I Hate Politics Podcast

In the face of population loss and sluggish economic growth in the state, Maryland's Comptroller Brooke Lierman commissioned a State of the Economy Report. Lierman talks with Sunil Dasgupta about the central findings and implications of the report including women's participation in the state labor market, housing affordability, childcare, and more. Music from Washington DC garage punk band, Apollo...

The weekly news analysis from I Hate Politics : ​​Washington DC and Maryland pass controversial public safety bills that respectively relaxes restrictions on chokeholds and lowers the age of those who can be charged for non-violent crimes to include fifth graders. New report looks at how DC schools did in 2022-23; and the Supreme Court refuses to hear a case of Asian discrimination in Thomas Jeffe...

In yet another setback to news reporting, Washington DC public radio station WAMU closes its local news website, DCist, and lays off 16 staffers. Sunil Dasgupta talks with longtime WAMU and DCist reporter Martin Austermuhle about how mismanagement killed a popular news source. Austermuhle left the station on his own a few months before the layoffs and is not bound by a non-disparagement agreement....

The weekly news analysis from I Hate Politics : Montgomery County, MD, reverses stand on cooperating with ICE when releasing undocumented criminals in their custody. Has the tide turned on new rent stabilization? Proposed bills to allow religious institutions to build affordable housing on their land, state woes with the transportation trust fund, and a bizarre case of abuse of judicial process in...

When owner Ted Leonsis and Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin announced their plan last December to move the Capitals and Wizards from Washington DC to Alexandria in Northern Virginia, they caused the rise of local opposition to their $2 billion proposal for a new sports and entertainment arena, which would be largely supported through public finance. Sunil Dasgupta talks with former Alexandria city...

The weekly news analysis from I Hate Politics : DC NPR radio station shuts down news website, lays off 15. MCPS changes how it calculates eligibility for Title 1 dollars and kicks four schools off the list; but keeps the online academy and extended school year for two schools. A new state bill pushes adoption of phonetic learning; state bill prioritizes how gas companies invest in infrastructure;...

The Moore Administration's housing bills tie density and affordability, open the door to state preemption of local zoning law, and provide gap financing for projects that may be stuck. With the General Assembly weighing the proposals and local opposition building, Sunil Dasgupta talks with Maryland Housing Secretary Jake Day about the logic and expectations of housing reform. Previously as mayor o...

The weekly news analysis from I Hate Politics . This week: Raskin endorses Alsobrooks in the MD US Senate race. Community voices speak on the possibility of closing down three MCPS programs: the Montgomery Virtual Academy, extended school year pilot, and the social-emotional learning curriculum Leader in Me; MCPS orders a spending freeze because of surprising cost increase; teachers of year candid...

Neighborhood gift exchange groups are wildly popular and satisfying and offer many lessons in community building, conservation, and bridge the digital and in-person worlds. For this Valentine's Day weekend episode, Sunil Dasgupta talks with local Buy Nothing group admins Lisa Silverman and SJ Ikle-Khalsa to learn about the most wholesome corner of Facebook. Music from DC garage punk band, Apollo 6...

The weekly news analysis from I Hate Politics . This week: The sale of the biggest media company in Montgomery County raises the specter of yet another decline in local news. Will county governments gain more direct control over school districts because of Maryland's Blueprint education reform legislation? No new taxes says the governor, but some legislators are trying to fix the revenue problem,...

To address worsening housing unaffordability, the Moore Administration in Maryland has proposed a set of housing bills, opening the possibility of preempting land-use and zoning law long seen in the assembly and in the counties as the preserve of local government. Sunil Dasgupta talks with Delegate Vaughn Stewart, Chair of the Land-Use and Ethics Subcommittee in the state house, about whether the...

For 50 years, the famously liberal City of Takoma Park has not built multifamily housing and remained unchanged in population even as the region has grown dramatically. Could a new plan to redevelop a former hospital site be the lever which finally ends the block on affordable housing in the Washington DC suburb? Sunil Dasgupta talks with Takoma Park Mayor Talisha Searcy about the Minor Master Pla...

Confused about the new changes to FAFSA–Free Application for Federal Student Aid–which is undergoing its biggest overhaul in four decades? Sunil Dasgupta spoke with UMBC's Financial Aid Director Andrea Cipolla to find out about the changes and their impact on financial aid decisions. Local news Montgomery County school board seeks to oust superintendent for mishandling sexual harassment scandal. S...

Montgomery County, MD, has fashioned a $100 million housing production fund to intervene in the local housing market with low-cost capital to rescue market-rate projects that are stuck and then using the equity to extract more low-income units. Sunil Dasgupta finds out how Zach Marks, who manages the fund on behalf of the county's Housing Opportunities Commission, cracked the affordability problem...

In December 2023, a Montgomery County jury heard a disability discrimination case against one of the world's largest medical science philanthropies, the Chevy Chase-based Howard Hughes Medical Institute, in a lawsuit brought by one of its former research scientists, Vivian Cheung. Sunil Dasgupta asked Cheung about the case and its implications for scientific rigor, peer review, and disability acco...

The 2024 session of the Maryland General Assembly starts January 10 with a difficult revenue situation, big spending needs in education and transportation, and a reticent governor. Sunil Dasgupta talks with Aileen Alex and Jimmy Tarlau of the Maryland Legislative Coalition and Monica O'Connor of the Climate Justice Wing for a preview of what is coming up in the state legislature. Music for this ep...

One of the biggest local stories of 2023 were the Muslim protests demanding the right to opt out students from reading LGBTQ-themed books in public elementary schools. In Montgomery County, this was not just a fight between conservatives and liberals. The controversy frayed the Democratic coalition itself. Sunil Dasgupta's interview with protest leader Wael Elkoshairi was the most downloaded episo...

2023 Holiday Weekend Special with local music featured on the podcast and local nonprofit stories: Artists and bands in order of appearance: Shanika Freeman, Adam Bobrow, Finster, Kara Levchenko, Reggie Right-Eye, Gabrielle Zwi, Ammonite, Catscan!, Jackie and the Treehorns, Grey Swift, Collide, Drew Pictures, Steven Gellman, Oren Levine, Valeria Stewart and the Crooked Sparrow, Seth Kibel, Rockamb...

Following ten years of advocacy, Montgomery County Public Schools' have launched a new web-based district-wide school-profile data dashboard ( https://t.ly/Bsbi1 ) with information on enrollment, demographics, class size, learning, assessment, and more. Sunil Dasgupta talks with local education activists Laura Stewart, Audra Dove, Cathy Stocker, and Jill Ortman Fouse (Board of Education member 201...

In deep blue Maryland, pro-Palestinian tweets from immigrant rights group CASA led to widespread condemnation from elected leaders and exposed divisions within the state and local Democratic Party. Sunil Dasgupta talks with Josh Kurtz, editor of Maryland Matters, to find out about the progressive-centrist division in Maryland Democrats and what it means state and local politics. Music from Rockvil...

Resorts and hotels have long been accused of charging hidden fees, but since the pandemic restaurants have used them to meet rising operating and labor costs while seeming to keep menu prices down. Sunil Dasgupta talks to attorney Lauren Wolfe of the Washington DC public interest group Travelers United who has helped file price deception lawsuits against local restaurant group Clyde's, and hotel c...

In the general despair over the decline of local news, a homegrown, social media-driven, local news company, The MoCoShow, is not only commercially profitable but also turning on its head some central principles of journalism. Sunil Dasgupta talked to MoCoShowe founder Alex Tsironis about his vision and how he turned a snow reporting social media handle to over hundred thousand followers and milli...

As the Moore Administration in Maryland wrestles with its plan to toll highways in the Washington DC suburbs, Sunil Dasgupta talks with transportation planner Patrick Decorla-Souza about the history of congestion pricing and his new idea, HOTTER Lanes, which gives carpoolers cash rewards from the revenue generated by tolls. Local news re dedicated bus lanes, security camera program, MCPS hires a f...

How we hold politicians accountable is an enduring challenge in democratic societies, but a new book, Accountability in State Legislatures, argues that voters are uniquely unable to punish state legislators. Sunil Dasgupta talks with author and political scientist Steven Rogers about the connections of his research to political polarization, one-party rule, gerrymandering, barriers to challenger e...

Washington DC was the sixth city where Uber began operations, but it is here that the Big Tech firm was best able to mold the regulatory environment to its needs. Sunil Dasgupta talks with Katie Wells and Kafui Attoh, two authors of the local fall book to read, Disrupting DC: The Rise of Uber and the Fall of the City . Local news: Rabbi Yosef Goldman of Shaare Torah on antisemitic vandalism, DC's...