When startups want to fight city hall, many turn to Bradley Tusk. Fresh off advising Andrew Yang in his unsuccessful mayoral bid in New York City, the political “fixer” and host of the Firewall Podcast talks with Molly and Jim on this collaborative, joint episode on how the pandemic may have permanently changed urban life and maybe even reset relations between tech and cities for the better.

Are pandemic weary cities prepared for wildfire and hurricane season?

Will open streets lead to a more equitable mobility future?

How might the pandemic affect the future of domestic work?

What will our neighborhood restaurants look and feel like after the pandemic is long gone?

Are we at risk of creating a permanent digital underclass? Internet access has become essential for modern American life, but current policies don't treat it that way. In this special bonus episode, Jim and Molly talk to Maya Wiley about a core piece of the infrastructure for our tech future: broadband. Wiley, a digital equity expert and MSNBC contributor, breaks down the history of broadband access, the severity of the inequity, and what it costs us all when some people just can't get online. We also talk about local efforts to improve broadband access, including Wiley's own work in New York City to turn old phone booths into free Wifi kiosks. If you've listened to Technopolis, we want to know what you think. Please click on this very brief survey to help us make the show better. For more on the show, visit CityLab's Technopolis page.

Can Wakanda's capital city teach us to build better cities in the real world? For as long as there have been movies, there have been fictional visions of tech-forward futures. But few cities on film have inspired the awe of urbanists like Black Panther's Golden City, devised by production designer Hannah Beachler. In this special bonus episode, Jim and Molly talk with Beachler about the role tech played in her meticulously crafted urban vision. Beachler, who won the Academy Award for her work in the film, helps us understand why the Wakandan city feels so right—and what she thinks some real-life tech-led urban designs are getting wrong.

Is tech making it easier for us to talk to our cities? Changed bus routes. A shuttered park. How many times has your city made a decision affecting you that you didn't know about until after it happened? This persistent communication gap is one of the great conundrums for many city leaders. And it hasn't necessarily gotten any better just because we're on apps and social media. What are cities doing to find us where we are? And is using tech a more effective way to get our feedback about proposed changes? Molly and Jim talk to Eyal Feder-Levy, whose startup ZenCity tracks opinions about city government through our online comments, including public social media posts; and Mayor Nan Whaley of Dayton, Ohio, who is on the front lines of this communications struggle. For more information on this episode, visit citylab.com/podcasts/technopolis. And email us your feedback to technopolis@citylab.com.

Will food delivery apps kill your favorite neighborhood restaurant? The tech-fueled delivery economy is already having a dramatic impact on how some restaurants do business. Will it also transform our neighborhoods? And should we feel guilty about ordering that coffee and donut directly to our door with a few taps on our phone? Molly and Jim talk with Leslie Silverglide, the CEO of the tech-savvy salad chain Mixt; and Amy Liu, vice president and director of the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution. For more information on this episode, visit citylab.com/podcasts/technopolis. And email us your feedback to technopolis@citylab.com.

Can tech help cities nudge us to live better lives, without things getting weird? In this episode, we look at how technology is making the popular behavioral science tool known as a "nudge" more prevalent in cities, from tackling sign-ups for food stamps to reducing congestion downtown. Molly and Jim talk with Emily Bailard, the CEO of InClass Today, a startup that uses nudges to help school districts reduce student absenteeism; and Anthony Barrows, managing director of Ideas42, a nonprofit that helps cities use these behavioral science tools to improve social outcomes. For more information on this episode, visit citylab.com/podcasts/technopolis. And email us your feedback to technopolis@citylab.com.