This special episode was recorded live at The Philadelphia Citizen's eighth annual Ideas We Should Steal Festival presented by Comcast NBCUniversal. Our hosts, former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and Citizen Media Group President and CEO Larry Platt were joined on stage by a return guest, five-term Rochester Hills, Michigan Mayor Bryan Barnett, a Republican.

Barnett is a consummate showman, as evidenced by his increasingly elaborate State of the City addresses (full-scale musical productions). Here, Barnett and the hosts discuss the importance of leading a city with joy and finesse, and how the Democratic party is fumbling the ball — in messaging and in the recent government shutdown. As Mayor Barnett points out, there really is no Republican or Democrat way to fill a pothole. You just fill the pothole.

"The moment you put your foot on the sidewalk," Nutter responded, "people are looking to see how's the mayor doing? Is the city upbeat? Is it grumpy? There's a public impact to this job."

Join us as we dive back into Rochester Hills with Mayor Barnett and explore how to really run a city with style and good humor.

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As cities go, so goes the nation!

"I don't care if you live in urban America or rural America, everyone wants the same thing," Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb said on the latest episode of How To Really Run A City. "They want a job they can get to in 15 minutes, they want a hospital or pharmacy within 15 minutes, they want a park or a grocery store or bars or restaurants, all within 15 minutes."

Bibb went on to explain to our hosts, former Philly mayor Michael Nutter and former Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed, how he is turning his Ohio city into a convenient, accessible, bona fide 15-minute city — and what is needed to sustain that work.

"People really want walkability," Bibb said. "They want safety and thriving neighborhoods and overall thriving cities. But we as mayors can't do this by ourselves. We need a federal government that's actually working. It has to be working with our governors and mayors."

Bibb, a charismatic 38-year-old (and cousin to the first Black primetime newscaster in Ohio), will almost certainly be reelected next week, and both Reed and Nutter quickly picked up on his "get sh*t done" vibe.

"A mayor is a reflection of their city," Reed said, "how it feels and how it will be there [for its people]."

"Absolutely," Nutter said.

Join us for an episode about a mayor who is laser-focused on making the lives of his constituents better in ways that anyone taking a stroll to the park can feel.

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As cities go, so goes the nation!

On this episode of How To Really Run A City, innovation in cities takes a backseat to a more pressing question: How do we find our way back to recognizing the humanity in one another?

Our guest: Joe Walsh, a former Representative from Illinois. He was a self-described Tea Party arsonist, right-wing radio provocateur and mentor to Turning Point USA's Charlie Kirk. All of that changed when Donald Trump rode down an escalator and completely captured the Republican Party.

"It was never this way with Reagan, with Bush, with old-man Bush, this is something completely different," Walsh told our hosts, former Philly Mayor Michael Nutter and Citizen Co-founder Larry Platt. (Former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed was unable to attend.)

Walsh's public split from his party made him a target of MAGA loyalists, who to this day threaten him and his family. Still, he's not backing down. "I helped to divide this country," Walsh said. "People like me helped put us on this road. I have to live with that."

As a newly-minted Democrat, Walsh tours the country connecting with people from across the political spectrum. "Do you leave these conversations hopeful or less hopeful?" Platt asked.

"I'm right down the middle," Walsh said. "Half the folk out there are ready for a national divorce. They tell me, 'Joe, I want it to be peaceful, but we just can't coexist anymore.'"

Listen to this episode now for a passionate conversation about a return to civility and the true stakes of our national debate with a public figure who describes himself as a former "political asshole" trying to make amends. And for more from Walsh, join us at The Citizen's 8th annual Ideas We Should Steal Festival, presented by Comcast NBCUniversal, where he will talk with former foe-turned-friend Fred Guttenberg, a gun rights activist who lost his daughter in the Parkland school shooting.

Remember to subscribe to the podcast to keep up on all the latest episodes. Watch and follow new episodes on YouTube.

As cities go, so goes the nation!