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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

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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40:19

Are We Self-Destructing?

Firewall with Bradley Tusk ·

2025/07/29

As an American Jew raised in a household of Holocaust survivors, Bradley has always been unwavering in his support for Israel. But what once felt morally clear — Israel's strength as a shield against persecution — has given way to uncertainty, as the war in Gaza grinds on without a discernible ethical purpose. To preserve Judaism's core values, Bradley argues, Jews must reassert the moral standards that have sustained them for millennia.This episode was taped at P&T Knitwear at 180 Orchard

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45:44

Well-Meaning Warriors for the Status Quo

Firewall with Bradley Tusk ·

2025/07/24

Why and how did progressives give up on actually building a better society?Marc Dunkelman, author of Why Nothing Works: Who Killed Progress — and How to Bring It Back, joins Bradley to discuss the central problem in American governance— not bad intentions, but a broken architecture of decision making. Power is now so diffused that virtually anyone can block progress, even on widely supported initiatives.“We’ve put the establishment in a cage," says Dunkelman. "And now we’ve put the bureaucrats in a

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50:36

The Provocateur

Firewall with Bradley Tusk ·

2025/07/22

Why did a Sequoia partner in faraway Silicon Valley feel the need to troll the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor? Bradley breaks down the power dynamics at play in Sean Maguire's inflammatory remarks about Zohran Mamdani: a high-performing VC chasing attention, a prestigious firm caught in the crossfire, and the challenge of balancing individual expression with institutional risk. Maguire’s move wasn’t a misstep, says Bradley, it was a calculated play for relevance in a niche echo chamber

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41:11

Live from P&T: The Art of Tactical Empathy

Firewall with Bradley Tusk ·

2025/07/17

Recorded in front of a live audience on July 7, Frank Carone, therenowned lawyer, business negotiator,political fixer and former chief of staff for Mayor Eric Adams,speaks with Bradley about his new book Everyone Wins! The Ultimate Guide to Optimize Your Business Relationships and Achieve Financial Freedom. From the streets of Canarsie to the corridors of City Hall, Carone shares the life principles, strategic mindset, and relationship playbook that helped him master the art of influence — and how

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27:43

Mobilize the Vote

Firewall with Bradley Tusk ·

2025/07/15

Today marks the release of Bradley’s TED Talk on Mobile Voting, so you should really head over there and spend 11 minutes getting inspired about the future of democracy (and share the link with your friends if you're on board). This is a short-and-sweet episode with what Bradley learned from doing TED, how to think about your kids entering a job market distorted by AI and why Superman ranks so low on Bradley’s list of favorite superheroes.This episode was taped at P&T Knitwear at 180 Orchard

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37:54

Where Few Start-Ups Dare to Go

Firewall with Bradley Tusk ·

2025/07/10

It’s hard to imagine anything less glamorous than government procurement, but that’s exactly why August Chen was drawn to it. The CEO and co-founder of Hazel talks to Bradley about the power of AI to modernize the purchase of billions upon billions of goods and services every year. Chen, who cut his teeth at Palantir, explains why legacy systems are so resistant to change, how Hazel earns trust, and what most people get wrong about working with government.This episode was taped at P&T Knitwear

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01:05:35

Let’s Agree to Agree

Firewall with Bradley Tusk ·

2025/07/08

Returning from his recent trip to Estonia, Bradley pushes back on the idea that Americans are hopelessly divided. On core issues like immigration, taxes, housing, and foreign policy, he argues, there’s actually surprising consensus. In this episode, he breaks down where that agreement lies. Plus: big wins forSolving Hungerat the state level, why Elon Musk’s $300 million won’t go nearly far enough in starting in a serious political party, and a fresh look at Cicero — does his philosophy of the good

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50:48

A Conversation About Almost Everything

Firewall with Bradley Tusk ·

2025/07/03

Mike Pesca, host of The Gist, matches wits with Bradley on a wide range topics: the best sporting events to see in person, the most admirable world leaders of the 21st century, what its like not to feel stress, why America is fine with the Ivy League being destroyed, are sociopaths happier than the rest of us, who still believes that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone, the pros and (mostly) cons of mushy food, plus much more.This episode was taped at P&T Knitwear at 180 Orchard Street — New York

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49:21

The View from Estonia

Firewall with Bradley Tusk ·

2025/07/01

While on a fact-finding trip to the so-called 'Digital Republic' — where e-voting has been on the books since 2003 — Bradley reflects on the ugliness of the One Big Beautiful Bill, the difficulty of Mamdani detractors to accept reality, why billionaires aren't the problem we should be worried about, whetherCanada could be learning from Trump, and why he supports age-verification for everything from e-bikes to pornography.Discussed on today's episode:Next steps for Zohran Mamdani: Why he will win the

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27:07

Bonus Re-Release: The (Free) Bus Stops Here [ft....

Firewall with Bradley Tusk ·

2025/06/27

Ever since Tuesday's shock results, Bradley's been sharing a steady stream of thoughts on Zohran Mamdani's win here on Firewall and his Substack — and now you can hear from Mamdani directly. We're re-releasing our interview from April with the (now) Democratic nominee for mayor, when he joined Bradley and Tom Allon from City & State todiscuss his vision for a fairer, faster, and more functional New York. Real leadership, Mamdani argued, means empowering experts, not micromanaging. He believes

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45:41

Bonus Episode: Mamdani Won, Now What?

Firewall with Bradley Tusk ·

2025/06/25

On this post-primary bonus episode, Bradley joins Ravi Gupta's Lost Debate to break down Zohran Mamdani'shistoricvictory and how his administration might handle key policy issues like housing, education, and transportation. Also, what about those grocerystores? Of course, before any of that can happen, Mamdani needs to win in November. Bradley and Ravi preview the wild race that starts today, as a potentially crowded field mobilizes to derail the Mamdani express.Be sure to subscribe to The Lost

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