Firewall with Bradley Tusk

Bradley Tusk criticizes performative politics, arguing that real change requires concrete action. He explores the stalled government shutdown, emphasizing that it will only resolve when Republicans face tangible consequences. The discussion touches on the NBA's handling of a gambling scandal, advocating for radical transparency. Bradley proposes biometric checks to curb underage online betting and delves into the repercussions of violent confrontations with ICE. He also bluntly dismisses Kamala Harris's viability for the 2028 election.

Five charter revisions on this year’s ballot could make the city more affordable and make affordable housing more plentiful. Bradley sits down with Alec Schierenbeck, executive director of the NYC Charter Revision Commission, to explain how these proposals could finally unclog New York’s housing pipeline. They dig into why city bureaucracy resists change, how AI could streamline zoning and public services, and why the next mayor’s success may hinge on these reforms. The episode ends with a call to young public servants: outwork everyone, question everything, and take pride in making the city even a little bit better.RSVP to join Bradley TONIGHT at P&T Knitwear for a live event with Rev. Al Sharpton in conversation with NYT Magazine Staff Writer Jonathan Mahler, author of the new book, THE GODS OF NEW YORK: bit.ly/GodsOfNewYorkThis episode was taped at P&T Knitwear at 180 Orchard Street — New York City’s only free podcast recording studio.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.Subscribe to Bradley's weekly newsletter and follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack + YouTube.

It was right in the middle of a Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation session that Bradley had a brainstorm — an idea for a TV drama built around a conniving New York politico who hatches a plan to manipulate prediction markets. He titled it THE PREDICTORS, and in this Firewall episode, the audience (you) gets to play the part of a streaming executive as Bradley pitches us the show.RSVP to join Bradley this Thursday evening 10/23 at P&T Knitwear for a live event with Rev. Al Sharpton in conversation with NYT Magazine Staff Writer Jonathan Mahler, author of the new book, THE GODS OF NEW YORK: https://bit.ly/GodsOfNewYorkThis episode was taped at P&T Knitwear at 180 Orchard Street — New York City’s only free podcast recording studio.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.Subscribe to Bradley's weekly newsletter and follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack + YouTube.

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 the publication of their fabulous new cookbook, Russ & Daughters: 100 Years of Appetizing, owners (and cousins) Niki Russ Federman and Josh Russ Tupper sat down with Bradley in September for a live event at P&T to discuss how their family business has survived and thrived in an ever-changing city.Discussed on today's episode: Russ & Daughters 100 Years of Appetizing, by Niki Russ Federman, Josh Russ Tupper, Joshua David Stein, Flatiron Books, (09/09/25)This episode was taped at P&T Knitwear at 180 Orchard Street — New York City’s only free podcast recording studio.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.Subscribe to Bradley's weekly newsletter and follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack + YouTube.

Bradley gets a Windy City on-the-ground report from friend and colleague Bob Greenlee, which leads to a bleak read on national politics: even if Democrats gain in 2026, the realities of executive 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 New York and Chicago (flight of the affluent, public safety, unions, deficits), stressing that execution and pragmatism — not ideology — will make or break new mayors. Finally, they debate leveraging Trump’s Israel deal and his Nobel ambitions toward Ukraine, then land on Bradley’s “grand synthesis”: amid real doomsday risks, personal happiness is still within reach...if we build our lives around love and purpose.Discussed on today's episode:Rigorous Digital Engineering: The Bedrock For Secure Mobile Voting by Bradley Tusk (10/09/25)This episode was taped at P&T Knitwear at 180 Orchard Street — New York City’s only free podcast recording studio.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.

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 giants—most likely Google—and deepen the country’s oligarchic tendencies.This episode was taped at P&T Knitwear at 180 Orchard Street — New York City’s only free podcast recording studio.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.Subscribe to Bradley's weekly newsletter and follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack + YouTube.

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 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.Subscribe to Bradley's weekly newsletter and follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack + YouTube.

Jonathan Mahler’s The Gods of New York is 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 the clash 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 Brooklyn’s transformation, how the business elite grew complacent, where Mamdani will lead us, and who will write the next chapter about a wealthier but increasingly rudderless city.This episode was taped at P&T Knitwear at 180 Orchard Street — New York City’s only free podcast recording studio.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.Subscribe to Bradley's weekly newsletter and follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack + YouTube.

Eric Adams' withdrawal from the New York City mayoral race opens a discussion on the long-term groundwork laid by progressives for candidates like Zohran Mamdani. The hosts explore the political implications of Trump's TikTok deal and assess how the government shutdown could reshape voter perspectives. They also delve into why business and real-estate leaders have struggled to gain political influence, while offering a fun twist with a game about recognizing new territories. Insights into media picks and personal anecdotes add a light-hearted flair.

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 success of any mayoral administration — centrist or socialist — is based on getting the basics right, like safety, services, and jobs.This episode was taped at P&T Knitwear at 180 Orchard Street — New York City’s only free podcast recording studio.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.Subscribe to Bradley's weekly newsletter and follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack + YouTube.