Afleveringen
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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 DC courts finally began this month, April 2025. Music by Washington art-pop rock band Catscan!
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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 strength. DC tries to maneuver around Congressional budget constraints. A new climate cost report from MD Comptroller Brooke Lierman on Earth Day. And more. Music by Seth Kibel and Friends.
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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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-day report: https://t.ly/IOp3C. Music by Washington art-pop rock band Catscan!
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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 inaugurated a new full-service hospital east of the Potomac River. And planting recommendations from the Washington Gardener Kathy Jentz. Music by Seth Kibel and Friends.
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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 finances overly dependent on the county disbursements. Montgomery has long resisted public charter schools even as Washington DC, Prince George’s County, and Baltimore have embraced the idea. Sunil Dasgupta talked with founders LaChaundra Graham and Tracey Cooper about their model and the prospects for opening on time for the next school year. Music by Washington art-pop rock band Catscan! School Website: https://www.mbli-md.org/
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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 centers, but what are the tradeoffs with neighborhood polling places? Washington DC tries to limit open meeting law. Music from the Hands Off Rally protests.
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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 from Adam Bobrow. Suvarna Insta: @peterforsmob.
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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 comes from Adam Bobrow. Suvarna Insta: @anuva4smob
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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? And more. Music by Washington DC area composer Anna Rubin.
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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 approaches to saving the world. Books at Music by Washington art-pop rock band Catscan!
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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 the long serving mayor fizzles out. The four-day Sprung Comedy festival opens in Silver Spring, Mar 26-29: improbablecomedy.com/sprung. Music by Washington DC area composer Anna Rubin.
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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 Catscan!
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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 meeting where opponents say the council violated charter amendment process. Music by Washington DC area composer Anna Rubin.
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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 band Catscan!
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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 engagement. Prince George’s County State’s Attorney likely to be the new county executive. Music by Washington DC area composer Anna Rubin.
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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 internships, and apprenticeships, and the failures of higher education to meet the labor market. Music by Washington art-pop rock band Catscan!
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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? Illegal dumping in DC and Prince George’s County remains a problem. How to “buy” renewable energy without putting rooftop solar or depending on retail energy suppliers? Music by Washington DC area composer Anna Rubin.
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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 east side of Washington DC. Music by Washington art-pop rock band Catscan!
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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 of World War 1 chemical weapons debris in a Northeast DC neighborhood. More at https://t.ly/xiMrg. Music by Washington DC area composer Anna Rubin.
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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. Music by Washington art-pop rock band Catscan!
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