First up is our interview with Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado.

It's been about a year and a half since Delgado took office, but he's no stranger to New York.

Before governor Kathy Hochul picked him as LG, Delgado was a member of Congress, representing part of the Hudson Valley.

He served for two terms.

That was until last May, when Governor Kathy Hochul picked him as her new LG.

The old one, Brian Benjamin, had been indicted on federal corruption charges.

And since then, Delgado has been busy, traveling across the state for events, leading New York's Regional Economic Development Councils, and heading the state's efforts to combat hate and bias.

We sat down with Delgado earlier this year to chat about all of that, and what's ahead.

- Lieutenant Governor, thank you so much for being here, I appreciate it.

- Good to be here.

- So you've been in office a little bit more than a year now, you've been kind of crisscrossing the state, doing a whole bunch of things.

Can you tell us how it's been going?

What have you been doing?

- It's been great.

You know, it's a big state.

My old congressional district had 11 counties, and I thought that was big.

- Yeah.

(chuckles) The Hudson Valley, the Mohawk Valley southern tier.

But now we're talking about the Finger Lakes, we're talking about Western New York, we're talking about North Country, we're talking about downstate.

And so for me, it's been an opportunity to get around and just meet folks in every part of the state, every nook and cranny, learning the different main streets, learning the different ways communities are coming together to empower themselves, be it in the healthcare space, educational space, be it in the economic space.

But just learning the ebb and flow of the state, and understanding what the needs are across communities.

- You know, what do people tell you about that?

It's gotta be a very different job than being a member of Congress, which you formerly were before this.

And when you're a member of Congress, you're really dealing with your district directly.

As Lieutenant Governor, you have to go all over the state and talk to a whole bunch of people.

What do they tell you?

- Well, first I wanna say, when you're in Congress, too, you're focusing on legislation.

Right, you're focusing on how to make policy into law that you know will have a direct impact on the constituents you represent.

Intellectually, it's a different endeavor than the executive side.

You're mindful, obviously, of legislation, but you're not responsible for ushering any legislation through.

So really, what I've learned is, a lot of it is about understanding what the vision is, and ultimately, where are we going?

How do we knit all of this together in a way that is a narrative that people can be inspired by, and can feel encouraged by.

And I think, you know, whether it's addressing affordability, you know, comprehensively, whether it's making sure that we are empowering all communities, particularly those communities that have been distressed, or that are distressed, or that have been overlooked or marginalized.

So we talk about economic growth, we're talking about it in a way that's more holistic.

And how do we do that in a more intentional way?

And I think people are thirsty for that type of prioritization, where they truly believe that every community is seen, every community is heard, and every community is empowered, not through a one-size-fits-all approach, 'cause that wouldn't make sense.

That means you have to be on the ground, you gotta do the work, and you have to understand what's unique about every community - You know, for me, some issues get more attention on this show and in my life, because I find them more personal to me.

Two of them, mental health, criminal justice, I like to focus on those quite a bit.

As you're traveling the state, I assume certain issues are on your mind as well.

What stands out to you?

- Well, the biggest thing that stands out to me, especially because a lot of the work that I'm doing is through the lens of the Hate and Bias Prevention Unit.

If I had to cut out two narratives that I've been sort of really using as platforms to get around the state, one would be through my work as chair of the Hate and Bias Prevention Unit.

And the other is, I've been traveling with the Division of Criminal Justice Services as they do their 15-city tour, working with community partners to better understand some of the social determinants of health and wellbeing, and crime, and what are those aspects that we need to be wrestling with to prevent those dynamics.

So those are the two spaces, along with being the chair of the REDCs, right.

And so, whether it's an economic lens, or whether it's a enrichment lens, where we're empowering communities from the ground up, that has been the entry point.

So you might imagine that my conversations are really being informed by advocates on the ground who are dedicated to this work, who are working to provide services to communities, whether it's in the housing space, whether it's in the healthcare space, in the educational space, in the economic space.

These are all lanes that I have been able to engage with and get a better understanding, and try to figure out how folks on the ground are doing the work, and are they being supported in a way that can truly maximize the value that they bring to bear.

- Now let's talk about the Hate and Bias Prevention Unit.

This is a unit within the Division of Human Rights.

You're leading it.

There are also regional groups, I guess, I don't know what they're called.

- Councils.

- Councils.

Can you, it might seem obvious, but what's the work intended to do of those councils?

- So a lot of the work around hate and bias up to this point, I think, has typically been about reacting.

There's a horrible incident or tragedy that occurs, and the community rallies around it and figures out a way to sort of react to that, whether it's in the criminal side, or whether it's just in the healing side from the victim standpoint.

And we want to be more intentional, more forward-leaning, more proactive in, how do we create an atmosphere that is more collective and rooted in compassion, and understanding, and tolerance.

And that means identifying partners on the ground, across the state, on a regional basis, that are dedicated to coming together, consistently, to think about how to engage their community in any number of endeavors.

It could be as simple as creating spaces for constructive dialogue.

It could also be more concrete, formal events that bring together opportunities to work through challenging issues, or just to come together in fellowship and build a sense of community.

I think we all know that we're living in very divisive times, where hate is being normalized.

And I think it's incumbent upon us to normalize love again, to uplift love again, and to make sure that we understand how powerful love actually is.

No one's born to hate.

That is a learned behavior.

It is taught, as Nelson Mandela once said, you know, love is natural, we're born loving.

And I think it's incumbent upon us to do the work on the ground to bring that together.

So this is a statewide effort.

I can't tell you how humbled I am to be the chair of these councils.

There are 10 councils all across the state.

We've met now with 8 of the 10, I think we still have to do the North Country in western New York.

Those are our two last regions.

But by the end of, hopefully the next couple of weeks, we'll have a month or so, we'll have introduced and met with all 10 councils.

And then each of those councils will, in their own way, begin to engage with their communities.

- This is something that is so difficult for me to even think about, because I feel like it's something that we shouldn't need.

You know, as you were saying, we shouldn't need people to come up with plans to prevent bias, and hate, and things like that.

We are living in such divisive times.

You're going around to all of these councils and talking to a lot of people.

I'm wondering, do you see any common trends among either the hate and bias in their areas, or how they're responding?

- Well, I wanna say, to the point about something that we shouldn't need.

I can understand why, intuitively, you might think that.

But when you think about the way we are sharing information or not, you think about the echo chambers of misinformation and manipulation, and the rabbit holes that people can fall down now, so easily, in ways that they might not have been decades ago.

You think about how conspiracy theories, now, that were once really on the margins, way, way out, now, can catch fire on the internet and become normalized in a heartbeat.

And we have folks out there who'd rather demagogue, and who'd rather be divisive in their rhetoric in order to, sort of, assume power for themselves as a result.

So this is the challenge that we face.

But to answer your question, the thread is that I think people, despite all those challenges, right, despite those structural realities, I think people are thirsty for authenticity and genuineness, and being able to disagree, but agreeably.

More often than not, people want to feel okay saying what they mean, and knowing that they won't be judged, because they want to come from the right place.

But we have to create those environments.

We have to create opportunities for folks to make mistakes, to maybe say the wrong thing, but in the name of getting to a better outcome, right.

And I think the more we can create that kind of environment, the less people will run to their corners, or clam up, or dig their heels in, or be rigid in their points of view.

It's incumbent for all of us, no matter what side of the political spectrum you come from, that we go into the conversation with an open mind.

And instead of with arms closed, arms extended.

I think that that has to be the work that we do moving forward.

Because otherwise, all these other issues that are very, very complicated, are gonna be challenging to solve.

- I used to think, honestly, I used to think that journalism was the answer to this problem, that people like me could kind of dissect the disinformation and prove it wrong, and take it apart.

But your point about echo chambers is so true.

I mean, somebody can create a Facebook group and invite a hundred people, and just share in that, and convince these 100 people about a conspiracy theory that has no weight to it.

It's really tough to think about as a journalist, and as somebody who wants to do something about this.

As you're going around to these councils, I don't know what the timeline looks like.

This is something, obviously, that isn't an easy answer, but when do you think that we see something from those councils that could be some kind of tangible change?

- That's a great question.

It's a question that we pose to every single council.

You know, there's different ways you can measure success, you know, and sometimes it's counterintuitive.

For example, if we end up getting more outreach in certain communities where people are experiencing hate, and they are sharing that they've encountered something, you could argue that, well, that's not a good indication that we're actually having success.

But on the contrary, it could mean that the environment now is such that more people feel comfortable sharing, you know, what they feel.

So we could actually see stats that, on the surface, might look counterintuitive, or counter to the objectives.

But actually when you really analyze them, it just means that we're actually getting the conversations going, and that people are willing to have these discussions and make themselves vulnerable in the first place.

So I give that as an example to say it's hard, you know, it's not an easy way, initially, to figure that out.

And I charge the councils to do the work, with, of course, our assistants, to figure out what are some of those concrete things they can do, tangible things they can measure over the course of the next year.

I think first and foremost, as you might appreciate right now, just getting these councils together, and having them communicate, and figure out ways to engage each other was the initial start.

And then, you know, over the next several months we'll be figuring out, within each council, what are those tangible, concrete things that we can measure six months out from now.

- You know, I don't know how involved you are in the budgeting process, but do you think this kind of work would inform the kind of budgeting that the state does in the future for nonprofit groups that maybe offer some services to combat hate and things like that?

- Everything that I try to do, whether it's in the hate and bias prevention unit, or whether it's visiting distressed communities to better understand the dynamics on those grounds, is with an eye towards how we at the state level can better allocate our resources to empower communities in a more thoughtful, in more equitable way.

It's that simple.

And so, ultimately, we have to do all we can at the state level to be as informed as we can.

And that means be informed not, by just the folks who are very equipped to inform, but to be informed by everybody across the state, whether or not they have the capacity to share or not.

It is incumbent upon us to go there, to be present, to be seen, to be heard, and to listen to every community to better understand.

And I firmly believe that the better sense we have of that across the state, and the more we intentionally invest in these communities in meaningful ways, everybody benefits.

The economy grows, all around, in a holistic way.

And so it's a win for everybody.

- A rising tide lifts all ships, as one might say.

- Exactly.

- Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado, thank you so much for having this conversation.

- Thank you.

Appreciate it.