When startups want to fight city hall, many turn to Bradley Tusk. Fresh off advising Andrew Yang in his unsuccessful mayoral bid in New York City, the political “fixer” and host of the Firewall Podcast talks with Molly and Jim on this collaborative, joint episode on how the pandemic may have permanently changed urban life and maybe even reset relat…

Molly and Jim are back with a special collaboration episode with "pod-friend" Shayle Kann from The Interchange podcast. They chat about the challenges of making our cities more climate resilient and the role of tech, government, insurance companies, and the public in securing our communities against the inevitable.…

For the final episode of our COVID miniseries, Molly and Jim consider the disparities in how people are getting around cities during the pandemic, and who is benefitting from closed streets and new forms of mobility. They talk to urban mobility expert Tamika Butler, who shares why she thinks bicycles are tools for social justice, and what she think…

The people who go to work in other people's homes perform essential jobs - like house cleaners, nannies, elder care workers - but lack the same rights and protections as other workers. In the second installment of our coronavirus miniseries, Jim and Molly talk with Palak Shah of the National Domestic Workers Alliance about how the pandemic has affe…

In this first installment of our COVID miniseries, Jim and Molly explore how the pandemic might transform our cities and focus on something we're all missing right now: going out to restaurants. They talk to Yi Chen from the restaurant tech startup Toast about how the pandemic will change the way we dine in, order out, and why he believes neighborh…

Are we at risk of creating a permanent digital underclass? Internet access has become essential for modern American life, but current policies don't treat it that way. In this special bonus episode, Jim and Molly talk to Maya Wiley about a core piece of the infrastructure for our tech future: broadband. Wiley, a digital equity expert and MSNBC cont…

Can Wakanda's capital city teach us to build better cities in the real world? For as long as there have been movies, there have been fictional visions of tech-forward futures. But few cities on film have inspired the awe of urbanists like Black Panther's Golden City, devised by production designer Hannah Beachler. In this special bonus episode, Jim…

Is tech making it easier for us to talk to our cities? Changed bus routes. A shuttered park. How many times has your city made a decision affecting you that you didn't know about until after it happened? This persistent communication gap is one of the great conundrums for many city leaders. And it hasn't necessarily gotten any better just because w…

Will food delivery apps kill your favorite neighborhood restaurant? The tech-fueled delivery economy is already having a dramatic impact on how some restaurants do business. Will it also transform our neighborhoods? And should we feel guilty about ordering that coffee and donut directly to our door with a few taps on our phone? Molly and Jim talk w…

Can tech help cities nudge us to live better lives, without things getting weird? In this episode, we look at how technology is making the popular behavioral science tool known as a "nudge" more prevalent in cities, from tackling sign-ups for food stamps to reducing congestion downtown. Molly and Jim talk with Emily Bailard, the CEO of InClass Toda…

When a new tech innovation comes to town, we can't always know what its impacts will be before it floods the market. And yet, increasingly, some city governments and residents are having a particularly strong reaction to certain kinds of tech startups: Shut. It. Down. Is that the right reaction? Why exactly is that our impulse? And does it even mat…

Will every building in your city one day be powered by a battery? Are batteries the key to our cities' energy future? In this episode, Molly and Jim look at how energy storage could change everything about how we turn on the lights and get around town. And they'll explore how renewable energy might keep our cities running even when the sun doesn't …

Should startups ask permission from cities before they drop their tech on city streets? Or are they right to just show up and seek forgiveness later? Molly and Jim wrestle with the legacy of Uber, Lyft, and Airbnb—and the real-time dramas playing out in cities today with dockless scooters and bikes. Jim shares a conversation with Bradley Tusk (an e…

What does our future really look like when autonomous vehicles take over the roads? Molly and Jim take us on a tour of the less-considered effects: vomit, sex, and criminalized pedestrians. But also: Will self-driving cars carry our groceries before they carry us? They talk with Nan Ransohoff, the head of product at AV startup Nuro, and Jeff Tumlin…

Why are investors pouring so much cash into urban startups? On this first episode of Technopolis, hosts Molly Turner and Jim Kapsis follow the money behind the explosion in urban tech. When did investors decide to get so involved in our sidewalks? Jim and Molly speak with Jason Calacanis, early Uber investor, start-up founder, and author of Angel: …

Technology is reshaping our cities—often without permission and sometimes without a clue. Hosted by urban innovation expert Molly Turner and startup advisor Jim Kapsis, the new podcast from CityLab will ask the questions nobody is asking about what needs to change for tech to help solve more problems than it creates.…