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PODCAST

Firewall with Bradley Tusk

Politics, technology and the pursuit of happiness. Twice a week, Bradley Tusk, New York-based political strategist and venture investor, covers the collision between new ideas and the real world. His operating thesis is that you can"t understand tech today without understanding politics, too. Recorded at P&T Knitwear, his bookstore / podcast studio, 180 Orchard Street, New York City.

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All Episodes

39:06

LIVE FROM P&T: Growing Up Russ & Daughters

Firewall with Bradley Tusk ·

2025/10/16

What goes together better than smoked fish and good books? Russ & Daughters, beloved for its lox, herring, bagels and babka, is not only one of the truly great and iconic New York food institutions, it's also a neighbor of P&T Knitwear, Bradley's bookstore on the Lower East Side. To mark thepublication of their fabulous new cookbook,Russ & Daughters: 100 Years of Appetizing, owners (and cousins)Niki Russ Federman and Josh Russ Tupper sat down withBradley in September for a live event at

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01:11:06

Is Chicago About to Catch Fire?

Firewall with Bradley Tusk ·

2025/10/14

Bradley gets a Windy City on-the-ground report from friendand colleague Bob Greenlee, which leads to a bleak read on national politics: even if Democrats gain in 2026, the realities ofexecutive power and a thin bench mean that little changes. Bradley then unveils a major milestone for mobile voting—Free & Fair’s open-source, rigorously engineered cryptographic protocol, arguing that transparency invites tougher verification and faster improvement. They then pivot to city governance trade-offs in

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45:40

We've Seen This Terrible Movie Before

Firewall with Bradley Tusk ·

2025/10/09

Matt Stoller, author of the Substack newsletter BIG, joins Bradley to dig into how the rise of AI mirrors the early internet—when regulators failed to check the dominance of Google, Facebook, and others. Stoller argues that America’s political elites, especially under Obama, confused “freedom from restriction” with “freedom from mastery,” enabling corporate monopolies to become de facto rulers of public life. Without decisive policy intervention, he warns, AI will consolidate under the same few tech

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44:41

Should You Do Your Own Thing?

Firewall with Bradley Tusk ·

2025/10/07

The upside of being your own boss is pretty clear, says Bradley, it's your tolerance for the downside that really is the deciding factor. He offers an 8-point checklist that starts with the warning, "You own all the risk — always." Plus, he discusses how much the AI investment boom is driven by narratives rather than economics and what to do about the broken state of polling.This episode was taped at P&T Knitwear at 180 Orchard Street — New York City’s only free podcast recording studio.Send us

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42:31

Has New York Lost Its Gods?

Firewall with Bradley Tusk ·

2025/10/02

Jonathan Mahler’sThe Gods of New Yorkis a brilliant chronicle of the late 1980s, when a rotating cast of outrageous characters—Trump, Koch, Sharpton, among others— hogged the headlines. Bradley talks to Mahler about theclash of epic egos, as well as shifting social conditions. How exactly did homelessness and untreated mental illness go from an emergency that pricked the conscience of New Yorkers to a normalized, if regrettable, fact of urban life?Fast-forwarding to the present, they parse

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43:45

The Mayor's Endgame

Firewall with Bradley Tusk ·

2025/09/30

Not much will change with Eric Adams' withdrawal from the New York City mayor's race, but it is a good moment to reflect on how we reached this point. Zohran Mamdani is going to be the next mayor because progressives spent years layingthe groundwork for a candidate like him. If the city's business and real-estate interests wish to have real politicalinfluence, they need to put in the same kind of sweat equity. Plus, Bradley ponders the "art" of Trump's TikTok deal, assesses the Democrats' prospects

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46:36

The Second Tour of Duty

Firewall with Bradley Tusk ·

2025/09/25

Randy Mastro, who served as Chief of Staff and Deputy Mayor for Operations under Mayor Giuliani, talks to Bradley about his return to City Hall this year as the First Deputy Mayor to bolster an Adams administration shaken by key departures but also looking to run through the tape. He explains how social media and hyper-partisanship have made the task of governing harder, goes into detail on how he is helping to address thorny stalemates like horse carriages in Central Park, and argues that the

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38:57

To Blow Up the World ...

Firewall with Bradley Tusk ·

2025/09/23

...or not to blow up the world, that is the question. Taking off from Kathryn Bigelow new movieA House of Dynamite,Bradley goes down the list of the last 10 American presidents and decides how each one would respond to an incoming nuclear attack from an unknown source. Plus, he writes a speech that Bibi Netanyahu could give but never will, and explores the outpouring this year of great books about New York City. The 2026 Gotham Book Prize is going to be a very tough call.This episode was taped at

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16:50

A Whole New Way to Get Around

Firewall with Bradley Tusk ·

2025/09/18

When Danny Kim was nearly crushed by the 4,000-pound chassis of a truck he was working on,he had an epiphany. What if he could make an entirely new kind of car that combined the efficiency of a motorcycle with the safety of a regular car? Lit Motors was born. Bradley talks to Danny about his vision for a two-wheel vehicle with the soul of a spaceship.Join Bradley this Saturday, Sept. 20 at P&T Knitwear as we celebrate Russ & Daughters Day to mark the legendary shop's first-ever cookbook in

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46:14

See Where We Are

Firewall with Bradley Tusk ·

2025/09/16

The killing of Charlie Kirk has kicked the forces of political polarization into high gear. But it’s worth taking a step back, says Bradley, to considerthe degradationof everyday life that gives rise to such tragedies and think about what each one of us can do to ease the chaos.More locally, Bradley also discusses the data that proves that the ban on forced brokers fees is working, the race to replace Congressman Jerry Nadler, and the very un-Christian move by a local church to kick out a longtime

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33:43

How to Invest in Your Own Taste

Firewall with Bradley Tusk ·

2025/09/11

Jenny Montgomery is a New Yorker on a mission — scouring galleries for art she loves and can afford to buy. Bradley talks to her about the city's art scene, where to see great work right now, and how to think about starting your own collection. Get rich quick? Forget about it. But live a richer cultural life? That's well within your reach.Discussed on today's episode:Printed Matter'sNY Art Book Fair at MoMA PS1: https://printedmatterartbookfairs.org/Join Bradley on Sept. 20 at P&T Knitwear as we

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50:36

The De-Euphemizing of DC

Firewall with Bradley Tusk ·

2025/09/09

Now that Trump has decided to restore the throwback name of the Department of Defense (now the Department of War), maybe it's time we started calling all federal agencies according to what they really do — so Bradley plays an epic name game. Plus, he assesses the looming real-world conditions that will test Zohran Mamdani's commitmentto his progressive agenda, throws a flag on football's talking heads, and divulges his personal Emmy picks.Discussed on today's episode:Zohran Mamdani’s Year One: A

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40:53

How to Find a Rock Star

Firewall with Bradley Tusk ·

2025/09/02

Here's one thing we know about the Democratic Party right now — they are practically in a death spiral and must do something heroic to have any shot at theWhite House in 2028. If they think they can go about picking a candidate the regular, super-boring way, they're toast. So Bradley has a plan to bring fun and genuine excitement into the process, based on, yes, Battle of the Network Stars. Plus, he delivers a sharp verdict on the question of whether business school is worth it, and analyzes what

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33:48

A Restaurant That Does Everything Right

Firewall with Bradley Tusk ·

2025/08/28

What if you could eat at a place where the food was fresh and healthy, prices were geared to what customers could afford and the staff was treated equitably? Legendary food writer Mark Bittman joins Firewall to discuss the imminent launch of Community Kitchen, his nonprofit corrective to a food worldgone awry.Send us an email with your thoughts on today’s episode: info@firewall.media.Be sure to watch Bradley’s new TED Talk on Mobile Voting at https://go.ted.com/bradleytusk.Join Bradley at P&T

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57:16

Shocking News

Firewall with Bradley Tusk ·

2025/08/26

While all of you were enjoyinga Firewall-free week, Bradley was undergoing Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, a therapydesigned to mitigate obsessive-compulsive disorder. "They put this thing over your head, and effectively, every two seconds, you get 30 pulses or shocks," he says. "They call them pulses because shock sounds bad. If you are a listener and you really do suffer from OCD or depression, this is a tool that I had not been aware of before that I'm very glad I tried." Plus, Bradley

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43:31

Let's Just Talk About Tennis

Firewall with Bradley Tusk ·

2025/08/14

Two friends decided to turn their shared passion for tennis and food into — well, they don’t know what it could become, but for now it’s a Substack calledThe Play Boys.Bradley talks to Dave Allee and Paul Tedesco about the best and worst public courts in New York City, why breakfast is more central to their project than lunch or dinner, the surprisingly diverse tennis culture in different boroughs, and their favorite part of watching the US Open.Send us an email with your thoughts on today’s

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51:42

A Tech Vision for Mamdani

Firewall with Bradley Tusk ·

2025/08/12

If Zohran Mamdani stands any chance of succeeding on his social agenda, he'll need a strong economy. Bradley hand-picks the policies and ideas that the likely next mayor of New York City should embraceto drive innovation, attract investment, and create jobs. Growth, he argues, will do the most good for the most New Yorkers. Plus,Bradley reflects on turning 52 — sharing lessons about reshuffling priorities, creating new habits and reining in his workaholic tendencies.This episode was taped at P&T

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50:09

The Freaky 90s

Firewall with Bradley Tusk ·

2025/08/07

What happens when a drugged-out visionary, a few brilliant businessmen and a generation of alt-rock misfits hit the road together? Tom Beaujour — co-author ofLollapalooza: The Uncensored Story of Alternative Rock's Wildest Festival — joins Bradley to tell the inside story of America’s most chaotic traveling circus. From onstage shotgun blasts to backstage basketball beefs, it's a love letter to a weirder, sweatier, more combustible time in pop culture.This episode was taped at P&T Knitwear at

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01:03:07

A Contrarian Brief for Law School

Firewall with Bradley Tusk ·

2025/08/05

Though he went to law school himself, Bradley used to tell people it was a waste of time and money for anyone who wasn't dead set on practicing law. Now, with the age of AI upon us, he thinks it could be the best way for young people to develop their critical thinking skills. Plus, hetorches Trump’s latest moves as a coordinated assault on America’s economic foundations, quizzes Cory on the campaign to institute age verification for Citi Bike e-bikes, and concedes that the second part of the Billy

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52:02

Crypto Has Come in From the Cold

Firewall with Bradley Tusk ·

2025/07/31

Bradleytalks with Eric Soufer, partner at Tusk Strategies and head of their advanced technology & crypto practice, about the dramatic shift in the regulatory and political climate surrounding digital assets. They unpack the GENIUS and CLARITY Acts, explain why stablecoins are going mainstream, and assess how the crypto lobby pulled off one of the most effective policy campaigns in recent memory. Plus, the future of prediction markets, the limits of Israeli politics, and why the Yankees' problems

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