Can a city have a soul? And if so, is it something solid and fixed for as long as the city survives, putting its stamp on each new generation? Or is the soul of the city a much more ephemeral thing, a transient spirit of the moment, a metaphorical summation of the prevailing sentiments of its citizens? In this episode, Joseph P. Viteritti, the Thomas Hunter Professor of Public Policy and Chair of the Urban Policy and Planning Department at Hunter College takes me through his search for what he hopes is the enduring soul of New York, a progressive vision of a city that is committed to lifting up the least fortunate of its residents. Professor Viteritti's https://www.hunterurban.org/faculty/joseph-viteritti (webpage) Writings discussed: https://www.gothamgazette.com/opinion/10603-searching-soul-new-york-city-literature ("Searching for the Soul of New York: Part 1, Literature" ) https://www.gothamgazette.com/opinion/10608-searching-soul-new-york-city-politics-leadership ("Searching for the Soul of New York: Part II, Politics and Leadership" ) https://www.wordupbooks.com/book/9780190679507 (The Pragmatist: Bill de Blasio's Quest to Save the Soul of New York) https://www.wordupbooks.com/book/9780156453806 (Invisible Cities (by Italo Calvino))

Political strategist Bradley Tusk joins the podcast to discuss his philosophy of the city, why he's opening a bookstore and funding the Gotham Book Prize, why he backed Andrew Yang for mayor, what makes for good and bad business regulations, and what he thinks is wrong with our politics and how he proposes to fix it.

Michael Menser (Brooklyn College, CUNY) joins the podcast to discuss how the logic of the city's model of development, use of space, circulation of goods and people, and over-burdened ecology are changing what it means to live in New York and how a more participatory conception of democratic engagement can help us to navigate the challenges to come.

Linda Martín Alcoff joins the podcast to talk to me about the importance of taking seriously Jean Kim's allegations of sexual assault, of not rushing to condemn Scott Stringer, and how the normative tension between the two are of particular concern to the "progressive epistemic community."

In this episode I speak with the philosopher Samantha Noll about the difference between food security, food sovereignty, and food justice while getting also getting a history lesson about food justice issues in New York City. In the second part of the episode I hear from Stephen Grimaldi, the executive director of the New York Common Pantry, as he tells me what it has been like trying to feed the growing numbers of hungry New Yorkers during the pandemic.

In this episode the philosopher Alexander Guerrero talks about elections, his lottocratic alternative, and how to ensure a more responsive democratic system of government. Then Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause/New York, talks about the value of ranked choice voting and how we can improve civic education and engagement.