The

The Hello and welcome to behind the news. My name is Doug Henwood. Minimal tech doom and gloom content today,

a departure from recent standards. What's not a departure from standards? Two guests, two segments.

With Zoran Mamdani in the news, the historian Gabriel Hetland will look to Latin America for models of municipal socialism.

And then the philosopher Leah Upi will talk about her new book,

an investigation of her family's past in and around Albania.

We in New York are very excited about our mayor-elect Zoran Mamdani. Well, not everyone,

of course. Wall Street and the so-called real estate community aren't, nor are bigots,

yahus, and other political reactionaries. Zoran's emphasis on

affordability in this very expensive city was key to his success, but contrary to the advice of

some class first types, he did so while also emphasizing what are sometimes disparaged as identity

issues, like immigrant and trans rights. Moundani's victory, a side benefit of which was the humiliation of the odious Andrew Cuomo,

was made possible by a huge political mobilization led by the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists

of America, who organized 100,000 volunteers, who knocked on two million doors, and transformed

him from someone who got 1% in the early polls to someone who got

more votes and turned out more voters than any other mayoral candidate in over 50 years.

He is a phenomenal political figure, smart and charismatic, but he wouldn't have gotten past

that 1% without that organization.

New York City DSA, an organization of which I should say have a member,

has done extraordinary work in changing the political landscape of this city. But what next?

Zoran has faced deep and dishonest hostility from those reactionaries and bigots, and it's only

going to get worse. There might be some lessons to be learned about how to conduct a socialist

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