Podcast / See How They Run / Jun 29, 2024

What Can Jamaal Bowman’s Defeat Teach Us?

On this episode of See How They Run, Micah Sifry and Peter Beinart on 2024’s most divisive congressional primary.

The Nation Podcasts
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.

What Can Jamaal Bowman’s Defeat Teach Us? | See How They Run
byThe Nation Magazine

On this episode of See How They Run, Micah Sifry and Peter Beinart join D.D. Guttenplan for a discussion about 2024's most divisive congressional primary.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Representative Jamaal Bowman during a Get Out the Vote campaign event at Hartley Park on June 24, 2024, in Mount Vernon, New York.

Representative Jamaal Bowman during a Get Out the Vote campaign event at Hartley Park on June 24, 2024, in Mount Vernon, New York.

(Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images)

Last week, Jamaal Bowman–one of the most prominent progressive politicians in the country–was defeated in the primary for his New York congressional seat. The election laid bare many of the issues currently dividing Democrats: the battle between the establishment and the left, the role of money in politics, and, most bitterly, the party’s stance on Israel and Gaza.

So what does Bowman’s defeat tell us about the Democratic Party, particularly its left? On this episode of See How They Run, we’re joined by Micah Sifry and Peter Beinart to discuss how we think about the role of the Israel lobby, whose campaign against Bowman turned this race into the most expensive House primary in American history.

The Nation Podcasts
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.

Subscribe to The Nation to Support all of our podcasts

Your support makes stories like this possible

From illegal war on Iran to an inhumane fuel blockade of Cuba, from AI weapons to crypto corruption, this is a time of staggering chaos, cruelty, and violence. 

Unlike other publications that parrot the views of authoritarians, billionaires, and corporations, The Nation publishes stories that hold the powerful to account and center the communities too often denied a voice in the national media—stories like the one you’ve just read.

Each day, our journalism cuts through lies and distortions, contextualizes the developments reshaping politics around the globe, and advances progressive ideas that oxygenate our movements and instigate change in the halls of power. 

This independent journalism is only possible with the support of our readers. If you want to see more urgent coverage like this, please donate to The Nation today.

D.D. Guttenplan

D.D. Guttenplan is a special correspondent for The Nation and the former host of The Nation Podcast. He served as editor of the magazine from 2019 to 2025 and, prior to that, as an editor at large and London correspondent. His books include American Radical: The Life and Times of I.F. Stone, The Nation: A Biography, and The Next Republic: The Rise of a New Radical Majority.

More from The Nation

An armed Iranian police officer stands guard on an armored vehicle, monitoring the area during a state-run religious rally in downtown Tehran.

Iran Talks Near a Deal, Israel Ignores Ceasefires, Cuba Sanctions Expand Iran Talks Near a Deal, Israel Ignores Ceasefires, Cuba Sanctions Expand

Producer Jake regrettably had his pet rat confiscated after an ill-fated cruise.

Daniel Bessner and Derek Davison

Peter Thiel speaks at the Cambridge Union on May 8, 2024, in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire.

What Jeffrey Epstein Taught Peter Thiel and Steve Bannon What Jeffrey Epstein Taught Peter Thiel and Steve Bannon

Branko Marcetic on the fake populism of a sordid elite.

Jeet Heer

Elon Musk arrives to court at the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building on April 30, 2026, in Oakland, California.

Muskism Is the New Fordism—With Ben Tarnoff & Quinn Slobodian Muskism Is the New Fordism—With Ben Tarnoff & Quinn Slobodian

Podcast / Tech Won’t Save Us / Jun 29, 2024 What Can Jamaal Bowman’s Defeat Teach Us? Paris Marx is joined by Ben Tarnoff and Quinn Slobodian to discuss their new…

Podcast / Tech Won't Save Us

Hundreds of thousands protest as part of the No Kings Rallies on March 28, 2026, in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Radical Liberalism—With Alex Zakaras Radical Liberalism—With Alex Zakaras

Danny and Derek welcome to the show Alex Zakaras, professor of political science at the University of Vermont, to talk about the history and future of radical liberalism. 

Daniel Bessner and Derek Davison

Election Protection in the Midterms—Plus Racism and Antisemitism in the 1940s and ’50s

Election Protection in the Midterms—Plus Racism and Antisemitism in the 1940s and ’50s Election Protection in the Midterms—Plus Racism and Antisemitism in the 1940s and ’50s

On this episode of Start Making Sense, Ian Bassin of Protect Democracy talks about preparations for voting in November, and historian Steven J. Ross discusses the far right post-W...

Jon Wiener

FDR, the OG Antifascist—With Eric Rauchway

FDR, the OG Antifascist—With Eric Rauchway FDR, the OG Antifascist—With Eric Rauchway

On Fighting Fascism: What lessons can we learn from FDR's successes in battling the threat of American fascism in the 1930s?

x