uprisings and contention? On this episode of Futures Forum, Jamila and Neil speak with Tej Nagaraja, author of the new book Troop Movements: Labor, Race, and Global Freedom Struggles in America’s World War II. Together, they connect important lessons between labor and war, military industries and political freedom, to get to a fuller picture of the critical ties among economic, racial, and social justice movements.
23 Sept 2026
There Is No Them; There Is Only Us: Joseph Margulies’s call for a forgiving society
This month, Jamila and Neil talk with Joseph Margulies, a civil rights lawyer, author, and professor of practice in the Government department at Cornell. On the occasion of his new book, Cast Out: A Call for a Forgiving Society in an Age of Incarceration (Beacon 2026), we talk with Joe about what a forgiving society could look like and what “judgment in a forgiving spirit” means.
26 Aug 2026
Get Furious or Get Curious: Candis Watts Smith’s Warning about Ignoring Black Evidence
Candis Watts Smith is a professor of political science at Duke University and the author of several books, including Black Evidence: A History and a Warning. We spoke with Candis about her new book, and about the cost of not listening and learning in the United States. From sequestering knowledge behind paywalls to discrediting evidence, we talk about what it means to really listen, the loop of racial reckoning and racial backlash, and how sharing emotional weight could lead us to better problem-solving and more equitable futures.
29 Jul 2026
Some White Folks: A Discussion with Jennifer Chudy about the Possibilities and Limits of Racial Sympathy
Reflecting on race and the presidency, Barack Obama once stated, “There are…some white folks who really like me and give me the benefit of the doubt precisely because I’m a Black president.” Jennifer Chudy, associate professor of political science at Wellesley College, got curious about these particular white folks in her new book, Some White Folks: The Interracial Politics of Sympathy, Suffering, and Solidarity, which explores the origins and effects of white racial sympathy in modern American politics. We talk with Jennifer about what racial sympathy is, how it can coexist with racial prejudice, and the consequential reasons one might study the racial attitudes of white people while working toward a multiracial democracy.
24 Jun 2026
Organizing to Build Multiracial Democracy: a deep dive with Dorian Warren
Our guest this week is Dorian Warren, an expert on community organizing and the co-president of Community Change, a national organization that builds the power of low-income people, especially people of color, to create a multiracial democracy and a fair economy. He talks us through the difference between mobilizing and organizing and explains why building relationships are the foundation to collective power. We also discuss how narratives and storytelling can be critical tools for supporting and defending change, and why children may help adults understand the changing foundations of what is “normal.”
20 May 2026
Sensemaking as Solidarity: Liz Neeley on cutting through noise to meet the moment
Our guest this week is Liz Neeley, founder of Liminal, a science communication collective that focuses on sensemaking. We discuss the ways storytelling can help us make meaningful change from our research, navigating risks of speaking out, and tools for working against the strategic onslaught of information overload. Liz also guides us through planning a security party, so you can take practical steps, in community, to ensure you and your data are protected.
22 Apr 2026
Reading the Past to Write a Better Future: On Public Scholarship with Victor Ray
Victor Ray is one of the leading voices on race and racial justice in the United States. Jamila Michener and Neil Lewis, Jr. talk with Victor about the current backlash to DEI initiatives in a conversation that connects research and personal experience to systems and power structures. Tune in to this wide-ranging episode to hear more about the current turn toward resegregation in the US, how organizations uphold structural racism, and the risks (and benefits) of doing scholarship in public.
25 Mar 2026
The History of Black Women at Cornell: A Conversation with Marcia Easley
This Women’s History Month, Jamila Michener and Neil Lewis, Jr. spoke with Marcia Easley, a long-time Ithacan and Assistant Dean for Human Resources in the College of Human Ecology at Cornell University. Marcia told us about the history of Black women at Cornell and students like Ruth Peyton, who could study, but not sleep, here.
Marcia shares the struggles and accomplishments of Black students, the nonlinear path of inclusion and segregation, and how knowing our history can help us do better.
25 Feb 2026
Without Fear: A Conversation with Keisha Blain
Keisha N. Blain, author of Without Fear: Black Women and the Making of Human Rights, is a professor of Africana Studies and History at Brown University, and has been hailed as one the most innovative and influential historians of her generation.
Jamila Michener and Neil Lewis, Jr. speak with Dr. Blain, the Center’s 2026 Black History Month keynote speaker, about her new book, the writing process, how past work can help us build the future, and marking pathways for future researchers.
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