City Cast DC
City Cast is the daily, local audio companion you knew DC needed. Washingtonians are gritty, proud, and resilient — necessary qualities for a community facing issues that range from an affordability crisis to the fight for statehood to the movement for racial justice… and useful qualities for a region full of whip-smart people, dynamic culture, and constant change. Washingtonians are deeply passionate about our city, whose story is still being written, and City Cast DC is here to tell it. Every weekday morning, our hosts Michael Schaffer and Bridget Todd will engage people from all over the eight wards in conversation about DC’s crises and its beauty, both literal and figurative. It’ll have the feel of eavesdropping on an energetic and informative coffee shop chat, except that with City Cast DC, consider this your official invitation to listen in.
Episodes
May 3, 2024 • 21 mins
Cuneyt Dil of Axios joins the team to talk about the state of downtown, your options for mother’s day, and a red-hot doorman drama in one of the fanciest pieces of real estate.
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May 2, 2024 • 15 mins
You might not think of D.C. as a gardening city, but gardening in the District actually offers some specific benefits you don’t find elsewhere. Kathy Jentz, host of the podcast Garden DC, explains why you should be giving gardening a shot.
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May 1, 2024 • 16 mins
Protests and encampments regarding Israel and Palestine have taken off across the country. But in D.C., are we doing anything differently? Both Lauren Lumpkin and Peter Hermann from the Washington Post have covered the protests and lawsuits at the high school and college level, and they explain what’s going on for both.
Want some more DC news? Then make sure to sign up for our morning newsletter Hey DC. You can also become a member...
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April 30, 2024 • 24 mins
If you're new here, welcome! We’ve put together a starter pack for you, with episodes and articles to welcome you to the City Cast community.
From checking out a sunset session of music and dancing at Flash, to finally investing in a solid hammock or blanket you’ve been eyeing, May is a special time in D.C. There are so many options for things to do and places to go, so the City Cast DC team is here to narrow down your May bucket ...
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April 29, 2024 • 20 mins
Parents behaving badly? High-powered lawyers? The Wall Street Journal’s James Fanelli is here to walk us through his epic story about a Northwest D.C. Little League conflict.
Want some more D.C. news? Then make sure to sign up for our morning newsletter Hey DC. You can also become a member, with ad-free listening, for as little as $8 a month.
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April 26, 2024 • 27 mins
Washingtonian’s Andrew Beaujon joins the team to talk about the future of Union Station, the future of D.C. media, and the future — or lack thereof — of the Foxtrot food chain.
Want some more DC news? Then make sure to sign up for our morning newsletter Hey DC. You can also become a member, with ad-free listening, for as little as $8 a month.
Interested in advertising with City Cast? Find more info HERE
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April 25, 2024 • 27 mins
Metro is voting on their proposed 2025 budget TODAY. To explain it all, we sat down with Randy Clarke, who runs the Metro system. Clarke’s new budget proposal isn’t full of the kinds of draconian cuts that were on the table last year, but he’s still managing a lot of the challenges — and, according to him, a lot of the opportunities — that come with running a mass transit system in a post-covid city.
Want some more DC news? Then m...
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April 24, 2024 • 18 mins
Recently, D.C.’s Department of Transportation announced that the bike lane planned for Connecticut Avenue was no more. Sauleh Siddiqui, who represents a portion of Cleveland Park, joined us to explain if the bike lane could make a comeback in future transportation plans, and what it says about how D.C. treats multimodal transportation.
Sauleh joined us previously for a debate about the proposed bike lane.
Want some more DC news? Th...
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April 23, 2024 • 25 mins
To get into today’s news and culture updates, City Cast DC producer Ashe Durban and Washington City Paper’s Cat Sposato join the show to chat about DCPS facing major cuts, a D.C. coffee staple unionizing, and Real Housewives of D.C. finally being released on streaming.
We wanted to issue a quick correction for some misstatements in this episode. You might remember we had a segment about funding for DC public schools. Our producer ...
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April 22, 2024 • 15 mins
Here in D.C., Chinatown is more like a “China block.” And the longtime Chinese immigrant community has been advocating for a more robust Chinatown, one that meaningfully reflects their culture. Amanda Michelle Gomez, who reports for WAMU, is here to explain the future of Chinatown and why it is so important to the city.
Want some more DC news? Then make sure to sign up for our morning newsletter Hey DC. You can also become a membe...
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April 19, 2024 • 25 mins
Axios’ Cuynet Dil and City Cast’s Julia Karron join our roundup to talk about zombie office buildings and zombie bike lanes and one of the most D.C. stories of all time: A cheating scandal at a pub quiz.
Check out our episode on the fight over the Connecticut Avenue bike lanes here.
Want some more DC news? Then make sure to sign up for our morning newsletter Hey DC. You also have a chance to win FIS Champions Club Nats tickets! Be...
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April 18, 2024 • 23 mins
The history of D.C.’s alleys is a weird, crazy metaphor for a couple centuries of race and class and power. We spoke to Kim Prothro Williams, author of Hidden Alleyways of Washington, DC: A History, to learn about the streets behind the streets.
Want some more DC news? Then make sure to sign up for our morning newsletter Hey DC. And we’ve got Nationals tickets for YOU! For a chance to win 2 FIS champions club tickets to any game o...
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April 17, 2024 • 15 mins
This weekend is 4/20, the annual holiday where cannabis enthusiasts celebrate all things weed. Being in the shadow of the federal government means the laws around cannabis in the city are a little complicated. Alan Amsterdam, Owner of Capitol Hemp, is here to clear the smoke around getting high in D.C.
Want some more DC news? Then make sure to sign up for our morning newsletter Hey DC. You can also become a member, with ad-free li...
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April 16, 2024 • 16 mins
Today is Emancipation Day. Even if you’ve been living in the District for a while, you might not know much about the holiday, and what makes it uniquely D.C. Briana Thomas, author of Black Broadway, joins to explain what you should know about Emancipation Day in D.C. and how to commemorate it.
Want some more D.C. news? Then make sure to sign up for our morning newsletter Hey DC. Wanna win tickets to see the Washington Nationals? Be...
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April 15, 2024 • 20 mins
You might have noticed that gas leaks have been in the news more often. It’s pretty scary! When you suspect there’s a gas leak happening, it might not be clear what to do. So today on City Cast DC, we’re talking with environmental reporter Kayla Benjamin to get the lay of the land on what’s happening.
Want some more DC news? Then make sure to sign up for our morning newsletter Hey DC. You can also become a member, with ad-free list...
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April 12, 2024 • 27 mins
Reporter Michael Pope and author Briana Thomas join the show to talk about what the D.C. budget means for the cost of your child care, what the Virginia budget means for the health of our Metro system, and ways YOU can vote for D.C.’s best restaurants.
You can vote for your favorite restaurants for the RAMMY awards here.
Wanna win tickets to see the Washington Nationals? Become a City Cast DC member today!
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April 11, 2024 • 12 mins
D.C. has an absurd amount of parks – 683! Longtime D.C. environmental reporter Jacob Fenston is hitting up all of them for us in the ultimate D.C. park's quest. We catch up with him to see how it's going, what his approach is, and to learn the weirdest thing he has seen in the Potomac so far.
And don’t forget to vote for City Cast DC as the District’s best podcast!
Want some more DC news? Then make sure to sign up for our morning ...
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April 10, 2024 • 16 mins
If you’ve ever had to GO while out and about in D.C., we’ve got good news. Throne Labs, a high tech toilet company, is bringing public restrooms to 5 different locations in the city as part of the D.C. Public Restroom Pilot Program. But D.C.’s track record with public restrooms has been iffy at best. Jonathan Katz joined us awhile back to explain why this is a big deal for everyone.
To learn more, here are some resources Jonathan ...
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April 9, 2024 • 22 mins
In today’s roundup, we’re talking about the city sending a warning to unlicensed weed shops in the city, an update on keeping sports teams in D.C., and 1 star reviews of Capital One Arena.
Parents have taken on weed shops in the past, and we explain why that’s a big deal.
Want some more DC news? Then make sure to sign up for our morning newsletter Hey DC. You can also become a member, with ad-free listening, for as little as $8 a m...
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April 8, 2024 • 16 mins
There’s been a crazy fight going on about whether to erect an apartment building on the site of an old firehouse on U Street — and it’s a fight worth watching because it says a lot about what it takes to actually build anything in D.C. Paul Schwartzman from the Washington Post has been covering it and is here to walk us through the wild details.
Want some more DC news? Then make sure to sign up for our morning newsletter Hey DC. Y...
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