I Hate Politics Podcast

Podcast promo with Jill Ortman-Fouse, former member of the Montgomery County Board of Education and currently senior policy advisor to Montgomery County Council President Tom Hucker.

In this episode, Sunil Dasgupta talks with school equity firebrand Jill Ortman-Fouse about the inability of the local school board to change school boundaries, allowing inequalities to persist across the 207-strong school system. Andrew Saundry on how no Upcounty transportation project made the Biden infrastructure draft bill. Music from Silver Spring band, the Airport 77s. Very local news and muc...

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan's plan to widen and add tolls lanes to I-270 comes up against protest. Sunil Dasgupta goes to a "Don't Widen 270" rally and talks with transit advocate Ben Ross. New music from Silver Spring band The Airport 77s. Very local news and much more.

As the pandemic school year comes to an end, Sunil Dasgupta talks to Wheaton Woods Elementary School Principal Daman Harris about accounting for every student in a difficult year and to Montgomery County Board of Education Member Karla Silvestre about the coming surge of unaccompanied minor refugees in county public schools. Original music from DC area band Bad Robot Jones. Local election races he...

In time for Memorial Day 2021, Sunil Dasgupta talks with Elana Mintz, founder and executive director of Washington DC nonprofit Urban Adventure Squad, about learning outdoors safely, equitably, and inexpensively. Insect and plant expert Carol Allen of Washington Gardener Magazine on variations in cicada densities. Music from Washington DC area band, Bad Robot Jones. Very local news and more.

In this episode, Sunil Dasgupta talks with Jackie De Carlo, president of Manna Food Center; Oscar Alvarenga of Epworth United Methodist Church of Gaithersburg; and I Hate Politics Upcounty Reporter Andrew Saundry about organizing and running pandemic food distribution and the lessons they drew from it. New music from Washington DC area band, Bad Robot Jones.

Local media giant Bethesda Magazine (and accompanying Bethesda Beat) was sold to new owners in April 2021. Sunil Dasgupta talks to founder, editor, and publisher Steve Hull about the challenges of building a commercially viable local media outlet at a time when local news has been in decline. Andrew Saundry returns with his Upcounty Report on things to up north. Music by local singer-songwriter Em...

Sunil Dasgupta talks with UMBC budget expert Roy Meyers as Maryland and its counties find their coffers surprisingly full from unexpectedly strong tax revenues and federal pandemic recovery funds. Montgomery Blair High School statistics teacher David Stein on lessons from his classroom for electoral redistricting, now waiting for census data to be released. DC singer-songwriter Emily Hall with new...

Sunil Dasgupta talks to Gaithersburg Mayor and Book Festival Founder Jud Ashman about suburban Washington's only--and publicly-supported--book event which starts May 1 and a deep dive into the controversy over the design for a proposed 88-ft mural on the Maryland National Capital Parks and Planning Commission's new headquarters in Wheaton. New music from Wheaton and DC singer-songwriter Emily Hall...

Sunil Dasgupta talks to Maryland State House Delegate Gabriel Acevero, one of the leaders of the police reform and accountability movement, about new public safety legislation passed by the state that creates a new standard for use of force and brings transparency to investigations on officer misconduct. Student voices on returning to school buildings and music from locally-composed musical Sunflo...

Earth Day 2021 episode. Sunil Dasgupta talks to Montgomery County, MD, Council Member Hans Riemer about the failure of his proposal to change zoning rules to allow ground-based solar panels in the protected agricultural reserve. Andrew Saundry talks with Will Roberts about the eviction crisis. Music from new locally-composed musical Sunflower: The Story of Amalie and Vincent.

In this episode, Sunil Dasgupta talks with urban planner, blogger, and community activist Dan Reed about the role, evolution, and character of neighborhood associations, HOAs, and PTAs. In the Upcounty Report, Andrew Saundry offers placemaking as a way for greater social solidarity in the burgeoning northern part of Montgomery County.

Sunil Dasgupta talks with Lori Morrow, of the Maryland State Board of Education, about a particularly tough year for education including on the question of closing and reopening schools. The discussion turns to reveal blurry lines of accountability that makes it hard to determine who is ultimately responsible for public education. And A Tragedy of the Commons in Sycamore Creek, Aspen Hill.

Following the mass shooting of six women of Asian descent outside Atlanta, Sunil Dasgupta talks to civil rights attorney and Asian-American activist Aryani Ong about the making of the Asian-American political identity and the challenges involved. The Upcounty Reports takes on the political impact of cost of living differences in Montgomery County.

Montgomery County, MD, removes police officers from public schools. Student activist Lauren Payne and teacher Neha Singhal talk with Sunil Dasgupta about the movement for social and racial justice in the county. Andrew Saundry on getting an Upcounty transportation project included in the federal infrastructure bill. Timestamps 5:30 News Roundup 8:35 Lauren Payne and Neha Singhal Interview 34:50 Le...

Montgomery County, MD, teachers Becky Taylor and Tanya Aguilar share lessons from Covid vaccine hunting for people unable to find appointments on their own. They find that pre-existing disparities in public health and puzzling lack of coordination between levels of government and different agencies of government. And our report on Montgomery County's only—unauthorized—Covid Memorial.

Like many other growing jurisdictions, Montgomery County, Maryland, has a housing shortage and a housing mismatch on its hands that are rooted in exclusive single-family zoning going back decades. Sunil Dasgupta talks to County Planning Board Chair Casey Anderson about the problem and possible solutions. Plus Andrew Saundry's Upcounty Report.

In this episode, we connect lessons from the stoppage of White's Ferry to public-private partnerships including the Purple Line light rail project in suburban Maryland, the largest public-private transit partnership in the US. New Upcounty Report on sports teams leaving communities.

In this episode, Sunil Dasgupta explores two contrasting styles of local government advocacy with pedestrian safety activist Miriam Schoenbaum and former Winston Churchill High School President Bruce Adelson.

Georgia Avenue in the southeastern end of Montgomery County, Maryland, is looking at a redesign of its streetscape to improve safety for pedestrians and bicyclists and to bring the communities separated by the Capital Beltway back together. Can they do it? We talk to community activists and planners.