On Start Making Sense: Katrina vanden Heuvel and John Nichols break down their exclusive chat, and David Cole talks about the president's lawfare tactics.
Zohran Mamdani in Brooklyn on August 17, 2025.(Michael Nigro / Pacific Press/LightRocket 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.
In The Nation’s interview with Zohran Mamdani, he talks how he won the New York City Democratic primary for mayor, by addressing the city’s affordability crisis—and what the Democrats can learn from his victory. Katrina vanden Heuvel and John Nichols, who conducted the interview, introduce our excerpts and set the stage.
Also: It’s time to take a step back from the daily barrage of bad news to look at the big picture of the strategy Trump has been following: David Cole explains how he’s exploited the power of the federal government, not just to attack his political opponents – the Democratic Party – but to weaken the institutions of civil society, which form the bedrock of democracy.
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In The Nation’s interview with Zohran Mamdani, he talks about how he won the New York City Democratic primary for mayor by addressing the city’s affordability crisis—and what the Democrats can learn from his victory. Katrina vanden Heuvel and John Nichols, who conducted the interview, introduce excerpts and set the stage.
Also: It’s time to take a step back from the daily barrage of bad news to look at the big picture of the strategy Trump has been following. David Cole explains how he’s exploited the power of the federal government, to not just attack his political opponents in the Democratic Party but also weaken the institutions of civil society that form the bedrock of democracy.
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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.
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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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.