Not so long ago, if you wanted to change the world you went into politics.

Politics meant power—and power meant the ability to get things done.

That was then.

‍Today, there is a deep skepticism of politics everywhere and of politicians especially.

A wave of populism has changed the electoral landscape, from Trump in America to Le Pen in France, Orban in Hungary to Erdogan in Türkiye. Authoritarians around the world are busily dressing up “selections” as if they were elections, rigging the ballot box against oppositionists who they suppress and surveil. And democracy worldwide is being influenced by darker forces that few saw coming a decade ago:

organized disinformation campaigns, often curated by dictators and their authoritarian regimes that seek to disrupt democratic elections;

new financing vehicles, including cryptocurrency, that can help or harm democratic politics; and

censorship in social networks or on social media.

Disgusted with politics, many young people are taking refuge in the promise of technology. But technology, too, has a darker side that is fueling skepticism of civic life:

contention over the utility and security of electronic voting;

deepfakes that raise fundamental questions about what is and isn’t real; and

advanced persistent threat groups, or APTs, that engage in cyber espionage.

These forces are changing politics across the world—both in the established democracies that are now under strain and in dictatorships, where dogged oppositionists are pushing to make these rigged “selections” more competitive and predetermined outcomes less determined.

But politics still matters because it can mobilize power for purpose. We need to broaden our lens and call to action younger politicians, entrepreneurs, and tech whizzes who still want to fight for the future.

And that means learning from one another—taking lessons from the experiences of other countries and then recommitting to shape a new and better politics in our own.

We’re Evan Feigenbaum and Alena Popova, an American and a Russian who come from two parallel universes but are both passionate about what politics can do.

We've seen these trends from two very different angles:

Alena ran for office several times as a fierce opponent of Russia’s ruling regime, was detained repeatedly, branded as a “foreign agent,” surveilled by new technologies, and had to wrestle with disinformation, social media attacks, and dozens of other challenges.

Evan is a former diplomat and geostrategist, who had to contend with the pernicious effects of some of these same forces, not least by negotiating with some of the world’s nastiest political actors.

This is “Politics Possible,” a joint project that reflects our shared passion for purposeful politics.  It’s a podcast about the unconventional forces reshaping conventional politics. But it’s more than a podcast for conversation—it’s also a call to action.

In the podcast part of our project, we curate a conversation among young politicians, entrepreneurs, tech whizzes, and activists about their experiences and also what they can learn from each other across borders and boundaries.

And we’re especially focused on young people—those who most need to learn from the widest range of cases if they are to fight for a democratic and open future.

“Politics Possible” is about restoring faith in political action and shaping a better future. We focus on both the conventional and unconventional in politics across the world—and on the technologies like data and artificial intelligence that crosscut these political trends.

Join us. Tune in. Mobilize. Use politics to make a better world.