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Mamdani’s Momentum, plus The Radical Fund

On Start Making Sense: Bhaskar Sunkara comments on the tasks facing New York City’s new socialist mayor, and historian John Fabian Witt talks about left politics in the 1920s.

Jon Wiener

November 12, 2025

Zohran Mamdani, center, joined by members of his transition team, from left, Elana Leopold, Melanie Hartzog, Maria Torres-Springer, Grace Bonilla, and Lina Khan, in Queens, New York, on November 5, 2025. (Adam Gray / Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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Mamdani’s Momentum, plus ‘The Radical Fund’ | Start Making Sense
byThe Nation Magazine

As mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani will be the first socialist in American history to hold significant power. It’s a huge opportunity, and a huge responsibility. Bhaskar Sunkara, president of The Nation and author of “The Socialist Manifesto,” will comment.

Also: How a band of visionaries and a million dollars upended America – in the 1920s, which had some remarkable similarities to our own era. Award winning historian John Fabian Witt will explain; his new book is ‘The Radical Fund.’

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As mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani will be the first socialist in American history to hold significant power. It’s a huge opportunity, and a huge responsibility. Bhaskar Sunkara, president of The Nation and author of The Socialist Manifesto, will comment.

Also: How a band of visionaries and a million dollars upended America—in the 1920s, which had some remarkable similarities to our own era. Award-winning historian John Fabian Witt will explain; his new book is The Radical Fund.

Subscribe to The Nation to support all of our podcasts: thenation.com/podcastsubscribe.

The Nation Podcasts

Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.

May Day Action—Plus a Confederate Monuments Takedown I Start Making Sense
byThe Nation Magazine

In this week’s political rundown, John Nichols explains why Trump may never succeed at building any of his ICE prison camps, and how this Friday’s May Day strike is a test of our power to resist.

Also: MOCA’s “Monuments” show in LA critiques Confederate monuments that have been taken down in response to protests. Critic Christopher Knight has our evaluation. The show closes Sunday. (Originally broadcast Oct. 31, 2024.)

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Jon WienerTwitterJon Wiener is a contributing editor of The Nation and co-author (with Mike Davis) of Set the Night on Fire: L.A. in the Sixties.


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