How Zohran Mamdani Won, and What Comes Next

The Political Scene | The New Yorker

The New Yorker

Politics, Obama, News, Wnyc, Washington, Barack, President, Lizza, Wickenden

4.2 • 3.3K Ratings

🗓️ 12 November 2025

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The New Yorker staff writer Eric Lach joins Tyler Foggatt to discuss Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the New York City mayoral race, and what his time in office might look like. They talk about some of his early appointments to his administration and how his ambitious agenda may be at odds with other wings of the Democratic Party. They also look at how members of both parties are interpreting Mamdani’s win, and how the new mayor might respond to President Donald Trump’s threats to withhold federal funds from the city.

This week’s reading:

“The Mamdani Era Begins,” by Eric Lach
“Did Democrats Win the Shutdown After All?,” by Jon Allsop
“Laura Loomer’s Endless Payback,” by Antonia Hitchens
“In Gaza, Home Is Just a Memory,” by Mohammed R. Mhawish
“The Mess at the BBC Will Never End,” by Sam Knight

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey everyone, it's Tyler.
0:04.0	I'd like to ask for your help with something.
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0:32.1	You can find links to the survey in our episode and show notes. Thanks so much for listening
0:36.9	to The Political Scene from The New Yorker.
0:50.7	Hey, Eric.
0:52.3	Thanks so much for being here today.
0:53.8	Thanks for having me.
0:55.0	So you've been covering New York City politics for a long time now.
0:58.0	And obviously we're here today to talk about Zoran Mamdani.
1:02.0	He's the big story.
1:03.0	He began this race as a total long-shot candidate.
1:07.0	He drove unusually high turnout and he won at a moment when much of his own party's leadership was reluctant to support or to endorse him.
1:15.1	Does this moment remind you of anything we've witnessed in city politics before, or are we looking at something genuinely new here?
1:23.0	I think it's hard to overstate how much this is like something that just hasn't happened in city politics before.
1:31.4	Nice. I was hoping for that answer.
	...

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