Firewall

Though The New York Times is refraining from making an endorsement in the New York City mayoral race, it did tell its readers which candidate NOT to vote for. Bradley breaks down the implications of this unusual editorial choice. Plus, he explains his personal criteria for responding to requests for his time and advice.Discussed on today's episode:Our Advice To Voters In A Vexing Race For New York Mayor, The New York Times, June 16, 2025.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 + YouTube.

While the news dwells on everything that divides us, Spencer Greenberg went the other way — he did a study of 195 issues to discover what unites us — and came to a conclusion that, in his words, "just blew my mind." Americans actually agree on a ton of things. The social entrepreneur, mathematician and host of the podcast Clearer Thinking joined Bradley at P&T Knitwear in front of a live audience for a free-wheeling conversation that might just make you a little hopeful.Be sure to follow and subscribe to Clearer Thinking on Spotify, Apple, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 + YouTube.

What would it look like if the richest man in the world and the most powerful man in the world really took the gloves off? Bradley details the specific attacks each could deploy — inflicting so much damage on each other that it makes sense for cooler heads to prevail. But who wants to bet on that happening? Plus, Bradley got around to reading Careless People, Sarah Wynn-Williams' memoir about working at Meta, and thinks you should tooThis 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 + YouTube.

Can New York be the state that shows how to rein in AI before it’s too late? State Assemblymember Alex Bores joins Bradley to talk about the Responsible AI Safety and Education (RAISE) Act, a bill he's co-sponsoring to establish safety, audit, and whistleblower guardrails for companies training advanced AI models. Without smart, tough regulation, Bores argues, even well-intentioned tech can be weaponized. From job loss to bioweapons and deepfakes, Bores warns that these problems are not theoretical, they are on our doorstep.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 + YouTube.

Yes, it's a satire and yes, movies always screw things up, but Jesse Armstrong's idea of tech founders in the new HBO movie Mountainhead is just plain wrong and counterproductive, says Bradley. Plus, he considers five future scenarios for AI and reconsiders his view on how Netanyahu is prosecuting the war in Gaza.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 + YouTube.

How could Apple mount a counterattack against Trump and his tariffs? Bradley lays out a battle plan for the tech giant that revives the uncompromising tenacity of founder Steve Jobs — though it will almost certainly never happen. Plus, he updates his Non-Religious Ten Commandments for Kids, explains why attending the Indianapolis 500 restored his faith in America, and plugs Eric Topol's new book, Super Agers: An Evidence-Based Approach to Longevity.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 + YouTube.

The conviction of Donald Trump on 34 felony counts in a New York courtroom last year already feels like ancient history. But in his new book "Dragon on Centre Street", New York Times reporter Jonah Bromwich explains why his trial remains acutely relevant. The personal humiliation of the proceedings, Bromwich argues, helped unleash Trump’s full cynicism about the justice system: “One of the things he learned from this trial is just how much he can do, and just how little the rule of law has to offer to challenge it.”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, follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack + YouTube, be sure to order his new book, Vote With Your Phone. 

In the latest installment of The Race to Gracie Mansion, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander lays out his "number one commitment" — moving the roughly 2,000 homeless people with serious mental illness off the streets and into housing with services. It sounds good, but how will that work in reality? Lander makes the case, as well as outlining major initiatives on affordable housing, childcare, transit reform and tech-enabled governance.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, follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack + YouTube, be sure to order his new book, Vote With Your Phone. 

As a culture, Judaism is so rewarding and life-affirming, says Bradley, but he believes that the religious services rarely are so. Instead, he finds them tedious, antiquated, and decidedly unhelpful. While Reform Judaism, in his opinion, made some improvements, he still thinks it doesn't go far enough, so he lays out a vision for what would get him to synagogue. Plus, what New York loves about Jalen Brunson beyond his incredible clutch play, how Democrats can escape the quagmire of the Biden cover-up, and why so many Americans still believe Europe offers a superior way of life.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, follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack + YouTube, be sure to order his new book, Vote With Your Phone. 

In the latest installment of The Race to Gracie Mansion, Zellnor Myrie, New York State Senator from Brooklyn, explains how he'll handle the hard stuff as mayor, like build one million new housing units over the next decade. "We have to think big, we have to," says Myrie. "I'm just so frustrated we've shrunk as a city in imagination. You want to be a naysayer, you sit in the corner and be a naysayer."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, follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack + YouTube, be sure to order his new book, Vote With Your Phone. 

A heartfelt tribute to the first pet Bradley ever had, a rescue dog named Sam who was his inseparable companion for a decade. Plus, what the Happy City Index gets right and wrong, how he rates his own level of happiness about New York, and why the selection of the new pope is good for the world.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, follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack + YouTube, be sure to order his new book, Vote With Your Phone. q

Elizabeth Glazer, the founder of Vital City, joins Bradley to discuss the condition of our civic culture, what she is doing to inject big ideas into policymaking debates, and how Vital City's work can inspire New Yorkers to make the city a better place to live.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, follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack + YouTube, be sure to order his new book, Vote With Your Phone. 

The Chinese government could hardly do a better job of attacking our key assets than what Trump is doing himself, argues Bradley. Will this really turn out well for his base? Plus, he reflects on what was better about New York City in the 1990s, why Tesla's board cannot afford to replace Elon Musk as CEO, and how strip malls are the key to LA's excellent food scene.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, follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack + YouTube, be sure to order his new book, Vote With Your Phone. 

In the latest installment of the Race to Gracie Mansion, Curtis Sliwa makes a full-throated case for rebuilding the NYPD and improving public safety by restoring qualified immunity and aggressively recruiting new officers. He blasts Cuomo for being "a faux tough guy," talks about how — even as a Republican — to stand up to Trump, and champions a new coalition of moderates and animal lovers.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, follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack + YouTube, be sure to order his new book, Vote With Your Phone. 

The concept of “norm cascades” influences everything from why we wouldn’t eat at an empty restaurant to why Bradley’s son was unimpressed with the recent NFL draft. On this episode of Firewall, Bradley is joined by guest co-host Cory Epstein where they dive deeper into norm cascades, Trump’s plunging approval rating, and an intriguing new AI regulation bill in California that could pick up from where SB 1047 left off after Governor Newsom’s veto last year. Plus, Bradley and Cory share their tips for staying in touch and nurturing friendships as they get older.Discussed on today's episode:How To Have Friends Past Age 30, Noah Smith, Noahpinion (April 25, 2025)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, follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack + YouTube, be sure to order his new book, Vote With Your Phone.

Next up on The Race to Gracie Mansion is Queens Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, who shares his socialist vision for a fairer, faster, and more functional New York—starting with rent freezes, universal childcare, and fast, free buses. Real leadership, he argues, means empowering experts, not micromanaging. A reimagined, newly empowered public sector is key to the city's future if he becomes mayor. 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, follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack + YouTube, be sure to order his new book, Vote With Your Phone. 

The selection of the next pope, argues Bradley, isn't merely a religious decision but a face-off between competing global visions: one of fear-driven, zero-sum authoritarianism versus one rooted in love, abundance, and compassion. Church leaders have a chance to do more than celebrate Pope Francis’s legacy of moral courage — they can, and should, perpetuate it. Plus, how Chuck Schumer's own moment of moral courage could come back to bite him and why we need a new kind of punditry.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, follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack + YouTube, be sure to order his new book, Vote With Your Phone. 

In this new installment of The Race to Gracie Mansion, Bradley and Tom quiz investor and education reformer Whitney Tilson on his effort to position himself as the pro-growth, pro-business candidate. The best way to fix New York’s affordability crisis, Tilson argues, is by making the city a place where private investment thrives. He promises to tackle housing, schools, and crime with pragmatic reforms—streamlining regulations, welcoming charter schools, and restoring public order—while standing up to entrenched political interests like unions and career politicians.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, follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack + YouTube, be sure to order his new book, Vote With Your Phone. 

For 48 hours in Vancouver, Bradley felt like he had the world eating out of his hands. What was going on? Let's just say it was a very good night for mobile voting. Plus, Bradley handicaps the Meta-FTC face-off, offers advice for staying grounded in these chaotic times, agrees with Hugo that paying federal taxes feels worse than ever this year and admits to getting into watching golf on TV for the first time.

"You're spending all this money," says mayoral candidate Michael Blake, "but you're not getting enough back." In the latest installment of The Race to Gracie Mansion, Firewall's co-production with City & State, the former NYS Assemblyman and DNC Vice Chair talks about helping New Yorkers make and keep more money, stopping Trump from meddling in city affairs, modernizing municipal services with AI, expanding humane mental health interventions, and fixing transit by recovering lost revenue and investing in automation.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, follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack + YouTube, be sure to order his new book, Vote With Your Phone.