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Send in your questions to kojo@wamu.org and listen to WAMU 88.5 Friday at noon!

This week on the Politics Hour, D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson on his central role in the political future of Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White. Plus, Virginia Lieutenant Governor Ghazala Hashmi on the proposed Dominion-NextEra merger .

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WAMU 88.5 @wamu.org · 28/09/2026

Before Ward 5 D.C. Councilmember Zachary Parker left The Politics Hour Friday we asked him just one more question: Why did he vote "present" on a bill that would allow private businesses and organizations to write parking tickets?

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WAMU 88.5 @wamu.org · 28/09/2026

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said in a statement that the case against the Ward 8 councilman will be re-tried. "We have video showing piles of cash being given to a D.C. councilmember as part of a $156,000 bribe. Rest assured that we will retry this case and every corruption case to verdict."

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WAMU 88.5 @wamu.org · 28/09/2026

Mistrial declared in bribery case of Ward 8 D.C. Council member Trayon White. White was accused of taking thousands of dollars in bribes from a city contractor who did work for the District.

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WAMU 88.5 @wamu.org · 27/09/2026

Jenn Hatfield is a Mystics beat reporter at IX Sports, as well as IX Basketball’s managing editor. She spoke with WAMU’s Morning Edition host Esther Ciammachilli about the Mystics season, taking a look back at what made the Mystics 2026 season so successful, playoff possibilities, and more.

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WAMU 88.5 @wamu.org · 27/09/2026

The WNBA playoffs are around the corner, and the Mystics will be there this year! Washington clinched a playoff spot in August. It’s the first playoff appearance for the Mystics since 2023. The WNBA Playoffs begin Sunday, Sept. 27, where the Mystics will face off against the Atlanta Dream.

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WAMU 88.5 @wamu.org · 26/09/2026

Chef Patrick O’Connell knows how to build something out of nothing. He’s the founder, proprietor, and chef of The Inn at Little Washington – a world-renowned hotel and restaurant in a small Virginia town about 90 minutes west of D.C.

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WAMU 88.5 @wamu.org · 26/09/2026

“It is a monument, no less than the others on this mall, to the deep and abiding love of this country, and the ideals upon which it is founded,” declared then President Barack Obama before its 2016 opening.

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WAMU 88.5 @wamu.org · 25/09/2026

Dr. Wendy Hookman, founder and medical director of the Washington Center for Women’s and Children’s Wellness, joins WAMU to discuss postpartum mental illness and how families and friends can help care for their loved ones suffering from these conditions buff.ly/oJzT0gl

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Postpartum mental illness is 'not a moral failure,' explains local reproductive psychiatrist

Dr. Wendy Hookman, a reproductive psychologist based in Bethesda, talks to WAMU about postpartum mental illness - the warning signs and how patients can receive treatment.

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WAMU 88.5 @wamu.org · 25/09/2026

As many as 1 in 5 women can suffer from postpartum depression, but treatment can sometimes fall through the cracks.

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WAMU 88.5 @wamu.org · 25/09/2026

What does the performing arts center mean to the D-C region, and our local arts community? Record a short voice memo including your name and email it to news@wamu.org.

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WAMU 88.5 @wamu.org · 25/09/2026

The Kennedy Center has closed its doors — for now — amid the Trump administration's continued push to remake the institution. With the future of the performing arts center unclear, we want to hear from you. What is your relationship to the Kennedy Center? Do you have a favorite memory there?

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WAMU 88.5 @wamu.org · 24/09/2026

Plus, the latest on the federal bribery trial of Ward 8 D.C. Councilmember Trayon White. Send in your questions to kojo@wamu.org and tune into WAMU 88.5 Friday at noon!

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WAMU 88.5 @wamu.org · 24/09/2026

This week on the Politics Hour, Montgomery County Council President Natali Fani-González talks trash about the county's aging incinerator and Ward 5 D.C. Councilmember Zachary Parker on the Council's first legislative session of the fall.

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WAMU 88.5 @wamu.org · 24/09/2026

More is also calling on the legislature to undo 2020 tax breaks for data center projects.

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WAMU 88.5 @wamu.org · 24/09/2026

“I think other thing that has that has changed over the past year and a half, frankly is the trump-Vance administration. They have just decided to completely pull back on guidelines, guardrails, protections. I am always going to protect the people of Maryland."

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WAMU 88.5 @wamu.org · 24/09/2026

Whenever a data center developer needs something from the state, like a permit, a task force will judge each project based on a number of factors including energy use, environmental impacts, jobs and community input. Moore says the lack of federal oversight pushed him to act now.

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WAMU 88.5 @wamu.org · 24/09/2026

Maryland Governor Wes Moore signed a new executive order on data development. But it is not a pause. The order creates a review process for large data centers that consume 25 megawatts or more.

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WAMU 88.5 @wamu.org · 21/09/2026

This week WAMU will be checking in on what resources there are for mothers experiencing postpartum mental illness, the second week of D.C. Councilmember Trayon White’s federal bribery trial and what the National Museum of African American History and Culture is cooking up for its 10th anniversary.

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WAMU 88.5 @wamu.org · 20/09/2026

Reggie D. White loves plays that ask questions and subvert expectations. As the new artistic director of Woolly Mammoth Theater, he's channeling that perspective into the five new plays the theater is producing in this new season, and spoke to WAMU about it. buff.ly/2DejRtt

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'Theaters belong to the community': Woolly Mammoth's new artistic director shares his vision

Reggie D. White, the new artistic director of Woolly Mammoth Theater, speaks to WAMU about his first season and how he wants to elevate D.C.'s theater talent. "I think people think about D.C. as the…

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WAMU 88.5 @wamu.org · 19/09/2026

The fall theater season is underway and Theatre Washington has launched its annual Theatre Week, bringing special ticket pricing to more than 30 productions in the region. Local theater content creator Whitney Hill joined WAMU to share a short list of some of her favorites. buff.ly/dJeFdLp

wamu.fm

Get Out There: Fall theater preview

Theatre Washington has once again launched its annual Theatre Week. Local theater content creator Whitney Hill shared a short list of some of her favorite shows to help you "Get Out There" in time…

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WAMU 88.5 @wamu.org · 17/09/2026

Send in your questions to kojo@wamu.org and tune into WAMU 88.5 Friday at noon!

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WAMU 88.5 @wamu.org · 17/09/2026

This week on the Politics Hour, we're cramming for our conversation with DCPS Chancellor Kim Jackson. Plus, The Washington Sun's Jenny Gathright gives us the latest on D.C. Councilmember Trayon White's federal bribery trial and Congressman Suhas Subramanyan on his proposal to regulate data centers.

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WAMU 88.5 @wamu.org · 14/09/2026

Ward 6 D.C. Councilmember Charles Allen joined us on The Politics Hour this past Friday. Before he left, we asked him just one more question: What is he doing about the Trump administration's plans to overhaul East Potomac Park and the golf course there?

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WAMU 88.5 @wamu.org · 12/09/2026

The Department of Homeland Security had said that decades-long TPS protection would expire for people from El Salvador on September 9th. Now they say it will remain in place until an announcement is made at “the appropriate time,” leaving thousands of salvadorans in the region in a state of limbo.

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WAMU 88.5 @wamu.org · 11/09/2026

In the District later in the day, thousands of volunteers packed meals at the D.C. Convention Center for families facing food insecurity as part of the 9/11 Day of Service.

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WAMU 88.5 @wamu.org · 11/09/2026

A 9/11, 25th anniversary ceremony took place Friday morning at Fire Station 5 in Arlington, Va. Blocks away from the Pentagon, Fire Station 5 units were the first responders to arrive after American Airlines Flight 77 struck the building on September 11th.

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WAMU 88.5 @wamu.org · 11/09/2026

For Arlington Public Schools, 9/11 hit especially close to home.Many teachers and students had loved ones in the Pentagon, where 184 of 2,977 victims were killed. 25 years later students have no memory of 9/11, and their teachers face a challenging task: reframing the harrowing day they endured.

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WAMU 88.5 @wamu.org · 11/09/2026

Josh Tulkin, executive director of Maryland’s chapter of the Sierra Club, wants environmentalists to consider the bigger picture of transit projects, rather than oppose all development.

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WAMU 88.5 @wamu.org · 10/09/2026

This week on the Politics Hour, we reflect on 25 years since the terrorist attacks on 9-11.. and how the region changed forever. Plus, Ward 6 D.C. Councilmember Charles Allen on why he wants a second Metro station at the new RFK Stadium. Send in your questions to kojo@wamu.org.

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WAMU 88.5 @wamu.org · 09/09/2026

In 2019, Bunch was named secretary of the Smithsonian, becoming the first historian and the first African American to hold the position. There he pushed forward plans for two museums – the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum and the National Museum of the American Latino.

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WAMU 88.5 @wamu.org · 09/09/2026

The Smithsonian Institution has been a frequent target of criticism by President Trump. In August 2025, Trump called for a “comprehensive internal review” of eight Smithsonian museums, and directed them to “celebrate American exceptionalism.”

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WAMU 88.5 @wamu.org · 09/09/2026

“It is with very mixed emotions and heartfelt gratitude that I announce my retirement,” Bunch wrote in a statement. “I leave with pride and sadness, gratitude and joy, and with enormous confidence in the people who will carry this remarkable institution forward.”

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WAMU 88.5 @wamu.org · 09/09/2026

Lonnie G. Bunch III, secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, is stepping down from his post at the end of the year.

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WAMU 88.5 @wamu.org · 08/09/2026

Loudoun County Board Chair Phyllis Randall joined us on The Politics Hour this Friday. Before she left, we asked her for her thoughts on the Trump administration's plans for a $20 billion overhaul of Dulles Airport located in Loudoun.

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WAMU 88.5 @wamu.org · 05/09/2026

Norton said she was 'deeply saddened' by her friend's passing and that "Gloria's work may be finished, but there is still much to do....we must carry Gloria's example forward the only way she would have wanted: by refusing to accept less than full equality for women, and by getting back to work."

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WAMU 88.5 @wamu.org · 05/09/2026

At the time there were only 15 women in Congress. Today, there are 150. Norton became D.C.'s Congresswoman in 1991.

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WAMU 88.5 @wamu.org · 05/09/2026

Steinem and Norton first worked together in New York in the late 1960s. They went on to co-found the National Women's Political Caucus in 1971. The organization was influential in increasing the representation of women in politics.

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WAMU 88.5 @wamu.org · 05/09/2026

Gloria Steinem died Sept. 2 at the age of 92. She was a leading activist for women's rights, and a friend of D.C. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton.

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WAMU 88.5 @wamu.org · 04/09/2026

Court filings show ICE shared Medicaid data with Palantir even after a federal judge limited what information could be passed to immigration officials.

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WAMU 88.5 @wamu.org · 02/09/2026

This week on the Politics Hour, Loudoun County Board Chair Phyllis Randall discusses the big data center debate and where she stands on a moratorium. Plus, NOTUS reporter Martin Austermuhle talks Flock cameras and Ward 8 D.C. Councilmember Trayon White's upcoming federal trial.

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WAMU 88.5 @wamu.org · 01/09/2026

This week WAMU will be checking in on protests D.C. nurses are leading against the data analytics firm Palantir, a push by environmental activists in Montgomery County for their followers to get behind more development and building projects, and a dive into a new book on the history of go-go music.

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