The Political Cycle

America – and the global Left – has a new political hero: a 33-year-old Ugandan-born New Yorker called Zohran Mamdani. How did a former rapper become one of the most prominent voices in progressive politics in just a few short weeks? Emily Tamkin, in DC, is joined by Rohan Venkat to discuss Mamdani's rise, whether it offers a playbook for anti-Trump politics, or whether this is just another example of America's largest metropolis being out of sync with the country as a whole.

Here are the Cycle Recommendations from this episode:

• Zohran Mamdani’s victory proves it: The ‘gotcha’ mode of fighting antisemitism has to go
• Mamdani’s defeat of Cuomo offers Democrats a path out of the wilderness
• Roti, roses, and ‘Mr Cardamom’: How Zohran Mamdani won a seat in NY’s state legislature

Subscribe below to our contributors' Substacks:

• ET Write Home by Emily Tamkin
• India Inside Out by Rohan Venkat

The Political Tricycle is a Podot podcast.

It's presented by Emily Tamkin and Rohan Venkat.

Executive Producer: Nick Hilton.

Producer: Ewan Cameron

For sales and advertising, email [email protected]

To watch a video version of the show, go to COOLER.NEWS

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tensions in the Middle East have escalated once more this week, with Israel and Iran launching strikes against one another. Resolution remains unclear and the USA appears hesitant to act as peacemaker. 

India, given its close diplomatic relationships with both Iran and Israel, has often been seen as a mediator. But where does it stand, given how unrest in Iran could have huge economic and trade implications at home? 

Rohan Venkat discusses with Nicolas Blarel, Associate Professor of International Relations at the Institute of Political Science.

Here are the Cycle Recommendations from this episode:

• India Outside In #4a: What does Modi's 'unprecedented' outreach to the Gulf and Israel mean for India? 
• India Outside In #4b: Why India-US ties are central to Delhi's expanding West Asia presence
• The Nehru Years; An International History of Indian Non-Alignment by Swapna Kona Nayudu 
• India's world special issue
• azad essa's book hostile homelands
• Rhys Machold

Subscribe below to our contributors' Substacks:

• ET Write Home by Emily Tamkin
• India Inside Out by Rohan Venkat

The Political Tricycle is a Podot podcast.

It's presented by Emily Tamkin and Rohan Venkat.

Executive Producer: Nick Hilton.

Producer: Ewan Cameron

For sales and advertising, email [email protected]

To watch a video version of the show, go to COOLER.NEWS

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It has become common in India for political candidates to promise regular cash handouts to women who fall under a certain income threshold. Of course, they have to win their elections first. 

The cash handouts schemes have been the subject of increasing debate. Many are asking whether this is bribery, whether it is enough to live on, whether the government can afford it and whether it actually does anything to raise the political voice of women. 

Rohan Venkat and Emily Tamkin discuss with Raksha Kumar, reporting fellow at Global Press Journal.

Raksha's Substack.

Raksha's website.

Raksha's Global Press Journal series.

Here are the Cycle Recommendations from this episode:

• https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/04/indian-students-shock-trump-international-study-visa
• You're a bunch of cowards! – Hamilton Nolan
• https://adamtooze.substack.com/p/chartbook-390-beyond-la-logics-of
• From the Reuters Institute on misinformation

Subscribe below to our contributors' Substacks:

• ET Write Home by Emily Tamkin
• India Inside Out by Rohan Venkat

The Political Tricycle is a Podot podcast.

It's presented by Emily Tamkin and Rohan Venkat.

Executive Producer: Nick Hilton.

Producer: Ewan Cameron

For sales and advertising, email [email protected]

To watch a video version of the show, go to COOLER.NEWS

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Karol Nawrocki has won the race to be the next President of Poland. It follows a tense campaign, where the far-right Nawrocki was often labelled (by both critics and supporters) ‘the Polish Trump’. So who is the relative newcomer, how big was the margin, and what does this mean for Donald Tusk, the Prime Minister of Poland with a steadfast commitment to a united Europe?

Rohan Venkat and Emily Tamkin are joined by Anna Gielewska, co-founder and editor-in-chief of VSquare and co-founder of Polish investigative outlet FRONTSTORY.PL

Subscribe to Goulash, the VSquare newsletter.

Here are the Cycle Recommendations from this episode:

• Support from Trump lifts candidate in Poland's knife edge Presidential race – WSJ
• Polish compatriots and the Kremlin's network of support – VSquare
• When lawless cruelty becomes state policy – India’s casting of Rohingya into the sea

Subscribe below to our contributors' Substacks:

• ET Write Home by Emily Tamkin
• India Inside Out by Rohan Venkat
• Dividing Lines by Tom Hamilton

The Political Tricycle is a Podot podcast.

It's presented by Emily Tamkin, Tom Hamilton and Rohan Venkat.

Executive Producer: Nick Hilton.

Producer: Ewan Cameron

For sales and advertising, email [email protected]

To watch a video version of the show, go to COOLER.NEWS

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last week, two Israeli Embassy staff were shot and killed after leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in DC, Washington. Once arrested, the shooter reportedly said “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza.” 

The murders have raised questions about how far-reaching antisemitism is in the USA. Was this, for example, an act against Israel’s war or an attack on innocent Jewish people living and working in America? And does White House messaging have a part to play in this tragedy? 

Rohan Venkat and Emily Tamkin discuss. 

Here are the Cycle Recommendations from this episode:

• Certainty and Strange Thoughts - The Ideas Letter
• Even if the Capital Jewish Museum shooter ‘did it for Gaza,’ his actions were antisemitic - Forward
• May 2025 National Survey of Jewish Voters
• Yes to Transfer: 82% of Jewish Israelis Back Expelling Gazans - Haaretz
• Poll analysis: Trump’s approach to universities, Israel-Palestine, and antisemitism - Brookings
• Anti-Jewish attitudes have increased among anti-Israel Americans - Good Authority

Subscribe below to our contributors' Substacks:

• ET Write Home by Emily Tamkin
• India Inside Out by Rohan Venkat
• Dividing Lines by Tom Hamilton

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s now been more than a 100 days for Trump’s administration. The self proclaimed master of dealmaking has made international waves, with tariffs that have shaken (and confused) the world. But what do his deals look like now? And are politicians around the world starting to cotton on to how you keep him at bay? Is it just a case of giving him a large jet, as Qatar have done this week? The question for America is how can domestic opponents to Trump learn from his dealmaking abroad? Emily Tamkin and Rohan Venkat discuss.

Here are the Cycle Recommendations from this episode:

• Half of American Jewish voters believe Trump is antisemitic – Forward
• What does Trump want in the Middle East? – The Ghost of Abu Aardvark
• Trump did Riyadh. What did we just see? – The Ghost of Abu Aardvark

Subscribe below to our contributors' Substacks:

• ET Write Home by Emily Tamkin
• India Inside Out by Rohan Venkat
• Dividing Lines by Tom Hamilton

The Political Tricycle is a Podot podcast.

It's presented by Emily Tamkin, Tom Hamilton and Rohan Venkat.

Executive Producer: Nick Hilton.

Producer: Ewan Cameron

For sales and advertising, email [email protected]

To watch a video version of the show, go to COOLER.NEWS

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, India launched retaliatory attacks on Pakistani territory following last month's terror attacks that left 26 people dead in the tourist town of Pahalgam in Kashmir. That was the worst attack on civilians, on Indian soil, in 15 years, and it has reignited simmering tensions between the two nations, which focus on the disputed region of Kashmir. Operation Sindoor – as India has dubbed it – has been deemed a commitment to holding those responsible for the attack accountable, but the Pakistani authorities have denied all responsibility and promise their own reprisals. How dangerous is the situation between these two nuclear powers? How much of this escalation is being propelled by domestic political considerations? And will the international community – most importantly Trump's America – intervene? Emily Tamkin talks to Rohan Venkat about this delicate situation.

Here are the Cycle Recommendations from this episode:

• Bug-eyed and Shameless by Justin Ling
• Trump's first 100 days in 10 charts
• https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/pahalgam-terror-attack-jammu-and-kashmir-9963428/

Subscribe below to our contributors' Substacks:

• ET Write Home by Emily Tamkin (via Emily's Substack you can also listen to an ad-free version of the show)
• India Inside Out by Rohan Venkat
• Dividing Lines by Tom Hamilton

The Political Tricycle is a Podot podcast.

It's presented by Emily Tamkin, Tom Hamilton and Rohan Venkat.

Executive Producer: Nick Hilton.

Producer: Ewan Cameron

For sales and advertising, email [email protected]

To watch a video version of the show, go to COOLER.NEWS

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Canadians went to the polls this week and completed a staggering turnaround for the Liberal party. Having trailed hugely at the start of the year, a new leader – suave former central banker Mark Carney – has found himself elected, via a minority, as the country's next PM. Is this a victory for technocratic leadership? Or have Canadian voters simply wanted to demonstrate their ideological distance from Donald Trump, who has been battling Canada on trade and inflaming national pride with remarks about it being "the 51st state"? To look at this week's electoral shake-up, Emily Tamkin and Rohan Venkat are joined by political commentator and former Justin Trudeau speechwriter Colin Horgan.

Subscribe to Colin's Substack here!

Here are the Trike Recommendations from this episode:

• Bug-eyed and Shameless by Justin Ling
• Trump's first 100 days in 10 charts
• https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/pahalgam-terror-attack-jammu-and-kashmir-9963428/

Subscribe below to our contributors' Substacks:

• ET Write Home by Emily Tamkin (via Emily's Substack you can also listen to an ad-free version of the show)
• India Inside Out by Rohan Venkat
• Dividing Lines by Tom Hamilton

The Political Tricycle is a Podot podcast.

It's presented by Emily Tamkin, Tom Hamilton and Rohan Venkat.

Executive Producer: Nick Hilton.

Producer: Ewan Cameron

For sales and advertising, email [email protected]

To watch a video version of the show, go to COOLER.NEWS

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week's episode of The Political Cycle, we're talking to Yamini Aiyar, Senior Visiting Fellow at the Saxena Center for Contemporary South Asia, about a recent Foreign Policy report she's co-authored on the question of efficiency. With Elon Musk's DOGE bringing the idea to a mainstream audience, do we need to better interrogate the motives behind this trend? Here, she talks to our Cyclist Rohan Venkat.

Read Yamini's piece here.

Here are the Trike Recommendations from this episode:

• The Nehru Years: An International History of Indian Non-Alignment by Swapna Kona Nayudu
• Recoding America by Jennifer Pahlka

Subscribe below to our contributors' Substacks:

• ET Write Home by Emily Tamkin (via Emily's Substack you can also listen to an ad-free version of the show)
• India Inside Out by Rohan Venkat
• Dividing Lines by Tom Hamilton

The Political Tricycle is a Podot podcast.

It's presented by Emily Tamkin, Tom Hamilton and Rohan Venkat.

Executive Producer: Nick Hilton.

Producer: Ewan Cameron

For sales and advertising, email [email protected]

To watch a video version of the show, go to COOLER.NEWS

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

President Trump has been continuing his tornado of tariffs. Today, China was given a 104% tariff (naturally, this figure has changed in the few hours since we recorded). This has shocked the global economy, with stock markets around the world in fluctuation. But is this a tipping point? What recent global economic moments can we look at to guess what comes next? Is this anything like Brexit? Does it share similarities to India’s demonetisation? Emily Tamkin, Rohan Venkat, and Tom Hamilton discuss.

Here are the Trike Recommendations from this episode:

• https://alexmassie.substack.com/p/what-are-you-going-to-do-stab-me
• https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/09/opinion/trump-deportations-gulag-prison.html
• Foreign Policy: Efficiency Isn't Everything
• And a bonus extra: https://www.compactmag.com/article/liberation-now/

Subscribe below to our contributors' Substacks:

• ET Write Home by Emily Tamkin (via Emily's Substack you can also listen to an ad-free version of the show)
• India Inside Out by Rohan Venkat
• Dividing Lines by Tom Hamilton

The Political Tricycle is a Podot podcast.

It's presented by Emily Tamkin, Tom Hamilton and Rohan Venkat.

Executive Producer: Nick Hilton.

Producer: Ewan Cameron

For sales and advertising, email [email protected]

To watch a video version of the show, go to COOLER.NEWS

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.