State Senator Erik Bottcher on Survival, Power and What Government Is Actually For

SHOW NOTESHe grew up in a fly-fishing motel near Lake Placid. As a teenager, he was suicidal and spent a month in a psychiatric hospital. Decades later, he helped pass marriage equality in New York State, represented Chelsea, Hell's Kitchen, and the West Village in the City Council — and three weeks ago, he was sworn in as a New York State Senator.In this episode, newly elected State Senator Erik Bottcher sits down with Juan Manuel Benítez to talk about the experience that almost ended his life and why he talks about it publicly, what he learned watching power for 17 years before having it, the budget battle ahead in Albany, why he's against a property tax hike, whether he could have won the congressional race he walked away from, his use of AI, and the one question everyone asks: will he ever run for mayor?An honest, personal, and wide-ranging conversation with one of New York's most compelling new voices in state politics.Erik BottcherOfficial website: erikbottcher.comNew York State Senate, 47th District: nysenate.gov/senators/erik-bottcher📚 Book RecommendationOn His Own Terms: A Life of Nelson Rockefeller by Richard Norton Smith MuseumThe Whitney Museum of American Art — 99 Gansevoort St, NYC Free admission: Friday nights 5–10pm and second Sunday of every month. Free every day for visitors 25 and under. whitney.orgGay BarRise Bar risebarhk.com.Mental Health Resource mentioned in this episodeFour Winds Hospital (the facility where Bottcher received treatment as a teenager) fourwindshospital.comCrisis support: If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline), available 24/7.Juan Manuel Benítez Wants to Know is produced at Columbia Journalism School in New York City.Subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Substack