Campbell Conversations

When Bob Antonacci left his central New York state Senate seat after being elected as a state Supreme Court Justice in 2019, it left a vacancy for the 50th District seat for the second time in two years, after longtime Sen. John DeFrancisco retired in 2018. This week, Grant Reeher speaks with Angi Renna, a Republican trying to win the seat in November. Renna is running against Democrat John Mannion, who lost a close race to Antonacci for the seat in 2018.

Democrat Dana Balter is in her second run for Congress against Central New York Rep. John Katko (R-Camillus). But before she can run against Katko, she has to get through a primary in June against fellow Democrat Francis Conole. This week, Grant Reeher speaks with Balter about her campaign.

How has the federal government responded to the COVID-19 pandemic? Was it proactive enough? Did it learn lessons fast enough. This week, Grant Reeher speaks with central New York Rep. John Katko (R-Camillus) about the pandemic, and the responses that his office has been taking.

New Yok has been the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Central and Northern New York have fared better than downstate, but are nonetheless dealing with a severe public health crisis. This week, Grant Reeher talks with State Sen. Rachel May (D-Syracuse) about the national, state, and local response to the pandemic.

The automobile was instrumental in African Americans pursuit of civil rights in the 20th century, but it also introduced new dangers and challenges. This week, Grant Reeher talks with Gretchen Sorin, a professor and director of the Cooperstown Graduate Program at SUNY Oneonta . She's also the author of " Driving While Black: African American Travel and the Road to Civil Rights."

This week on the Campbell Conversations, something that's never been done on the program before. Instead of an interview, we'll hear from four writers, who will read or perform some of their works. We'll hear from Christopher Citro, Jessica Cuello, Georgia Popoff, and Arthur Flowers.

A lot of people try to talk to their gods, or at least, something bigger and more powerful than ourselves. What if they could talk back to us? This week, Grant Reeher talks with Phill Memmer, executive director of the YMCA's Downtown Writer's Center in Syracuse, and the author of "Pantheon."

Presidents attending sporting events, publicly interacting with athletes, congratulating champions, and inviting them to the White House are now considered normal aspects of both politics and sport. But these things are more recent than you might think. This week, Grant Reeher speaks with writer and historian Nick Sarantakes, author of "Fan in Chief," about the president who essentially invented the practice.

Even accounting for inflation, the United States has spent more on the rebuilding of Afghanistan than it spent rebuilding Western Europe after World War II. What does it have to show for it? Did fraud sabotage the effort? Did our leaders lie about how it all was going? This week, Grant Reeher speaks with John Sopko, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction.

In 2018, Anthony Brindisi won his congressional seat in New York's 22nd District by a slim margin in the most expensive House election in New York's history. This week, Grant Reeher speaks with Brindisi about the coronavirus, they look back at his first term, and look ahead to the November election.