Firewall with Bradley Tusk

Hosted by Firewall

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200

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Oct 2026

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About the show

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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60 recent

October 13, 202645 min

Start Making Sense

Philip K. Howard is an agitator for common sense. He’s been at it since at least 1994, when he wrote a book about public-sector dysfunction called The Death of Common Sense . During the tumult of the 1960s, he explains to Bradley, Americans stopped trusting anyone in government to make sensible decisions and replaced judgment with thousand-page rulebooks. And the country that devalued judgment ultimately tried to correct itself by electing Donald Trump, who honors no rules at all. Though the societal snafu Howard identified three decades ago has only worsened with time, he keeps coming up with new ways to fight the problem, most recently a vision for government he calls the Green Light. “People say, well, have you done any good?” says Howard. “And I say, I think I have a more or less perfect record of failure. But at least I’m trying.” 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 . Subscribe to Bradley's weekly newsletter and follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack .

October 8, 202647 min

Roommates Wanted

Here's a novel way to make a dent in the housing crisis. City Council member Virginia Maloney joins Firewall to make the case for her Shared City Act, which would turn half-empty office floors into legal shared housing (private rooms, common kitchens and baths), adding as many as 37,000 beds in a decade. She and Bradley also get into homeless encampments, why City Hall can't seem to make job creators feel wanted, putting AI to work inside city government, age checks for teens on e-bikes, and whether independents should get a vote in primaries their taxes pay for. 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 . Subscribe to Bradley's weekly newsletter and follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack .

October 6, 202651 min

Dario’s No Luke Skywalker

So that likable, conscientious CEO warning that AI could kill us all — is he still going to be so likable and conscientious if his stock price falls off a cliff? Let’s take that off the table, argues Bradley: Until we know how to manage AI, Anthropic should not go public. As for Trump letting tech CEOs police themselves, well, that’s only going to further poison popular opinion and make data centers harder to build. Plus, the Times' 100 biggest questions in science is the Gray Lady at her best; the war in Iran has turned a boring industry into a juggernaut; why the oldest, tiredest brand imaginable could make for a perfect pop-up; and an impassioned endorsement of Digger , the Tom Cruise movie critics hated, because it’s actually about something important. 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 . Subscribe to Bradley's weekly newsletter and follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack .

October 1, 20261 hr 1 min

"I'm Not Good at Doing Nothing"

What would you do with a year devoted to getting good at one thing? Ravi Gupta, good friend of the pod, is back on Firewall to talk about his new book, The Invisible List , in which he argues for chasing one new passion every year, no matter how busy or stuck you feel. He and Bradley talk about tennis as a midlife balm, the surprising difficulty of making risotto, the secret greatness of Western New York, dinner parties where every guest confesses a meaningful failure and why hobbies are cool. "Hobbies," says Gupta, "are how you meet your friends, your significant others. It's how you inspire your kids. It's how you show your wife or your husband that you're sexy." 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 . Subscribe to Bradley's weekly newsletter and follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack .

September 29, 20261 hr 3 min

What Good is a Fun Mayor?

What New York really needs is a City Hall that nails the normie stuff: getting the homeless off the streets, fighting crime and fixing the budget. Plus, Bradley explains why nobody should feel compelled to abide by strict religious rules, argues that declaring martial law on Election Day would only hasten Trump's downfall, and gives a hearty plug to Ari Emanuel's memoir. 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 . Subscribe to Bradley's weekly newsletter and follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack .

September 24, 202653 min

Phoniness Is the Only Unforgivable Sin

How big of a blue wave should we expect next month? Sheila Nix, CEO of Tusk Philanthropies and veteran of three presidential campaigns, tells Bradley that the House is a done deal for the Democrats, while arguing that Chuck Schumer's smartest move would be to win the majority and then walk away. Together, they dig into how voters forgive crazy but never phony, why AOC's path to the nomination is more plausible than the dinner-party crowd admits, and whether Trump actually cares about the midterms. Plus, they review the Tusk Philanthropies agenda, including recent developments in mobile voting, school meals and shield laws for abortion providers. 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 . Subscribe to Bradley's weekly newsletter and follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack .

September 22, 202651 min

A Who's Who of Accretors and Extractors

Among tech titans, there is an invisible line dividing those who add something meaningful to our society and those who are merely extracting value for their own benefit. Bradley reviews the roster of Jobs, Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg, Altman and more. Plus, will the e-bike tragedy in the East Village force Mayor Mamdani to do the right thing, does standing in line bring New Yorkers together, what Bill Simmons could bring to the LA Clippers and why 'Exit Party' by Emily St. John Mandel is the book to read right now. 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 . Subscribe to Bradley's weekly newsletter and follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack .

September 17, 202650 min

Nobody Ever Misses Their Chance at Life

When Zibby Owens, author of the forthcoming Between Chapters: How I Started Over, Took Some Chances, and Found the Plot , was at her lowest point, she started taking baby steps toward what would turn into a bustling mini-empire, built in and around the publishing business. Bradley talks to Zibby about how it all came together. On starting from nothing: "I recorded a podcast into my phone sitting on the edge of my bed. And was like, I'm not even going to tell anyone I'm doing this." On her publishing thesis: "I wanted to make every author a lead title. We want to put the resources behind each one ... I didn't want to be a printer. I wanted to be a partner." On her new book: "It is intended to be the same as going to coffee with a good friend." On owning a bookstore: " "I feel like I've created a community center that also sells books." On what it all means: "I felt like I missed my chance in life. And I've realized that nobody ever misses their chance at life... you may feel incredibly stuck, but you have the power to find yourself." 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 . Subscribe to Bradley's weekly newsletter and follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack .

September 15, 20261 hr 5 min

How Hyperscalers Can Save The World From Themselves

Now that AI risk has jumped from theoretical to totally real and frightening, Bradley lays out a five-point plan for what OpenAI and Anthropic should do if they're serious about safety: disclose everything about how they're developing their products, draw real distinctions between what the technology can do and what people actually need, enact unilateral safety measures like kill switches and independent evaluators, aggressively push for robust regulation and — the big one — postpone their IPOs until the risk is under control. 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 . Subscribe to Bradley's weekly newsletter and follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack .

September 10, 202649 min

"We Warned You"

That's what the framers would say if they popped out of a time machine and saw our politics today, argues John Opdycke. From the start, they cautioned against political parties. Forty-one percent of the country now identifies as independent, yet closed primaries in states like New York lock them out of the elections that actually decide who governs. Opdycke, who runs a group called Open Primaries , talks to Bradley about the effect nonpartisan primaries have had in California, why he's suing to overturn closed primaries in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Oregon, and how the DSA and New York's entrenched party establishment — despite hating each other — both benefit from keeping turnout low. The fight isn't ideological, he and Bradley agree, it's all about power. 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 . Subscribe to Bradley's weekly newsletter and follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack .