The Backgrounder: Recent Episodes
Paul Brubaker
When Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg began attending Port Authority meetings, she began uncovering the scandal that we’ve come to know as “Bridgegate.” On this episode, the incomparable and indomitable Senator Weinberg gives her thought about the upcoming trial, talks about her life as an elected official, her special relationship with Governor Christie, and she gives her advice to any young people who may aspire to fill her shoes.
Buzz Aldrin, Montclair’s man on the moon, has led an extraordinary life in the years leading up to – and since – his historic voyage on Apollo 11. Just days before he returns to Montclair for the dedication of a middle school in his honor, Aldrin talks about some of his memories of living in Montclair, where President Kennedy originally wanted to send astronauts in the 1960s, and when and how we should be landing on Mars.
If you don’t know N.J. Assemblyman Benjie Wimberly through his political and government credentials, you almost certainly know him as the legendary football coach who brought Super Bowl Champion Victor Cruz and T.J. Clemmings to the NFL. But even that description falls short of describing the person that Benjie Wimberly has become to the people of Paterson, N.J. (where people call him “Coach” more often than “Assemblyman.”) In this episode, Wimberly talks about football, the roughly 30 years he has spent as a coach, and how he would coach our state’s third largest city to achieving its full potential.
Heather Howard rose to prominence when she served as New Jersey’s State Health and Senior Services Commissioner in Governor Jon Corzine’s administration during the height of the national health care reform debate. Six years after the Affordable Care Act (ACA) a.k.a. “Obamacare” became law, Howard is traveling the country helping states to implement the ACA. She is also on the faculty of Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs where she is teaching about the nuanced world of policy making as it relates to health care, and she is an elected Democrat on the Princeton Municipal Council. In this episode, Howard talks about whether we are all healthier after the passage of the Affordable Care Act, explains some of the details behind Aetna’s recent withdrawal from Obamacare in all but four states, and she tells us what we may not be appreciating about her former bosses, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Jon Corzine.
Gordon MacInnes, President of New Jersey Policy Perspective, knows Trenton and Jersey politics. He served two terms in the Statehouse, first as an assemblyman and later as a state senator – no small feat for a Democrat who hails from Republican-dominated Morris County. He also served as New Jersey’s Assistant Commissioner of Education and became known as the state’s “Abbott Czar” as he administered New Jersey’s Abbott school funding program. In this episode, MacInnes explains how New Jersey has the option of putting the Transportation Trust Fund and public pension funding liability problems on the desks of the next governor and state legislature. He also gives his point of view on Governor Christie’s proposal for school funding reform, and he gives a preview of NJPP’s upcoming report on the nine worst decisions ever made in the state. As NJPP approaches its 20th anniversary, MacInnes gives his run down on some of the organization’s greatest accomplishments and tells why NJPP is NOT a liberal think tank.
School may be out for the summer but New Jersey’s student loan program has come under fire since a July 3 Propublica/New York Times story. “State sanctioned loan sharking” was how one person quote in the story described the state’s Higher Education Student Assistance Authority and its loan program, NJ CLass. In this episode, Deanna Marie Norcross and Vincent Cimilluca talk about their personal connection being saddled with student loan debt in New Jersey, how it’s stunting the future they want to have together, and the activist group they’ve started, desclassifynj, to help find solutions to student debt problem in New Jersey.
Anyone with a political hangover from the past two weeks’ conventions will want to hear from Harry Pozycki, founder and chair of The Citizens Campaign. He has a lot to say about how much power we the people in the cheap seats of government really have, and how we can go about using it. He shares a lot of the knowledge he picked up in his extensive career in public service, during which he held offices including Middlesex County Freeholder and Chair of the Middlesex County Democratic Committee. Whether you believe your political voice has been heard this year or if you feel the whole system is rigged, Pozycki says the people have more power than many of us realize and he explains how on this episode.
Cathleen Lewis holds a unique position in Transportation Trust Fund/Gas Tax debate as Public Affairs Director for the American Automobile Association in New Jersey. While she is a known proponent of raising the gas tax, Lewis offers an argument on how a 23-cents per gallon increase in the gas tax could actually save New Jerseyans from future property taxes increases. A council member of the Township of Lawrence - where she previously served as mayor – Lewis explains what the effects of Governor Christie’s executive order to stop work on the state’s transportation projects have been on the state’s counties and municipalities. Lewis talks about how being on the front lines of New Jersey’s transportation issues means that she is often the only woman in the room, and gives her thoughts on juggling being a wife and mom with a full time job and an elected position.
N.J. Senator Jennifer Beck (R-Monmouth) has been making headlines this year opposing a 23-cents-per-gallon gas tax hike and being among the first Republicans to not support Donald Trump’s presidential candidacy. But there’s much more to Senator Beck. On this episode, Senator Beck gives us her read on the post budgetary climate surrounding the gas tax debate and the Transportation Trust Fund, she provides an update on her work on behalf of those affected by Superstorm Sandy, and she explains how she went from being a physics and math major conducting research at the Goddard Space Flight Center to serving in the New Jersey State Legislature.
Two roads to school reform have diverged in New Jersey and Dr. Julia Sass Rubin of Rutgers University’s Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy isn’t thrilled with the choice. Dr. Rubin explains why neither of the proposals put firth by Governor Christie and Senator Sweeney make the grade, and gives her thoughts on how we should be going about reforming our schools. She also talks about charter schools and their effect on the education of those who don’t attend them. She explains the mission of Save Our Schools NJ, the all-volunteer organization she helped found that is aimed at making sure parents’ voices are heard as educational policy is made in New Jersey, and she shares a little bit of her story as an immigrant who came to the United States from the Soviet Union, via Israel, at the age of 10.
In this bit of a recent interview with that was rescued from The Backgrounder's cutting room floor (hence, the "CRF"), Assemblyman Declan O'Scanlon explains why he believes drivers in New Jersey should be allowed to fill their own tanks at the gas pump.
Patricia Campos Medina is President of LUPE PAC, an organization aimed at getting more Hispanic women into elected office and keeping Latina incumbents in office, regardless of their political party. The mission of LUPE, which stands for Latinas United For Political Empowerment, is largely fueled by the fact that only one of New Jersey’s 565 mayors is Latina (Perth Amboy’s Wilda Diaz - Episode 59), and only 10 of the State Legislature’s 120 seats are held by Latinas. However, there’s more to Campos Medina than her current position. In this episode, she tells the story of how she came to the United States from El Salvador at the age of 14 not knowing English, and then four years later she was accepted at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations. Today, Campos Medina is one of the leading labor and political leaders in New Jersey and the nation, having helped the campaigns of President Barack Obama, former Governor Jon Corzine, and former Newark Mayor Cory Booker. Later this month, she will be in Philadelphia as a delegate to the 2016 Democratic National Convention.
Former State Assemblyman Jason O’Donnell, a retired firefighter, rescued a woman from drowning a few weeks ago and proved that once a first responder, always a first responder. So does the same principle apply to O’Donnell’s political life? It wasn’t long ago when O’Donnell was not only in the State Assembly but was also a possible chair of New Jersey’s Democratic Party. O’Donnell talks about the day of the rescue that made headlines and whether a political comeback is in his future.
As New Jersey's Transportation Trust Fund is nearly depleted, and as lawmakers are considering a bill to raise the gas tax for the first time in nearly 30 years to drive revenue to the fund, The Backgrounder rewinds back to some of the conversations with people who have been on the front lines of the through the years (in some cases, decades). Former NJDOT Commissioner Jamie Fox, James Hughes of Rutgers University, Steve Adubato, Jr., Former Governor Thomas H. Kean, & NJ State Senator James Whalen are heard from in this special edition.
Practically everyone in Trenton agrees that something must be done to remedy New Jersey’s $43.7 billion pension deficit. It’s the question of what exactly to do about it that divides people. In this unique election year in New Jersey, where the candidates at the top of the tickets may very well be the questions on the bottom of the ballot this November, The Backgrounder looks at two sides of what to do about the pension crisis. First, N.J. State Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon (R-Little Silver) talks about his recently unveiled 3-point plan to address the pension crisis through an overhaul of health insurance benefits for public workers and retirees. Then, Wendell Steinhauer and Ed Richardson, president and executive director (respectively) of the New Jersey Education Association, give their reaction to the O’Scanlon plan and explain why New Jersey voters who do not receive a public pension should vote in favor of the ballot question in November.
Katie Meyler forged a path from working class roots in Bernardsville, N.J. to helping children in West Point, Liberia that was cleared by her belief than we should all be working for something bigger than ourselves. That belief is the cornerstone of the organization Meyler founded called the More Than Me Foundation, which has been building and improving schools that help get children – especially sexually exploited girls – off the streets and into the classroom. More Than Me received a huge boost from a $1 million award from The JP Morgan Chase Foundation in 2012, and faced incredible challenges during the Ebola outbreak of 2014. In this episode, Meyler tells her story that has brought her before some of the world’s wealthiest people and powerful heads of state, and landed her a spot on Time Magazine’s Person of the Year list in 2014. And she tells of how she was able to overcome her own self-doubt and perceived limitations in order to achieve success on her amazing journey.
Scott Gurian is an award-winning journalist who knows no limits when it comes to getting a great story. He helped WNYC score a Peabody Award for his coverage of Superstorm Sandy, and he helped launch NJSpotlight.org’s environmental investigative series “Dirty Little Secrets.” But the lengths he will go to for a great story are soon to surpass several thousand miles as he documents his upcoming trip from London to Mongolia in a used car. The stories he gets will be featured on his new podcast called far from home (farfromhomepodcast.org), which just recently went online. In this special live-recorded edition of The Backgrounder, Scott Gurian talks about his new podcast and explains why he wanted to take this trip in the first place.
Paula Poundstone’s observational humor has made her a one-of-a-kind performer on America’s stand-up comedy circuit, as well as a popular panelist on NPR’s weekly news quiz show “Wait, Wait. Don’t Tell Me,” (created and hosted by former Berkeley Heights resident Peter Sagal). Poundstone has played in nearly every major venue in New Jersey, and she’ll return on June17 to perform at The Levoy Theater in Millville. On this episode, Poundstone gives her perspective of the Garden State (informed by her many gigs here) and says what she believes is the greatest comedy film of all time. Also on this episode, N.J. Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto returns to The Backgrounder to talk about how lawmakers in Trenton reached the recent compromise to rescue Atlantic City from bankruptcy.
After serving in the State Legislature for 15 years, N.J. Senator Tom Kean, Jr. (R-Westfield) has clearly emerged from his father’s shadow and come into his own as a lawmaker and a formidable Republican player in New Jersey’s political arena. School choice and tax relief - including getting New Jersey taxpayers a break for charitable contributions - are among the issues topping his agenda. And Kean says he’ll run for statewide office again. But will it be for governor in 2017? Senator Kean answers the question and talks about a host of issues pertaining to New Jersey on this episode.
Tom Bracken has never held an elective office. And yet as President & CEO of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce, he is one of the most powerful voices in Trenton shaping public policy. Recently, as lawmakers engaged in the political jousting around the Atlantic City fiscal crisis, Bracken called on lawmakers to begin working with business leaders to help Atlantic City as they had agreed to do at the Chamber’s summit meeting last fall. In this episode, Bracken explains why people who don’t live Atlantic City should care about its future. He also talks about his work to keep the Transportation Trust Fund solvent, what he thinks about a constitutional amendment concerning pension payments, and how he came from a small Pennsylvania town to work in Trenton.
Paul Reiser is a comedian, writer and actor and well known as a native New Yorker. But before America saw Reiser in the classic film “Diner” or came to know Reiser as the star and creator of NBC’s hit TV series “Mad About You,” there was a time when he called New Jersey his home. In this episode, Reiser explains how he ended up in the Garden State, and talks about some of the highlights of his career that has included appearances in more than 20 major motion pictures including “Concussion,” the Oscar nominated “Whiplash,” and the upcoming horror movie “The Darkness” in theaters May 13. He also discusses his latest episodic comedy, “Red Oaks” on Amazon Prime, which is set at a New Jersey country club in 1985; and his upcoming May 14 appearance at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark.
As a working actor, Ross Gibby is no stranger to uncertainty. But nothing in his acting career has felt as uncertain as when he and his wife learned they were raising a child with autism. In the episode, Gibby talks about his appearances on TV shows like “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” his unforgettable role on “Sex In The City,” and being a part of a major film release like the highly anticipated suspense thriller, “The Girl On The Train.” He also explains how the uncertainty that came with raising a child with autism became, over time, a gift.
For 35 years, Hetty Rosenstein has been a voice for New Jersey’s middle class. Today, she finds herself on the front lines of two major issues in New Jersey: the current strike of 39,000 Verizon employees and the upcoming public question on a constitutional amendment that would require the state to make regular payments to public pensions. Rosenstein talks about both of these issues in this episode, as well as the need for a law to protection New Jersey’s children welfare workers on the job and a bit of how she came to start her career as a voice for labor in the Garden State.
Does hooking up on Tinder make a person more vulnerable to sexual assault? Do the rape scenes in the HBO series “Game Of Thrones” contribute to a culture that makes people more vulnerable to rape? Are expectant parents holding “gender reveal parties” part of the problem? Do those blue lights with call boxes found on college campuses make people any safer from sexual assault? These are tough questions and Patricia Teffenhart, Executive Director of the NJ Coalition Against Sexual Assault, gives us her answers in this episode. Teffenhart also talks about why, during this Sexual Assault Awareness Month, she is trying to continue the recent momentum of heightened public awareness of the problem, thanks in part to films like Spotlight, The Hunting Ground and Lady Gaga’s performance on the Academy Awards. She explains that while her message may be simple – which is, we must all be a part of the solution to eliminate sexual assault, changing the way people think about sexual assault is not.
Michael Maron, president and CEO of Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck, has achieved some notoriety as one of the most outspoken critics of Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of NJ’s OMNIA health plan. But it is his leadership of a faith-based – that is, Catholic – hospital (that happens to be where he was born) that has made Maron stand out in New Jersey’s health care landscape. In this episode, Maron explains why he believes OMNIA is bad for the future of health care in New Jersey, why Holy Name’s faith based mission is good for the health care of its patients, and how a person can maintain principles of faith while keeping a sharp business edge in a competitive marketplace.
Wilda Diaz was first elected mayor of the City of Perth Amboy in 2008, upsetting the entrenched incumbent Joe Vas. The Star-Ledger characterized the condition of the city at the time Diaz took office as “teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.” Then, in 2012, Superstorm Sandy destroyed the city’s waterfront. In this episode, Diaz, who is incidentally the state’s only Latina mayor and the first Latina to be elected mayor, talks about the challenges she has led the city to overcome. She also explains why she wants the voters of Perth Amboy to return her to City Hall for a third term.
Congressman Donald Payne, Jr. inherited a powerful legacy when he was elected to the seat that was held by his late father. But now he has emerged as a Congress member in his own right, feeling equally committed to serving the people of the 10th Congressional District and people throughout the United States. He recently returned from Flint, MI to hear from the people most affected by the lead-contaminated water crisis, and he has met with New Jersey’s leaders to try to avoid a similar crisis from happening here at home. As a member of the House Homeland Security Committee’s Subcommittee on Communications, Rep. Payne gives us his view on the federal order to Apple Computer to open a phone owned by a terrorist. The Congressman also talks about his hometown of Newark, his love of hip hop, his family (he’s the father of triplets), the Obamas' Christmas party at the White House, and about the relationship he had with his Dad.
N.J. State Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto came to the United States from Cuba with his mother 45 years ago. Their lives in America began in a basement apartment in Union City and two bags of groceries his uncle gave them. From these humble beginnings, Prieto would eventually ascend to one of the most powerful positions in New Jersey’s state government. But it wasn’t by design. Speaker Prieto tells his story in this episode and gives his thoughts about the current trend in US-Cuba relations. He also tells a little about his relationship with Governor Chris Christie, and explains his positions on the public pension and Transportation Trust Fund crises.
Dawn Zimmer will seek a third term as Mayor of Hoboken. The formerly content to be a stay-at-home mom makes the announcement on this episode of The Backgrounder. She also talks about what she calls her “accidental” entry into Hoboken politics, and about the challenges she has faced during her tenure as mayor – including leading Square-Mile City’s recovery from Superstorm Sandy and the effort to obtain a $230 million federal Rebuild By Design grant to plan for severe weather resiliency. She discusses the city’s relationship with the state two years after her appearance on MSNBC with Steve Kornacki when she disclosed a conversation she had with Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno. She also says what she thinks about events like Leprecon and Santacon when they come to town, and gives her thoughts on the looming NJ Transit strike.
Few people exemplify the political “Happy Warrior” as well as N.J. State Senator Raymond Lesniak. Since he was first elected to the State Legislature in 1978, Lesniak has taken on numerous progress causes – including fighting New Jersey’s settlement with Exxon-Mobil (announced one year ago). He has also taken on just as many political battles, and he has apparently loved every minute of it. Now that he has decided not to run for re-election to the State Senate, he has been considering a run to become New Jersey’s next governor. Before Senator Lesniak began his ascent to becoming one of the state’s most powerful Democrats, he was an accordion player for “Jolly Rich and the Polka Stars,” whose album “Polkas With A Kick” was nominated for a Grammy Award. In this episode, Sen. Lesniak talks about his musical past, his service in the military, why he may be returning to the Catholic church, and the many battles he has taken on as New Jersey’s happiest warrior. CLICK HERE to listen to Episode 55 featuring N.J. State Sen. Raymond Lesniak. This episode is sponsored by The Pollack Financial Group.
N.J. State Assemblyman Raj Mukherji, Democrat from Jersey City, has become known as one of the lawmakers leading the charge on the expansion of casino gambling in New Jersey. What may not be as well known about him is that by the time he reached age of 20, he was already a young entrepreneur with a real estate portfolio and his own public affairs firm. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps just days after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, and has earned a Masters Degree from University of Pennsylvania and a law degree from Seton Hall University. In this episode, Assemblyman Mukherji explains the reason why he accomplished as much as he did at such a young age: he had to.
Junius Williams has been a cornerstone of civil rights activism in the City of Newark since the late 1960s. He’s fought to cultivate jobs in Newark, affordable housing in Newark. He even managed the campaign that got the first black mayor elected in Newark. Born in Virginia, Williams earned degrees at Amherst College and Yale Law School. As an attorney, he has represented the Rev. Jesse Jackson and in 1978, he was elected president of the National Bar Association. He has also been listed among Ebony magazine’s “100 Most Influential Blacks in America.” Today, he is the director of Rutgers University’s Abbott Leadership Institute, where he teaches education leaders to advocate for the Newark Public Schools. He is also the author of “Unfinished Agenda: Urban Politics in the Era of Black Power” (North Atlantic Books), his political memoir of grassroots politics and community organizing. In this episode, Williams compares the civil rights activism of the 1960s and 1970s with the activism of today, and he emphasizes the importance of the Blues to black culture in America.
N.J. State Assemblywoman Shavonda Sumter (D-Paterson) is thinking about running for Governor of New Jersey. Her name has not been among those regularly mentioned when politicos and pundits speculate about who will throw their hats in the ring. But given that the race isn’t until next year, Sumter still sees the field as wide open. In this episode, Assemblywoman Sumter talks about why she is mulling over a gubernatorial run. She also talks about her secrets to becoming the most prolific lawmaker in 2014 – as discovered by The Star-Ledger’s column “The Auditor” – when she succeeded in getting 16 bills signed by Governor Christie. And Sumter also recalls her role in Black History in 2008 when she was a member of the Electoral College and nominated and voted for Barack Obama for president.
Nearly a year ago, N.J. State Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi (R-Bergen) suffered and survived a brain aneurysm. Today, the attorney, wife and mother is beginning her third term in the state legislature. The term has started with some controversy. Schepisi recently made a trip to Cuba with a group of about 19 people including other members of the State Legislature. The trip drew criticism from those who said there were still some major issues to settle with the nation of Cuba before relations could be normalized. In this episode, Schepisi explains why she and her colleagues made the trip and what they accomplished while they were there. She also talks about her harrowing experience of having a brain aneurysm and how it has impacted her work in the State Assembly, and she gives her ideas on solving the state’s $80 billion pension crisis.
This week, The Backgrounder covers the man who covers the governor. Matt Katz talks about his new book, American Governor: Chris Christie’s Bridge To Redemption. Much of the book comes from his five years of covering Governor Chris Christie. Ironically, covering the governor was an assignment that Katz initially didn’t want to take. In this episode, Katz explains why he ultimately decided to take the job of covering Governor Christie. He also recalls his experiences writing for The Daily Record and The Philadelphia Inquirer, and his first day on the job as a reporter for WNYC Radio. That was the day Katz became the first reporter to ask the governor whether he had anything to do with traffic lane closures at the George Washington Bridge.
Here is Steve Adubato like you’ve never heard him before. Today, Adubato is known throughout New Jersey as one of the state’s most recognizable television and media personalities. But he actually started out in the political arena as New Jersey’s youngest member of the State Assembly. In this episode, Adubato recalls the lessons he learned from his political experience, how he made the transition into media and public television, and talks very candidly about what it was like to be raised by one of the state’s most influential political power brokers.
In late March 1968, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. came to Paterson, N.J. and spoke to a standing room only crowd in the Community Baptist Church on Auburn Street. He came to drum up support for a march against poverty that was to be held in Washington, D.C. A few days later, Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis. In this episode, Russell Graddy, who was part of Dr. King’s security detail when he visited Paterson, talks about the Dr. King he had a chance to meet on several occasions and about the day he came to New Jersey. Then, Rev. Allan Boyer, the present pastor of the church Dr. King visited (now called the Bethel A.M.E. Church) and Rev. Michael McDuffie, President of the Paterson Pastor’s Workshop, talk about Dr. King’s teachings and whether they can be applied today to achieve racial equality.
There couldn’t be more significance to January 11th for N.J. Assembly Majority Leader Louis Greenwald (D-Camden). Twenty-one years ago, his mother, Maria Barnaby Greenwald – Cherry Hill’s first woman mayor and Camden County’s first women freeholder – died as a result of a car accident. January 11th also marks 20 years since Greenwald was first sworn into the State Assembly, and 18 years since his oldest child was born. The day is also the last day in the current legislative session, and the last chance for Assembly Democrats to override Governor Chris Christie’s vetoes of two gun control bills. Greenwald talks about the chances for a successful override in this episode, as well as the four public questions expected to be on the ballot in November and his perspective of the legislative year ahead as he prepares for his 11th term in office.
Think of any elected official – Democrat or Republican, national or local. They wouldn’t be in office without Constantina Meis and people like her. Meis is a young but seasoned expert in political field operations - the part of any campaign that goes directly to prospective voters: talking to people, connecting with people and getting them to vote. In this episode, Meis talks about her new national role as Executive Vice President of the Young Democrats of America, and how she intends to get young voters to the polls for the 2016 presidential election.
Last November, while most New Jersey candidates ran for election in a sleepy political cycle, N.J. State Assemblyman Vince Mazzeo (D-Atlantic) was fighting in what he calls the toughest political race he ever had. The incumbent Democrat, and former mayor and councilman of Northfield, fought for reelection in one of the two most hotly contested Assembly seat races of the year. As he prepares for his second term in Trenton, Assemblyman Mazzeo talks about why he thinks he won reelection, and he discusses the major questions facing New Jersey including what to do about the $80 billion pension crisis, whether casino gambling should be allowed outside of Atlantic City, whether the gas tax should be raised to help fund transportation infrastructure projects, and what needs to be done about the heroin problem that is gripping the state. This episode is sponsored by the Pollack Financial Group. CLICK HERE to listen to Episode 45 featuring Assemblyman Vince Mazzeo.
Before he was in the N.J. State Legislature, before he was Mayor of Atlantic City, N.J. State Senator James Whelan was a lifeguard patrolling the beaches of Atlantic City and he knew what it took to rescue someone in danger. In this episode, Senator Whelan talks about what its going to take to rescue the State of New Jersey from its current fiscal crisis that includes an $80 billion pension debt and a transportation trust fund that’s about to go bankrupt. He also talks about what it was like to dealing with Donald Trump during the years he was best known in New Jersey for the casinos he owned in Atlantic City.
Prospect Park Mayor Mohamed Khairullah has returned to his native Syria six times since 2012 despite the life-threatening dangers imposed by Bashar al-Assad’s despotism. With each trip, Khairullah has brought humanitarian aid to the Syrian people trapped by some of the most brutal regimes in the world – a regime that millions of Syrian refugees have fled and more Syrians are trying to flee. That is why when Khairullah heard New Jersey Governor Chris Christie say he would prohibit Syrian refugees from entering the state – even those as young as five years old – he called upon the governor to apologize. In this episode, Mayor Mohamed Khairullah talks about his experiences traveling in Syria as well as his own immigration from Syria to the United States, and he gives his views on the recent campaign rhetoric used by the front runners in the race for the Republican nomination for president.
Warren Zanes, Ph.D. is the author of Petty, The Biography (Henry Holt & Co.) and the book is unique from other rock and roll biographies in that Zanes isn’t just a fan. He was a member of The Del Fuegos, a college rock band that was an opening act for Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers in the late 1980’s. Even that only scratches the surface of who Warren Zanes is. In this episode, Zanes talks about Tom Petty and his own life’s journey in which he earned his doctorate and a place on the faculty at New York University, as well as working at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and running the Rock and Roll Forever Foundation, a nonprofit started by Steven Van Zandt that works with educators to create a History of Rock and Roll curriculum for middle school and high school students. All the while, he has continued to make music and raise his two boys in the suburbs of New Jersey.
Yael Averbuch began her journey to become a professional soccer player at the age of nine. Today she is a national champion. She’s a midfielder for the 2015 National Women’s Soccer League Champions FC Kansas City and she plays midfield for the US Women’s National Soccer Team. When she played for the University of North Carolina, Averbuch captured the NCAA record for the fastest goal ever scored. These would be crowning achievements to many soccer players’ careers, but to Averbuch, they were stops along a very long journey. In this episode, Averbuch talks about her journey in becoming a professional soccer player and how she’s working hard to continue that journey as she pursues her dream to play in the Olympic Games or World Cup.
Archange Antoine has lived a life dedicated to progressive reform. As the Political Director of the New Jersey Clergy Coalition for Justice, he recently organized a demonstration aligned with the Black Lives Matter movement outside the Trenton Statehouse calling for community policing reforms. He’s active in the political arena as the Chairman of the NJ Young Democrats’ Black Caucus, and he holds an elective office as the President of the Roselle Board of Education. But his public service began at the grass roots level as he worked with the youth on the streets of Newark as a volunteer for Covenant House. As our nation and state continue to re-examine issues of race in America, Archange Antoine talks about his life and his own efforts for progressive reform and racial equality, and he gives his perspective on the Black Lives Matter movement and the activism taking place on college campuses.
On December 11, 1965 at the Summit High School auditorium a band took the stage that would leave an indelible mark on the world of music. They weren’t the headliner. They weren’t like The Beatles or any of the bands of the British Invasion that dominated the pop music scene at the time. They were Lou Reed, John Cale, Maureen Tucker and Sterling Morris – collectively known as The Velvet Underground – and it was their first show together. They were loud, dark and scary. “Evil had arrived,” said Rob Norris, who was a kid from New Providence in the auditorium’s crowd that night. Norris, who became part of a later lineup of the Velvet Underground, talks with Jay Lustig of njarts.net about that night, time he spent with Lou Reed, and the bands he played that once marked Hoboken’s music scene.
Rachel Crampsey is a great Jersey small business success story. It wasn’t long ago that Rachel Crampsey was giving away bread she had made to her friends from her Montclair apartment. Then, about three years ago while raising three kids with her husband, in the midst of a market gripped by gluten-free mania, she bought a bakery. Today, her business – Montclair Bread Company – is thriving. She just opened a second retail location at the Montclair Public Library’s main branch. Her bakery operations are moving to one of the hippest redevelopment sites in town, and her main location on Walnut Street will soon be an even more customer friendly café. How did she do it? A recent Kickstarter campaign certainly helped, especially after she won a loyal customer base through her artisan doughnuts. (Local runners carb-loading at Montclair Bread Company have given rise to the bakery’s annual 5K race, “The Doughnut Run.”) But Crampsey says the success of her small business comes down to four basic ingredients, which she reveals on this episode. This episode is sponsored by The Pollack Financial Group.
Matthew Friedman and Emily Helck are a married couple who share a unique bond. They both were diagnosed with, and survived, cancer before the age of 30. Matthew, who is known as one of the top political reporters covering New Jersey and is currently writing for Politico New Jersey, was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2008. He was 27. Then in 2012, Emily was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was 28. Emily, whose background includes working with artist William Wegman, documented her treatment with weekly photographs of herself that she compiled to make a video she posted on YouTube. The video has had more than one million views. Emily now works at the Cancer Research Center as an advocate for people with cancer. In a very special interview, Matthew Friedman and Emily Helck generously share their experiences of fighting and beating cancer, and living together in the aftermath. This episode is sponsored by the Pollack Financial Group.
After a huge anti-tax campaign against Governor Jim Florio, New Jersey became Florio free in ’93 as he was denied a second term. More than 20 years after Florio left office, has New Jersey been in any better shape since ’93? One problem New Jersey didn’t have before then was the pension crisis. Jim Florio was the last governor to fully fund the plan. He also paid down a huge state budget deficit and spearhead an assault weapons ban bill in New Jersey. In this episode, Jim Florio talks about his days breaking from Camden County Democratic boss Angelo Errichetti, what it took for him – a southern New Jersey Democrat – to win a statewide election, and how he came to be the father of the Superfund site while serving in the U.S. House of Representatives. This episode is sponsored by the Pollack Financial Group.
If a demonstration happens in the middle of night and no one is around to see it, does it still make a point? That was the question that led The Backgrounder to go to Trenton on the night of Wednesday, October 28, the night before the third anniversary of Superstorm Sandy. There, Superstorm Sandy survivors, many who have been homeless due to the storm, were gathered across the street from the Statehouse for three days and nights to push for legislation needed to continue their recovery from Sandy. In the course of the night, two survivors bravely share their personal struggles to maintain their mental health during the last three years.
On a special double-feature edition of The Backgrounder, Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian and Police Chief Henry White talk about leading a city facing a multiple challenges. Atlantic City’s fight against poverty has been exacerbated by the closure of four casinos that put thousands of employees out of work. Meanwhile, the city’s police department has been facing a community relations crisis that has drawn the scrutiny of state and federal officials. Atlantic City is also where Superstorm Sandy made landfall and the city is still recovering from the disaster. But the Mayor and the Chief of Police are fueled by a common vision for the future. That vision begins with a focus on Atlantic City as a community where people can work, live, and raise families. Achieving that will require the Mayor and the Chief of Police to foster what they call the next reinvention of Atlantic City. They explain exactly how they intend to do that on this episode.
Dominique Lee began his education reform efforts in Newark, N.J. before Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook bestowed $100 million on the city’s public schools. Lee is the CEO and founder of the BRICK Academy of Newark, which is aimed at meeting the needs of children growing up in poverty. In a candid interview, Lee talks about how he came to Newark from his boyhood home state of Michigan, and how his teaching experience at Newark’s Malcolm X. Shabazz High School drove him to working toward education reform. Lee also discusses Dale Russakoff’s book, The Prize: Who’s In Charge of America’s Schools, which includes several references to Lee as part of its examination of what happened to the Facebook money given to Newark’s schools.
Brigid Callahan Harrison, Ph.D., is one of the most widely known political analysts in the state of New Jersey. She’s a political science and law professor at Montclair State University, but she isn’t holed up in an academic ivory tower. She’s engaged throughout the state, keeping an eye on issues pertaining to every level of government, making frequent appearances on television and providing her insights to many reporters covering New Jersey. Dr. Harrison talks plenty of politics in this episode, but she also covers where she comes from, what her family was like growing up and how she came to be one of New Jersey’s top opinion makers. She also explains how she wound up on the stage of an Atlantic City beauty pageant.
It’s been a while since Anna Quindlen has written a column for The New York Times or Newsweek Magazine. She’s a best-selling novelist now. Her latest novel, “Still Life With Bread Crumbs” (Random House) is now in paperback. But Quindlen continues to be just as unambiguous and provocative as she has ever been. In this episode, the Pulitzer Prize-winning former Hoboken resident calls out Carly Fiorina on her remarks about Planned Parenthood in the last GOP presidential debate. Quindlen also talks about her career, her family, her writing, her take on public discourse in America and why she unequivocally supports Hillary Rodham Clinton to be the next President of the United States. This episode is sponsored by the Pollack Financial Group.
Debra Vizzi has made the amazing journey from foster child to chief executive. Now, she has taken the helm of the state’s largest anti-hunger and anti-poverty organization, the Community FoodBank of New Jersey, as its new President and CEO. Hunger was only one of the challenges Vizzi had to overcome as she was growing up. In this episode, Vizzi talks about how she was able to transcend her painful childhood to work for Terence Cardinal Cooke in New York City, achieve success in college and graduate school, and lead the charge against hunger and poverty in New Jersey.
Tom Franklin, photographer and multimedia journalist, captured the most immortal image of 9-11, “Raising The Flag At Ground Zero,” and delivered some of the most hard-hitting breaking news photos and in-depth videos from the beats he covered in northern New Jersey. Now, after 23 years at The Record of Bergen County, Tom has left the newsroom and entered the classroom. He’s a full professor teaching journalism at Montclair State University. In this episode, Tom talks about his harrowing day covering 9-11, and the time he and the three firefighters in his unforgettable photograph went to the Oval Office to meet President George W. Bush. And, as he has begun his first semester as a full-time journalism professor, Tom talks about some of the ethical questions facing journalists in the 21st century, and a bit of what the next generation of journalist should know. This episode is sponsored by the Pollack Financial Group.
Thomas H. Kean has achieved great notoriety as the Chairman of the 9-11 Commission, a two-term Governor of New Jersey, and President of Drew University. But it has been Governor Kean’s nonpartisan brand of personal leadership that allowed him to leave office as one of the state’s most popular governors, and enable him to become one of the most effective leaders working to protect our national security. In a comprehensive interview recorded on the 14th anniversary of September 11, 2001, Governor Kean offers his thoughts on the time since the attacks and the work of the commission. He also answers a few questions about what New Jersey needs to get on the right track, and he talks about two of the people who want to be president – Governor Chris Christie and Donald Trump. This episode is sponsored by the Pollack Financial Group.
Joe Waks is an artist – a self-described painter, bon vivant and provocateur – who has a law degree and a resume that boasts experience working at every level of government. His provocative artwork is reminiscent of pop artists like Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. His stuff can be as funny as it is familiar, mainly because it often has to do with things we all know something about: advertising and being consumers. Following in the political footsteps of his Democrat parents, Joan Waks and the late David Waks, Joe Waks believes everyone has the capacity to create art. In fact, he is seeking volunteers to help him with his latest project: painting a huge mural on Pacific Avenue in Jersey City. This episode is sponsored by The Pollack Financial Group.
Chris Daggett became known to people across New Jersey in 2009 when he ran as an independent for governor. That year, the state’s largest newspaper, The Star-Ledger, endorsed him over the incumbent Democratic Governor Jon Corzine and the Republican challenger Chris Christie. Since then, he has been working as the President and CEO of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation – where he has personally added to the foundation’s philanthropy a mission to improve journalism in the Garden State. In a candid, informal conversation, Chris Daggett talks about the lessons he learned from his 2009 gubernatorial campaign. He also gets into which is better: government or the nonprofit sector, when it comes to addressing New Jersey’s most pressing issues. And he gives his views on what qualities are most needed in anyone who wants to be the next governor of New Jersey. This episode is sponsored by The Pollack Financial Group.
Justin Braz is the 27-year-old Chief of Staff to N.J. State Assemblyman Gary Schaer (D-Passaic) and the Executive Director of the New Jersey Chapter of the New Leaders Council, a national nonprofit aimed at recruiting, training and promoting future political leaders. In an interview that brought The Backgrounder Podcast to new heights in keeping it real, Justin talks about politics, government and living as an unabashed yet unassuming member of the millennial generation.
Joe Lagana is an attorney and state assemblyman from Paramus, who cites his parents’ experience as immigrants from Italy as one of the reasons he entered politics. His parents didn’t come to the United States came at the turn of the 20th century, but actually around the year 1970. That makes Joe one of the younger first generation Italian-Americans in New Jersey. In this episode, Assemblyman Joe Lagana talks about his family, his motivation to work in public service, and some of the legislation he has been working on involving Uber, Dave & Buster’s, prescription drug abuse, and estate tax reform. This episode is sponsored by the Pollack Financial Group.
Beth Fowler, who plays Sister Jane Ingalls on the hit Netflix series Orange Is The New Black, is 100% Jersey girl. A Jersey City native, Caldwell University alumna and Bergen County resident, Fowler has been getting a lot of press for playing nuns (she was also in the cast of Sister Act and Sister Act 2). She even wrote a column about it in Women’s Day magazine. The truth is, Fowler is a veteran of live theater and the Broadway stage, having played Mrs. Potts in the musical “Beauty And The Beast,” and having been nominated for Tony Awards for her performances in the Stephen Sondheim musical “Sweeney Todd” and “The Boy From Oz,” a musical based on the life of Peter Allen. In a candid conversation, Beth Fowler talks about growing up in Jersey City and Rutherford, the career challenges she had to overcome, and how she came to be a member of one of the dynamic, an unconventional ensemble casts in television history in a show that is not on television. This episode is sponsored by the Pollack Financial Group.
Michael Laser has a thing for outcasts. They inhabit the books he reads, the ones he studied in college, many of the great books he was raised on as a kid growing up in Queens. So it shouldn’t be surprising that in Michael Laser’s latest novel, “My Impending Death,” the main character is an outcast – or at least he wants to be. The character is cynical and suicidal to the point that he’s given himself 30 days until he offs himself. What might be surprising is that Laser’s book, “My Impending Death,” is a comedy.
If James Hughes, Ph.D. had a Jersey-style nickname it might be “The Truth.” As Dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University, Hughes studies New Jersey – its trends, its economy, and its population. With his colleague Dr. Joseph Seneca he has published many papers and studies about the Garden State, including one published last April that showed the population is surging back to New Jersey’s urban centers after a half-century of people leaving the city for the suburbs. Dean Hughes remarkably recalls statistics and historical economic facts about New Jersey as he talks about the New Jersey that once was, is now, and needs to become in order to thrive in the 21st century. This episode is sponsored by the Pollack Financial Group.
Robert Torricelli represented New Jersey for 20 years in the United States Congress, including six as a U.S. Senator. Since then he has been a driven real estate mogul who has kept his eye on what's happening in the state, the nation and the world. Despite his extremely successful life in the private sector, Torricelli said he would return to Washington given the right opportunity. In an interview recorded at his Hunterdon County farm, the former lawmaker known as “The Torch” talks about the possibilities of his returning to public life. He also gives his read on U.S. relations with Iran and the state of transportation infrastructure in New Jersey. He also gives his assessment of the media and the criminal justice system today. This episode is sponsored by The GI Go Fund.
Wallace Stroby’s anti-heroine Crissa Stone returns this week in his latest crime novel, “The Devil’s Share” (St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books). Wallace was one of the cornerstones of Jersey journalism, having been a reporter and editor at The Asbury Park Pressand then an editor at The Star-Ledger for 13 years. Along the way, he reviewed books and interviewed authors including Clive Barker and Stephen King. Wallace talks about his life of the mind as a journalist and writer, and about teaming up with the Oscar-winning screenplay writer Ted Tally (The Silence Of The Lambs) for a series of Hollywood pitch meetings with TV execs thinking about developing a series around Crissa Stone. This episode was recorded at The Stephen Crane House in Asbury Park - special thanks to Tom Chesek for making it available - and is sponsored by The GI Go Fundand NJARTS.NET
Tim Eustace is a state assemblyman from Bergen County. He’s a Democrat, he’s a chiropractor, and he loves cars. He’s a former mayor of the town he lives in – Maywood – and he’s a family man. Assemblyman Eustace talks about how he successfully faced off with the governor last year to allow Tesla Motors to sell electric cars in New Jersey, why he supports a casino in northern New Jersey, and why he believes innovation and ingenuity need to be encouraged in order to spur the state’s economy. This episode is sponsored by The GI Go Fund.
Lawrence Hamm, Chairman of the People’s Organization For Progress, talks about the tragic shooting in Charleston, S.C., the current momentum against the Confederate flag, and his own life – a journey that transformed him from a Newark kid who was expelled from a public school, to graduating high school as an honors student and state running champion, to making national headlines as the youngest school board member in the country, to graduating from Princeton University where he met one of his most encouraging mentors, Dr. Cornel West. He also speaks about the upcoming Million People’s March in Newark, N.J. on July 25th. This episode is sponsored by The GI Go Fund and The Offices of Alan G. Trembulak, Esq.
For almost 20 years, WNBC 4 New York's Brian Thompson has been covering New Jersey from all angles – politics, crime, scandals, environmental stories, economic stories. In an engaging interview that covers topics like how margarine became a controlled substance in Wisconsin to the ingredients in a Carolina chicken bog, Brian Thompson talks about how he went from being an aspiring Republican politician as a kid to becoming one of the most embedded and respected reporters in New Jersey. This episode is sponsored by The GI Go Fund.
Andrea Bowen, Executive Director of Garden State Equality, brings transgender issues home on the heels of Caitlin Jenner’s big reveal on the cover of Vanity Fair magazine. She talks about Caitlin Jenner, what transgender people face here in New Jersey, and about her personal story of how she came to fulfill her life as a woman. This episode is sponsored by The GI Go Fund.
Albert Straka is 90 years old, a retired letter carrier, credit bureau agent, real estate professional, Rider University graduate, Superstorm Sandy survivor. He’s been married to the same woman since 1948, he raised four children with her. He also one of the few remaining survivors of the amphibious invasion at Normandy, France on June 6, 1944. On the day before the 71st anniversary of D-Day, Albert Straka talked about his role in the invasion, and how he feels about the legacy of those who gave their lives on that fateful day. This episode is sponsored by The GI Go Fund.
Last year, Jamie Fox was appointed and confirmed as N.J.’s Transportation Commissioner by after having had the same job in 2002. Commissioner Fox talks about the New Jersey’s underfunded Transportation Trust Fund, which provides the money for transportation infrastructure and services, and the current proposal to raise fairs on NJ Transit trains and busses. Also, we hear remarks from Dr. Cornel West as they were delivered Bethany Baptist Church in Newark, N.J. this week in support of an upcoming march against police brutality, racial injustice & economic inequality organized by the People’s Organization for Progress. This episode is sponsored by The GI Go Fund.
Debbie Galant is widely known in NJ’s media circles as the founder of Baristanet.com, a pioneering community news blog that ushered in the age of hyperlocal news coverage on the web. Galant has since moved on to direct NJ News Commons, an effort to united NJ news organizations, as part of her role as Montclair State University’s Associate Director of New Media Initiatives. Now she has launched Midcentury Modern, an online magazine that delves into issues of growing older in the 21st century while fostering an intergenerational dialogue among baby boomers, generation x-ers, and millenials. This episode is sponsored by The GI Go Fund.
Intrepid spot news reporter Monica Miller, who has covered New Jersey for years, recently scored the mother of all Mother’s Day feature stories for WHYY in Philadelphia. The story is about how her mother struck an unlikely friendship with Mother Teresa of Calcutta. But Monica’s own life has been a journey that begins with her being cast in a national touring company for the Broadway musical, “Annie.” She later finds herself embedding with journalists risking their lives in Cameroon, and then catering to the needs of Civil War re-enactors as she worked at the National Archives. All of this happens before she got around to covering politics in New Jersey for WCBS 880 AM and WBGO 88.3 FM. This episode is sponsored by The GI Go Fund's "Jeans For Troops Day," May 21.
Harlan York knew he would be an attorney at a very early age. But he didn’t know that he would also write a book, , to help motivate attorneys who are stuck in a rut in their careers. Harlan York talks about his book, Three Degrees of Law published by Motivational Press. And George Kasimos, founder of Stop FEMA Now fills us in on the big rally planned in Trenton on May 14 and new video short on Superstorm Sandy’s aftermath by filmmaker Lauren Hall. This episode is sponsored by The GI Go Fund’s Jeans For Troops Day, May 21.
As Director of the Rutgers University Eagleton Institute of Politics, Dr. Ruth Mandel is known to many as a political pundit, a observant student of women in politics, and passionate scholar of English and American literature. But what may not be as well known about Dr. Mandel is the place she holds in history as a passenger on an ill-fated Voyage of the St. Louis. Dr. Mandel talks about her family finally making it to America, women in American politics, and Hillary Clinton's prospects for being elected the first woman President of the United States. This episode is sponsored by The GI Go Fund's Jeans For Troops Day, May 21st.
Virginia Cornue, a Bloomfield College sociology professor, author and civil rights activist, never would have guessed that she would publish a book about a Confederate soldier. But then again, she didn't expect to find more than 30 letters written by CSA Private William Wallace Beard under her mother's bed. Dr. Cornue talks about "So Much Blood," which she and Historian William Trotter have just released, 150 years after the Civil War. She also discusses she how has been, despite her life of working against inequality, emotionally moved by Private Beard's personal accounts of the War Between The States. Special thanks to The Dixie Bee Liners who kindly granted permission for their music to be included in this episode. This episode is sponsored by The GI Go Fund's Jeans For Troops Day, May 21.
Brendan Gill has seen politics at the local level, from the statewide view, and from working alongside some of the most prominent public figures in New Jersey. Brendan Gill talks about his experiences working for some of the biggest names in politics including, U.S. Senator Cory Booker and expected 2017 NJ gubernatorial candidate Phil Murphy, former U.S. Ambassador to Germany in the Obama Administration. He also talks about his Dad, Daniel Gill, who has been a public school social studies teacher for more than 40 years, and is featured in a documentary, “The One That Got Away,” that will be shown at the upcoming Montclair Film Festival.
George Kasimos started Stop FEMA Now after Superstorm Sandy struck New Jersey. Two and a half years after the storm, Stop FEMA Now has 30,000 members and thousands remain homeless after being displaced by the storm. George talks about his transformation from a Jersey realtor who never voted but ardently supported Governor Chris Christie to becoming an activist who has worked with Sen. Robert Menenedez and and national media outlets including CBS News' 60 Minutes, and of how he is now a critic of NJ State Government. Today's episode is sponsored by The GI Go Fund.
Jay Lustig is New Jersey's most prominent music writer. After 30 years of covering the arts - most of them spent as the Pop Music Crtiic for The Star-Ledger, Jay has launched his own independent web site, NJArts.net, which covers the vast universe of the arts in and around New Jersey. Jay names names as he talks about some of the fun exchanges he's had with some of the biggest celebrities in music, including Paul McCartney, David Bowie and Bruce Springsteen. He also gives us a taste of his new work at NJArts.net, which not only covers music, but theater, comedy and visual arts as well. This episode is sponsored by The GI Go Fund.
NJTV's Michael Aron has been a steady, consistent, and vigilant reporter covering New Jersey government and politics for more than 30 years - a rarity in an age of rapid turnover among journalists in New Jersey. Michael talks about being raised in the Philly suburbs, earning degrees at two Ivy League universities; and his career, which included stops at Rolling Stone and New Jersey Monthly magazines. He also speaks candidly about his successes, his "useful mistakes," and his own personal journalism principles. This episode is sponsored by The GI Go Fund.
Helene Stapinski's memoir, "Five-Finger Discount - A Crooked Family History," entwines her family's story with Jersey City's long history of crime and corruption. With production underway to make "Five-Finger Discount" into a documentary film, Helene talks about her childhood and of how - after years of trying to break away from the city that was her hometown - she came to embrace the stories that led her to write the book that The Star-Ledger recently said may be the most authentic book about Jersey City ever written. Today's episode is sponsored by The GI Go Fund.
Jamel Holley is New Jersey's newest member of the State Assembly, a former mayor of Roselle, and, at 35, he has become one of the most dynamic leaders in the Garden State's political landscape. Assemblyman Holley talks about his new role in Trenton, and about the many people that helped get him there, including his grandmother, Yvonne, and the people in Roselle that made up the village to took to raise him. He also confesses to a very funny childhood habit, and releases some exciting news about his brother, Jesse, a former wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys.
Anthony Giglio, a.k.a. The Wine Wise Guy, knows wine, knows food, knows people and he wants everyone to share in them. We talk about those nail-biting moments of wine crisis - like being handed a list of 500 wines at a restaurant and not knowing what to do - as well as how he went from being a kid from Jersey City, to a cub reporter, to becomg one of the most renowned wine writers in the world. We also talk about Anthony's family, who have been great fodder for many of his stories including one he was able to tell on The Moth podcast.
Common Core State Standards: Many people have an opinion about them and just as many don't know what they are talking about. That was just one the findings of a recent national Public Mind Poll released by Fairleigh Dickinson University. Dr Krista Jenkins, Director of The Public Mind Poll, discusses the widespread misconceptions surrounding the Common Core.
Few people have experienced public service from as many perspectives as Joe Doria. A native of Bayonne, New Jersey, Joe Doria began his career as a teacher. His first elected position was on the local school board. He was later elected as well as the city’s mayor. In 1979, Doria was elected to the state Assembly where he served for 24 years, including 2 as the Assembly Speaker and 10 as the Assembly minority leader. He also served in the state Senate, filling the seat vacated by the death of State Sen. Glenn Cunningham. NJ Governor Jon Corzine appointed Doria Commissioner of the NJ Department of Community Affairs. Joe Doria has been on the front lines of statewide debates over education reform, restricting assault weapons, containing the cost of car insurance, and the availability of affordable housing. Now, after more than 40 years in public service, Joe Doria is back where he started, working in education. He is the Dean of the School of Education at St. Peter’s University in Jersey City, and he teaches at Rutgers University’s Eagleton Institute of Politics.