Why do voters keep rewarding candidates with no realistic plan for fixing anything? Bradley argues that the far left's triumph in last week's New York primaries wasn't really about Israel or AI or the 1% — it was about tapping into anxiety rather than offering workable solutions. Then he turns his attention to Zohran Mamdani, who is riding a wave of historic approval ratings as he hits the six-month mark of his mayoralty. Bradley sees his early tenure as "a tale of two mayors," one as a successful politician, the other as a failing leader. "If you confuse his governing with Instagram likes," Bradley says, "that's a serious misunderstanding of the job." He closes with his ten favorite books of the first half of 2026, including a Stanford scandal exposed by a student journalist and a comedic novel imagining Trump running for a third term against a wrestler-mystic.

This episode was taped at P&T Knitwear at 180 Orchard Street — New York City’s only free podcast recording studio.

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