Welcome back to the 10 Blocks podcast. This is Brian Anderson, the editor of City Journal. I want to wish a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all our listeners.

And thank you for tuning into the show, leaving reviews, and for all the kind words you've extended when we meet in person, as we do

from time to time. As we wrap up the year, I want especially to thank all our other hosts here

at Ten Blocks. It's definitely a team effort. My fellow editors at the magazine, Seth Barron,

Paul Beston, Charles McAwee, and Steve Malanga have all recorded shows, and other colleagues

have filled in for us from time to time, including Nicole Jelineas and Michael Hendricks, so thanks

to them too.

We've been doing the podcast regularly for almost four years now, hard as that is to believe,

and it's amazing to see how much

ten blocks has grown in that time.

The big reason for that growth are terrific guests.

To name just three who stopped by in 2019, Theodore Dalryple, or by his real name, Anthony

Daniels, one of our longest running contributors at the magazine,

flew across the Atlantic to join us in the studio for the first time earlier this summer.

New York's elected city council speaker, Corey Johnson, came on the show for a discussion

about the state of New York's transit system.

And of course, our interview with Heather McDonald on San Francisco's

homelessness crisis, which was our most popular episode of the year. You can find those interviews

and many more in our archives. If you're listening to the podcast, but you're still new to

City Journal, I want to share a little bit of our history with you. We published

our first issue in the autumn of 1990 as the New York City Journal at a time when the city

was really at a low point with very high crime, disorder spreading, struggling schools, and

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