Zohran Mamdani

On the 1 January 2026 Zohran Mamdani takes office as New York’s first ever Democratic Socialist Mayor. Bryn Griffiths of the Labour Left Podcast sat down with Professor Theodore Hamm to ask him how Zohran got elected and to consider what will happen next.

To help us answer these questions, about possibly the biggest success of the international left in 2025, Bryn interviewed Professor Theodore Hamm, aka Ted, the Chair of Journalism at New York’s St Joseph’s University. He writes for the New York City based Indypendent, Jacobin and most importantly of all he’s just published the book Run Zohran Run!

Ted Hamm and OR Books spotted Zohran Mamdani’s potential before he made his breakthrough in the Democratic Primary in the summer of 2025. So, Ted, based in New York, had exclusive Access to Zohran before he became an international celebrity. He also spoke to many Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) activists about their amazing campaign.

In the interview we speak about Zohran’s background and political evolution.

We consider how the DSA’s success was based on an approach to coalition building and clear campaigning objectives that the whole of the international left would do well to learn from.

Inevitably Zohran’s campaign, like Corbyn’s Labour Leadership in the United Kingdom, was subject to vicious and unjust smears of antisemitism. But this time the smears didn’t work because Zohran’s campaign was what Rachel Shabi, a previous Labour Left Podcast guest, called in her recent Substack The Mamdani Masterclass on Antisemitism. The podcast takes an in depth look at how Zohran held his ground and what lessons the international left can learn from his example.

It will not be lost on our English readers that a democratic socialist seizing office in a major western city is not without precedent. In the podcast we look at the Ken Livingstone precedent and how, as John McDonnell put it when he appeared on the podcast, elected socialists must see themselves as both In and Against the State. What could Zohran learn from the Greater London Council? What should Zohran expect from Trump and how might he resist the inevitable attacks?

2025 has been a good year for the Labour Left Podcast. Our largest number of viewers and listeners is still on You Tube but you can now subscribe to watch us on Substack and we are of course on every podcast site you can think of. Spotify tell me that our listeners in the podcast audio format are on the up. In 2025 the podcast audience was up 999% and we have 1.8k new listeners. Reassuringly for a long form podcast Spotify tell me that subscribers listen to the Labour Left Podcast for longer than 92% of other shows. During 2025 we added a video format choice for our Spotify subscribers and they tell me that the show was in the top 10% of videos on Spotify.

You can watch the podcast on YouTube, Apple Podcasts Audible, Substack and listen to it on Spotify You can even ask Alexa to play the Labour Left Podcast. If your favourite podcast site isn’t listed, just search for the Labour Left Podcast.

If you subscribe you can catch up on our 20 plus episodes back catalogue. The top episode of 2025 was the former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell. Other big hits have included Andrew Fisher the man behind the 2017 manifesto For the Many and not the Few and Rachel Shabi the author of The Truth Behind Antisemitism.

Bryn Griffiths is an activist in Colchester Labour Party and North Essex World Transformed. He is the Vice-Chair of Momentum and sits on the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy’s Executive.

Bryn hosts Labour Hub’s spin off – the Labour Left Podcast. You can find all the episodes of the podcast or if you prefer audio platforms (for example Amazon, Audible Spotify, Apple etc,) go to your favourite podcast provider and just search for the Labour Left Podcast.

You can purchase Ted Hamm’s excellent book Run Zohran Runat OR Books for the reduced price of £12 at orbooks.com.

In the latest edition of the Labour Left Podcast Bryn Griffiths talks to Mark Perryman the editor of the best book on Keir Starmer so far, The Starmer Symptom.

Mark comes from a different political place to me so I really looked forward to our discussion. In the 1980s I was supporting Tony Benn alongside Jeremy Corbyn and selling Brighton Labour Briefing in my local Labour Party. Meanwhile Mark was a member of the Communist Party and part of the Marxism Today team which was occasionally unimpressed by those of us on the Labour Left.

Historically Mark Perryman came from what was called the soft left so it was always going to be interesting to see how far our paths have converged in the face of the Starmer-McSweeney axis. Previously I had interviewed Neal Lawson of Compass and the brains behind the new soft left grouping Mainstream and concluded that ‘The hard left and the soft left are talking again’ so the signs were good.

When Labour Hub published its first Labour Left Podcast episode two years ago with Liz Davies as our guest, we set ourselves the big task of considering the all-important strategic question of how does the Left and in particular the Labour Left make a comeback? It is this strategic question which dominates the podcast.

We start by discussing the role that Marxism Today played in the 1980s during the period of Thatcherism. Mark states in his book that ‘my front is popular’ so I press him on what exactly that statement means to him. What flows is a valuable discussion about coalition building. Key to the discussion is the concept of pluralism.

I like to draw upon Antonio Gramsci’s ideas. So, Mark reveals the thinking behind the title of the book.

Having grappled with the concepts that underpin Mark’s thinking we get down to the daunting task of applying them to today. So, prepare for wide ranging discussion where we consider how we should understand Labour’s sandcastle majority? How can we beat Reform? What’s Labour like according to Morgan McSweeney?

A common theme amongst those of us that criticised Marxism Today was that it was great on the diagnosis of the new challenges we faced; but not so good on the prescription of what we should do about the challenges so effectively described. In the interview I challenge The Starmer Symptom on exactly the same grounds. So, much of the interview is taken up with pushing Mark to set out his strategy to win. Along the way we discuss the launch of Mainstream, economic policy, responding to the Deputy Leadership contest, proportional representation and more.

By the end of the podcast, you will appreciate that Mark Perryman is always up for a robust debate so why don’t you invite him to speak at your local Labour Party political education meeting? Mark would be delighted to come and discuss his essay ‘Testing the limits of Labourism’ and he will share 50% of the book sales on the day to help fund the event. If you are interested mail him at Mark@Perrymanemails.net for a booking.

I don’t usually tell you in advance who the Labour Left Podcast class hero of the month is going to be but given Mark’s choice I feel I must. Mark chose our wonderful late comrade Mike Marqusee. I loved the discussion that ensued. If like me you knew and admired Mike, I am sure you’ll enjoy the nomination which occurs at the end of the episode.

Bryn Griffiths is an activist in Colchester Labour Party and North Essex World Transformed. He is the Vice-Chair of Momentum and sits on the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy’s Executive.

Bryn hosts Labour Hub’s spin off – the Labour Left Podcast. You can find all the episodes of the podcast here or if you prefer audio platforms (for example Amazon, Audible Spotify, Apple etc,) go to your favourite podcast provider and just search for the Labour Left Podcast.

Mike Phipps of Labour Hub previously reviewed Mark Perryman’s The Starmer Symptom and you can find the review here.