On this episode of Start Making Sense, Bhaskar Sunkara on New York’s seismic election, and E.J. Dionne on universities under attack.
Zohran Mamdani is seen at the 2025 NYC Pride March on June 29, 2025.(MEGA / GC Images via Getty Images)
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The surprise victory of democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani in New York City’s Democratic mayor primary over a well-funded establishment candidate shows that progressive politics, when pursued with discipline, vision and vigor, can win broad support. Bhaskar Sukara, President of The Nation and author of The Socialist Manifesto, has our analysis.
Also: After going to court to challenge Trump’s cut of $2 billion in federal grants, Harvard is now in negotiations with the administration, seeking “common ground” – raising fears that even the most established and wealthy university will submit to his demands. E.J. Dionne argues that authoritarians everywhere target universities, which everywhere are centers of resistance and defenders of democratic freedoms.
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The surprise victory of democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary over a well-funded establishment candidate shows that progressive politics, when pursued with discipline, vision, and vigor, can win broad support. Bhaskar Sunkara, president of The Nation and author of The Socialist Manifesto, has our analysis.
Also: After going to court to challenge Trump’s cut of $2 billion in federal grants, Harvard is now in negotiations with the administration, seeking “common ground”—raising fears that even the most established and wealthy university will submit to his demands. E.J. Dionne argues that authoritarians everywhere target universities, which everywhere are centers of resistance and defenders of democratic freedoms.
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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.
Republicans are spending hundreds of millions on the midterms, but their money hasn’t been able to counter the crisis of affordability, the disgust with Trump’s corruption, and the quality of many of the Democratic candidates. Harold Meyerson comments – he’s editor at large of The American Prospect.
Also: Katha Pollit argues that the gang rape at a Cornell fraternity party could have been stopped–if someone had bothered to intervene. But no one did. “Where were the good guys?” She asks.
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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.