Max Politics

Max Politics

Max Politics is a New York politics podcast hosted by journalist Ben Max featuring in-depth interviews with elected and appointed officials, candidates, advocates, and others about New York City and State politics and policy. Produced at New York Law School and its Center for New York Law. Get in touch: benmax25@gmail.com -------- Intro/outro music is Live-It by Ketsa. source (Free Music Archive) and license type (CC BY-NC-ND)

Episodes

Investigations Commissioner Jocelyn Strauber on Fighting Corruption in City Government

May 1, 2025 • 62 mins
New York City Department of Investigation Commissioner Jocelyn Strauber spoke with host Ben Max at a live event at New York Law School for Law Day, May 1, hosted by NYLS' Center for New York City and State Law. Strauber spoke about the important role DOI plays in ensuring ethical and effective government, DOI's role in the indictment of Mayor Eric Adams and her take on the dismissal of those charges, and much more. (Ep 497) url: n...
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Borough President Donovan Richards on the State of Queens & the 2025 Elections

April 29, 2025 • 69 mins
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards joined the show to discuss his 2025 State of the Borough address and agenda, major issues and opportunities facing Queens and the city, and the unfolding mayoral race. (Ep 496)
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2 Months to Primary Day, with Rebecca Katz & Jason Ortiz

April 23, 2025 • 69 mins
Political strategists Rebecca Katz and Jason Ortiz joined the show to discuss the state of the mayoral race and much more with two months to go until primary day, which is June 24, 2025. Katz, a co-founder of Fight agency, and Ortiz, a co-founder of Moonshot Strategies, are both veteran political strategists in New York and beyond. They joined the show to analyze the Democratic primary field for mayor, the city's political mood, le...
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Borough President Antonio Reynoso on the State of Brooklyn & the 2025 Elections

April 16, 2025 • 67 mins
Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, a Democrat, joined the show to discuss his 2025 State of the Borough address and agenda, major issues facing Brooklyn and the city, and the 2025 city elections. (Ep 494)
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Mayoral Candidate Forum on Parks, Recreation, & Open Space

April 11, 2025 • 93 mins
Six of the Democratic candidates for Mayor of New York City participated in a candidate forum on the evening of April 8, 2025 at New York Law School. The event featured candidates Adrienne Adams, Michael Blake, Brad Lander, Zohran Mamdani, Zellnor Myrie, and Scott Stringer, all vying for the Democratic nomination in June's primary election. The forum was moderated by Max Politics host Ben Max, who runs NYLS' Center for New York Cit...
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Eyeing the 2030 Census, with Assemblymember Landon Dais & Professor Jeff Wice

April 8, 2025 • 48 mins
The once-a-decade Census population count is immensely important to determine federal funding to states and cities, representation in the federal government, electoral college votes, and more. We just passed the halfway mark between the 2020 and 2030 Census counts, and New York leaders are starting to sound the alarm about the need for good planning to execute a complete count of all New York residents. Assemblymember Landon Dais, ...
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Abundance in New York, with Ryder Kessler & Catherine Vaughan

April 4, 2025 • 73 mins
Ryder Kessler and Catherine Vaughan, co-founders of Abundance New York, joined the show to discuss the "abundance" wave washing over the national political discourse (in part inspired by the new book Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson), what their vision for abundance in New York is, how to achieve it, NIMBYism vs YIMBYism, and much more. Their group is a relatively new nonprofit group (501c4) creating a new political commu...
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3 Months to Primary Day, with Basil Smikle

March 24, 2025 • 68 mins
With just 3 months to primary day in New York City's 2025 elections, Dr. Basil Smikle Jr. joined the show to discuss the state of the mayoral race, the candidate field, the mood of the city electorate, and more. Smikle is a longtime political strategist, former executive director of the New York State Democratic Party, and currently a professor at Columbia University, where he runs the nonprofit management master's program. (Ep 490...
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Borough President Vanessa Gibson on the State of the Bronx

March 21, 2025 • 65 mins
Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson, a Democrat, joined the show to discuss the state of the Bronx, her policy agenda, key issues facing the borough and the city, her reelection bid, and more. (Ep 489)
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NYC Comptroller Debate Between Justin Brannan & Mark Levine

March 18, 2025 • 85 mins
Two of the leading Democratic candidates for New York City Comptroller - City Council Finance Chair Justin Brannan and Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine - in this year's election joined New York Law School (NYLS) and Citizens Budget Commission (CBC) for a debate in front of a live audience at NYLS. The debate was moderated by Max Politics host Ben Max, who is also the program director at NYLS' Center for New York City and Sta...
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UFT President Michael Mulgrew on Education Issues, the 2025 Mayoral Race, & More

March 12, 2025 • 68 mins
Michael Mulgrew, President of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), joined the show to discuss current concerns and priorities for the city's teachers, major education issues being debated at the city and state levels, the UFT's endorsement process for the 2025 mayoral race, and more. (Ep 487)
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Jumaane Williams on City Leadership, the Mayoral Race, & His Reelection Bid

March 4, 2025 • 58 mins
NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams joined the show to discuss the state of city government leadership, the unfolding race for mayor, his reelection bid, and more. (Ep 486)
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4 Months to Primary Day, with Sally Goldenberg

February 24, 2025 • 69 mins
Sally Goldenberg, a veteran New York journalist and senior New York editor at Politico, joined the show to discuss the state of the race for Mayor of New York City with four months until primary day. With just four months until primary day — June 24, 2025 — both former Governor Andrew Cuomo and current City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams are considering soon entering the already-crowded Democratic primary field, which includes Mayo...
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Electing Women to the New York City Council, with Teresa Gonzalez & Yvette Buckner

February 19, 2025 • 66 mins
Teresa Gonzalez and Yvette Buckner, co-chairs of New Majority NYC, joined the show to discuss the group's efforts to elect and reelect women to the New York City Council. Through the 2021 elections, the Council saw its first-ever women majority, in part thanks to New Majority NYC's efforts. The organization is now starting to roll out endorsements in the 2025 elections, with primaries set for June. (Ep 484)
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Mark Treyger on Combating Anti-Semitism, Jewish Community Relations, & NYC Politics

February 12, 2025 • 67 mins
Mark Treyger — CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York and a former New York City Council member — joined the show to discuss combating increased anti-Semitism, Jewish community relations, Jewish voters in the 2025 NYC elections, and more. (Ep 483)
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The Working Families Party's Approach to the 2025 NYC Mayoral Election

January 29, 2025 • 63 mins
New York Working Families Party Co-Chairs Jasmine Gripper and Ana Maria Archila returned to the show to discuss how the progressive group is approaching the 2025 New York City mayoral race, lessons learned from 2021, ranked-choice voting, and more. (Ep 482)
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5 Months to Primary Day, with Neal Kwatra

January 24, 2025 • 61 mins
With just 5 months until primary day 2025 in New York City, political strategist Neal Kwatra - founder and CEO of Metropolitan Strategies - joined the show to discuss the city's political mood, important dynamics at play in the developing race for mayor, the field of candidates, and more. (Ep 481)
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City Council Immigration Chair Alexa Avilés on Protecting Immigrant Communities

January 17, 2025 • 58 mins
City Council Member Alexa Avilés, a Brooklyn Democrat and chair of the Council's immigration committee, joined the show to discuss how New York City is preparing for Donald Trump's second presidential term with regard to immigrant communities, sanctuary city policies, and more. Avilés discusses the oversight hearing she chaired on January 16, 2025 examining the Adams administration's efforts to protect immigrant communities and rel...
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Previewing 2025 in New York Politics, with Shontell Smith & Chris Coffey

January 10, 2025 • 62 mins
Political strategists Shontell Smith and Chris Coffey joined the show to preview 2025 in New York politics, including analysis of Mayor Eric Adams' 2025 State of the City agenda, the mayor's overall standing and the 2025 mayoral race about to unfold, Governor Kathy Hochul's standing and agenda, dynamics at play in state government as the Albany session begins, and much more. Coffey, a longtime New York political veteran, is the CEO...
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MTA CEO Janno Lieber on Congestion Pricing, Transit Service, & More

January 7, 2025 • 56 mins
MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber joined the show to discuss the launch of congestion pricing, the future of mass transit in New York City, and more. (Ep 478)
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