As mayor of Baltimore and then governor of Maryland, Martin O'Malley used transparency and statistics to drive his city and state forward into the Information Age. And then he — literally — wrote the book on the subject.

His conclusion after more than a decade in public office? "We live in a time of enormous opportunity," O'Malley said on the latest episode of How To Really Run A City to our hosts, former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and Citizen Co-founder Larry Platt. "It's the dawning of the Third Industrial Revolution. People want to believe that tomorrow can be better than today."

O'Malley, a former Social Security Administration Commissioner and Irish clan chieftain, knows the stakes of the current political moment. Yes, you have to lead with joy. But to get people back from the brink of political despair, you've got to get shit done at the local level, because if we can't deliver the goods of a republic – the services that make a republic worth having — then we can't blame people for not following us.

"Over the last 20 years," O'Malley said, "trust in the federal government has fallen to an all-time low. But trust in local government – in city government – has held steady."

Join us for a no-nonsense episode with a no-nonsense leader who knows how to get shit done at multiple governing levels — and whose prescription for both his Democratic party and the country write large are lessons we should learn to preserve what matters about living in America.

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As cities go, so goes the nation!

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.

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!