The Future of Democratic Socialism
City Journal Audio
Manhattan Institute
4.8 • 615 Ratings
🗓️ 21 July 2025
⏱️ 43 minutes
🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS
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Summary
Charles Fain Lehman, Jesse Arm, John Ketcham, and Daniel Di Martino unpack the explosive rise of democratic socialism, spotlighting the Minneapolis mayoral race and Omar Fateh’s July 2025 endorsement, in which a Somali-American progressive won 43.8% of delegates. They explore how local elections are now test beds for socialist agendas, what America’s urban realignment means for conservatives, and how video podcasting is reshaping discourse in a media landscape. Along the way, they dive into cultural flashpoints—from concerts to classrooms—and why the right can’t afford to sit out the fight for the cities.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome back to the City Journal podcast. |
| 0:12.2 | I'm your host, Charles Fain Lehman, senior editor, City Journal. |
| 0:15.3 | Joining me on the panel today are Jesse Aram, responsible for all things external affairs, the Manhattan Institute, |
| 0:22.5 | John Ketcham, responds for all things, cities at the Manhattan Institute, and Daniel D. Martino, |
| 0:27.7 | who is abroad for the Manhattan Institute and also does immigration for the Manhattan Institute. |
| 0:32.6 | Daniel's reporting to us live from an undisclosed location in deepest Europe. |
| 0:38.4 | We can't, we can't say more about what his mission is or whether he's toppling communist governments, but it's, you know, you can, you can discern what his likely agenda is. |
| 0:47.4 | I want to take us right into the news of the day. |
| 0:50.1 | We're going to turn our attention to the city of Minneapolis where there's a now heated mayoral primary. |
| 0:56.5 | The incumbent is Jacob Fry, who some listeners may remember from all the way back in 2020 when he was mayor of Minneapolis during the George Floyd protests slash riots, which of course Floyd's death happened in Minneapolis. |
| 1:09.3 | So it was a big deal. He cried over the gold-plated-coffered. |
| 1:12.1 | It was a weird time. |
| 1:14.5 | He is now facing a challenge, a substantial challenge from the left in the form of Omar Fate. |
| 1:21.8 | Fate, yes, I'd like how to pronounce his name, who is self-professed Democratic Socialists, the first Somali and |
| 1:29.0 | first Muslim elected to Minnesota's state Senate, and he is now challenging Fry from the left |
| 1:37.1 | running on a platform that includes a variety of progressive hallmarks, raising the minimum wage, increasing the supply of |
| 1:46.5 | affordable housing, combating what he calls police violence. |
| 1:50.6 | So most notably over the weekend, the Minneapolis Democratic Party endorsed Fate over the incumbent. |
| 1:58.4 | It's a little unclear to me why exactly this happens. It seems like |
| 2:02.7 | there's a walkout by the fray delegates or some other objection. They're now planning to |
| 2:08.6 | challenge the endorsement at the state level. But it's an interesting sign to me. And I think |
| 2:13.0 | a common theme for us, which is the emergence of these left-wing candidates in major American cities. |
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