"Juan Manuel Benítez Wants to Know" is a New York City-based interview podcast that gets inside the minds of the people shaping our world - from rising political heavyweights to policy architects to cultural influencers. Drawing on more than two decades of reporting experience on television and radio, and on his role as Columbia University’s Professor of Local Journalism, host Juan Manuel Benítez combines sharp policy questions with unexpected personal curiosity, exploring not just what his guests think, but how they think. Each conversation reveals the books, music, experiences, and obsessions that drive decision-makers, creating intimate portraits of public figures that satisfy both news junkies and anyone curious about the human side of power. It's journalism that remembers people are people first.
“Mamdani Played Trump Like a Fiddle”: J.C. Polanco on Leaving the GOP
J.C. Polanco has plenty of criticism for Zohran Mamdani. But he also thinks the mayor “played President Trump like a fiddle.”
The former Republican candidate for New York City public advocate joins Juan Manuel Benítez for a candid conversation about political loyalty, the cost of leaving your party, and what happens when neither side feels like home.
A son of Dominican immigrants who grew up in the Bronx, Polanco explains why he once embraced Republican politics—and why Trump’s rhetoric about immigrants helped drive him away. Now an independent, he argues that Republicans have surrendered their responsibility to check presidential power, while sharply challenging the Democratic Socialists of America and Mamdani’s vision for New York.
We discuss:
• Why Polanco supported Kamala Harris—and wants a Democratic Congress to check Trump.
• How Trump’s embrace of Mamdani complicated Republicans’ campaign against the mayor.
• Kathy Hochul, Bruce Blakeman, and the independent voters both need.
• How growing up in the Bronx shaped Polanco’s views on crime, opportunity, and government.
• City-run grocery stores, immigrant-owned bodegas, and our disagreement over competition.
• What Mamdani gets right—and Polanco’s criticism of his relationship with the press.
• Why the former NYC Board of Elections president defends the city’s election system.
Plus: the books he’s reading, the book he’s trying to write, and the toy poodle competing for his attention.
Recorded October 14, 2026.
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
🎥 NY1’s full New York governor’s debate — Kathy Hochul and Bruce Blakeman face off on October 13, 2026:
https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/politics/2026/10/13/full-debate--kathy-hochul--bruce-blakeman-spar-off-in-gubernatorial-debate (https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/politics/2026/10/13/full-debate--kathy-hochul--bruce-blakeman-spar-off-in-gubernatorial-debate)
🎙️ The New York Editorial Board live: “Mayor Mamdani’s First 200 Days and What Comes Next” — the conversation J.C. references, featuring Juan Manuel Benítez, Nicole Gelinas and fellow NYEB members. Recorded at The Greene Space with ABNY on July 23, 2026. Listen and read the transcript:
https://nyeditorialboard.substack.com/p/mayor-mamdanis-first-200-days-and (https://nyeditorialboard.substack.com/p/mayor-mamdanis-first-200-days-and)
GUEST & READING
🎙️ Centered with J.C. Polanco:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/centered-with-j-c-polanco/id1830150435 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/centered-with-j-c-polanco/id1830150435)
📚 Relentless by Luis A. Miranda Jr.:
https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/luis-a-miranda/relentless/9780306833236/ (https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/luis-a-miranda/relentless/9780306833236/)
📚 The Dominican Republic: A National History by Frank Moya Pons:
https://markuswiener.com/books/the-dominican-republic-a-national-history-second-updated-and-enlarged-edition/ (https://markuswiener.com/books/the-dominican-republic-a-national-history-second-updated-and-enlarged-edition/)
SUBSCRIBE & FOLLOW
Subscribe for more conversations with the people shaping New York and beyond.
Substack:
https://juanmabenitez.substack.com/ (https://juanmabenitez.substack.com/)
YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@juanmanuelbeniteznyc (https://www.youtube.com/@juanmanuelbeniteznyc)
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/juan-manuel-ben%C3%ADtez-wants-to-know/id1837067235 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/juan-manuel-ben%C3%ADtez-wants-to-know/id1837067235)
If this conversation made you think, share it with someone who sees politics differently.
2 Oct 2026
Do We Need to Walk Around With Our Passports? — Grace Bonilla on Fear in New York
For the first time in her life, Grace Bonilla and her family found themselves discussing whether they needed to walk around New York City with their passports. Bonilla, president and CEO of United Way of New York City and the daughter of Ecuadorian immigrants, says that fear is transforming daily life across immigrant communities.
This is the fourth interview in Season 3’s “New Yorkers on a Changing America” series. Subscribe on YouTube and follow the show on Substack, Spotify and Apple Podcasts now so you don’t miss the rest of the series.
Bonilla explains why food-pantry lines suddenly grew shorter—not because the need disappeared, but because some families were afraid to leave home. She describes New Yorkers learning that they have lost SNAP benefits only when their EBT cards stop working, the coming changes to Medicaid and the administrative maze separating eligible families from essential assistance. A
Drawing on her experience leading New York City’s Human Resources Administration, Bonilla discusses what government insiders understand that advocates often don’t, why people may trust community organizations more than government agencies and how United Way’s United for Benefits Access initiative is helping New Yorkers navigate the changing rules.
She also reflects on raising three sons during an affordability crisis, the future of New York’s public-health system and the Queens places that remind her why she still believes in the city.
Also, some advice for New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
ABOUT GRACE BONILLA
Grace Bonilla — United Way of New York City
https://unitedwaynyc.org/board/grace/ (https://unitedwaynyc.org/board/grace/)
United Way of New York City
https://unitedwaynyc.org/ (https://unitedwaynyc.org/)
HELP AND RESOURCES MENTIONED
United for Benefits Access
https://unitedwaynyc.org/uba/ (https://unitedwaynyc.org/uba/)
United for Benefits Access — SNAP Resources Hub
https://unitedwaynyc.org/uba/snap/ (https://unitedwaynyc.org/uba/snap/)
NYC Human Resources Administration — SNAP information
https://www.nyc.gov/site/hra/help/snap-benefits-food-program.page (https://www.nyc.gov/site/hra/help/snap-benefits-food-program.page)
Find a New York City food pantry or community kitchen
https://finder.nyc.gov/foodhelp/ (https://finder.nyc.gov/foodhelp/)
Official information about upcoming Medicaid eligibility changes
https://www.medicaid.gov/renew-info (https://www.medicaid.gov/renew-info)
WHAT SHE’S READING
“Reading the Constitution: Why I Chose Pragmatism, Not Textualism” — Stephen Breyer
https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Reading-the-Constitution/Stephen-Breyer/9781668021545 (https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Reading-the-Constitution/Stephen-Breyer/9781668021545)
PLACES SHE MENTIONS
Rufus King Park in Jamaica, Queens
https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/rufus-king-park (https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/rufus-king-park)
Queens County Farm Museum
https://www.queensfarm.org/ (https://www.queensfarm.org/)
“Juan Manuel Benítez Wants to Know” — Season 3: New Yorkers on a Changing America. Subscribe on YouTube and follow on Substack, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
25 Sept 2026
Why Ric Burns Left Donald Trump Out of His Latest New York Films
Donald Trump is not in Ric Burns's new film about New York. That was a decision. When Burns floated interviewing him, an institutional partner went "thin-lipped and ashen-faced" He explains why he left the president out, and why Trump is in the film anyway, as "a constant rumbling undertow."
Burns has been making New York: A Documentary Film since the early 1990s. The first episodes aired in 1999; he was in the middle of a radio interview about the next two when the planes hit on September 11th. Episode eight arrived in 2003. Then nothing for twenty-three years. The last two premiered this week on PBS.
We go through the mayors: Bloomberg is the towering figure of the new films — Burns interviewed him once, in 2013, and says he refused to sit down again; de Blasio gets accolades for his early accomplishments; Adams is a different story.
Born in Baltimore and raised in Ann Arbor, Burns recounts the day he finally felt like a New Yorker. He loves the city. And it shows.
The films: both new episodes are streaming at pbs.org (https://www.pbs.org/show/new-york-a-documentary-film/) and on the PBS app. More at Steeplechase Films (https://www.ricburns.com/).
What he's reading: Young Eliot: From St. Louis to The Waste Land — Robert Crawford (Farrar, Straus and Giroux (https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374536053/youngeliot)).
Juan Manuel Benítez Wants to Know — Season 3: New Yorkers on a Changing America. Subscribe on YouTube, follow on Substack, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
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