Zohran Mamdani’s Social Media Triumph
On The Time of Monsters: Greg Sargent on the New York mayoral candidate’s peerless digital efforts.

The Time of Monsters podcast features Nation national-affairs correspondent Jeet Heer’s signature blend of political culture and cultural politics. Each week, he’ll host in-depth conversations with urgent voices on the most pressing issues of our time.
Writing in The New Republic, Greg Sargent called attention to Zohran Mamdani’s highly
effective media strategy which has allowed him to reach many voters that have been drifting
away from the Democratic Party, especially young people and immigrants. In punchy, short
videos, Mamdani has offered an optimistic message that celebrates big city life and diversity
while showing how government policies can help make life better. I talked to Greg about the lessons
of the Mamdani campaign. We also talk about strategies for investigating the Jeffrey Epstein scandal,
a subject he wrote about here.
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Zohran Mamdani, who won the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City, attends an endorsement event from the union DC 37 on July 15, 2025.
(Spencer Platt / Getty Images)Writing in The New Republic, Greg Sargent called attention to Zohran Mamdani’s highly effective media strategy, which has allowed him to reach many voters that have been drifting away from the Democratic Party, especially young people and immigrants. In punchy, short videos, Mamdani has offered an optimistic message that celebrates big-city life and diversity while showing how government policies can help make life better.
I talked to Greg about the lessons of the Mamdani campaign. We also talked about strategies for investigating the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, a subject he wrote about here.
Subscribe to The Nation to support all of our podcasts: thenation.com/podcastsubscribe.

The Time of Monsters podcast features Nation national-affairs correspondent Jeet Heer’s signature blend of political culture and cultural politics. Each week, he’ll host in-depth conversations with urgent voices on the most pressing issues of our time.
My Nation colleague Joan Walsh recently profiled Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff for the magazine. Georgia is very much a purple state. The fact that Ossoff won there and stands a good chance at re-election is evidence of his political talent, turning him into an increasingly prominent national figure. Joan and I talked about Ossoff’s background and the long struggle to transform Georgia, a formerly red state where Democrats are making headway.
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