On this episode of Start Making Sense, Bhaskar Sunkara analyzes the constraints New York’s new mayor will face, and Dave Zirin comments on brain injuries among football players.
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani looks on as New York Governor Kathy Hochul speaks during the grand opening of the Urban League Empowerment Center in Harlem, New York City, on November 12, 2025. (Charly Triballeau / AFP via Getty Images)
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.
Zorhan Mamdani takes office in four weeks as the first socialist mayor of New York City. How should we understand the constraints he faces, without accepting those constraints? Bhaskar Sunkara has our analysis; he’s president of The Nation and author of ‘The Socialist Manifesto.’
Plus: Sports Talk on The Nation podcast! Of course Thanksgiving was a big weekend for football on TV – a weekend where millions of viewers got to see a festival of brain injuries — concussions after receiving blows to the head. Dave Zirin will comment – he's the long-time sports editor of The Nation and host of the Edge of Sports podcast.
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Zohran Mamdani takes office in four weeks as the first socialist mayor of New York City. How should we understand the constraints he faces, without accepting those constraints? Bhaskar Sunkara has our analysis; he’s president of The Nation and author of The Socialist Manifesto.
Plus: Sports Talk on The Nation podcast: Of course Thanksgiving was a big weekend for football on TV: a weekend where millions of viewers got to see a festival of brain injuries—concussions after receiving blows to the head. Dave Zirin will comment; he’s the long-time sports editor of The Nation and host of the Edge of Sports podcast.
Subscribe to The Nation to support all of our podcasts: thenation.com/podcastsubscribe.
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.
Minnesota changed everything: how Minnesota’s resistance to ICE provides a model and inspiration for a national pro-democracy movement. Deepak Bhargava will explains; he’s president of the Freedom Together Foundation.
Also: July 4 will mark the 250th anniversary of the United States, which Trump is celebrating with a campaign to “eliminate” what he calls “divisive anti-American ideology” from American’s historic sites, national parks, and the National Zoo. Historian Beverly Gage has another idea – a road trip to visit some of those places where history happened. Her new book is This Land is Your Land: A Road Trip Through US History.
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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.