#687 - Zohran Mamdani

Episode of This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von · October 1, 2026 · 1 h 18 min

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani tells Theo Von about city mismanagement, affordability, the DoorDash settlement, socialism, working with Trump, and Gaza.

Summary

Theo Von hosted New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who described growing up in the city after moving from Uganda at age seven and said he ran for mayor out of frustration that city leaders treated problems as unsolvable. Mamdani said his administration found a deficit of at least $12 billion, roughly double what the prior administration had projected, which he attributed to mismanagement rather than any external event, and described savings from renegotiated contracts and unused office space. He also recounted his work as a foreclosure prevention counselor in Queens, which he said convinced him that housing insecurity was systemic.

The two discussed whether the American Dream still exists, with Mamdani arguing it must become a guarantee rather than an ideal and citing Mayor Fiorello La Guardia. Mamdani highlighted a $131.5 million settlement his consumer and worker protection agency secured from DoorDash for underpaid delivery workers, a rent freeze for stabilized tenants, universal childcare, a planned municipal click-to-cancel rule, and plans for five city-run grocery stores. Both men discussed joining a nurses' strike picket line. Mamdani defined socialism as government guaranteeing what people need for a dignified life and credited the Democratic Socialists of America as his political home; Von described the current system as a kind of privatized communism driven by greed.

Mamdani described working with President Donald Trump despite disagreements, including pitching a federal partnership to build housing over Sunnyside Yard in Queens, and argued politicians should listen to rather than lecture voters, including the roughly one-third who did not vote. In the final segment, Mamdani said the United States should join the International Criminal Court and enforce its warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu, whom he called the architect of a genocide in Gaza, while stressing that Jewish New Yorkers are not responsible for Israel's actions and describing his administration's new plan to combat antisemitism.

Chapters

0:00
Introduction and background
Von introduces Mamdani, who recounts moving to New York at seven and calls it the most expensive city in the US.
2:07
Why run for mayor
Mamdani says frustration with leaders who treated problems as someone else's drove him to run.
4:01
Budget deficit and mismanagement
Mamdani describes discovering a $12 billion deficit, snow budgeting flaws, consulting waste, and Eric Adams-era corruption investigations.
11:06
Foreclosure counseling and the American Dream
Mamdani recalls his housing counseling work and the two debate whether the American Dream is still attainable.
24:36
Greed and the DoorDash settlement
Mamdani details the $131.5 million DoorDash wage settlement and plans for a worker data app.
32:45
Nurses' strike
Both discuss joining the nurses' picket line, staffing ratios, and why Mamdani rejected mayoral neutrality.
39:17
Early accomplishments and click-to-cancel
Mamdani lists childcare savings, pothole repairs, and an upcoming municipal subscription-cancellation portal.
41:40
Defining socialism
Mamdani defines socialism as guaranteed dignity while Von reflects on capitalism and corporate influence.
50:23
DSA and city-run grocery stores
Mamdani credits the Democratic Socialists of America and explains plans for discounted municipal grocery stores.
53:44
Working with Trump
Mamdani explains how he pitched the Sunnyside Yard housing project to Trump while maintaining disagreements.
58:37
Voters, partisanship, and hope
The two discuss pigeonholing voters, non-voters, and Mariame Kaba's idea of hope as a discipline.
1:05:08
Netanyahu, the ICC, and Gaza
Mamdani argues the US should join the ICC, separates criticism of Israel from antisemitism, and describes meeting Gazan families.
1:13:56
Closing reflections
Mamdani praises curiosity and cites Omar El Akkad on how views of atrocities shift over time.

Key points

What was said, by whom, with the exact words. Timestamps jump to the moment.

Zohran Mamdani
Mamdani says his administration found the city faced at least a $12 billion deficit, far above what the prior administration projected.
“And then we came in we looked through all the books and we found that at a best case scenario, we were at a $12 billion deficit”
Listen from 5:13 · New York City budget deficit
Zohran Mamdani
Mamdani says the city's snow removal budget was based on recent averages, leaving little money after several mild winters.
“the way we budget for snow removal services is as an average of the recent year's cost of snow removal”
Listen from 7:03 · New York City budget deficit
Zohran Mamdani
Mamdani says chief savings officers saved $94 million by renegotiating contracts without cutting services.
“So we saved $94 million just by renegotiating contracts to a better rate”
Listen from 8:10 · New York City budget deficit
Zohran Mamdani
Mamdani says his foreclosure counseling work showed him housing insecurity is systemic and cannot be solved by individual help.
“There is no amount of individual assistance I can provide that will stop this”
Listen from 12:40 · Housing affordability in the United States
Zohran Mamdani
Mamdani argues the American Dream must become a guarantee rather than merely an ideal.
“It feels like a thing you can believe in, not a thing you can live. And it needs to be a guarantee”
Listen from 14:30 · American Dream
Theo Von
Von says opportunity in America increasingly feels determined by birth and connections rather than work.
“It feels severely like there's like a trafficking of opportunity”
Listen from 22:57 · American Dream
Zohran Mamdani
Mamdani says city investigators found DoorDash underpaid or failed to pay more than 260,000 workers, leading to a $131.5 million settlement.
“they found that DoorDash was underpaying or not paying at all more than 260,000 workers”
Listen from 25:15 · DoorDash wage settlement
Zohran Mamdani
Mamdani says penalty money from the settlement will fund a city app letting delivery workers record their own data to cross-check DoorDash.
“we're developing our own app that the DoorDash delivery workers can use to record their use of the DoorDash app”
Listen from 32:05 · DoorDash wage settlement
Zohran Mamdani
Mamdani defends joining the nurses' picket line by rejecting the idea that mayors must stay neutral, citing Desmond Tutu.
“Desmond Tutu spoke about a long time ago that neutrality in the face of oppression is choosing injustice”
Listen from 38:13 · New York City nurses' strike
Zohran Mamdani
Mamdani says his universal childcare rollout has 2,000 families saving about $20,000 each.
“There's 2,000 families in the city that are now saving 20K that they would have otherwise spent”
Listen from 39:29 · Universal childcare
Zohran Mamdani Prediction · due Oct 2026
Mamdani predicts the city will launch the nation's first municipal click-to-cancel rule in October.
“Coming up in October, we're launching the nation's first municipal click to cancel rule”
Listen from 39:56 · Click-to-cancel rule
Zohran Mamdani
Mamdani defines socialism as government's duty to ensure everyone has what they need for a dignified life.
“Socialism to me, it means that you will have whatever you need to live a dignified life and that it is the government's job to deliver on that”
Listen from 42:31 · Socialism
Theo Von
Von argues the US operates under a form of privatized communism in which businesses effectively run the government.
“It feels to me like we're in this kind of privatized communism right now that people don't want to admit to a little bit”
Listen from 45:36 · Socialism
Zohran Mamdani
Mamdani says the city plans one city-run grocery store per borough offering a 30% discount on essentials.
“And we're going to have one city-run grocery store in each borough, and there's going to be a 30% discount on the essential items”
Listen from 53:20 · Municipal grocery stores
Zohran Mamdani
Mamdani says the Sunnyside Yard project he pitched to Trump would create 12,000 homes and 30,000 jobs.
“So this project would create 12,000 homes, 30,000 jobs, be the most homes in a single project since the early 1970s”
Listen from 56:17 · Sunnyside Yard
Zohran Mamdani
Mamdani says about 60,000 Trump voters also voted for him, showing voters want material change over partisan labels.
“about 60,000 New Yorkers who voted for the president voted for us in the election”
Listen from 57:36
Linked moment · 1:03:41Skip to 1:03:41 using a listen link in the info box.
Zohran Mamdani
Mamdani argues government must handle small problems like potholes alongside big programs to regain public trust.
“So that's why we're just as focused on a pothole as we are on universal childcare”
Listen from 1:03:41
Zohran Mamdani
Mamdani says the United States should join the International Criminal Court and enforce its warrants.
“But I believe that we should become a member, that we should enforce its warrants”
Listen from 1:05:52 · International Criminal Court
Zohran Mamdani
Mamdani says Jewish New Yorkers bear no responsibility for Israel's actions and that criticism of Israel is not inherently antisemitic.
“no Jewish person in New York City is responsible for the actions of the state of Israel”
Listen from 1:07:47 · Antisemitism
Zohran Mamdani
Mamdani argues criticism of Israeli state policy is not in itself antisemitic.
“critique of the state of Israel, the policy actions, the genocide, that in and of itself is not antisemitic”
Listen from 1:08:33 · Antisemitism
Zohran Mamdani
Mamdani characterizes Netanyahu's public criticism of him as an attempt to distract from responsibility for Gaza.
“all of this is an attempt to distract from responsibility. Name as many people as possible, try and make it into a back and forth”
Listen from 1:12:55 · Gaza war

People

In the conversation

Theo VonAmerican stand-up comedian and host of the podcast This Past Weekend
Zohran MamdaniNew York Democratic politician described by Pape as a left-wing parallel to Trump's rapid rise

Discussed

Eric AdamsFormer New York City mayor who pledged to protect Elizabeth Street Garden
Fiorello La GuardiaMayor of New York City in the 1930s and 1940s, called by Mamdani the city's greatest mayor
Sam LevineCommissioner of New York City's Department of Consumer and Worker Protection
Tony XuCEO and co-founder of DoorDash
Desmond TutuSouth African archbishop and anti-apartheid activist
Donald TrumpPresident of the United States whose conduct of the Iran war is the episode's main subject
Benjamin NetanyahuPrime Minister of Israel
Mariame KabaAmerican writer and organizer who describes hope as a discipline
Omar El AkkadWriter, author of One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This
Gerald FordFormer US president referenced in the 'Ford to City: Drop Dead' headline

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From the publisher

Zohran Mamdani is the 112th Mayor of New York City. He was previously a housing advocate and member of the New York State Assembly. Mayor Mamdani joins Theo to discuss overall mayoral stuff, catching strays from world leaders, and if the American Dream still exists. Zohran Mamdani: https://www.instagram.com/nycmayor/ ------------------------------------------------- Tour Dates! https://theovon.com/tour New Merch: https://www.theovonstore.com ------------------------------------------------- Sponsored By: Celsius: Go to the Celsius Amazon store to check out all of their flavors. #CELSIUSBrandPartner @CelsiusOfficial https://amzn.to/3HbAtPJ Acorns: Head to http://acorns.com/investinall and give your money the best chance at growth! Perplexity AI: Ask anything at https://pplx.ai/theo ------------------------------------------------- Music: “Shine” by Bishop Gunn Bishop Gunn - Shine ------------------------------------------------ Submit your funny videos, TikToks, questions and topics you'd like to hear on the podcast to: tpwproducer@gmail.com Hit the Hotline: 985-664-9503 Video Hotline for Theo Upload here: https://www.theovon.com/fan-upload Mail stuff to: ATTN: TPW PO BOX 40137 Nashville TN 37204 ------------------------------------------------ Find Theo: Website: https://theovon.com Instagram: https://instagram.com/theovon Facebook: https://facebook.com/theovon Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thispastweekend X: https://twitter.com/theovon YouTube: https://youtube.com/theovon Clips Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheoVonClips Shorts Channel: https://bit.ly/3ClUj8z ------------------------------------------------ Producer: Zach https://www.instagram.com/zachdpowers Producer: Trevyn https://www.instagram.com/trevyn.s/ Producer: Nick https://www.instagram.com/realnickdavis/ Producer: Andrew https://www.instagram.com/bleachmediaofficial/ Producer: Halston https://www.instagram.com/halstonrays/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adcho…

Summary, chapters and key points were generated from the episode transcript on October 24, 2026. Quotes are checked word for word against the transcript.

Categories: Politics·Government·News Commentary