PODCAST · news
The Backgrounder
by Paul Brubaker
Conversations on politics, government, music, media and other things connected to New Jersey
Episodes
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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 "Bridgegate." On this episode, the incomparable and indomitable Senator Weinberg gives her thought about the upcoming trial, talks about her life as an...
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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. 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...
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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 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...
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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 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...
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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 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...
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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 sanctioned loan sharking" was how one person quote in the story described the state's Higher Education Student Assistance Authority and its loan…
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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. 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…
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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 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...
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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 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…
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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 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,...
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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 explains why he believes drivers in New Jersey should be allowed to fill their own tanks at the gas pump.
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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 incumbents in office, regardless of their political party. The mission of LUPE, which stands for Latinas United For Political Empowerment, is largely fueled...
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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, 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...
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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 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...
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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 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…
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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 than we should all be working for something bigger than ourselves. That belief is the cornerstone of the organization Meyler founded called the More...
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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 coverage of Superstorm Sandy, and he helped launch NJSpotlight.org's environmental investigative series "Dirty Little Secrets." But the lengths he...
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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 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...
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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 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...
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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 in Trenton shaping public policy. Recently, as lawmakers engaged in the political jousting around the Atlantic City fiscal crisis, Bracken called…
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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 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,...
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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 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...
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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 Jersey: the current strike of 39,000 Verizon employees and the upcoming public question on a constitutional amendment that would require the state…
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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 culture that makes people more vulnerable to rape? Are expectant parents holding “gender reveal parties” part of the problem? Do those blue lights with...
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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 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…
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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 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...
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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 a Congress member in his own right, feeling equally committed to serving the people of the 10th Congressional District and people throughout the...
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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 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...
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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 Backgrounder. She also talks about what she calls her “accidental” entry into Hoboken politics, and about the challenges she has faced during her...
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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 in 1978, Lesniak has taken on numerous progress causes – including fighting New Jersey’s settlement with Exxon-Mobil (announced one year ago). He…
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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 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…
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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, affordable housing in Newark. He even managed the campaign that got the first black mayor elected in Newark. Born in Virginia, Williams earned…
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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 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...
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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 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…
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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 Redemption. Much of the book comes from his five years of covering Governor Chris Christie. Ironically, covering the governor was an assignment…
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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 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...
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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 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...
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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, 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…
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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. Meis is a young but seasoned expert in political field operations - the part of any campaign that goes directly to prospective voters: talking to...
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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 fighting in what he calls the toughest political race he ever had. The incumbent Democrat, and former mayor and councilman of Northfield, fought for...
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Episode 44: Jim Whelan
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...
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Episode 43: Mohamed Khairullah
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...
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Episode 42: Warren Zanes
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...
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Episode 41: Yael Averbuch
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...
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Episode 40: Archange Antoine
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.…
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Special Edition: Rob Norris
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...
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Episode 39: Rachel Crampsey
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...
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Episode 38: Matthew Friedman & Emily Helck
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...
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Episode 37: James J. Florio
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.…
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Special Edition: A Night In Trenton With Sandy
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...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Conversations on politics, government, music, media and other things connected to New Jersey
HOSTED BY
Paul Brubaker
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does The Backgrounder have?
The Backgrounder currently has 86 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is The Backgrounder about?
Conversations on politics, government, music, media and other things connected to New Jersey
How often does The Backgrounder release new episodes?
The Backgrounder has 86 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to The Backgrounder?
You can listen to The Backgrounder on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts The Backgrounder?
The Backgrounder is created and hosted by Paul Brubaker.
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