With just one week until Election Day in New York City, we’re reflecting on the past and future of the Democratic Party, Gracie Mansion, and the political home of mayoral hopeful, Zohran Mamdani. Mamdani is a Democratic Socialist, having campaigned alongside and accepted donations from members of the Democratic Socialists of America, a group with a clear, parasitic strategy towards the Democratic establishment and post-colonial West. What does this mean for our political parties? If successful, what does it mean for New York? And for our country?

James Kirchick is a journalist and the New York Times-bestselling author of Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington and The End of Europe: Dictators, Demagogues, and the Coming Dark Age. A contributing opinion writer to the New York Times, a writer at large for Air Mail, and a contributor to the Axel Springer Global Reporters Project, he has reported from over 40 countries and his writing has appeared in many publications including the Atlantic, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal.

Read the transcript here.

Subscribe to our Substack here.

The Trump administration continues to focus on achieving peace in the Middle East, navigating a fragile ceasefire and defining the conditions for a Palestinian future. Meanwhile, Putin’s war in Ukraine rages on, marked by stalled negotiations and continued bombardments. Both situations have proven more complex and unpredictable than the President initially hoped. Lately, Tomahawk missiles remain top of mind for President Zelensky, while Trump cancelled a proposed summit with Putin. What comes next for these two conflicts? And what can we do to ensure the good guys prevail in the end?

General Jack Keane is a retired 4-star general and the former Vice Chief of Staff of the US Army. He is also the Chairman of the Institute for the Study of War, a Fox News Senior Strategic Analyst, and a member of the Secretary of Defense Policy Board. General Keane has previously advised four Defense Secretaries and was a member of the 2018 and 2022 Congressional Commission on the National Defense Strategy.

Read the transcript here.

Subscribe to our Substack here.

After two incredibly long years, we are finally able to celebrate the return of all living Israeli hostages from the hell of Hamas. Absent specifics and relying on a long history of failed “new beginnings” in the Middle East, Trump’s 20-point Peace Plan begs the question, what comes next? With a successful Phase One and a fragile Phase Two, it is with cautious optimism that we ask: how will disarmament and demilitarization be successfully carried out in Gaza? What does this mean for Israeli politics and the looming election? And how will Western leftist groups react to the end of the fake “genocide”?

Dan Senor currently serves as the Chief Public Affairs Officer at Elliott Investment Management in addition to hosting his own podcast, Call Me Back. Mr. Senor served as a senior advisor to U.S. Senator Mitt Romney and former U.S. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan in their campaigns for national office. During the presidential administration of George W. Bush, Mr. Senor was based in Baghdad, where he served as chief spokesperson for the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq. Before that, he was a senior Defense Department official based in US Central Command in Qatar.

Read the transcript here.

Subscribe to our Substack here.