I Hate Politics Podcast

Exploring a human activity we love to hate. A podcast about politics close to our home, schools, streets, businesses, and local government. Hosted by Sunil Dasgupta. More at ihppod.org.

Aletheia McCaskill’s Story of the Moore Veto of the Reparations Bill 08/22/2025

Aletheia McCaskill’s Story of the Moore Veto of the Reparations Bill When Wes Moore, the first black governor of the state, vetoed the reparations bill in Spring 2025, it sent a shock of disappointment and betrayal especially among black leaders inside and outside Maryland. Delegate Aletheia McCaskill from Baltimore was the lead sponsor of the bill in the House of Delegates and tells her side of the story in this episode. Music By Drew Pictures and the Lead Extras. /episode/index/show/ihppod/id/37914735

USDOJ Wants MD Voter List, Gas Leaf-Blower Reporting, 1A Challenge in MoCo 08/19/2025

USDOJ Wants MD Voter List, Gas Leaf-Blower Reporting, 1A Challenge in MoCo The US DOJ and Maryland Elections Board tussle over access to the state’s voter list. Montgomery County Council is looking at changing a provision in the new gas leaf-blower ban requiring picture-taking with complaints. MoCo County Council faces a First Amendment challenge from a local satire blogger. And more. Music by The Longtimers. /episode/index/show/ihppod/id/37871580

Failing FEMA Flood Maps and New Resilience Planning 08/15/2025

Failing FEMA Flood Maps and New Resilience Planning With increasing inland flash flooding in the region, a new study from Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments’ Transportation Planning Board finds FEMA flood maps cover only 15 percent of flooding-related road closures in the Washington DC region. Sunil Dasgupta talks with Katherine Rainone, a transportation resilience planner at MWCOG, about the regional vulnerability study and projects to come out it. Flood analysis interactive tool: Full flood analysis report: Music by A Shrewdness of Apes. /episode/index/show/ihppod/id/37831545

Trump Seizes DC Police, Zoning Not the Answer, Lanternflies 08/12/2025

Trump Seizes DC Police, Zoning Not the Answer, Lanternflies Fighting off attacks from his own political base over the non-release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, President Trump uses the pretext of a crime emergency to orchestrate a federal takeover of Washington DC’s police Department and removal of homeless people from the district. Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich invites two Vanderbilt University law professors to strengthen his hands against the County Council’s new law to ease zoning restrictions. Penn State entomologist Julie Urban on what to do when you see a lanternfly and what experts are doing. And more. Music by Anna Rubin. /episode/index/show/ihppod/id/37769290

Can Superintendent Taylor Return MCPS to its Heyday? 08/08/2025

Can Superintendent Taylor Return MCPS to its Heyday? Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Thomas Taylor, who is beginning his second year at the helm of the nation’s 15th largest and Maryland’s largest school district, has said that MCPS was one of the nation’s best school districts in 2011-12 and, by implication, not since. Taylor joined Sunil Dasgupta to talk about his vision and the challenges ahead as he tries to return the district to its old glory. Music by Damascus-based rapper Cataclizm. /episode/index/show/ihppod/id/37724215

MCPS Payroll Fix, Flood Maps, RKV Rent Cap, M-83 Highway 08/05/2025

MCPS Payroll Fix, Flood Maps, RKV Rent Cap, M-83 Highway New study finds FEMA flood maps account for only 15 percent of flooding-related road closures in the region over the last 20 years. MCEA files grievance action against MCPS for delays and inaccuracies in payroll. Superintendent Thomas Taylor offers a fix by date. Rockville City Council nixed rent stabilization the second year. Councilmember Izola Shaw who championed the cause analyzes. Washington Post travails continue, says former Metro editor Bob McCartney. TAME Coalition kills the M-83 highway plan after decades of effort. And more. Stay with us. Music by the DC area roots band The Longtimers. /episode/index/show/ihppod/id/37674010

Is the $1 Billion for RFK Stadium a Good Bet for DC? 08/01/2025

Is the $1 Billion for RFK Stadium a Good Bet for DC? Washington DC Council has been getting ready to vote on Mayor Muriel Bowser’s plan to redevelop the RFK Stadium and its adjacent land as the new home for the Washington Commanders football team, which will cost the city $1 billion. Sunil Dasgupta talked to the DC Policy Center Executive Director and longtime DC public finance economist Yasim Say if this was a fair deal? Music by Washington DC prog rock band, A Shrewdness of Apes. /episode/index/show/ihppod/id/37630240

MoCo Upzones, Lawsuits Against MCPS, RFK Revenues, Redistricting Trigger Law 07/29/2025

MoCo Upzones, Lawsuits Against MCPS, RFK Revenues, Redistricting Trigger Law Montgomery County, MD, upzones around transit corridors, but opposition remains. Finally, a new Impact tax agreement between Gaitersburg and MoCo. Court awards an MCPS teacher half a million dollars for false accusation of racism by the school district. At least 3 teachers are involved in another lawsuit for wrongful punishment for “antisemitic” speech. New economic analysis of the RFK Stadium says long-term revenue projections are higher without the stadium, but it’s never that simple is it? MD House Majority Leader David Moon proposes trigger legislation to open mid-decade redistricting in the state if another state breaks the 10-year-rule. Music by the DC area roots band The Longtimers. /episode/index/show/ihppod/id/37587880

MCPS Tees Up More School Choice, But at What Cost? 07/25/2025

MCPS Tees Up More School Choice, But at What Cost? Montgomery County Public Schools, MD, is on the verge of big changes in attendance boundaries, program access, and grading policy, but this summer faces political contestation between wanting these changes and deciding on whom to impose the cost of that change. Sunil Dasgupta talks with MCPS parent and Kensington resident Rebekah Kuschmider about the likelihood and cost of disbanding the regional school choice program centered on Silver Spring called the Down County Consortium (DCC) even as the school district seeks to expand choice more widely. Music by Washington DC prog rock band, A Shrewdness of Apes. /episode/index/show/ihppod/id/37542465

OBBA Impacts, County as Energy Supplier, Trayon White wins 07/22/2025

OBBA Impacts, County as Energy Supplier, Trayon White wins The weekly news analysis from I Hate Politics: One Big Beautiful Act impacts with MD Delegate Marc Korman and MD Health Care for All Executive Director Vincent DeMarco: “Could have been worse!” Fall General Assembly Special Session now unlikely. Montgomery County Council considers pilot to become a retail energy supplier to residents. MD Delegate Lorig Charkoudian explains the concept. MoCo Council will vote on a law to allow duplexes/triplexes in single-family-zoned areas. Trayon White wins the DC Ward 8 Special Elections despite pending bribery charges. Analysis from once-Ward 8 candidate Markus Batchelor. Music by Washington DC art-pop rock band, Catscan! /episode/index/show/ihppod/id/37498935

The Unbearable Opacity of How MCPS Writes to Parents 07/18/2025

The Unbearable Opacity of How MCPS Writes to Parents One of the biggest complaints against Montgomery County Public Schools, the largest school district in Maryland and 17th nationwide, is communication style. When Superintendent Thomas Taylor took office in 2024 set a new tone with a funny snow day video, but as the school district seeks a major overhaul of school attendance boundaries, the school district is losing control over its strategy and communications. Sunil Dasgupta talks to Michael Ricci, a MCPS parent and former communications director for Governor Larry Hogan and US House Speakers Paul Ryan and John Boehner, about MCPS’ inscrutable style and how to fix the problem. Music by Anna Rubin. /episode/index/show/ihppod/id/37450385

I Hate the News Jul 15 07/15/2025

I Hate the News Jul 15 The weekly news analysis from I Hate Politics: The DC Council looks to undo two citywide referendums: Initiative 82, which provided a path to equalize tipped minimum wages, and Initiative 83, which would change the district’s elections to ranked-choice voting (RCV) and holds firm. The Moore administration in MD makes an employee buy-out offer and restaffs cabinet positions as reelection year approaches and the state’s fiscal worries grow. Howard County, Maryland, considers a new approach to Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance even as school overcrowding eases. Former Congressman and billionaire David Trone endorses Even Glass for Montgomery County Executive. Music by Washington DC art-pop rock band, Catscan! /episode/index/show/ihppod/id/37408460

Do Civil Servants Serve the Constitution or the President? 07/11/2025

Do Civil Servants Serve the Constitution or the President? The Trump chaos has brought a key constitutional principle to the fore: What happens when bureaucrats believe the president is not living up to his pledge to the Constitution? Sunil Dasgupta talks with Hamilton College, NY, Associate Professor of Sociology Jamie Lee Kucinskas about her new book, The Loyalty Trap: Conflicting Loyalties of Civil Servants Under Increasing Autocracy, where she reports prescient findings from 127 interviews she conducted with civil servants during the first Trump administration. Music by Anna Rubin. /episode/index/show/ihppod/id/37369790

I Hate the News Jul 8 07/08/2025

I Hate the News Jul 8 The weekly news analysis from I Hate Politics: Wrongly-imprisoned Baltimore man James Langhorne speaks to the difficulties of returning to society after 27 years in prison even as he is awarded $2.9 million. Maryland’s new 3 percent tech services tax started July 1 Montgomery county, Maryland, gas leaf blower ban went into effect July 1, but Gabe Albornoz, wants a 3-year fall season exemption for commercial landscapers. Councilmember Dawn Luedtke explains her “house party” bill. Music by Washington DC art-pop rock band, Catscan! /episode/index/show/ihppod/id/37307290

Pivoting From Federal Work 07/04/2025

Pivoting From Federal Work Three stories about introspection, learning, change, and hope from the destruction of federal worker layoffs and budget cuts. Sunil Dasgupta talks with Kevin Gash of Rockville who went from a 14-year career as a USAID contractor to starting a food truck called PLAN B Sausages. Liza Achilles, also of Rockville, was a technical writing contractor for USDA hoping for a new career in creative writing. And Robbyn Lewis, a Maryland state delegate from Baltimore, who for most of her professional life worked on USAID global health contracts and is struggling with finding the right new direction. Music by Silver Spring power pop band, The Airport77s. /episode/index/show/ihppod/id/37279325

I Hate the News Jul 1 07/01/2025

I Hate the News Jul 1 The weekly news analysis from I Hate Politics: Breaking down two of the most consequential Supreme Court rulings that came down last week: the ban on universal injunction and the expansion of religious rights of parents in public schools. The Trump Administration’s case against all 16 judges in the federal District of Maryland. The second Trump Administration has built a sophisticated legal team that seemed impossible in the first term. How? Lessons for Ranked Choice Voting from Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the New York Democratic primary. Sunil Dasgupta talks with Cato legal scholar and RCV advocate Walter Olson. Music by Washington DC art-pop rock band, Catscan! /episode/index/show/ihppod/id/37232615

How Punishment Precedes Trial in State Courts 06/26/2025

How Punishment Precedes Trial in State Courts How broken is the criminal-justice system? If you are charged, you might have to pay for your own pre-trial supervision, that is, if you can make bail. The cost may be high enough that you take a plea deal even if you are innocent. Sunil Dasgupta talks with Natasha Dartigue, Maryland Public Defender and the new president-elect of the Maryland Bar Association, about pre-trial detention, bail reform, and disproportionate outcomes in state courts. Music by Silver Spring power pop band, The Airport77s. /episode/index/show/ihppod/id/37171260

I Hate the News Jun 24 06/24/2025

I Hate the News Jun 24 The weekly news analysis from I Hate Politics: A new report offers the first real breakdown of the impact of federal cuts and layoffs in Maryland. The neighborhood next to the RFK Stadium wants a community benefits agreement guaranteeing developer commitments. WMATA launches new bus routes next week. Adjunct faculty at Stevenson University, outside Baltimore, unionize. West Virginia University strips voting powers from faculty, students, and staff representatives on its Board of governors. Tips for hunting and fishing based on Maryland’s Natural Resource police blotter. And more. Music by Washington DC art-pop rock band, Catscan! /episode/index/show/ihppod/id/37128550

Escalating Fight Over LGBTQ Rights “Distracts” Frederick School Board 06/20/2025

Escalating Fight Over LGBTQ Rights “Distracts” Frederick School Board Frederick County, MD, school board saw escalating tensions between conservative activists and liberal school board leadership over LGBTQ rights in county schools. A newly elected board member attacked trans rights from the board table, a conservative activist tried to forcibly seat herself on at the board, and a man fake-mooned a board meeting. Sunil Dasgupta talks with Frederick Board of Education President Rae Gallagher, and Vice-President Dean Rose about the fight over LGBRTQ rights and its impact on school governance. Music by Silver Spring power pop band, The Airport77s. /episode/index/show/ihppod/id/37085055

I Hate the News Jun 17 06/17/2025

I Hate the News Jun 17 Maryland’s first bond issue following Moody’s downgrade of state debt has surprising results. Former Washington DC councilmember and director of the DC Department of Energy and Environment, gets into the fight to claw back the environmental spending cuts proposed by Mayor Bowser. MCPS has new grading regulations and the Student member of the Board of Education is not happy. And more. Music by Washington Dc art-pop rock band, Catscan! /episode/index/show/ihppod/id/37036010

NIH Scientists Demand Bhattacharya Defend Agency 06/13/2025

NIH Scientists Demand Bhattacharya Defend Agency After weeks of protests over firings, grant freezes, and budget cuts, more than 300 scientists and staff from Maryland-based National Institutes of Health issue a public letter of protest called the Bethesda Declaration fashioned after the Great Barrington Declaration, which was co-authored in 2020 as an act of dissent from the scientific orthodoxy on Covid by their current Trump-appointed director Jay Bhattacharya. Sunil Dasgupta talks with three signatories to the letter, NIH staffers Mollie Manier and Ian Morgan, and former staffer Anna Culbertson about the public statement and the relationship between science and politics. Bethesda Declaration: The Great Barrington Declaration: Music by Silver Spring power pop band, The Airport77s. /episode/index/show/ihppod/id/36979900

I Hate the News Jun 10 06/10/2025

I Hate the News Jun 10 A new case of religious liberty against MCPS follows the LGBTQ books case already in the Supreme Court. DC Council pauses Initiative 82, a ballot referendum which tried to equalize minimum wage for tipped and non-tipped workers. A tort case in Maryland brings up the persistence of contributory negligence doctrine in a handful of states in the DC region. Prince George’s County holds special elections and we revisit voter turnout issues. And more. Music by Washington Dc art-pop rock band, Catscan! /episode/index/show/ihppod/id/36931905

Can Gaithersburg Regulate HOAs and Condos Better than Montgomery County? 06/06/2025

Can Gaithersburg Regulate HOAs and Condos Better than Montgomery County? HOAs and Condo associations have grown to be a big part of the American housing landscape over the last 50 years. In 2025, the Maryland general assembly passed a new law requiring independent third-party elections of HOA/condo boards and the City of Gaithersburg left Montgomery County’s Commission on Common Ownership Communities. Sunil Dasgupta talks with Gaithersburg councilmembers Neil Harris and Yamil Hernandez, themselves experienced HOA officials, about how they are thinking of a new regulatory regime. Music by Silver Spring power pop band, The Airport77s. /episode/index/show/ihppod/id/36875050

I Hate the News Jun 3 06/03/2025

I Hate the News Jun 3 Mayor Muriel Bowser in Washington DC offers a budget proposal with cuts and regulatory changes. MCPS has released boundary change options as it plans opening new high schools. Complaints about air quality in Argyle Middle School. MD Public Service Commission asks Baltimore Gas and Electric and Delmarva Power to spread out coming rate increases, watch your electricity bills. A lawsuit challenges closed primaries in the state of Maryland. And more. Music by Washington Dc art-pop rock band, Catscan! /episode/index/show/ihppod/id/36824925

A Second Shot, A True Crime Episode 05/30/2025

A Second Shot, A True Crime Episode On October 23, 1971, Deputy Sheriff James T. Hall was killed in the parking lot of Manor Country Club, the center of a wealthy golf course community between the city of Rockville and Olney, MD. The case remained unsolved for 50 years, until 2021, when cold case detectives finally took another look at the urging of Hall's daughter, Carolyn Philo, who had long moved to Dallas, Texas, where she told the story of her father’s murder to her doctor, Michael Weisberg, a moonlighting crime writer. As cold case detectives pursued neglected leads, Weisberg began writing the book. Weisberg joined Sunil Dasgupta to talk about the recently-published book, A Second Shot: . Music by Silver Spring power pop band, The Airport77s. /episode/index/show/ihppod/id/36779490

I Hate the News May 27 05/27/2025

I Hate the News May 27 Federal employee rights will change in the Trump-backed budget legislation “One Big Beautiful Bill.” Will budget-busting drugs like Jardiance and Farxiga soon cost less in Maryland? A new law sets up a mechanism. The state is fixing to charge for viewing land records and the Maryland State Bar and title attorneys are not happy. In Frederick County, MD, a fake mooning incident at a school board meeting. We have the audio, which may be more incendiary than the video. And more. Music by Arlington-based experimental music composer Pierre Bernasconi. /episode/index/show/ihppod/id/36720020

Governor Moore’s Vetoes Move Him to the Middle as Reelection Looms 05/23/2025

Governor Moore’s Vetoes Move Him to the Middle as Reelection Looms Last week Maryland Governor Wes Moore vetoed a reparations study bill and three environment bills despite their low budget impact, angering some of his closest allies: the General Assembly’s Black Caucus and the region’s environmental groups. Sunil Dasgupta talks with Maryland Senator Charles Sydnor, regional environment leader Mike Tidwell, and bike and pedestrian safety advocate Seth Grimes, about the politics. Music by Frederick, MD,- based country-folk singer-songwriter Susanna Laird. /episode/index/show/ihppod/id/36684745

I Hate the News May 20 05/20/2025

I Hate the News May 20 Montgomery County Council President Kate Stewart explains final budget tradeoffs as vote arrives this week. New data analysis shows a disproportionate increase in staff positions in the county and in the school district. A survey of regional homelessness shows little change except in Montgomery County. The National Park Service proposes ending the morning and afternoon reversible lanes on Rock Creek Parkway. In small town Maryland, New Market and Woodsboro, stories of political contestation. And more. Music by Arlington-based experimental music composer Pierre Bernasconi. /episode/index/show/ihppod/id/36635215

What AMZN HQ2 Search Tells Us About Government Transparency 05/16/2025

What AMZN HQ2 Search Tells Us About Government Transparency There is a long tradition in political philosophy where democracy and transparency are equated. A new article in the Policy Studies Journal, by UMBC colleagues UMBC’s Eric Stokan, Ian Anson, University of Texas Austin’s Nathan Jensen studied the impact of government transparency on Amazon’s search for its second headquarters to find surprising conclusions: . Sunil Dasgupta talks with lead author Eric Stokan. Music by Frederick, MD,- based country-folk singer-songwriter Susanna Laird. /episode/index/show/ihppod/id/36582135

I Hate the News May 13 05/13/2025

I Hate the News May 13 Washington DC releases its 2025 homeless count, with significant improvement. Trump wants beautification, but where do the unhoused go? Mayor Muriel Bowser steps into the tipped wage debate again. MCPS Superintendent Thomas Taylor lays out the school district’s problems. With some talk of Larry Hogan running again for Maryland governor, Delegate Marc Korman talks about the new law changing conflict rules for Maryland governors that will affect Hogan if he returns. And more. Music by Arlington-based experimental music composer Pierre Bernasconi. /episode/index/show/ihppod/id/36540495

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