CoffeePods
A series exploring Christian healing in a handy coffee-break sized podcast. Plug yourself in, pick up your mug of coffee, and let's go.
CoffeePods
How A Muslim Democratic Socialist Won New York And Why It Matters
What happens when a grassroots organiser, artist, and policy wonk speaks the language of a city that’s priced out and tuned out? We trace Zoran Kwame Mamdani’s journey from Kampala and Delhi family roots to the Bronx and into New York’s City Hall, charting how a Muslim democratic socialist turned small-dollar energy and multilingual outreach into a citywide mandate. Along the way, we cut through the noise: democratic socialism is not communism, and precision matters when fear is doing the talking.
We share why younger voters found Mamdani’s message compelling: affordability as a moral aim, rent caps that protect renters, ambitions for universal healthcare, and free buses that recognise mobility as opportunity. We look at “halal-flation” as a clever entry point to real economic pain, then examine how social media strategy can be more than performance—when it’s targeted, credible, and rooted in community. The money question looms large, so we lay out how PACs, mega-donors, and “can’t be bought” rhetoric collide with a campaign that actually won on votes, not cheques.
Then we widen the lens. Faith, identity, and power intersect when a Muslim mayor builds a coalition of clerics, educators, and activists across traditions. We talk candidly about freedom of conscience as a core Christian value, why coerced belief betrays the gospel, and how a plural public square can honour deep differences while pursuing shared goods. With church affiliation declining, we argue for a posture of generosity over panic, and use the orchestra as our metaphor: cities work when many instruments play in harmony, not when one note drones on.
We close by setting the stage for part two on Christian nationalism. If you care about affordable housing, transit justice, workers’ rights, religious freedom, and the next generation of leadership, this conversation is for you. Subscribe, share with a friend, and tell us: what kind of harmony do you want your city to play?
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Coffee Pods, a podcast of the Acorn Christian Healing Foundation, exploring what's happening in the world through the land of Christian Healing.
SPEAKER_00:It is so good to be back with a familiar face. This is great to have an excuse to uh to hang out with my son. Hey, hey, hey, it's good to be back.
SPEAKER_01:And today I think we're gonna be talking about Mamdani, the new mayor of New York City, and a few other things.
SPEAKER_00:Well, I kind of asked you, I said, what are some of the things that younger people were talking about these days? And you were like, well, politics and not just politics, but this one particular young politician who just recently won the mayoral race in New York City, which I guess doesn't really affect people in London, but it's kind of emblematic of a generational change. And I thought, yeah, that's actually a good thing for us to talk about, and then maybe talk a little bit more about Christian nationalism and what people under the age of 30 are thinking about religion and politics these days.
SPEAKER_01:So who is Zoran Kwame Mamdani, the new mayor-elect of New York City?
SPEAKER_00:Tell me about him. I I honestly don't know much about him other than the propaganda that's reached my social media feed, which is a lot.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, um, from lots of different sources, too, sadly. Well, uh, the first thing is Zoran Mamdani is a politician, and he is the first Democratic Socialist to be elected mayor of New York City. So that that title might scare some people, uh, but let's dive into who he is. So Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda, which most folks probably don't even know where that is.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Uh, but uh he his early years, his mom is uh uh a filmmaker and they moved around quite a bit. And Mamdani is of Indian descent, though he wasn't born in India. So he he kind of leapfrogged uh to a few places, but ended up in uh the Bronx in uh New York City uh at the age of seven, I believe.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so I guess since he was not born on U.S. soil, he can never be president of the United States, kind of like you, since you were born in England.
SPEAKER_01:Isn't it interesting that some some of the most American, air quoting that, people um uh out there can't lead the country because of that rule. Yeah. Uh but it which is uh some would argue is a shame. Uh but anyway, um, putting that aside, Mamdani is kind of a um uh a big wake in the political scene. So on social media, for those that aren't on TikTok and Instagram, as I mentioned earlier, Mamdani has kind of mastered the art of reaching young eyeballs, young, impressionable people on social media. And he's reached me on my social media. Yeah, and he's really uh uh created a stir. One of the best uh uh little trivia questions about Mamdani is that he's not only known for his uh uh politics, but before he went into politics, when he was in his early 20s, he actually did professional rap music. He was a rapper.
SPEAKER_00:No, I saw this young cardamom. Go ahead and make a rap for your nanny. It's a rap, get to gloss in the rack like that. The track that I listened to this morning, actually, because I knew we were talking about this, was something called Nani, which he wrote uh a rap tribute to his grandmother um from Delhi. Um his grandmother was a social worker in Delhi, and he made this really cool rap song about um his cultural pride and affection for his for his grandmother. So it's actually really cool that he's not just a politician, he's an artist. He's he's a creative and he's got a heart.
SPEAKER_01:I think he's such a fascinating guy. And for me, as a young person, it's so much more easy to access the way he speaks, what he represents, than maybe the older generation, the the Andrew Cuomos of politics.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Now I I don't want us to miss out on saying this guy comes from an amazing family because his mom went to Harvard. Um, you know, she's been an Academy Award nominee. She won a Cannes Film Festival Award as a filmmaker. And his father is a political uh theorist um who who went to Pitt and he went to Tufts, which is where your grandfather studied for a summer, and he got his PhD from Harvard in 74. And he actually teaches government at Columbia University right now. So, I mean, his parents are artistic and creative and religious and smart. And so, of course, this guy has has kind of risen up from this family system um to decide, hey, I can make a difference in the world not just by rapping, but but by actually getting engaged in politics. So I think it's great.
SPEAKER_01:I I think he's a he's so interesting. Uh, I I've been really enjoying learning about him and what he stands for. Um, I mean, some of the the big things you'll hear, the pop phrases he'll use are affordability, uh affordable housing, justice, Palestinian rights, which has got him in hot water with his election. Uh and uh there's there's a really funny one. So those were serious ones. There's a really funny one that's he made up a word in his campaign, uh which which is jotted down here next to me. Uh halal flation. New York is suffering from a crisis, and it's called halal inflation. Today, we're gonna get to the bottom of this. So, do you know what halal food is? So in New York City, people are mad that halal food was too expensive, and so he actually used that in his campaign as a joke, saying there's halal inflation, which I think is really, really genius.
SPEAKER_00:So within the Muslim communities, there's a rising cost, and he came up with a buzz term for that. Um, this is this is only been in he's he was elected like four or five years ago to the state assembly, so he's fairly new to politics, but my goodness, what a what a rising star he's become, you know. And I don't know all that much about him, but I just think he's he hit has sort of hit uh uh he's resonating with young people. And I think that's the part that I find deeply curious is that something's changing in the political scene where young people who speak the language of young people are suddenly stepping into the light as these 80 plus uh age people who celebrate their 40th year in Congress step aside. And and it does and again, we're speaking to the American political climate. We've got some notes about the UK political scene as well, but it it is just kind of a very interesting, American thing that's happening. Um, and I think that there'll be repercussions around the world with other uh young people coming into elected power.
SPEAKER_01:I think what we're seeing with uh uh uh Zoran is um something that uh we haven't seen before, or we haven't seen before to this extent. The the uh the fact that he's a Muslim man and the fact that he calls himself a democratic socialist, two big glaring red lights for some people. And also in terms of the uh the world of politics, uh, have become two places where he's been attacked. And I think it's uh talking about Zoran, I think we have to address uh um that I mean seems pretty obvious to say if you spend a couple minutes reading about him that he's not a communist.
SPEAKER_00:Um that's the thing I keep seeing over and over again that oh, we've elected a communist in New York City and a communist, communist, com because it's a word that for a lot of Americans, it it's it's red lights flashing, it's the Soviet Union, you know, and so people immediately go, oh, well, that Mundami's a communist, you know, and they even say commie, and um, and and so tell me how you know what's the difference between democratic socialism, which is what you just told me was his open stance, um, and and communism. Give me give me the whistle stop tour through the difference because I think it's important before we talk about religion, we're we're really setting a foundation here. How is he not a communist then?
SPEAKER_01:Uh so I I think it comes down to uh the way we govern. Uh I think communism is uh seizing the means of production. Uh it is uh it is a pure version of Marxism. Some people have even evolved into Leninism, uh, but it is a uh approach to how to govern. Democratic socialism is an a way of doing uh government in our system uh that some would see as better. So I think democratic socialism advocates for public control of essential services. I mean, mom Donnie talked about this a lot, housing and transport. He wants to have free buses and he wants to uh cap rent prices so landlords can't take advantage of their renters. He wants to uh push for, I don't know if he's gonna get this because it's America, universal health care. Right. Uh and his another really big thing he's pushing for is workers' rights. So there's lots of uh different things uh that might be confusing if you're trying to pick them out individually. Uh, but they the things he promotes all for the most part fall under the umbrella of democratic socialism, which is some limited government control.
SPEAKER_00:So we we uh we we pay for the military, we pay for police and fire service. So we already have a system which has some things that are paid for by taxes. He just wants to extend that a little bit farther to help more people, and that people suddenly think, oh no, that's communism because he wants, you know, communism's the abolition of private property and state control of all industry, and that's not at all what I'm hearing from him. I I mean, I think he he wants sensible government inreach into things that have become so dominated by capitalism and greed that the common person has been, you know, kind of thrown off the edge. And I think what what was the quote he said uh um I want to transform the most expensive city in America into one that's affordable to each and every person who calls it their home. I mean, that's a cool thing that his vision is um not let's all get rich, but it's let's all find joy and happiness where we live. And uh, but it is a it it is a a different way of doing life.
SPEAKER_01:I find it fascinating who funded his uh his opponents in the election and who funded him. So you have these, if for folks that don't know how American elections work, which a lot of people do at this point because Donald Trump became president, uh there are these things called PACs, uh, which are mega donors coming together to create basically a big pile of cash they can dump on candidates. Those packs usually have like common uh ground on topics they want to push for. So you have pro-Israel, you have all these other, I'm not gonna go into the details, you have all these other packs that stand for these big topics, these big issues.
SPEAKER_00:Most people around the world kind of go, are you kidding me? They allow people to pour money in to influence advertising on television, and so you can buy an election. Because that's what it sounds like when you're living in Europe and you're looking at America. You say, So a billionaire can give a bunch of money to tip the scales for a particular candidate who shares their ideology. That was done in England.
SPEAKER_01:Zoran calls it corruption, straight up. Yeah, out in the open. He'll go to rallies and say that is corrupt. Um, but what's fascinating is Mamdani won a massive election. This is the biggest city in America, the the center of capitalism, arguably. Yeah, and he didn't have hardly uh like in terms of money, in terms of support from PACs, it wasn't there. It was it was a truly, I would say, a grassroots movement, which is rare to see in the American political landscape, to see a guy that has risen to where he has risen to and is still rising, um, not be backed by billionaires, essentially.
SPEAKER_00:It's I mean, it is a very risky position to say I can't be bought. But in order to say that, you still have to be able to get the votes. And I think people were a bit surprised because suddenly the power of democracy is on full display. Because if democracy works, then that means that the candidates with the most votes win. And you know, you can grassroots movements with social media. Your generation knows better than anybody about virality and how you can take a video like he did on TikTok and suddenly you know six million views on a video of him on the New York subway, and you're going, yeah, oh, so that works, and that works a whole lot more effectively than a millionaire dropping uh, you know, two million dollar campaign contribution to do X, Y, and Z. The old way of doing politics, I think, is really gonna go away.
SPEAKER_01:I think uh the political landscape is radically changing because of social media and arguably not for the best. Um, I think that Mamdani figured out how to show solidarity to essentially every demographic under the age of 40 in a in in New York City. He he he just he blanketed social his social media with videos for every single demographic. He spoke the language, so the Latin ex population in New York City, he did Spanish videos, the Jewish population, he did videos with Jewish leaders for uh Arabic New York. I mean, this is so smart, so smart, and it worked.
SPEAKER_00:So he's not a communist. So that I think you've established to me that when I hear that, that I should go, that's just propaganda. He's not a communist. It sounds like he's a pretty nice guy. I don't know him, but I could imagine he'd be really fun to sit on the other side of a table and have dinner with and just talk. He's he seems interesting, just an interesting person.
SPEAKER_01:I I kind of want to transition the conversation into a place of talking about um religion, religion in our politics, religion in public life. What role does it play? Or are we better off just being secular and having a complete separation?
SPEAKER_00:I think that's a good transition because I think um his, you know, what's happened is you have you know religion and secularism and this idea of power all colliding, and so then Mandami's Muslim identity um becomes not just something that's personal for him, but it then it becomes political. And so his religion is front and center to how people suggest he will govern. And and so um I think it's very interesting that he was actually backed by a coalition of uh clerics of different religions, of educators, of activists. Um, you know, so he he was actually he was raised in a family that celebrated both Islamic and Hindu traditions. So, you know, because this sort of reflects his Ugandan Indian heritage at home. And so I think this maybe you can speak more to this, but this idea of pluralism um is so vital, but also becomes very threatening to some people because he had all the support from all these different religious leaders and people across religious lines. So tell me when you see that, you you don't seem threatened by the idea of a pluralistic uh political leader. In fact, you seem to feel more comfortable with the notion that somebody can dance in the presence of a multicultural reality.
SPEAKER_01:I think that um freedom is a beautiful thing. Uh I think that somebody that promotes such a freedom uh is the sort of person I'd want in office. I think Mamdani uh really pushes for individual freedom, individual expression, uh, allowing you to believe and and worship or not worship in the ways you want. I think we're coming out of an age, um I mean since uh Rome practically um where uh everything is determined for you to a certain degree, there's an expectation of um how to act. I mean, uh an example of this is in in France where uh I am right now. Um when you go to drink a certain type of wine, in some households, there is a certain glass that goes with that wine. And if you, like I did once, go over to the cabinet and pick the wrong glass, you will you will be told, well, then how could you how could you drink wine out of uh white wine in a sherry glass or in a champagne glass? Or giverts out of uh whatever glass. Right. Um it it's it's it's still real, and it but it it's like ripples. A big stone has dropped in the water, and what we're experiencing is little ripples of human tendency almost. Uh and I think Mamdani is the ultimate uh rhythm breaker of that. Uh, because he just says, no, do your own thing, enjoy your life.
SPEAKER_00:I like that, a rhythm breaker. It's a that's a good way of putting it because he he really does kind of step into the flow of a world that said um, you know, ultra wealth is is success, and Christianity is the most important thing. And and so these ideas were the bedrock of Western society, and he's kind of stepping into that stream and saying, No, you you know, there are a lot of good people in lots of different uh places and different nations with different religions and different ideas. We can love each other and be very, very different, and we can still enjoy each other's fellowship and not feel threatened, but everybody wants to eat a crust of bread, everybody wants to eat, everybody wants to have a happy family, and everybody wants to watch TV and play video games and do the things that make you happy.
SPEAKER_01:I think a Christianity that forces everyone to be Christian or to follow the ideas of Christianity ceases to be Christian. I think a a the Christianity I follow is a Christianity of freedom of individual expression.
SPEAKER_00:I'm gonna say the word force that you use there is the one that jumped out at me. Christianity that forces anything ceases to be Christian. Because I don't think Jesus was about forcible discipleship. If he if God wanted us to conform and and would force conformity, then there would be no other religion on the earth because Almighty God would simply say, All of you are little robots and I control you, but he gave the world freedom to love and experience God, and then I'm a Christian too, and so I believe he sent his son to basically show us the way. And Jesus embodies love and generosity in the world, and so that's kind of my plumb line where I go to try and figure out, you know, what's the right way to deal with these things? Oh, well, what would Jesus do? And that seems trite and silly, but I think it works. I think it's a really good thing.
SPEAKER_01:And to round out this thought, I I I'll provide some numbers. So in the 1990s, 86-90% of Americans identified as Christian. So fast forward 2005, that figure dropped to 78%. And now it's it's under 62%. So there is a radical decline. But I I like the idea that the church, the the Christian faith is like an orchestra. Instead of we we all we all are the same instrument, we we we are a collection of individuals with our own rhythms creating our our music together.
SPEAKER_00:Exactly. And imagine an orchestra all playing the same note. How boring. How boring. I watched a thing about the making of the Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the score behind that. And Williams is just a master. And he talks about how he how he came up with even the the pitches for the spacecraft speaking to the people. You know, dun dun dun dun. And and it's something so simple, but imagine if it was just ba ba ba ba. Just the same note, that'd be boring. Christianity is about the color, and he again, the Steven Spielberg was like, Oh, yeah, this music, we should have color. And so he creates a disco light show in Close Encounters to accent this incredible music, to to tell this the story of the encounter with this alien, this alien people, that it becomes a dance of color, a dance of music, and ultimately a dance with Richard Dreyfus being taken by the hand and led into the mothership.
SPEAKER_01:You know, it's a let's uh let's dance into something not so fun. Christian nationalism. Oh my gosh. I just went from Spielberg and wonderful art to something not so wonderful.
SPEAKER_00:You're gonna need a bigger boat.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, that's it. That's it. I feel like I'm getting that brings us to the end of the first part of this two part episode. We really hope you enjoyed this one. Don't forget to like, follow, and subscribe for more.
