City Cast DC

In today’s roundup, we’re talking about the city sending a warning to unlicensed weed shops in the city, an update on keeping sports teams in D.C., and 1 star reviews of Capital One Arena.Parents have taken on weed shops in the past, and we explain why that’s a big deal.Want some more DC news? Then make sure to sign up for our morning newsletter Hey DC. You can also become a member, with ad-free listening, for as little as $8 a month.Interested in advertising with City Cast? Find more info HEREWe’re also on Twitter! Follow us at @citycast_dcAnd we’d love to feature you on the show! Share your DC-related thoughts, hopes, and frustrations with us in a voicemail by calling 202-642-2654. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There’s been a crazy fight going on about whether to erect an apartment building on the site of an old firehouse on U Street — and it’s a fight worth watching because it says a lot about what it takes to actually build anything in D.C. Paul Schwartzman from the Washington Post has been covering it and is here to walk us through the wild details. Want some more DC news? Then make sure to sign up for our morning newsletter Hey DC. You can also become a member, with ad-free listening, for as little as $8 a month.Interested in advertising with City Cast? Find more info HEREAnd we’d love to feature you on the show! Share your DC-related thoughts, hopes, and frustrations with us in a voicemail by calling 202-642-2654. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re breaking down the 2025 budget with City Paper’s Alex Koma, and Washingtonian’s Jessica Sidman is here to talk about D.C.’s nominees for the James Beard awards — and a crazy spy story at a local Russian restaurant. Check out our interview with James Beard award-winning chef, Rob Rubba, on why we should all be switching to electric stoves!Also! We're giving away a Hey DC mug! But you have to be a member to enter the drawing, and we're doing it later today! Sign up by 12 pm ET on April 5 to enter, plus, as a member, you'll get ad-free listening and a ton of other exclusive perks. Want some more DC news? Then make sure to sign up for our morning newsletter Hey DC.Interested in advertising with City Cast? Find more info HEREAnd we’d love to feature you on the show! Share your DC-related thoughts, hopes, and frustrations with us in a voicemail by calling 202-642-2654. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How’s your D.C. food trivia game? Two of the city’s premier food journalists are here to match wits about the past and present of Washington culinary life. It’s Jessica Sidman versus Ann Limpert in a D.C. food trivia showdown.Jess mentioned that she doesn’t think D.C. is in the South, but we’re not sure it’s so simple. Check out the episode where we tried to figure it out.Want some more DC news? Then make sure to sign up for our morning newsletter Hey DC.Interested in advertising with City Cast? Find more info HEREAnd we’d love to feature you on the show! Share your DC-related thoughts, hopes, and frustrations with us in a voicemail by calling 202-642-2654. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Right now, through April 15, D.C. residents can apply to get up to $2000 from the city government to buy an e-bike. But there are limited funds available, and it got us thinking – how desperate ARE we really to buy our own e-bikes? Or, do the ones sprawled around town to rent do the trick? City Cast Producer Ashe Durban systematically tested all the different brands, and he’s here to give us the lay of the land.Want some more DC news? Then make sure to sign up for our morning newsletter Hey DC. You can also become a member, with ad-free listening, for as little as $8 a month.Interested in advertising with City Cast? Find more info HEREAnd we’d love to feature you on the show! Share your DC-related thoughts, hopes, and frustrations with us in a voicemail by calling 202-642-2654. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ted Leonsis, who owns the Capitals and Wizards, is giving us some major whiplash. He’s had an abrupt change of heart and the Caps and Wizards will be staying in D.C. The Washington Post's Candace Buckner is here to tell us how Ted can make Washingtonians love him again and protect his long-term legacy. Losing the teams would have been a tough blow for Chinatown, which is already dealing with the aftermath of a weird inside robbery job at the local Walgreens.  Sign up for our morning newsletter, Hey DC, to stay up to date on everything happening around the city. You can also become a member, with ad-free listening, for as little as $8 a month.Interested in advertising with City Cast? Find more info HEREAnd we’d love to feature you on the show! Share your DC-related thoughts, hopes, and frustrations with us in a voicemail by calling 202-642-2654. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

April in D.C. is about more than just cherry blossoms. The City Cast D.C. crew has recommendations for upcoming festivals, celebrations, and new ways to explore the city. Let us be your guide to ensure April isn’t the cruelest month.Plus, at the end of the episode, senior executive producer Priyanka Tilve sits down with our sponsor District Bridges to talk about one event THEY think you should attend this April: Juernes. Learn more about that and District Bridges' other community-building projects at districtbridges.org.If you're new here, welcome! Check out these other episodes that we also love: How the Caps and Wiz Came to Stay in D.C., New Rosslyn Food Hall, and Nats Park Upgrades How to Survive D.C.'s Wild Allergy Season Were the Robberies at the Chinatown Walgreens an Inside Job? Also, want a free (and beautiful) engraved mug? Sign up to become a City Cast DC member to enter the raffle. Plus you’ll get ad-free listening, for as little as $8 a month. Sign up by April 5 to qualify.What’s the mug engraved with? “Hey DC”! The name of our daily morning newsletter. Sign up for more local news.Interested in advertising with City Cast? Find more info HERE. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a dramatic turn of events, Monumental Sports owner Ted Leonsis announced that the Capitals and Wizards will be staying in D.C. after all. Plus, there’s yet another new food hall in the DMV and Nats Park has undergone some futuristic upgrades just in time for the new season. Axios’ Cuneyt Dil and Anna Spiegel join the team to break it all down.For more on Ted Leonsis’ battle with a local Chinatown busker, listen to our episode with the reporter who broke the story.Want a free (and beautiful) engraved mug? Sign up to become a City Cast DC member to enter the raffle. Plus you’ll get ad-free listening, for as little as $8 a month. Sign up by April 5 to qualify.What’s the mug engraved with? “Hey DC”! The name of our daily morning newsletter. Sign up for more local news.Want some more DC news? Then make sure to sign up for our morning newsletter Hey DC.Interested in advertising with City Cast? Find more info HEREAnd we’d love to feature you on the show! Share your DC-related thoughts, hopes, and frustrations with us in a voicemail by calling 202-642-2654.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anything built in Georgetown has to go through the Old Georgetown Board. And, most recently it refused to approve an office-to-residential conversion on Thomas Jefferson St. NW. Topher Matthews, from Georgetown Metropolitan, explains how this unelected board of architects came to be and why it may be out-of-step with the city’s priorities.Want a free (and beautiful) engraved mug? Sign up to become a City Cast DC member to enter the raffle. Plus you’ll get ad-free listening, for as little as $8 a month. Sign up by April 5 to qualify.What’s the mug engraved with? “Hey DC”! The name of our daily morning newsletter. Sign up for more local news.Interested in advertising with City Cast? Find more info HEREAnd we’d love to feature you on the show! Share your DC-related thoughts, hopes, and frustrations with us in a voicemail by calling 202-642-2654. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You might not think of D.C. as a city where you need to watch out for snakes, but multiple snake sightings in the city dispel that notion. Wildlife educator Caroline Seitz loves our scaly, slithery friends and last year, she explained to me what types of snakes are in the area and what you should do if you see one.Want a free (and beautiful) engraved mug? Sign up to become a City Cast DC member to enter the raffle. Plus you’ll get ad-free listening, for as little as $8 a month. Sign up by April 5 to qualify.What’s the mug engraved with? “Hey DC”! The name of our daily morning newsletter. Sign up for more local news.Interested in advertising with City Cast? Find more info HERE.And we’d love to feature you on the show! Share your DC-related thoughts, hopes, and frustrations with us in a voicemail by calling 202-642-2654. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices