Podcast
Firewall with Bradley Tusk
Hosted by Firewall · EN
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.
74episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
The Democrats Now Have All They Need
Yesterday00:47:48Summary readyWhat's the putdown that Donald Trump loves to dish but can't take? Loser. Bradley lays out a two-prong strategy for Democrats, hitting the broader GOP on the Iran war as a self-inflicted disaster while attacking Trump mercilessly as the architect of one of America's most humiliating defeats in history. Plus, a breakdown of why Mayor Mamdani keeps choosing ideology over the real interests of New Yorkers, the secrets to saving time and what New York City neighborhood should be your next dining destination.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.
SummaryThe Improbability of Adam Ottavino
6d ago00:56:12Summary readyWhat does it take for the son of an actor from Park Slope to make it all the way to the major leagues? Adam Ottavino — who pitched for both the Mets and Yankees over a 15 year career — joins Bradley to talk about growing up in Brooklyn, the terror of retirement and why he thinks the sport is headed for a labor showdown that the players might not be ready for. Plus, a little about the Knicks, because what else are people talking about?Be sure to follow Adam on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@adamottavinozeroThis 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.
SummaryTogetherness
1w ago00:47:30Summary readyWhat is the best reason to be a sports fan? For Bradley, it's all about sharing the experience with friends and loved ones. That's what makes the Knicks' first NBA championship in more than 50 years so deeply satisfying. "If the one thing in life that matters most is having relationships with unconditional love and support," he says, "sports helps make that happen for so many of us." Plus, why the smartest move for the forgotten Nets is to pack up and head west, what made his first-ever soccer game — the World Cup match between Brazil and Morocco at the World Cup — genuinely memorable despite not quite understanding the rules, and a recommendation for Rasputin Swims the Potomac, Ben Fountain's rollicking political satire.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.
SummaryFear Is Not Going to Save Us From AI
2w ago00:50:36Summary readyBut a concrete economic plan for extreme job losses just might. Daniel Schreiber, CEO of Lemonade and founder of the MOSAIC AI Policy Institute, joins Bradley to make a surprisingly hopeful case. The enormous wealth generated by AI can be captured and redistributed in a way that leaves almost everyone better off, he argues, without raising taxes, punishing innovation, or trusting politicians with a slush fund. "Poverty should end in the era of abundance," says Schreiber. "It should simply end."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.
SummaryHard to Talk About Anything Except the Knicks
2w ago00:44:23Summary readyBut Bradley gives it his best shot. He argues that AI has hit its own "Google 2017 moment" — the point where political winds shift from positivity to poisonous — and that the regulatory environment AI companies enjoy today is probably the most permissive it will ever be. Plus, fresh off binging Sons of Anarchy, he ranks his all-time top 25 TV shows — The Wire is number one, by statute — with apologies to Israel, whose shows he loves but they're just too stressful. Oh, and about the Knicks, let's just say that Bradley wore his Josh Hart jersey to the studio but isn't counting on a sweep.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.
SummaryCan Dads Save Democracy?
3w ago00:42:55Summary readyThere is an obvious reason men have drifted to the right, says Justin Cohen: Nobody on the left wants to hear from them. The co-founder of Dads for All joins Bradley to discuss how social isolation, economic anxiety, and political polarization have created both a crisis and an opportunity. Justin's group works through local chapters to bring dads together around areas of shared interest, like sports, as well as issues they care about, like parental leave and affordable childcare. It's a simple organizing philosophy that political leaders ignore at their peril. Says Justin: "The left's allergy to men is going to be a strategic problem for everything they want to do forever."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.
SummaryDo You Believe in Miracles?
3w ago00:48:13Summary readyBecause that's what Bradley argues retail investors will be banking on if they buy OpenAI stock if it goes public as early as this fall. Taking a careful walk through the numbers, he set it up as a classic conflict between math and mythology. Does a debt-laden company with massive annual losses and hard-core competitors deserve to be instantly admitted to the ranks of giants like Apple, Microsoft and Amazon? Plus, Bradley recounts his epic weekend stroll down Broadway, from the Bronx to the Staten Island Ferry, and imagines what a Mamdani-esque ticker tape parade might look like if his prediction of the Knicks in six comes true.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.
SummaryHow to Find a Meaningful Job
4w ago00:38:35Summary readyIf government is one of the best career moves a young person can make right now, why does nobody seem to know it? Caitlin Lewis, Executive Director of Work for America, joins Bradley to extol the benefits of working for state and local governments. They're desperate for talent, they pay better than you think and the work makes a difference in people's lives. Not that there aren't problems, like painfully long and onerous hiring processes, which Caitlin is addressing. She and Bradley talk about the long shadow of Tammany Hall, how displaced federal workers are finding new jobs and why idealism is alive and well in the public sector. "If you want to be part of the resistance," she says, "there is no better way to do it than actually going into City Hall and changing things from the inside."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.
SummaryA Healthy Obsession
4w ago00:45:43Summary readyWhat are the ingredients of a healthy life? Bradley discusses the major changes he made after turning 50, including protein shakes, testosterone therapy, sleep apnea mouth guards, a stay this summer at the Hoffman Institute in the Canadian Rockies and a complete abstinence from ice cream, even though he loves it and would eat it at every meal if he could. "All I can do is just try to do the practices that will maximize my chances of living a healthy life," he says. "Ultimately, you can do all that stuff and if you lack unconditional love and support and things that give you meaning and purpose, you're still probably not that happy."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.
SummaryHear Your Body Talk
May 2100:54:12Summary readyHave we been gradually destroying our physical health by sitting still and staring at screens? Manoush Zomorodi, author of the new book Body Electric, joins Bradley to explain how our digital addictions are bad for us in ways that we rarely consider — spiking blood sugar, wrecking posture, and darkening our moods. The fix, she argues, is easily within reach: as little as five minutes of movement every half hour has dramatic health benefits and actually raises productivity. Bradley argues, in turn, that smartphones manufactured an ADD epidemic in otherwise normal people.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.
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