My guest today is Maurice Mitchell, National Director of the Working Families Party – one of the leading progressive institutions in U.S. politics today. Their platform includes universal health care, “a home you can afford,” paid family leave, and a unionized national jobs program – all paid for by taxing the rich. 

In this episode, we start by discussing the tech billionaire takeover of our political system, the technofascist ideology underpinning the AI race, and the techbros’ radically anti-human vision for the future. Then we get into why now is the time to build a movement that takes advantage of the widest populist opening we’ve seen in decades. We delve into the failure of the two-party system, the need for another option, and how “fusion voting” can give us more nuanced voting power. Then we end with what it’ll actually take to build – and wield – political power, getting real about the work it will take.

Better Future is an independent, listener-supported podcast; if you enjoyed this episode, please support us by becoming a paid subscriber on Substack, where we also publish frequent articles: https://betterfuturemedia.substack.com/

Learn more about the Working Families Party: https://workingfamilies.org/

Learn more about their 2026 candidates, including Randy Villegas, Mai Vang, Jane Kim and Chris Rabb: https://workingfamilies.org/candidates/

Here are links to resources mentioned in our conversation:

The Working Families Guarantee, the WFP's platform: https://workingfamilies.org/guarantee/

Building Resilient Organizations, Maurice's 2022 essay on maximalism and what weakens progressive organizations: https://forgeorganizing.org/article/building-resilient-organizations/

The TESCREAL Bundle by Timnit Gebru and Émile P. Torres, the paper mapping the ideologies behind the AI race: https://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/13636

The Movement for Black Lives: https://m4bl.org/

Our episode with Dr. Butch Ware on the failures of the two-party system: https://betterfuturemedia.substack.com/p/can-the-us-empire-be-dismantled-from

Our episode with Gabriel Zucman on why we must tax billionaires: https://betterfuturemedia.substack.com/p/billionaire-tax-gabriel-zucman

Follow Maurice on social media: 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mauricewfp/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maurice-mitchell-3071b06/

X: https://x.com/mauricewfp

Follow the Working Families Party: 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/workingfamilies/ 

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/workingfamilies.org 

X: https://x.com/workingfamilies

Subscribe to the Better Future podcast on your preferred platform: 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@michaelmezz 

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/16K0dkbk35q0mTslKJJ7z0 

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/better-future-with-michael-mezz/id1823942833

Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/4mgozhfv

Follow Michael on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michael__mezz/ 

Follow the Better Future Podcast on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/betterfuturepod/

00:00 Building political power for a pro-humanity future

00:34 Introducing Maurice Mitchell and the Working Families Party 

06:44 Why this moment is ripe for political transformation

11:29 The anti-human ideology of the AI oligarchs

18:22 The radicalization of tech billionaires 

26:25 How AI is harming working Americans today

29:42 How to build power in this populist window

35:20 Building an on-ramp for regretful Trump voters

39:09 Unpacking the Working Families Guarantee 

48:47 Why winning in November isn't enough to stop authoritarianism

57:32 How fusion voting works 

1:03:23 Third party political strategy: what sets WFP apart

1:11:51 Maximalism as a trauma response to fascism 

1:18:47 How to get involved

Host/Creator: Michael Mezzatesta 

Guest: Maurice Mitchell 

Producer: Jade Risser 

Editor: Nuria Salgado 

Designer: Amea Wadsworth

Thanks for watching episode 019. Stay tuned for more.