Ronnie Eldridge, articulate, outspoken, and passionate discusses issues, institutions and politics that affect us all. Celebrating her tenth decade, and trying hard to keep relevant, Ronnie says, “I heard or read this somewhere: ‘… no matter who we are or where we come from, we each grow older every year, but how we handle that process of aging is a personal story. That’s our conversation for today.’”
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Adrienne Kivelson, Author- What Makes New York City Run?
26:21
26:21
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Adrienne Kivelson, author of "What Makes New York City Run?" discusses NYC's history and major changes to its Charter, its Constitution. We are reminded that the Charter, received in 1898 - a little over 100 years ago - made New York-New York City. The 1979 financial disaster prompted significant bookkeeping changes. Over the years, Charters have b…
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Soffiyah Elijah: The Alliance of Families for Justice
26:21
26:21
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The Alliance of Families for Justice works to end mass incarceration by empowering families with formerly incarcerated loved ones seeking legal support, skills and voting rights. Soffiyah Elijah, afj's tireless leader, discusses programs and campaigns.
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Jerry Goldfeder makes clear the importance of NY's vote this year, as it will determine who controls the House of Representatives. Gerrymandering, term-limits vs. for-life appointments for Supreme Court Justices discussed. Goldfeder urges all "Just Vote!"
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Jose Saldaña: Release Aging People in Prison - RAPP
26:23
26:23
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The US imprisons more people than other countries in the world: long sentences-and many dying in prison. Guest describes ElderParole/Fair + Timely Parole bills to deal with mass incarceration, the bail and parole systems that promote perpetual punishment.
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C. Virginia Fields Discusses Black Health
26:28
26:28
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C. Virginia Fields leads the National Black Leadership Commission on Health towards health equity for the Black community. Fields names 8 areas affecting the Black community, saying more Black women die from maternity issues than any other group of women.
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Win, the largest provider of family shelter and supportive housing in NYC, reports a "record number" of homelessness-families and children-needing shelter and services in NYC. Christine Quinn discusses long-term housing stability for families in need.
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The Effects on Workers of Mass Layoffs and Stock Buybacks
26:00
26:00
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The Labor Institute, founded in 1975-develops and conducts education and policy programs to inform, prepare and train workers taking on issues of runaway inequality with unions. Les Leopold discusses the huge impact of the UAW's victory over mass layoffs.
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Carlina Rivera: New York City Council Member, District 2
25:55
25:55
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Carlina Rivera, City Council Member, District 2, was born and raised in District 2 and is never far from home and memories of its diverse neighborhoods. As Chair of the Committee on Criminal Justice, Rivera discusses Rikers, bail, mental illness and more.
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John Mollenkopf: NYC-Immigration/Housing/Polarization & More
27:21
27:21
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Discussing immigration, guest John Mollenkopf remarks that he’d “be doing a lot of what Mayor Adams is doing…screaming for help from the federal government” to allow immigrants to work and to get out of shelters. Mollenkopf pictures cities as "pumps,” drawing people in, lifting them up, providing mobility out of poverty, calling race and class, as …
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Douglas A. Kellner, New York State Board of Elections
23:49
23:49
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Douglas Kellner was one of the first election officials to support the concept of a voter verifiable paper audit trail voting machine to replace lever driven voting machines. New York’s Board of Elections Co-Chaired by Doug Kellner, is unique, with a bi-partisan election administration - two officials in each office - representing the two major par…
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Arva Rice:New York Urban League/Civilian Complaint Review Bd
27:01
27:01
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Arva Rice smiles when host Ronnie Eldridge says she is the busiest woman she knows, desccribing her leadership roles in the Urban League and the Civilian Complaint Review Board, the oversight entity for the largest police department in the country. Beginning with the Great Migration, the move of black Americans from the south to the north, the 105 …
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Beatrice Weber: YAFFED - Young Advocates for Fair Education
27:31
27:31
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Beatrice Weber describes the poor secular education given many NYC children. As YAFFED’s executive director, Weber speaks personally about changes in her life, her winning case against a school’s poor secular eduction and YAFFED’s pro education mission.
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Vanessa L. Gibson is the first woman, the first African American to be elected Bronx Borough President. With affection and determination, BP Gibson calls the Bronx "..a borough of opportunities" where small business, the heart and soul of the city, grow.
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Allen Roskoff: Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club
25:11
25:11
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Allen Roskoff, gay rights activist, expresses shock at the current "anger and vitriol..against the gay community," the "hate" openly displayed, which he believes is undoing progress that's been made. Roskoff shares his experiences coming out in the '70s.
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Ester Fuchs: Have We Lost the Civic Responsibility to Vote?
24:33
24:33
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Despite success of Open Primaries and Ranked Choice Voting, voter turnout remains low. Ester Fuchs urges education - support from community and local groups to help reconnect people to the political process, as our government lives by the people's vote.
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Doug Muzzio: Marxe School of Public & International Affairs
24:21
24:21
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Calling the 2024 U.S. elections “huge," Doug Muzzio describes current politics as the "newest of the new” and the times “the most dangerous period we’ve been in” since pre-Civil War: a divided country, moving further apart. Gun control and more discussed.
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New York State Senator Brad Holman-Sigal, District 47
23:23
23:23
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Chair of the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, says Judges matter, and applauds the public's interest in the selection of a chief judge. Sen. Hoylman-Sigal urges the inclusion of LGBT, Black and Asian American histories in NY curriculum.
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Gale A. Brewer: New York City Councilmember, District 6
24:14
24:14
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Gale Brewer, a long serving public servant, has returned to the City Council and District 6. “I love the City Council,” she says: the diversity of newly elected young members, a majority of them women. E-bike battery fires and Smoke Shops are discussed.
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Tom Robbins: Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism-CUNY
26:33
26:33
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Tom Robbins calls his long career as a reporter/journalist, "the greatest job in the world. Doors may be slammed in your face but you have a 'passport' to any place you want to go." Robbins discusses his core issues: good government and criminal justice.
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Barbara Treen, New York State Parole Board
21:24
21:24
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Barbara Treen was a member of the New York Parole Board for 12 years, and continues to work on behalf of the incarcerated to get a chance at parole. Ms. Treen discusses the politics surrounding parole and legislation, the Fair and Timely Parole Act and Elder Parole Bill designed to reform the system. Treen notes the significant support from the CUN…
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"A kid in politics in the early 70's," Ken Sunshine describes his journey as a PR-Political Consultant, his clients: Mayor David Dinkins, Senator Ted Kennedy, President Bill Clinton, Barbra Streisand, to today, as a member of the CUNY Board of Trustees, chairman of the Governance Committee. Siting the affection New Yorkers have for CUNY, Mr. Sunshi…
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Sam Roberts: Author, Journalist, "New York Times Close-Up"
29:06
29:06
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Sam Roberts, longtime journalist, discusses how few community projects, press conferences, local news, in general, are covered and reported in New York's newspapers. Roberts talks about the digital vs printed forms of getting the news; "It's different," he says, remembering with pleasure, people waiting on the corner for the paper to be delivered. …
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Deneysis Labrada & Dorma Lozada: CARA College Bridge Program
29:22
29:22
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CARA's Bridge Program, reflects CUNY's model, says Ronnie Eldridge, ensuring that first generation, low income students, people of color have the knowledge and support to enroll and persist in college. Deneysis Labrada and Dorma Lozada discuss the program
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Retired psycho therapist, Carol Meyerson, mindful of how society-even families, often ignoring its older members, comments on the long history, knowledge and experience that the aged are anxious to share. Generations' different attitudes are discussed.
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Discussing changes in entertainment law, her specialty, Rosalind Lichter notes that once independent studios are now owned by large corporations; Wall St. makes decisions-will "big films" play well in China? Streaming, contracts, who is hired, discussed.
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Keith Powers: City Council Majority Leader/Councilmember #4
29:14
29:14
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Discussing Congestion Pricing, Property Taxes, Term Limits-issues affecting NYers, City Council Majority Leader Powers, describes the Council as looking and feeling like the city they were elected to represent. New faces/women/ideas-an energized Council.
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Prof. Heath Brown, Author, Homeschooling the Right
33:56
33:56
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John Jay College professor Heath Brown, author of "Homeschooling the Right: How Conservative Education Activism Erodes the State," discusses the homeschooling movement: conservative political groups/religious groups, educating children as they wish.
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CUNY Law School Professor Steve Zeidman discusses Second-Look sentencing allowing courts to reevaluate a person's sentence after a significant time is served to determine if a prisoner's lengthy sentence was still necessary; thus offering a second chance
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Ann Northrop: Journalist, Activist, Co-Host, Gay USA
30:18
30:18
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Vietnam, AIDS, Gay Pride Parade/1970 vs today's marches; Act Up, past demonstrations to inform, to motivate to action; current abortion legislation, the right to privacy for all, make Ronnie and Ann Northrop wonder why "...it looks like we're regressing."
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Naomi Fiegelson Chase: Journalist, Author, Poet
27:18
27:18
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Naomi Chase, at 6, believing that she would be a poet, discusses her novel in verse, "Gittel, the Would-Be Messiah" and reads from "Truro, Cape Cod," a current work, about memories. A divided USA/abortion legislation/candidates for president, discussed.
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Elizabeth Nunez: Educator/Author "Now Lila Knows"
28:08
28:08
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Elizabeth Nunez, in "Now Lila Knows," describes events close to her experiences as a young Caribbean, at an all-white school in the US. A difficult book for her to write, Nunez cites the immigrant's lack of understanding of America's color-based racism.
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Ellen Bender and 55 members of Markers for Democracy met to write postcards to voters urging/reminding recipients to vote, to register to vote, to consider candidates - issues. Markers for Democracy are people who've joined together to make democracy work.
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Jerry Goldfeder: Election LawJerry Goldfeder: Election Law
27:58
27:58
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Leading election lawyer, Jerry Goldfeder, discusses the chaos stemming from the 2020 Reapportionment: why an additional primary election on 8/23, congressional people running against each other, the NRA, and the success of NY's Public Matching Funds.
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Selma Shapiro talks about the 60s, the Women's Movement, her job as VP for Publicity at Random House, her love affair and marriage to James Silberman. Selma and Ronnie candidly discuss loss, "sometimes being down," while confirming they don't look back.
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Historian Judith Papachristou looks to history to make "any sense of current events." Meeting in college, Papachristou and Eldridge discuss the Women's Movement; Abolitionists, Women's Suffrage, 2nd Wave Feminism, diversity, and today's Republican Party!
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Mark Green, NYC's first public advocate, an author, and public interest attorney, gives us an example of how politics has changed, comparing the election of Carter, a centrist Democrat to Ford, a centrist Republican to today's Democrat Biden vs Republican Trump: the party of Stability vs. the party of Extremism - and more!…
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Ruth Finkelstein: Brookdale Center for Healthy Aging
24:38
24:38
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Why do many of us: the middle-aged, young-even the aged, have difficulty imagining growing old? Is it that we have little contact with old people? Would it be beneficial for us all, if we were more connected, instead of splitting off into separate pods?
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Thinking of careers, Bonnie Stone knew only that she "wanted to do good" to do "something tangible!" So, Bonnie went to work for the government! Her book, "Gimme Shelter: a life of public service in New York City" describes public service as the place to do good, describing her work with then controversial methadone programs; working in HRA, develo…
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Mark Levine lists numerous challenges to be resolved as newly elected Manhattan Borough President: inequality, inadequate health care, climate change, the criminal justice system and plans to appoint a "pandemic czar" to improve New York's economy. Levine considers working with borough presidents, to form a comprehensive view of land-use: equity in…
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Tom Allon, City & State of New York publisher, media entrepreneur, discusses West Side Spirit, a daily The Hill and City Hall, publications that inspired today's City & State. Allon sees the post-pandemic as a time to focus on education and housing.
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Antonio Reynoso Brooklyn Borough President Elect
27:52
27:52
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Organizer and progressive, Antonio Reynoso talks about advocacy and governance making important changes in people's lives. Reynoso discusses more effective Brooklyn Community Boards-better know to people-gentrification, rezoning, land use also discussed.
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Describing CUNY students as "..incredibly determined," Juvanie Piquant, elected head of the USS/CUNY, talks about her job to advocate, elevate and represent the 500,000 CUNY student voices, working to leave an issue "..better than you found it."
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To prevent state legislatures from restricting our vote, guest urges political mobilization: federal legislation/litigation/citizen VOTING to change a state's political culture. 360 pending election bills; rules effecting ballot counting - a real crisis!
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The Census is in the Constitution to allocate House seats across a state, and the basis of political representation. John Mollenkopf discusses the #1 surprise of the 2020 Census: NY's population has grown substantially to 8.8 million people and more.
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Prof. Lisandro Pérez Chair, Latin American and Latinx Studies, John Jay College of Criminal Justice / CUNY
In 1952, Cuba was named a sponsor of terrorism. Pres. Obama removed their name from the terrorist list, only to have it restored during the Trump years. The Cuban embargo, the Cuban government and the political culture of Cuban Americans is discussed.
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If 61% of primary voters are women - why aren't more women in political office? Marti Speranza Wong describes the "un-level" playing field that women candidates experience: political parties controlled by men, provide exposure, endorsements; PAC and outside money favor men candidates. Wong outlines the work of Amplify Her, an organization dedicated…
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Friends since high school, renowned artist and feminist, Audrey Flack and host, Ronnie Eldridge discuss Flack's student years, her artistic development and success, the "angel with wings," and personal sadness. Mature women, enjoying their long friendship, they talk frankly about how it feels to be in the tenth decade of their lives.…
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Doug Muzzio outlines the extraordinary importance and the complexity of the NY Primary Election: the first post pandemic, the effect of term-limits, ranked-choice voting, and the large number of candidates making it difficult to know those in the race.
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Robert Abrams describes his David vs Goliath wins against NY's political machine, family, Monroe HS, and 15 years of public service as NYS Attorney General. An allied/non-partisan office, the AG dealt with broader issues-think Love Canal! Book-a must read
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The Frederick O'Reilly Hayes Prize, named in fond memory of NYC's Budget Director, awarded to City agencies' emerging leaders, has presented a special Corona Virus Crisis Response Award to 20 young public servants for projects in reaction to the pandemic.
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