Welcome back to the podcast, I’m Jamie Baynes. Today’s guest is Maria Cramer, the NYPD Bureau Chief/reporter for the New York Times. A good friend of mine in the NYPD forwarded me a New York Times article about a neighborhood in Brooklyn that was policing itself. I thought the article was fascinating and saw that it was written by Maria. Her email address was at the bottom of the article, so I decided to write her and see if she’d be willing to come on the episode. To my pleasant surprise, she agreed and we set it up. On the day we were supposed to record it, she’d gotten a cold and was so hoarse that she could barely speak and had to cancel the interview. Within a few days she was better and here she is.

After you listen to our conversation, let me know what you think of Maria. Prior to our discussion , I had never considered that being a reporter was a craft. And I’d assumed that since she was a reporter for the New York Times, she would have certainly gone to journalism school. That’s what I get for making assumptions. And that’s why I like to interview people from all different walks of life, all different professions, all different……well, you get the idea. I think that if we all just talk to people and then listen to those same people, the world would be a better place. What do you think?

I’d like to thank Maria for taking time out of her hectic schedule to talk to me for a half hour before she had to head uptown to another appointment. She was an absolute joy to talk to. And to listen to.

Until next time, take care of one another and thanks for listening.