Podcast / The Time of Monsters / Aug 4, 2025

Zohran Mamdani’s Social Media Triumph

On The Time of Monsters: Greg Sargent on the New York mayoral candidate’s peerless digital efforts.

The Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer
The Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer

The Time of Monsters podcast features Nation national-affairs correspondent Jeet Heer’s signature blend of political culture and cultural politics. Each week, he’ll host in-depth conversations with urgent voices on the most pressing issues of our time.

Zohran Mamdani’s Social Media Triumph w/ Greg Sargent
byThe Nation Company LLC

Writing in The New Republic, Greg Sargent called attention to Zohran Mamdani’s highly

effective media strategy which has allowed him to reach many voters that have been drifting

away from the Democratic Party, especially young people and immigrants. In punchy, short

videos, Mamdani has offered an optimistic message that celebrates big city life and diversity

while showing how government policies can help make life better. I talked to Greg about the lessons

of the Mamdani campaign. We also talk about strategies for investigating the Jeffrey Epstein scandal,

a subject he wrote about here.

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

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

Zohran Mamdani, who won the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City, attends an endorsement event from the union DC 37 on July 15, 2025.

Zohran Mamdani, who won the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City, attends an endorsement event from the union DC 37 on July 15, 2025.

(Spencer Platt / Getty Images)

Writing in The New Republic, Greg Sargent called attention to Zohran Mamdani’s highly effective media strategy, which has allowed him to reach many voters that have been drifting away from the Democratic Party, especially young people and immigrants. In punchy, short videos, Mamdani has offered an optimistic message that celebrates big-city life and diversity while showing how government policies can help make life better.

I talked to Greg about the lessons of the Mamdani campaign. We also talked about strategies for investigating the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, a subject he wrote about here.

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

The Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer
The Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer

The Time of Monsters podcast features Nation national-affairs correspondent Jeet Heer’s signature blend of political culture and cultural politics. Each week, he’ll host in-depth conversations with urgent voices on the most pressing issues of our time.

What Jeffrey Epstein Taught Peter Thiel and Steve Bannon w/ Branko Marcetic
byThe Nation Company LLC

The late Jeffrey Epstein was friends with all sorts of elite figures in the US and many other countries. This extensive network is now sometimes described as “the Epstein class.” The question is, was this class held together merely by the opportunistic trading of favors or did it have a coherent worldview and agenda?

Branko Marcetic has written a series of articles in Jacobin that clarify this issue by looking at relationships Epstein had with the billionaire Peter Thiel and the political operative Steve Bannon

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

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

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.

Jeet Heer

Jeet Heer is a national affairs correspondent for The Nation and host of the weekly Nation podcast, The Time of Monsters. He also pens the monthly column “Morbid Symptoms.” The author of In Love with Art: Francoise Mouly’s Adventures in Comics with Art Spiegelman (2013) and Sweet Lechery: Reviews, Essays and Profiles (2014), Heer has written for numerous publications, including The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Virginia Quarterly Review, The American Prospect, The GuardianThe New Republic, and The Boston Globe.

More from The Nation

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 / Aug 4, 2025 Zohran Mamdani’s Social Media Triumph Paris Marx is joined by Ben Tarnoff and Quinn Slobodian to discuss their new book …

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?

Tim Cook, chief executive officer of Apple Inc., and Jared Kushner, founder and chief executive of Affinity Partners LLC, during a state dinner with Queen Camilla and King Charles III in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC.

Tim Cook’s Real Legacy at Apple—With Brian Merchant Tim Cook’s Real Legacy at Apple—With Brian Merchant

Paris Marx is joined by Brian Merchant to discuss Apple’s announcement that Tim Cook is stepping down as CEO, including his history and legacy, and what may be next for the compan...

Paris Marx

Hotel workers Alejandra Siciliano, Margarita Ramos, an organizer for Local 11, and Patricia De Rivera join a May Day rally in Los Angeles for International Workers’ Day and to protest Trump’s policies on Thursday, May 1, 2025.

May Day Action—Plus, a Confederate Monuments Takedown May Day Action—Plus, a Confederate Monuments Takedown

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.

Jon Wiener

x