Now that Zohran Mamdani has won the New York City mayoral primary, the New York Times is asking the question, “Zohran Mamdani Says He’s a Democratic Socialist. What Does That Mean?” The article doesn’t provide much of an answer. Instead, it trots out my old bête noire, Sheri Berman, who offers up crisp nuggets of wisdom like this: “These labels are fuzzy.” If only the Times editors read their own paper. In the wake of the Bernie campaign and AOC’s election, the Times asked me to write a piece explaining the meaning of democratic socialism for a new generation. Since I think the piece holds up, and helps us understand some of the particular appeal of the Mamdani campaign—his focus […]