Prickly Politics

Prickly Politics co-host Andrew Millman interviews NY-12 congressional candidate Suraj Patel, who is challenging Rep. Carolyn Maloney, in the first Prickly Politics Interviews. Patel is advocating for a "Family Opportunity Guarantee" and discuses how he would be a different representative than Congresswoman Maloney. Check back next week for the first Prickly Politics Explains...

Wondering what to look out for next year in New York City and state politics? We've got an insider's guide for what to watch in 2020 at the city and state level. For this episode of Prickly Politics, we take a look at marijuana legalization, environmental issues, and the budget. We also talk to City & State's City Hall report Jeff Coltin about what he thinks are the biggest issues the city is facing. 

New Yorkers voted to adopt Ranked Choice Voting for some city elections. This makes New York City the largest jurisdiction in the country to adopt the method. High profile political players like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Andrew Yang say this will increase voter turn out and make people feel like their vote matters more. While others worry the method is too complicated for voters to grasp. For this episode of Prickly Politics, Professor Boris Heersink helps explain how the method works and talks about how he thinks it’ll affect future elections. We also talk to Josh Silver, the co-founder of Represent.Us, which is an organization working to spread RCV nation wide. And City Councilman I. Daneek Miller explains why he is worried about how this will effect communities of color and immigrants. Natalie Migliore is back as guest co-host.

Can pension fund divestment help combat climate change? New York City and State are in the midst of a debate over that question. Pensioners worry divestment could harm their returns, while climate activists believe divestment will put the fund ahead of the curve. In this episode of WFUV's Prickly Politics, we talk with Assistant Speaker of the New York State Assembly Felix Ortiz, who authored the Fossil Fuels Divestment Act, about why he believes this is the next phase of climate policy. We also talk with climate activist Cata Romo from 350.org and Politico reporter Danielle Muoio. WFUV's Natalie Migliore joins as guest co-host.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio called the closing of Rikers Island, "The end of Mass incarceration." In this episode of Prickly Politics, we explore different approaches to prison reform and how Rikers Island has become a symbol of mass incarceration nation wide. WFUV's Eliot Schiaparelli joins as co-host for this episode. 

New York schools are the most segregated in the nation, according to a study from UCLA. Our guests on this episode of Prickly Politics believe that's because of funding inequality.

Some are calling the decriminalization of sex work the new frontier in criminal justice reform. While others see it as the deterioration of our society's moral values. In this episode of Prickly Politics, we break down the issue and talk to some of the key players involved in the movement.