Jonathan Mahler on ‘The Gods of New York: Egotists, Idealists, Opportunists, and the Birth of the Modern City: 1986-1990’

Larry Wilmore: Black on the Air

The Ringer

Society & Culture

4.8 • 3.6K Ratings

🗓️ 9 August 2025

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Larry is joined by New York Times journalist and author Jonathan Mahler to discuss his newest book, ‘The Gods of New York: Egotists, Idealists, Opportunists, and the Birth of the Modern City: 1986-1990,’ publishing on August 12. They begin their conversation by detailing why Jonathan decided to write the book and shining a light on the rich history of New York City that precedes the period it covers. Here, they focus on the infamous Howard Beach attack and the police response that led to the rise of Al Sharpton and a new age of public protesting (18:46). After the break, Larry and Jonathan take a look at the Wall Street crash of 1987-88 and break down how the AIDS epidemic affected both the gay and art communities in New York at that time (31:52). They end the pod by talking about Rudy Giuliani’s war against the mob, how the tabloids created Donald Trump, and filmmaker Spike Lee’s love letter to the city, ‘Do the Right Thing’ (38:43). Host: Larry WilmoreGuest: Jonathan MahlerProducers: Chris Sutton and Brandy LaPlante Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	As the 21st century was getting underway, Hollywood released a series of films that were daring,
0:07.0	entertaining, and absolutely unmissable.
0:09.0	Films like 25th Hour, Bring It On, Zodiac, and No Country for Old Men.
0:15.0	They arrived during the George W. Bush era, a chaotic time in America.
0:19.0	Think 9-11. Katrina, the mortgage crisis. After the Bush era, a chaotic time in America. Think 9-11, Katrina, the mortgage crisis. After the bush
0:24.5	years, the country would never be the same, and neither would Hollywood. I'm Brian Raftree,
0:31.9	and in my new limited series, Mission Accomplished, we're going to dive into some of the biggest
0:35.9	movies of the bush years.
0:39.5	And look at what they said about the state of the nation.
0:42.2	We'll go behind the scenes with filmmakers and experts.
0:45.5	And relive some of your favorite movies from the early 2000s.
0:49.0	From Donnie Darko to Michael Clayton, from Anchorman to Iron Man.
0:56.9	So slip on your sketchers, dig out your old Nokia, and join me from Mission Accomplished, starting August 12th on the big picture feed.
1:11.0	All right, welcome back, everybody. Boy, man, this is such a cool, cool, cool book.
1:14.8	This is the summer.
1:15.8	You need some good reading, you guys.
1:17.8	Good, solid reading.
1:19.6	There's enough just empty stuff out there.
1:22.3	You need something solid, you know, in your diet, you know?
1:25.5	And entertaining, by the way, very entertaining. So what we have this week, he's a great journalist, written for the Times, all kinds of places,
1:34.1	and of course, it's the author of, ladies and gentlemen, the Bronx is Burning, which is also a great book.
1:39.3	But now he's back with the gods of New York, egotist, idealist, opportunists, and the birth of the modern
	...

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