Brooklyn Magazine: The Podcast

Eric Gonzalez made history in November 2017 when he became the first Latino district attorney elected in New York State. And with a promise to helm “the most progressive D.A.’s office in the country,” he didn’t stop making history there. Gonzalez joins the podcast to discuss his track record on safety, guns, crime in the borough, justice versus vengeance, changing the culture of the Brooklyn D.A.’s office, why he chose to become a prosecutor in the first place and more. And we don’t spare him a silly pop quiz, either. Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

We have granted anonymity to this week’s guest in order for her to speak candidly about her years as a preservationist for the New York City Landmark Preservation Commission. We’ll get into the inner workings of the LPC, how it operates, some recent wins and fails in Brooklyn and we’ll get a little tour of her own favorite city landmarks. Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

For someone who professes not to be special on her new album, “I Am What I’m Waiting For,” Kendra Morris is … pretty special. Morris is a Greenpoint-based soul singer-songwriter and visual artist who has been recording and gigging steadily — at her own pace and on her own terms — since her 2010 self-titled debut. The lead single off her new album, produced by Little Shalimar of Run the Jewels, is “What Are You Waiting For,” a propulsive and insistent and sexy workout. “Dominoes,” released as a video last week, comically chronicles the pitfalls of married life. We’ll talk about that. We’ll discuss collaborating with everyone from Dennis Coffey to Czarface to Ghostface Killah to, uh, Scarlett Johansson. And we talk about forging her own path in the music industry, her process and her visual art. Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

In April, journalist and author Clive Thompson set out to bicycle across the entire country — 4,150 miles total — as part of the reporting for his next book on “micromobility.” He documented his trip in real time online: 70 days on the road, broken up by a brief return trip home. Here we discuss what micromobility is and why this ride was so important for him to do, plus some ups and downs of the journey and what cycling across the country does to someone physically, mentally and emotionally. Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

State Senator Zellnor Myrie is the first generation American son of Costa Rican immigrants and a native Brooklynite who represents the district that includes Prospect Lefferts Gardens — where he grew up and currently lives. Today he joins the podcast to talk about life in Flatbush, possible solutions to the city’s housing crunch, illegal guns, the concerns of his constituents, the state budget mess and why it matters, and on a personal note, the effect of being pepper sprayed by NYPD during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. Naturally, we also talk about Jay-Z. Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

Now in its 25th year, Tanoreen is a James Beard nominee and a Michelin Bib Gourmand-winning restaurant. It has spawned two excellent cookbooks. It has been featured on the Food Network's "Best Thing I Ever Ate," and it has been named one of the best restaurants in New York City by Bon Appétite. Rawia Bishara, who emigrated to Bay Ridge from Nazareth with her family when she was 18, opened Tanoreen in 1998 as a way to express her heritage and to honor her mother. Rawia’s own daughter, Jumana, later came on board as a partner, and today the two work closely to oversee all aspects of the daily operation. Just about any time you eat at Tanoreen, you are guaranteed to see Jumana at the door or Rawia roaming the floor, chatting up the customers. Today we talk about the first 25 years of Tanoreen — and what the next 25 might look like. Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

Singer, songwriter, DJ and producer Eli “Paperboy” Reed has spent a lifetime mining the deep vein of Americana — from soul to country to gospel. He has put out eight albums of his own over the past 20 years, including last year’s “Down Every Road,” a funky tribute to Merle Haggard. He has mentored and produced the group The Harlem Gospel Travelers, and released a long-buried recording by Cleveland blues musician Fred Davis that was actually recorded by his father 50 years earlier. And this fall he will be putting out a compilation of his 45s called “Hits and Misses: The Singles.” He’s teased that with an amazing soul cover of Motörhead’s “Ace of Spades,” of all things. Today he joins us to talk about his life in music. Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

Two weeks ago NPR’s Tiny Desk online video series broke the internet with a bombastic performance by New Orleans rapper Juvenile. The man who produced that viral segment is NPR Music's Bobby Carter. If you’ve seen the viral Anderson .Paak or Usher or Mac Miller Tiny Desk shows, you have Bobby to thank for those, too. In a special live episode of the podcast we spoke with Carter at BRIC’s Celebrate Brooklyn! concert series in the Prospect Park bandshell earlier this month about what makes a good Tiny Desk show, who his dream performer would be and why the Tiny Desk Contest is so important. We also talk about how that Juvenile set came to be. Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

This week we are joined by a legend, an empress, an icon of reggae. In an industry dominated by male voices, Marcia Griffiths is about to enter her 60th year as a trailblazing vocalist, songwriter, performer and collaborator. You may know her from early hits like “I Feel Like Jumping,” or her work with the great Bob Andy. She also collaborated with another important Bob — as a Bob Marley backup singer with the I Threes trio. And if you’ve ever done the Electric Slide, you have Marcia Griffiths to thank for that, too. Her 1983 hit “Electric Boogie” gave birth to the global dance phenomenon which simply refuses to quit. And, thankfully for us, Marcia Griffiths herself refuses to quit. She will be performing as part of the BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! summer concert series in Prospect Park on July 15. Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

Leah Goodridge is a tenants’ rights attorney who serves on the New York City Planning Commission, where she is the first and only tenants’ rights attorney. Born and raised in Brownsville, she lives in Bed-Stuy where, like anyone else in Brooklyn can tell you, the rent is too damn high — and newcomers are consistently pushing historic, legacy families out. On June 21, the city's Rent Guidelines Board voted to increase rents on New York City’s rent-stabilized apartments — Goodrige herself has been a member of the rent guidelines board, so we’ll talk about that. We’ll discuss what the planning commission does and what she sees as her role on that body. And we’ll talk about the idea of professionalism: Goodridge wrote a widely circulated essay for the UCLA law review called "Professionalism as a Racial Construct." Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

Roddy Bottum and Joey Holman are a couple of regular guys with regular dad bods. And they’re a couple. As Man on Man, they make music that tackles themes of love, intimacy, sex, queer culture and quirks. But above all, they make music that rocks, which has been an anomaly in mainstream queer culture since, well, always. Their second album, “Provincetown,” came out last week. Like their self-titled 2021 debut, the duo deploys humor, heavy riffs and introspection on songs with titles like "Showgirls," "Piggy" and "Gloryhole." Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

The question of home is a driving force of Stacey Mei Yan Fong's new book “50 Pies, 50 States,” out this week. The book is also, as the title suggests, a pie cookbook — an ingenious one at that. In 2016 Fong undertook a wildly ambitious project to design a pie recipe for every state in the union, and dedicate each pie to someone special from that state. She would also travel to as many of the states as possible to absorb the culture, cuisine and folklore of each region. The dedication part is as important as the pies — a deliberate exercise in giving her loved ones their flowers while she can. Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

You or someone you love probably reads a lot of romance fiction. Which means that you or someone you love has probably read a book by Sarah MacLean, a New York Times best seller with 19 novels and novellas under her belt. But do not call what she writes “bodice rippers.” MacLean, a Washington Post contributor and host of the popular romance fiction podcast Fated Mates, is one of the leading progressive feminist voices writing historical fiction today. Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

If you’re looking for a place to eat that’s a little off the beaten path, most likely not in your neighborhood and definitely delicious, you could do worse than follow Righteous Eats on TikTok or Instagram. We’re talking tips like Egyptian seafood in Astoria, Filipino delicacies in Woodside Queens, dim sum in Bensonhurst, Afghani fare in Kensington, Chino-Latino cuisine in the Upper West Side. Launched almost accidentally by Jaeki Cho, the mission here is to highlight under-the-radar immigrant and minority owned restaurants serving super authentic (or authentically innovative) food and celebrate the cultures and stories and people behind that food. Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

Touré is an omnivorous pop culture critic, an astute political analyst and a thoughtful voice on race and Blackness. Over the course of his career he has hosted shows on MSNBC, Fuse, BET and MTV. He was the first pop culture correspondent on CNN. He is the author of several books — he literally wrote the book on Prince. And these days he is a columnist for TheGrio. This month he is launching yet another podcast, called "Being Black: The '80s," a docuseries that looks at the most important issues of the '80s — from the crack epidemic to gay liberation to affirmative action — through the biggest songs of the decade. It is, he promises, the funkiest podcast you could ask for. Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

Fort Hamilton Distillery was born out of a desire to revive the classic pre-Prohibition New York-style rye and has since become a destination for connoisseurs of cocktails as well as cocktail and American history. Named for the historic Brooklyn site Fort Hamilton, which itself was named after Alexander Hamilton, Fort Hamilton Distillery has a tasting room, a robust cocktail program, offers tours and has an interesting story. Alex Clark, co-founder of Fort Hamilton Distillery with his wife Amy Grindeland, joins us on the podcast to discuss whiskey history and culture, authentic pre-Prohibition rye, distillers row in Industry City and Alexander Hamilton. Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

For two weeks now, Writers Guild of America members on both coasts have been picketing for fair compensation in the brave new streaming world. Strikers have shut down production of shows like “Billions,” “Daredevil,” “Born Again,” “Severance” and others, with crew members refusing to cross the picket lines in solidarity with the striking writers. One of them is Devin Delliquanti, a staff writer for “The Daily Show,” which has also suspended production. He joins us to discuss what’s happening on the picket lines day in day out, what writers like him are asking for and how New York is showing up for an industry that is so closely associated with the west coast. We also talk about what it’s like working on the “Daily Show” in less strike-y times. Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com​ Email: hello@bkmag.com​ Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine​ Twitter: @brooklynmag​ Instagram: @brooklynmagazine​ Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope ​

Motz is the pre-eminent expert on the history of the American hamburger and a scholar of different regional burger styles and their cultural significance. His 2004 documentary “Hamburger America” was made as a side project, but it went on to spawn books about burgers, a TV show about burgers, magazine spreads about burgers, a YouTube series about burgers and, coming, maybe, in July, a burger restaurant in the Lower East Side. This week, a revised and expanded edition of his 2016 regional cookbook called “The Great American Burger Book” is also being released. So let’s start some beef! Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

Whelan joins us to discuss the past, present and future of Sahadi’s, the legendary Middle Eastern market founded by her great-grand-uncle 128 years ago. Known for its spices, roasted nuts roasted, fresh-made treats and homemade prepared foods, and goods imported from the Middle East that you literally can’t get anywhere else in the States, the James Beard Award-winning market is not only historic but also vital. Whelan, who runs it all with her family, is also the co-author of “Flavors of the Sun: The Sahadi’s Guide to Understanding, Buying, and Using Middle Eastern Ingredients.” Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

Hudson, a third-generation Brooklynite from Prospect Heights who represents her own neighborhood plus Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Crown Heights and part of Bed-Stuy, is one of first openly gay Black women on the city council. She joins us to speak about her first year in office, her accomplishments, goals and challenges. We discuss her vision for a revamped Atlantic Avenue corridor, her role in the council’s streamlined progressive caucus, her views on Mayor Eric Adams, the displacement of legacy Black residents from her district and more. Plus, because we keep our elected representatives accountable, there is a pop quiz. Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope