Prickly Politics

Prickly Podcast co-host Andrew Millman interviews Suraj Patel, a candidate for New York's 12th congressional district challenging incumbent Rep. Carolyn Maloney. In Prickly Politics Interviews, he talks about his "Family Opportunity Guarantee" and how he'd be a different Member of Congress compared to his opponent. Check back next week for the first Prickly Politics Explains...

Wondering what to look out for next year in New York City and state politics? We've got an insider's guide for what to watch in 2020 at the city and state level. For this episode of Prickly Politics, we take a look at marijuana legalization, environmental issues, and the budget. We also talk to City & State's City Hall report Jeff Coltin about what he thinks are the biggest issues facing the city.

New Yorkers voted to adopt Ranked Choice Voting for some city elections. This makes New York City the largest jurisdiction in the country to adopt the method. High profile political players like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Andrew Yang say this will increase voter turn out and make people feel like their vote matters more. While others worry the method is too complicated for voters to grasp. For this episode of Prickly Politics, Professor Boris Heersink helps explain how the method works and talks about how he thinks it’ll affect future elections. We also talk to Josh Silver, the co-founder of Represent.Us, which is an organization working to spread RCV nation wide. And City Councilman I. Daneek Miller explains why he is worried about how this will effect communities of color and immigrants. Natalie Migliore is back as guest co-host.

Can pension fund divestment help combat climate change? New York City and State are in the midst of a debate over that question. Pensioners worry divestment could harm their returns, while climate activists believe divestment will put the fund ahead of the curve. In this episode of WFUV's Prickly Politics, we talk with Assistant Speaker of the New York State Assembly Felix Ortiz, who authored the Fossil Fuels Divestment Act, about why he believes this is the next phase of climate policy. We also talk with climate activist Cata Romo from 350.org and Politico reporter Danielle Muoio. WFUV's Natalie Migliore joins as guest co-host.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio called the closing of Rikers Island, "The end of mass incarceration in New York City." In this episode of Prickly Politics, we explore different approaches to prison reform and how Rikers has become a symbol of mass incarceration nation wide. WFUV's Eliot Schiaparelli joins as co-host for this episode.

New York schools are the most segregated in the nation, according to a study from UCLA. Our guests on this episode of Prickly Politics believe that's because of funding inequality.

Some are calling the decriminalization of sex work the new frontier in criminal justice reform. While others see it as the deterioration of our society's moral values. In this episode, we break down the issue of decriminalization of sex work and talk to some of the key players involved in the movement.

After the #MeToo movement, survivors of harassment and assault began to feel a sense of restlessness to share stories and take action. Many of the survivors we interviewed didn't know one another, but one person knew all of them: Alexis Grenell. Thanks to her, they formed the Sexual Harassment Working Group, and with now State Senator Alessandra Biaggi they forced Albany to reckon with its past and make real changes for the state's future...not next session, not after the next election. Now.

Erica Vladimer was pursuing her dream of working in education policy as a NYS Senate Fellow when she says she was forcibly kissed outside a bar by one of the most powerful legislators in Albany at the time, Senator Jeff Klein. Afterwards, she had an identity crisis and left government, until the #MeToo movement inspired her to come forward with her story. At the very same time, Klein found himself with a primary challenger who would eventually unseat him: Alessandra Biaggi.

While some trends have emerged, what we’ve learned so far is there is no “typical” victim of sexual harassment in New York State government. Many of the stories we’ve heard recount harassment in the Legislature and district offices, but today’s episode steps outside those confines and into a state agency. Patricia Gunning, a long-time sex crimes prosecutor and senior-level staff at the Justice Center, tells of the retaliation and hostile work environment she faced for confronting and then reporting her boss for creating a culture of harassment in their office.

After the Vito Lopez and Micah Kellner scandals, the Assembly's harassment policy was overhauled. But the culture of unfettered power and sexual harassment didn't disappear overnight. In this episode, we look at the cases of two Assembly members from Buffalo: Dennis Gabryszak and Angela Wozniak. Gabryszak's case shows what can happen when superiors are complicit and don't report, and Wozniak's shows that the abuse of power is not the sole domain of the patriarchy. We hear from Elias Farah, former Legislative Director for Wozniak, who says that, thanks to the Internet and the media, the retaliation he experienced never truly ended.

At first, Micah Kellner’s “charm offensive” had new staff members Danielle Bennett and Eliyanna Kaiser fooled. Quickly enough however, they got to know another Micah — a Micah who yelled at his staff, threw things, punched walls, and demanded his staff play internet Scrabble with him. In this episode, we hear Danielle and Eliyanna’s story of harassment, reporting, and the media frenzy that followed.

After Leah and Rita left Assemblyman Vito Lopez's office, no protections were put in place for the staff who replaced them: Victoria Burhans and Chloe Rivera. The playbook was the same: text the member after hours, wear revealing clothing to the office, or have responsibilities taken away. After Tori and Chloe reported that they, too, were being harassed, no one in the counsel's office could talk about Leah and Rita's settlement because of the non-disclosure agreement - until it all blew up, and the tabloid press incessantly pursued them all. But this time, Vito would finally be brought to justice, and an investigation would be opened into how the Assembly handled it.

As the story goes, you couldn't get a dog license in Brooklyn without Assemblyman Vito Lopez's blessing. A big man in both politics and stature, Vito seemed untouchable. Leah Hebert and Rita Pasarell had never worked in politics before becoming staffers in his office in 2011. In this episode, we hear the harassment and outrageous demands from Vito himself, and Leah and Rita's difficulty reporting the harassment to the Assembly.

In 2001, Elizabeth Crothers was 23 and wanted to be taken seriously. As a staffer in Albany, she says she was raped by the Assembly's chief counsel, Michael Boxley. At the time, all harassment allegations went through one powerful man: Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. This is her story, and another woman's - Jane Doe, who was sexual assaulted by Boxley in 2003 and whose story has never been told before.

How did Albany's past lead to a culture of sexual harassment? For decades, the old unspoken agreement among lawmakers in New York's capital was known as the "Bear Mountain Compact" - what happens in Albany stays in Albany. Hosts Kacie Candela and Andrew Seger explore this history in depth, speaking with current and former lawmakers, and a former intern about her own experience in the 1980s.

Sexual harassment isn't about sex, it's about power. Tucked away in district offices and in Albany, out of the public eye, state senators and assembly members exercise seemingly unchecked power over their employees. For decades, staffers reporting sexual misconduct have struggled through a convoluted reporting process, retaliation, and retraumatization at the hands of investigators and the press. Women in the Room investigates how the same cast of power brokers enabled harassment, and tells the stories of the survivors, activists and elected officials fighting to change the status quo. Episodes airing Spring 2019.

You listened. You decided. You voted. And now your favorite prickly hosts Kacie and Andrew are bringing you all the midterm election results you need to know. A lot will change, but at least in New York state, a lot is staying the same. This is our last episode for a while. We're taking some time off to work on a special prickly project. It's not goodbye - it's a see you later!

November 6th is coming fast. Do you know who you’re voting for? Listen for a fiery gubernatorial debate recap, a review of New York’s not-so-great voting laws with Fordham Law Professor Jerry Goldfedder, and our favorite NY politico Jeff Coltin of City & State’s predictions for Tuesday. Special message from Kacie and Andrew: GO VOTE! And then hang out with us on election night on 90.7 FM and wfuvnews.org starting at 8pm!

Biaggi Myrie Ramos May. These are the names you should (probably) know for next year's legislative session. We've spent a lot of time watching the race for governor in New York, so now hosts Kacie and Andrew take you through the most important State Senate races this November. Democrats are the closest they've been in nearly a decade to achieving a trifecta: control of the Assembly, Senate, and governorship. We've chatted with four likely members of the freshman class, and zoom in on the most contentious races.

Rising temperatures, algal blooms, billions (with a B)of tons of food waste and the growing need for renewable energy sources have New York politicians under pressure from environmental groups and voters alike. Prickly hosts Kacie and Andrew chat with Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins about his gubernatorial bid and City & State’s Rebecca Lewis.

Primary season is over and the general election is upon us. So who are the Republicans running to unseat New York's biggest power players? Hosts Kacie and Andrew chat with gubernatorial candidate Marc Molinaro and senate candidate Chele Farley about their touchstone economic proposals, experience, and their motivations for running.

Primary Day in New York has come and gone, and the establishment held out in the big races but the progressive wave had some casualties down ballot. Hosts Andrew Seger and Kacie Candela break down all the major races, from the gubernatorial to the major upsets of most former IDC members.

The New York State Primaries are less than a week away, and the Democratic gubernatorial candidates recently faced off in a debate for the first time. The four Democrats vying to fill New York's Attorney General seat also took to the debate stage to try to convince voters to pick them on September 13. This week, Kacie and Andrew take a look at the candidates' performances and talk with Jeff Coltin, a political reporter with City and State. Tune in to catch up on the issues the candidates are talking about as voters prepare to head to the polls.

Could New York State be the first to move to a Medicare-for-all system? In this episode, hosts Andrew Seger and Kacie Candela look at the New York Health Act, the single-payer proposal that has passed the Assembly four times only to stall in the State Senate. We chat with Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, the bill's sponsor, and Jodi Liu from the RAND corporation, whose study looks at whether single-payer is financially feasible for the state. Hint: Yes, only if everything goes right.

This week, hosts Andrew Seger and Kacie Candela profile the women running for major state offices in New York. Following record-breaking numbers of women starting campaigns across the country, New York has a number of female candidates running for governor, attorney general, senator, and other offices. Listen as we take a deep dive into the issues they're running on, the campaigns they're leading, and the problems they're hoping to change-- we're even joined by gubernatorial candidate Stephanie Miner and attorney general candidate Zephyr Teachout.

Once upon a time, Andrew Cuomo, Sheldon Silver, and Dean Skelos were referred to as the "three men in the room" who held all the power in Albany. Silver and Skelos, along with others in Cuomo's inner circle, have been convicted in trials and retrials this year on federal corruption charges. Prickly hosts Andrew Seger and Kacie Candela break down the most important convictions and the gubernatorial election's most recent campaign finance filing with the help of POLITICO reporters Jimmy Veilkind and Bill Mahoney. We also chat with Chisun Lee from the Brennan Center about money's increasingly hard to track influence on politics.

Where do you think upstate starts? And what do people do with their time if they're not always sitting in a delayed subway car? These are the questions we set out to answer in episode two. Prickly hosts Andrew Seger and Kacie Candela traveled to Kingston, New York to find out the issues people care about outside of New York City. We sat down in a diner and talked with locals about what they'll be thinking about when they head to the polls in the fall. Then we headed over to Faso Friday, a weekly protest outside of Congressional Representative John Faso's office. Tune in to get up to speed with what's happening north of New York City.

Hosts Andrew Seger and Kacie Candela tackle two hot issues unresolved in Albany: legalization of sports betting and recreational marijuana use. Andrew speaks with Fordham University Professor Mark Conrad and Kacie talks to Doug Greene, the Legislative Director of Empire State NORML, an advocacy group that fights for progressive marijuana legislation in New York.

The WFUV newsroom is excited to present Season 2 of Prickly Politics, our local politics podcast where hosts Kacie Candela and Andrew Seger explore the issues and candidates in New York's 2018 elections. Governor Cuomo is running for a third term against challengers from both sides of the aisle, and there are plenty of battleground seats across the state. For more, check out our Twitter (@pricklypodcast) and our website: pricklypolitics.atavist.com.

It was an eventful week in New York City leading up to this week's mayoral election. Embroiled in a new scandal over a pay-to-play relationship with donors, Mayor de Blasio started the final week of campaigning with a rally alongside Senator Bernie Sanders. The next day, though, the mayor stood with victims and worked with law enforcement following a terror attack that rocked the city on Tuesday. De Blasio then headed into Wednesday's mayoral debate with incumbency on his side. Check in with one of Prickly Politics' final episodes on how this week has affected the mayoral race.

Tale of Two Cities, ending Stop-and-Frisk, Universal Pre-K...how has Mayor de Blasio lived up to these campaign pledges since he took office in 2013? How has the election of Donald Trump changed the de Blasio mayoralty? What is the mayor's relationship with the press? All these questions answered and more as WFUV's Jake Shore and Kacie Candela sit down with Wall Street Journal City Hall reporter Mara Gay to talk about the mayor ahead of the upcoming election. Listen here!

Reporters Kacie Candela and Jake Shore tackle the issue of homelessness in New York City, which has gotten worse in recent years. They talked with an advocate from an organization that is made by homeless people for homeless people. They also check in with Republican candidate Nicole Malliotakis, who says she wants to take a different approach to fixing homelessness.

With 1.1 million students across 1,800 schools, New York City's public school system makes up a sizable portion of how the city's mayor leads and tries to aid low-income New Yorkers. A growing debate over charter schools and permanent fixes for failing schools are topics to consider for New York City's next mayor. Reporters Jake Shore and Kacie Candela sit down with Professor Bruce Berg of Fordham University on how education issues are going to intersect with the 2017 mayoral election.

It's primary time. WFUV reporters Kacie Candela and Jake Shore see how contenders Mayor de Blasio and Sal Albanese fared in the final Democratic primary debate. They run through highlights, winners, and losers of the night with City & State reporter Jeff Coltin. On the other side of the aisle, Kacie interviewed leading Republican candidate Nicole Malliotakis who is expected to breeze through her primary but face a tougher battle in the general election.

As much as he might like to forget it, Mayor de Blasio of New York City is not running unopposed. Reporter Kacie Candela sat down with the top Democrats facing off against the mayor to talk about their campaigns, the issues they care the most about, and how they plan to take de Blasio down a peg. This might get prickly.

Ey, must be the money! This week Jake and Kacie are taking you through a subject fraught with intrigue, smoky rooms, trench coats, and back alley deals. Just kidding, sort of. Campaign finance in New York City's mayoral election gets broken down by these two WFUV reporters who try to get at the heart of the issue. Public matching funds, pay-to-play, New Yorker's contributions...give it a listen!

On this week's episode, reporters Kacie Candela and Jake Shore tackle the scandal-ridden Rikers Island jail complex. Ever since the suicide of Kalief Browder, a man who helped shed light on the issues and violence plaguing Rikers, his brother Akeem Browder has been an advocate for shutting down the jail complex. Now he's running for office and hopes to unseat Mayor de Blasio who has a Rikers plan of his own.

Track repairs, Penn Station, delays, angry commuters...Jake Shore and Kacie Candela are bringing all these issues to the front lines of New York City's mayoral election. Which candidate is making transit better for the city and who's just taking New Yorkers for a ride..?

Promo episode for our upcoming podcast "Prickly Politics".