Ben Max, left, of Gotham Gazette, and Jarrett Murphy, right, of City Limits

August 30, 2017 - De Blasio Author Joseph Viteritti

Joseph P. Viteritti, public policy professor at Hunter College, CUNY, where he is chair of the Urban Policy and Planning Department, has written a new book about Mayor Bill de Blasio: The Pragmatist: Bill de Blasio's Quest to Save the Soul of New York. Published by Oxford University Press, The Pragmatist is due out September 5. After reading an advance copy, our Ben Max spoke with Viteritti about de Blasio and the book, in which Viteritti not only examines de Blasio's career and mayoralty, but puts de Blasio into historical perspective.

The publisher describes the book as the "Most comprehensive book on mayoral leadership in NYC currently available, beginning with La Guardia and progressives (Wagner, Lindsay), through the post-fiscal crisis mayors (Beame, Koch, Dinkins, Giuliani, Bloomberg)." It traces de Blasio's early life and political career through much of his term as mayor. De Blasio is seeking a second term this fall, with The Pragmatist set for publish just a week before the Democratic primary, which the incumbent is expected to win, and two months before the general election, where de Blasio is also heavily favored.

On the Max & Murphy podcast, Viteritti discusses his conclusions about and impressions of de Blasio.

Listen to the full conversation and let us know what you think -- we're on Twitter @TweetBenMax and @jarrettmurphy. You can hear the conversation through the embedded audio below or download it wherever you get your podcasts.