Assemblymember Andrea Bailey on the 2026-2027 NYS budget

12:00: Assemblymember Andrea Bailey on the 2026-2027 NYS budget

1:00: 'Connections Summer Sessions:' Russian dissident, released in the 2024 prisoner swap, visits Rochester

We continue our series of conversations about the New York State budget with Assemblymember Andrea Bailey. She joins us in the studio to discuss the size of the budget, the process that led to the latest budget in two decades, and more. You can join the discussion and ask her your questions about state business. Our guest:

• Assemblymember Andrea Bailey, District 133

Then in our second hour, “Connections Summer Sessions” continues. This week’s special rebroadcasts are a series of Evan’s favorite interviews. In this episode, Evan sits down with Russian dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza. Kara-Murza was a protege of Boris Nemtsov, a leading Russian opposition leader who was assassinated in 2015. Kara-Murza was imprisoned in April of 2022 for criticizing the invasion of Ukraine and then was released in August of 2024 during the prisoner swap arranged by the Biden administration. He now works in exile for Open Russia. We hear his story during this special rebroadcast. Our guests:

• Vladimir Kara-Murza, Russian opposition politician, author, historian, and former political prisoner
• Dmitry Bykov, inaugural Scholar in Exile in the Humanities Center at the University of Rochester
• Randall Stone, director of the Skalny Center for Polish and Central European Studies at the University of Rochester

"Connections" is livestreamed each day on the WXXI News YouTube channel. Watch here.