Governor Kathy Hochul’s real edge isn’t charisma or disruption, says Bradley, but a deeply “regular” superpower - backing things like universal school meals, subway security, phone bans in schools, childcare tax credits, and a crackdown on shoplifting simply because normal people want them. Plus, Bradley sees Trump and Mondami’s buddy act as a masterclass in pure political athleticism, admits he’s utterly perplexed by what Marjorie Taylor Greene is doing, and dissects the now-withdrawn White House AI executive order as proof that the administration still doesn’t understand how regulation actually works.

This episode was taped at P&T Knitwear at 180 Orchard Street — New York City’s only free podcast recording studio.

Send us an email with your thoughts on today’s episode: [email protected].

Be sure to watch Bradley’s TED Talk on Mobile Voting at https://go.ted.com/bradleytusk.

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Bradley talks to Oliver Libby — venture investor, civic reform advocate, and co-founder of The Resolution Project — about his new book Strong Floor, No Ceiling: Building a New Foundation for the American Dream. They dig into Libby’s “radical moderation” framework: the idea that America can rebuild its civic culture by pairing a rock-solid baseline of opportunity and support with an unapologetic embrace of ambition, innovation, and upward mobility. If we get to write our own future, says the self-described sci-fi nerd, it ought be pretty easy to choose between a dystopia where giant companies quietly set the rules and a society like Star Trek, where "people don't really talk about money and everyone has enough and people get to do really cool stuff."

This episode was taped at P&T Knitwear at 180 Orchard Street — New York City’s only free podcast recording studio.

Send us an email with your thoughts on today’s episode: [email protected].

Be sure to watch Bradley’s new TED Talk on Mobile Voting at https://go.ted.com/bradleytusk.

Subscribe to Bradley's weekly newsletter and follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack + YouTube.

While the Mobile Voting Project posted its open-source code to GitHub, where it is available for any jurisdiction to use, the New York Times ran a front-page, above-the-fold story on Anchorage utilizing it for elections next spring. Bradley reflects on what it took to reach this point and where it goes from here. Plus, he offers two strategies for Mamdani — deploying AI to free up billions for the new programs he wants and playing hardball on Staten Island secession —and discusses how a minor confrontation at the gym got him thinking about how our daily lives are shaped by the clash between zero-sum and abundance mindsets.

This episode was taped at P&T Knitwear at 180 Orchard Street — New York City’s only free podcast recording studio.

Send us an email with your thoughts on today’s episode: [email protected].

Be sure to watch Bradley’s new TED Talk on Mobile Voting at https://go.ted.com/bradleytusk.

Subscribe to Bradley's weekly newsletter and follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack + YouTube.

Bradley sits down with two Erikas — Erika Augustine, who runs The David Prize, and Erika Sasson, a winner of said prize — about why $200K, no-strings grants can unlock long-horizon, relationship-driven change in NYC. They get into Sasson’s restorative-justice work on serious harm and why apologies, agency, and community can lower future violence better than ever-longer sentences. Bradley also floats an AI-sentencing thought-experiment, sparking a sharp debate about bias, deterrence, and what justice is actually for. New Yorkers can throw their hats in the ring at thedavidprize.org, initial deadline is Nov 17 for their 2025 open call for visionary ideas.

This episode was taped at P&T Knitwear at 180 Orchard Street — New York City’s only free podcast recording studio.

Send us an email with your thoughts on today’s episode: [email protected].

Be sure to watch Bradley’s new TED Talk on Mobile Voting at https://go.ted.com/bradleytusk.

Subscribe to Bradley's weekly newsletter and follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack + YouTube.

We've grown numb to politicians gaming out everything. But when Senate Democrats chose to end the shutdown, says Bradley, they chose the concerns of real people over political opportunism, and Chuck Schumer deserves credit. Plus, Bradley rhapsodizes about what the declining impact of TV ads will do for politics and credits Peter Thiel for properly diagnosing the disconnect between young people and capitalism.

Bradley's Substack:

I Have Never Liked Chuck Schumer More Than I Do Right Now

Can Technology Reduce the Influence of Money in Politics?

This episode was taped at P&T Knitwear at 180 Orchard Street — New York City’s only free podcast recording studio.

Send us an email with your thoughts on today’s episode: [email protected].

Be sure to watch Bradley’s new TED Talk on Mobile Voting at https://go.ted.com/bradleytusk.

Subscribe to Bradley's weekly newsletter and follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack + YouTube.

In this special non-guest Thursday episode, Bradley walks us through his first-ever magazine for Substack: six articles where he analyzes the future Mamdani administration and what comes next for New York City. From how to staff City Hall to how the future mayor should interact with the press (and vice versa), these articles are Bradley's top tips for smart leadership — despite the gulf that remains between his politics and those of the next mayor.

I. A Letter, and Some Recommendations, to Zohran Mamdani

II. My Advice To The 20-Somethings Joining Mamdani’s City Hall

III. Zohran and the Jews

IV. What Reporters Covering Zohran Should Keep in Mind

V. Zohran's Difficult Choice: The Poor or His Voters

VI. What Steve Fulop Needs to do to Make the Partnership for New York City Relevant and Effective Again

This episode was taped at P&T Knitwear at 180 Orchard Street — New York City’s only free podcast recording studio.

Send us an email with your thoughts on today’s episode: [email protected].

Be sure to watch Bradley’s new TED Talk on Mobile Voting at https://go.ted.com/bradleytusk.

Subscribe to Bradley's weekly newsletter and follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack + YouTube.

So what happened last night? In this co-production with Firewall friend Jamie Rubin and his After Hours podcast, Bradley, Jamie, and Chris Coffey (Tusk Strategies CEO) analyze the historic win of NYC's next mayor, Zohran Mamdani. What does it mean for Gov. Hochul's re-election next year? Will NYPD commissioner Jessica Tisch stay at the helm — despite major policy differences with Mamdani? And could the secret to affordability be the victorious ballot proposals to build more housing across the five boroughs?

Discussed on today's episode:

The Mamdani Mayoralty: A Six Part Mini-Magazine On What Comes Next by Bradley Tusk (11/05/25)

Be sure to subscribe to After Hours, a Vital City podcast, wherever you get your podcasts.

This episode was taped at P&T Knitwear at 180 Orchard Street — New York City’s only free podcast recording studio.

Send us an email with your thoughts on today’s episode: [email protected].

Be sure to watch Bradley’s new TED Talk on Mobile Voting at https://go.ted.com/bradleytusk.

Subscribe to Bradley's weekly newsletter and follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack + YouTube.

In this bonus episode of Firewall, Rev. Al Sharpton, a major figure in Jonathan Mahler's book The Gods of New York: Egotists, Idealists, Opportunists, and the Birth of the Modern City: 1986-1990, joined the author and Tusk Strategies CEO Chris Coffey earlier in October for a spirited conversation about New York in the 1980s and how it set the stage for the politics of today.

This episode was taped at P&T Knitwear at 180 Orchard Street — New York City’s only free podcast recording studio.

Send us an email with your thoughts on today’s episode: [email protected].

Be sure to watch Bradley’s new TED Talk on Mobile Voting at https://go.ted.com/bradleytusk.

Subscribe to Bradley's weekly newsletter and follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack + YouTube.

Archie Gottesman traces her path from the comic genius behind Manhattan Mini Storage to JewBelong, where she’s trying to make Judaism feel human, welcoming, and actually usable (no Talmudic degree required). She and Bradley get blunt about fear-based conformity on the left, rising antisemitism since 2021, and how many Jews contort themselves to stay “in the club,” even when it means pretending to believe things they don’t. They spar, politely, over whether mainstream American Jews have drifted from Israel, then pivot to tactics: message-tested billboards, mobilizing pride and pulling support from institutions that don’t defend Jews.

This episode was taped at P&T Knitwear at 180 Orchard Street — New York City’s only free podcast recording studio.

Send us an email with your thoughts on today’s episode: [email protected].

Be sure to watch Bradley’s new TED Talk on Mobile Voting at https://go.ted.com/bradleytusk.

Subscribe to Bradley's weekly newsletter and follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack + YouTube.

Archie Gottesman traces her path from the comic genius behind Manhattan Mini Storage to JewBelong, where she’s trying to make Judaism feel human, welcoming, and actually usable (no Talmudic degree required). She and Bradley get blunt about fear-based conformity on the left, rising antisemitism since 2021, and how many Jews contort themselves to stay “in the club,” even when it means pretending to believe things they don’t. They spar, politely, over whether mainstream American Jews have drifted from Israel, then pivot to tactics: message-tested billboards, mobilizing pride and pulling support from institutions that don’t defend Jews. 

This episode was taped at P&T Knitwear at 180 Orchard Street — New York City’s only free podcast recording studio.

Send us an email with your thoughts on today’s episode: [email protected].

Be sure to watch Bradley’s new TED Talk on Mobile Voting at https://go.ted.com/bradleytusk.

Subscribe to Bradley's weekly newsletter and follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack + YouTube.