I Hate Politics Podcast

Two years ago climate activists Tim Martin and Joanna Smith poured red and black paint on the enclosure and pedestal of a famous Degas statue, The Little Dancer, in the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC. Martin and Smith were a part of a group called Declare Emergency, which engages in disruptive protests to compel urgent climate action. Sunil Dasgupta talked with Tim Martin as his trial in...

The weekly news analysis from I Hate Politics : SCOTUS hears Montgomery County, MD, LGBTQ books opt-out case. Can public education be apolitical? MoCo Executive Marc Elrich vetoes a tax rebate bill for office to apartment conversions. MD Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld responds to NTSB criticism that the state did not evaluate the Chesapeake Bay Bridge or the Key Bridge in Baltimore for st...

Following the end of the Maryland General Assembly 2025 session, House of Delegates Majority Leader David Moon and Maryland Association of Counties Executive Director Michael Sanderson join Sunil Dasgupta to talk about what transpired but the conversation opened the question whether tight budgets will bring deregulation in housing, energy, and occupations. Official legislative record called the 90...

The weekly news analysis from I Hate Politics : Montgomery County offers $3 million to help restart White's Ferry connecting Maryland and Virginia. Sandy Spring Friends School closes due to financial trouble. MCPS wants to tighten grading policy after almost 20 years of growing leniency. Ike Leggett says that Blueprint education funding remains on track despite the budget crisis. Washington DC ina...

The Mecca Business Learning Institute is Montgomery County, Maryland,'s second officially-approved public charter school project and expected to open its doors for the Fall 2025 school year. The school is reporting strong interest from families but as of a few weeks ago the school building was not ready, staff had not been hired, negotiations with the teachers and staff unions incomplete, and fina...

The weekly news analysis from I Hate Politics : Locals join nationwide Hands Off Rally against the Trump presidency. Congressman Jamie Raskin channels Winston Churchill at the protest. MD General Assembly ends the 2025 session with budget, energy reform, education bills, and more. MCPS launches boundary study potentially affecting the entire county. Poll shows Marylanders want countywide voting ce...

Guest Host Lorena Treviño of Walter Johnson High School talks with NorthwestHigh School junior Peter Boyko, one of two finalists for the Student Member of the Montgomery County Board of Education in 2025-26. The SMOB is one of eight on the county school board, nearly co-equal with other generally elected members, but voted in by MCPS secondary school students only. Music for this episode comes fro...

Guest Host Lorena Treviño of Walter Johnson High School talks with Montgomery Blair High School junior Anuva Maloo, one of two finalists for the Student Member of the Montgomery County Board of Education in 2025-26. The SMOB is one of eight on the county school board, nearly co-equal with other generally elected members, but voted in by MCPS secondary school students only. Music for this episode c...

The weekly news analysis from I Hate Politics : Maryland House of Delegates passes the 2026 budget amidst pushback and now the state Senate debates. Maryland reconsiders how local police interact with ICE. Delaware pushes through new law to restore its reputation as the corporate registration capital of the US. Also from Delaware, why Senator Stephanie Hansen is upset with Ocean City, Maryland? An...

Two new books by local authors Paula Whyman's Bad Naturalist ( https://t.ly/Oj2C7 ) and Mike Tidwell's The Lost Trees of Willow Avenue ( https://t.ly/pnJc- ) grapple with the challenges and hopes of conservation and climate action. Sunil Dasgupta talks with climate activist and Takoma Park resident Tidwell and fiction-author-turned conservationist Whyman, a longtime Bethesda resident, about their...

The weekly news analysis from I Hate Politics : MD Sen Brian Feldman on bills to lower rising energy costs. Will the state legislature move a bill to allow state university faculty to unionize? The NTSB the Key Bridge in Baltimore was not evaluated to adequate strength standards before it was hit and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge still has not been assessed. In New Market, MD, an effort to term-limit...

After 10 Democratic Senators including Minority Leader Chuck Schumer voted with Republicans to pass the Continuing Resolution to keep the government from shutting down, Democratic anger exploded. Sunil Dasgupta talks with Democratic political consultant and VP of Red Horse Strategies Michelle Ngwafon about the problem of Democrats unable to meet the moment. Music by Washington art-pop rock band Ca...

The weekly news analysis from I Hate Politics : Maryland, Virginia, and DC find themselves in different places with their budget and economic woes. Developers ask for deregulation to bring construction activity back to the city. Montgomery County releases 2026 budget proposal that includes property tax and fee hikes. In New Market, MD, the town council passes mayoral term limits in an explosive me...

Following a series of widely-reported safety incidents and community demand, a 2024 safety audit of the John F. Kennedy High School in the Aspen Hill area of Montgomery County, MD, recommended $400,000 worth of fixes. Sunil Dasgupta talks with Kennedy HS PTSA President Ricky Ribeiro about where things stand, what he hopes will happen, and where the holdup might be. Music by Washington art-pop rock...

Local area Democrats protest cuts to National Institutes of Health. Does OPM's revised guidance on firing probationary federal employees reveal cracks in the Trump Administration? Montgomery County State's Attorney reassures residents that ICE enforcement in Maryland is limited. Charles Koiner Conservancy's urban farm at Loiderman Middle School offers a new path to farming education and community...

In 2023, Maryland set up a commission to expand apprenticeships in the state and the commission released its interim report in February 2025: https://t.ly/cUrf1 . Commission chair Jacob Hsu, a Baltimore technology entrepreneur, and member Jim Rosapepe, state senator from College Park, home of the University of Maryland, joined Sunil Dasgupta to talk about the report, the tradeoffs between internsh...

The weekly news analysis from I Hate Politics : Maryland and Virginia ask laid off federal workers to seek state jobs. Will former federal employees sign up to be public school teachers where staff shortage is acute? The Maryland State Department of Education proposes an overhaul of the high school math curriculum. Could it impact parent-favorite accelerated math instruction in elementary school?...

Since Washington DC area jurisdictions began banning plastic straws and taxing plastic bags, trash traps have seen dramatically fewer bags and straws. What are the next steps in fighting plastic pollution? Sunil Dasgupta talks with Trey Sherard of Anacostia Riverkeeper, the nonprofit that works to clean up the river and its tributaries flowing through Montgomery and Prince George's Counties and on...

The weekly news analysis from I Hate Politics : President Trump mulls executive order asserting greater federal control over DC. Under a new law, DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb sues three Maryland drivers with over $90,000 in tickets. MD Senator Jeff Waldstreicher on his bill on camera enforcement of texting while driving. Vermonter Bob Atchinson goes to the Supreme Court. And the bizarre case...

With rising electricity rates and the Maryland General Assembly considering over 50 energy-related bills, Sunil Dasgupta talks with Jason Stanek, the executive director of PJM Interconnection, the regional transmission operator for 14 states including Maryland and DC, and the body responsible for managing the electricity market. Stanek was previously chair of the state's Public Service Commission....

The weekly news analysis from I Hate Politics : Protests continue in Washington DC and across the country against the Trump administration. The state of Maryland and its suburban counties most affected by the possibility of mass federal layoffs gear up to help those losing jobs. Montgomery County passes a law banning retail plastic bags in 2026. DC'sHoward University becomes first HBCU to get Rese...

Whether it is news or music, algorithms run by streaming platforms deliver us content and it gets stale and dangerous. For this Valentine's Day episode, Sunil Dasgupta talks with Poolesville, MD, resident Kevin Schramm about how he finds music regularly. Sampled music from: Stella, Magdalena Bay, Waxahatchee, MJ Lenderman, Beverly Glenn Copeland, Nourished by Time, Parannoul, Lexa Gates, William O...

The weekly news analysis from I Hate Politics : Maryland Governor Wes Moore gives his 2025 state of the state address. House Minority Leader Delegate Jason Buckel offers Republican response. Prince George's County Budget Director Stanley Earley on the impact of the state budget on counties. New UMD-Washington Post poll on Moore's favorability. And more. 1920s music by the Benson Orchestra of Chica...

Urban and transit planner, data analyst, app-maker, and recently former USDOT official David Schneider created the concept of an 18-hour neighborhood to measure the vibrancy of urban life using retail around transit stations. Sunil Dasgupta talks with Schneider about his methodology, how he applied it to the Washington DC region, and the implications of his research. At dmvtransittourism.com . Mus...

The weekly news analysis from I Hate Politics : As the Trump Administration moves to fulfill the new president's campaign promises, fear and loathing spreads in the Washington DC region. State and local governments run business as usual as they wait. Internal consolidation may be the best preparation but housing shows how difficult it is to find consensus. Bills to stop rent collusion among landlo...