On May 1, 2023, a subway car in New York City suddenly became the center of American political discourse and division when former Marine Daniel Penny killed homeless Michael Jackson impersonator Jordan Neely.
New York City was thrust into the spotlight overnight, exposing the deep political rifts and widespread anxieties gripping the nation as a whole.
In his latest book, Man in the Mirror: Hope, Struggle, and Belonging in an American City, journalist and New York Times bestselling author Anand Giridharadas takes a deep dive into what exactly happened in that subway car and what it reveals about the greater character of American politics as we know it today.
“We have lived in a climate over the last 11 years in which there’s a tremendous amount of messaging we are all absorbing creating a permission structure for DIY violence. So I wanted to understand what we could see about ourselves if we looked more closely in that subway car,” he tells Mehdi.
While people from all walks of life were present in that subway car, Giridharadas points to a shared feeling of “abandonment,” which he calls “the defining political emotion of our time.”
But how did we get here exactly? And why has this shared feeling of abandonment divided us more than united us?
In this 38-minute conversation, Mehdi gets to the bottom of these pressing questions and what they mean for the midterms and the 2028 presidential election looming ahead.
Paid subscribers can watch the full interview above, while free subscribers can access a five-minute preview. Consider upgrading your subscription to never hit a Zeteo paywall again!
And be sure to check out Giridharadas’s latest book, Man in the Mirror: Hope, Struggle, and Belonging in an American City. If you’ve already read it, feel free to share your review of the book in the comments below!
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