The Backgrounder
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The Backgrounder
Conversations on politics, government, music, media and other things connected to New Jersey
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Episode 82: Loretta Weinberg
When Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg began attending Port Authority meetings, she began uncovering the scandal that we've come to know as "Bri...
Episode 81: Buzz Aldrin
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. Jus...
Episode 80: Benjie Wimberly
If you don't know N.J. Assemblyman Benjie Wimberly through his political and government credentials, you almost certainly know him as the legendary fo...
Episode 79: Heather Howard
Heather Howard rose to prominence when she served as New Jersey's State Health and Senior Services Commissioner in Governor Jon Corzine's administrati...
Episode 78: Gordon MacInnes
Gordon MacInnes, President of New Jersey Policy Perspective, knows Trenton and Jersey politics. He served two terms in the Statehouse, first as an ass...
Episode 77: Student Loan Debt with Deanna Maria Norcross & Vincent Cimilluca
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 sanc...
Episode 76: Harry Pozycki
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...
Episode 75: Cathleen Lewis
Cathleen Lewis holds a unique position in Transportation Trust Fund/Gas Tax debate as Public Affairs Director for the American Automobile Association...
Episode 74: Jennifer Beck
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 Repu...
Episode 73: Julia Sass Rubin
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...
Backgrounder CRF: Pump Your Own Gas In NJ!
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 ex...
Episode 72: Patricia Campos Medina
Patricia Campos Medina is President of LUPE PAC, an organization aimed at getting more Hispanic women into elected office and keeping Latina incumbent...
Episode 71: Jason O'Donnell
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,...
Special Edition: NJ's Transportation Trust Fund
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 nearl...
Episode 70: Declan O'Scanlon/NJEA's Wendell Steinhauer & Ed Richardson
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 exa...
Episode 69: Katie Meyler
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 t...
Episode 68: Scott Gurian
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 c...
Episode 67: Paula Poundstone
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 N...
Episode 66: Tom Kean, Jr.
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 in...
Episode 65: Thomas Bracken
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...
Episode 64: Paul Reiser
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 t...
Episode 63: Ross Gibby
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 wi...
Episode 62: Hetty Rosenstein
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...
Episode 61: Patricia Teffenhart
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 cult...
Episode 60: Michael Maron
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 B...
Episode 59: Wilda Diaz
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 c...
Episode 58: Donald Payne, Jr.
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...
Episode 57: Vincent Prieto
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 basemen...
Episode 56: Dawn Zimmer
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 Ba...
Episode 55: Ray Lesniak
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...
Episode 54: Raj Mukherji
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...
Episode 53: Junius Williams
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, a...
Episode 52: Shavonda Sumter
N.J. State Assemblywoman Shavonda Sumter (D-Paterson) is thinking about running for Governor of New Jersey. Her name has not been among those regularl...
Episode 51: Holly Schepisi
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...
Episode 50: Matt Katz
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...
Episode 49: Steve Adubato
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 televi...
Episode 48: Remembering MLK in New Jersey
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...
Episode 47: Lou Greenwald
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, Ma...
Episode 46: Constantina Meis
Think of any elected official – Democrat or Republican, national or local. They wouldn’t be in office without Constantina Meis and people like her. Me...
Episode 45: Vince Mazzeo
Last November, while most New Jersey candidates ran for election in a sleepy political cycle, N.J. State Assemblyman Vince Mazzeo (D-Atlantic) was fig...