We speak with Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, the Democratic frontrunner in the race for governor who made a trip to Western Massachusetts last week.

Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont delivered his State of the State address Wednesday to a joint session of the General Assembly as the new legislative session begins. As he ramps up for a re-election bid in November, Lamont is pledging to curb gun violence and proposing $336 million in tax relief. For more on the new session and Lamont’s vision for it, we speak with Daniela Altimari, statehouse reporter for The Hartford Courant.

New York state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli says Governor Kathy Hochul’s first budget proposal carries a “significantly improved outlook over last year,” but risks related to the pandemic remain. That is among the findings of the Democrat’s analysis of the executive budget.

In the end, New York state’s Independent Redistricting Commission failed to come up with a set of new proposed maps for congressional and state Senate and Assembly districts before the deadline, throwing the process to lawmakers. We get analysis from Richard Briffault of Columbia Law School, an expert on redistricting, gerrymandering, voting rights and election law.

The Beijing Olympics get under way this week, just six months after the delayed Tokyo games wrapped up. The games are back in Beijing for the second time since the summer Olympics in 2008. Several countries including the U.S. are sending athletes but not diplomats to China as part of a partial boycott. One American who will be in China for the Olympics is Les Carpenter of the Washington Post, who gives us a preview.

We call up WAMC commentator Steven Gottlieb — professor emeritus at Albany Law school and the author of Unfit for Democracy: The Roberts Court and The Breakdown of American Politics — to talk about the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.

One of the most powerful people in New York state Assembly history is being remembered for championing progressive legislation, but also for the corruption conviction and legal battle that marked his final years. We remember Sheldon Silver with Assemblyman Kevin Cahill of the 103rd district, and discuss Gov. Hochul, the 2022 session, and more.

Although the tragedy has inspired public vigils, reforms to state and federal law, and ongoing civil litigation, many questions remain about the limo crash in October 2018 that killed 20 people in Schoharie. At the center of the case is the mysterious family that owns the limousine company whose unsafe vehicle had been hired that fateful day. In the latest issue of New York magazine, journalist Ben Ryder Howe writes about the Hussain family’s long and clouded history in the Capital Region and beyond.

Before he was vice president and president, Joe Biden spent most of his adult life in the U.S. Senate. Now he has joined a growing chorus of Democratic voices that want to do away with one of the Senate’s most entrenched traditions: the filibuster. We speak with Ross Baker, a longtime student of the Senate and Rutgers University political scientist.

We speak with New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli about unclaimed funds, why you should spend gift cards quickly, and Gov. Hochul’s plans for New York in 2022.