Canvass Against the Machine: From the front line of the Mamdani campaign

After a brief hiatus due to vacation, COVID superspreading, and a flood event here in Chapel Hill, we’re back with our very first interview.

This week, we talk with our cousin Chiara Kimelia, Dartmouth student and freshly minted canvassing superhero, who hit the pavement for Zohran Mamdani’s historic, come-from-the-left win in NYC’s mayoral primary.

We explore the generational and community politics motivating voters to support Zohran, and how a campaign built on affordability and human dignity can beat Cuomo with a war chest.

Plus, Chiara shares what it was like watching U.S. imperialism from abroad, as she backpacked alone for a year after high school, then landed back on at Dartmouth, a university that called the cops on its own community.

Also in this episode:

• ​Medicaid got gutted.
• ​ICE is set to become the largest police force in U.S. history.
• ​Trump threatens to “take over” NYC.
• ​Israel explicitly plans to set up concentration camps.
• ​And we get rare good news from the North Carolina Democratic Party.

LINKS:

• ​Ryan Wang has some great shorts on the NC Dem Party’s resolutions for a People’s Primary + Israel arms embargo. Part 1: about the resolutions. Part 2: how they pulled it off. Part 3: what it all means.
• ​Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa, a wonderful piece of Palestinian fiction.
• ​Deaf President Now documentary. (Now streaming on Apple TV.)

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