Shows / Firewall with Bradley Tusk
Firewall with Bradley Tusk
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.
Episodes
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
Does Anybody Know Anything About AI?
“Nobody knows anything,” screenwriter William Goldman famously said about Hollywood. These days, the same feels true about AI. Akash Pasricha, host of TITV…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
Venture Money Is Expensive Money
The quiet truth of venture capital is that it's not the optimal way for many new businesses to fund themselves. Bradley does the math on how bootstrapping can…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
Nobody’s Good at Everything
“Management bundles a lot of things together,” says Roy Bahat, head of Bloomberg Beta. “I only liked some of them, and I was terrible at other things.” Bahat…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
Are We Dodger Nation?
Just as the Los Angeles Dodgers were undone by money hubris, argues Bradley, so too is our society. What can we do about it? He has three remedies. Plus…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
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…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
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…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
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…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
"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…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
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…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
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…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
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…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
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…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
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…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
"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…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
Data Centers Are a Political Kickball
But are Americans really upset about them — or something much larger? The data-center fury, Bradley argues in today's episode and in his recent Substack…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
Fear Is Not Going To Save Us From AI [REPOST]
But a concrete economic plan for extreme job losses just might. In this repost from an episode first released in June, Daniel Schreiber, CEO of Lemonade and…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
What You Can Learn from a Great Spy Novel
Bradley talks to Michael Idov, author of The Cormorant Hunt, about how his own life — coming to the US from Latvia at age 16, running a café on the Lower East…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
21 Reasons for Hope
If you write out a list of bad things happening in the world right now, it's easy to feel the apocalypse closing in on us. To counteract that kind of negative…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
"The Most Dangerous Thing You Can Do is Nothing"
What can be done to preserve the value of learning in the age of AI? Bradley sits down with Adam Chilton, the dean of University of Chicago Law School, to…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
“Finally, I Feel Peace”
Bradley returns from a week-long stay at the Hoffman Institute, an intensive personal-development program that he calls “the single most helpful experience…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
Live at P&T: Where Are Democracy’s Lifeboats?
Harvard Law professor Lawrence Lessig joined Bradley for a live event last month at P&T Knitwear, co-hosted by Teddy Himler of Optimist Ventures, about the two…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
The Secret to Writing Is Editing
Bradley shares his ten rules for writing well, starting with the most important: get it down fast and spend almost all your time editing. Plus: why the annual…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
The Vibe Jive
Was MAGA's cultural dominance ever real, or was it always partly a joint hallucination of self-aggrandizing Republicans and self-lacerating liberals? David…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
The Case for Grace
What if the secret to happiness is as simple as learning to extend a little more grace? Bradley argues that every unnecessary judgment — of your own behavior…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
LIVE FROM P&T: The Astonishing Depolarizing Power of Dogs
In this special taping in front of a live audience on the Lower East Side, Bradley hosts his niece Ellie Gottheimer, daughter of Rep. Josh Gottheimer, and…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
The Riddle of Knowing What You Don't Know
Fresh from celebrating his mother's 80th birthday in Paris, Bradley reflects on what makes the city so breathtakingly beautiful while also declaring it…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
Micah Wins!
Before he decided to run for Congress, Micah Lasher was a proud member of the Matzoh Ballers political consultant text chain. For the duration of the campaign…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
Anxiety Defines Our Politics
Why do voters keep rewarding candidates with no realistic plan for fixing anything? Bradley argues that the far left's triumph in last week's New York…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
"A Tough Night for the Normies"
Israel dominated the heart and minds of voters in New York this week. Chris Coffey, CEO of Tusk Strategies, joins Bradley to break down a "brutal" primary…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
The Democrats Now Have All They Need
What'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…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
The Improbability of Adam Ottavino
What 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…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
Togetherness
What 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…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
Fear Is Not Going to Save Us From AI
But 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…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
Hard to Talk About Anything Except the Knicks
But 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…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
Can Dads Save Democracy?
There 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…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
Do You Believe in Miracles?
Because 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…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
How to Find a Meaningful Job
If 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…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
A Healthy Obsession
What are the ingredients of a healthy life? Bradley discusses the major changes he made after turning 50, including protein shakes, testosterone therapy, sleep…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
Hear Your Body Talk
Have we been gradually destroying our physical health by sitting still and staring at screens? Manoush Zomorodi, author of the new book Body Electric, joins…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
My Ten Most Formative Sandwich Experiences
Yes, we're talking about sandwiches — which, to Bradley, almost constitute a religion. What matters most is not the food itself but the human connections that…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
What Good is a State?
Is there any level of American government that is actually doing its job well? Bradley sits down with his Tusk Strategies partner Shontell Plummer to talk…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
All We Have to Do Is Be Nice
Why is that so hard? Bradley argues that the zero-sum mentality driving our politics and social media has infected our basic daily behavior — the phone zombies…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
Get Unstuck
Are you climbing the right mountain, or just getting really good at the wrong one? Bradley sits down with Judah Taub — Israeli intelligence veteran…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
California's Billionaire Tax Is a Very Bad Idea
Is the richest, most productive state in America about to shoot itself in the foot? Bradley argues that California's proposed 5% tax on assets over $1.1…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
What If Albany Suddenly Made Sense?
Bradley sits down with Matt Wing and Josh Mohrer to talk about Smith & Moses, their newly launched AI venture that ingests every bill introduced in the New…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
Can Israel Win Back American Jews?
With support for Israel eroding faster than most people realize — a recent poll found 70% of American Jews oppose continued military aid — Bradley argues that…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
How to Think About Regulating AI
Can government catch up to a technology moving faster than any regulatory response ever has? Bradley and his Tusk Ventures partner Bob Greenlee work through…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
Who Needs Polls?
Prediction markets, not polling, argues Bradley, will be the defining information source of the 2026 midterms and a change worth celebrating. By incentivizing…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
Learning to Talk Again
American democracy is doomed if people can't tolerate disagreement. Bradley sits down with Ed Manzi, founder of Unmuted, who is building something genuinely…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
Not a Bad 100 Days, But ...
Is Mayor Mamdani's first hundred days as mayor a genuine reason for celebration, or just a decent start before the hard part kicks in? Bradley gives the mayor…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
Crypto in a Collared Shirt
Amid meme coins, scams, and scary price swings, something more consequential is quietly happening in the crypto world: stablecoins are offering a faster…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
Too Smart for Our Own Good
What if we human beings are an evolutionary anomaly, a species that discovered how to destroy ourselves before we learned how not to? Bradley links that…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
Can You Be Good and Great?
[Vote for Firewall and help us win our first Webby Award! https://bit.ly/firewallwebby] Is it possible to build the most powerful technology in human history…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
It's Way Too Early for the Horse Race
We all need to stop worrying about who the Democrats will nominate in 2028, argues Bradley. Unless it's someone from the far Left, the main candidates are…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
The Left Broke America. Can It Be Fixed?
How did the Democratic party drift so far from the real interests of the poor and working class it historically championed? Legendary journalist Joe Klein…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
How Many Liberal-Arts Majors Does It Take to Fix a Toilet?
On the eve of a college trip with his son, Bradley reflects on the murky future that kids are facing and how education will have to be massively rethought…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
Is Business Waking Up from Its 30-Year Nap?
One big reason that the Left has grown so powerful in the city, Bradley argues, is that the Partnership for New York — the group that should have been fighting…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
Am I Too Hard On The Left?
Progressives make life hard on the rest of us, Bradley argues, by claiming to champion the poorest Americans while supporting policies that reflect their own…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
The Art of the Sneak Attack
Even when your issue won't win votes, there are ways to make your political opponents pay. Bradley sits down with his friend and partner, Tusk Strategies CEO…
- Firewall with Bradley Tusk
The Plague of Zero-Sum People
Why do a small minority of selfish, fear-mongering people wield so much power over the rest of us? Bradley argues that most of us want essentially the same…