Firewall with Bradley Tusk

Firewall
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  • UPDATED BIWEEKLY

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.

  1. 11H AGO

    The Manchurian Economy

    If you were conspiring to weaken America over the long haul, wouldn’t you start by corroding the institutions that make the U.S. economy uniquely powerful? Bradley walks through his “Manchurian Economy” thesis—tariffs, intimidation of speech and IP, politicizing the Fed and federal data, choking immigration and R&D, and the broader slide toward rule-of-law instability. The damage may outlast Trump and even accelerate in an AI-disrupted, demagogue-friendly future. Then Bradley pivots to New York City affordability, with a buffet of cost-cutting proposals for Mayor Mamdani—from inspecting buildings by drone to lifting the zoning constraints that make development so expensive. Finally, Hugo puts Bradley in the coach’s chair to help him come up with a new strategy for consuming media — sparring over Substack, print-only minimalism, aggregators, audio-only news, and whether the real solution for Hugo isn't merely to give up his old habits of an editor always hunting for new voices. Discussed on today's episode: How Mamdani can make NYC more affordable, Bradley Tusk, New York Daily News (January 19, 2026) 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 TED Talk on Mobile Voting at https://go.ted.com/bradleytusk. Subscribe to Bradley's weekly newsletter and follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack + YouTube.

    55 min

  2. 5D AGO

    Live from P&T: A Boyhood Dream Comes True

    What do you learn from three decades of working the late shift on sports radio? Steve Somers, the beloved Shmoozer on WFAN and author of a new memoir Me Here, You There, joined Bradley and his longtime producer Paul Rosenberg for a live conversation late last year at P&T Knitwear. "All through high school, all I tried to do was call in to The Fan and I could never get on," says Bradley (a fellow die-hard Mets fan like Steve), "so this is my first real chance." 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 TED Talk on Mobile Voting at https://go.ted.com/bradleytusk. Subscribe to Bradley's weekly newsletter and follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack + YouTube.

    44 min

  3. JAN 13

    The Power Grab

    What will trigger the fiercest backlash to the AI boom? Rather than job losses or generative-AI weirdness, says Bradley, it'll be data centers and their insatiable appetite for electricity. When utility bills start climbing, voters everywhere will make their wrath felt. Which means new power sources are in hot demand. Can we develop them fast enough to head off a crisis? Plus: Bradley reflects on how “having nice things” (like the little gem of a bar he discovered in Miami) rests on thousands of trust-based transactions and presents a working theory on why Mayor Mamdani’s early flashes of progressive posturing could be more strategic than they look. 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.

    55 min

  4. JAN 8

    How to Not Waste the Healthcare Crisis

    Did you know that life expectancy in Brownsville is 11 years shorter than on the Upper East Side? Dr. Ashwin Vasan, former city health commissioner, joins Bradley to discuss the funding crisis, mounting inequities and stratospheric administrative costs of public healthcare. Vasan explains why real reform starts with rebuilding trust—through ethics rules, revamped incentives, transparency, and a less officious posture. "People don't like being made to feel dumb," he says. The coming era will be defined by a messy transition: fewer paper-pushers, more direct contracting and a political fight over who loses first. 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.

    43 min

  5. JAN 6

    A Weird Thing About Happiness

    The more we chase it, the more it slips away. For the first episode of 2026, Bradley explores the hard choices that lead to contentment over the long run, resisting the dopamine loop of money and status in favor of purpose, perspective and love. 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.

    1h 9m

  6. 12/23/2025

    Bradley Goes Rogan...

    ...Well, not quite. But for this year-capping episode, Bradley came armed with a list of 50 big questions to discuss with his friend Alexander Kouts, the founder and CEO of Indigov, and because they had so much to talk about, the episode approaches Rogan-scale duration. Buckle up for this super-sized episode as Bradley and Alex take on abundance v. zero-sum thinking, the limits of capitalism, the purpose of religion, where higher education is heading (off a cliff, of course, but how high?), what roles AI can never take away from us and why humans are powerless in the presence of babies and dogs. Consider it the debut of a new annual tradition. Next year, we might invite Joe himself (or not). 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.

    2h 13m

  7. 12/18/2025

    The Prosperity Riddle

    Daniel Wortel-London, author of The Menace of Prosperity: New York City and the Struggle for Economic Development, 1865–1981, joins Bradley to unpack a century of economic policy, arguing that elites have often undermined cities even as they claimed to save them—and that smarter, more inclusive development is still possible. The conversation ranges from subways and public housing to Zohran Mamdani’s prospects as mayor, asking whether technocratic competence, not ideology, is the real test for New York’s next era. Note that this episode was recorded shortly before Mamdani's election, and it was discussed as the likely outcome. 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.

    39 min

  8. 12/16/2025

    What Was the Weirdest Book You Thoroughly Loved?

    For Bradley, it was Blob: A Love Story by Maggie Su. In this episode, he reviews his favorites among the 96 books that he read this year, including the funniest one, the memoir that evokes real nostalgia, the one he most wants his son to read and the one that made him feel like less of a misfit. Plus, Bradley talks about how to make New York City a global model of Jewish-Muslim cooperation and why Trump's executive order on AI is little more than ill-informed bluster. 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.

    40 min
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4.8
out of 5
83 Ratings

About

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.

Information

  • Creator
    Firewall
  • Years Active
    2017 - 2026
  • Episodes
    209
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © All rights reserved
  • Show Website
    Firewall with Bradley Tusk

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