His name might not be on the ballot this November, but New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is undoubtedly one of the most influential figures in American politics right now. After his barrier-breaking victory late last year, Mamdani has emerged as the face of the no-holds-barred progressive movement and has spent the season leveraging his rising capital to shape races with a string of endorsements.
In this episode of Stress Test, co-host Garrison Hayes sits down one-on-one with Mayor Mamdani in front of a live audience at The New School’s Tishman Auditorium during Climate Week NYC—for an event co-presented by Mother Jones, Capital B, and the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
With the midterms looming, Mamdani dives into an issue rapidly redefining the political landscape: the nationwide AI data center building boom. He breaks down why the surging demand for energy and resources it creates isn’t just a tech story but an urgent, kitchen-table climate issue motivating voters across party lines. And, naturally, any chat with Mamdani manages to find its way to New York’s basketball heroes, the Knicks.
But with an unexpected, headline-grabbing guest visiting Gracie Mansion just days before the event, there was only one place Garrison could start: Why does Donald Trump like him so much?
“The conversations that we have are not just those of a mayor and a president,” the mayor said after quelling laughter from the audience, “but also of two New Yorkers—two New Yorkers who have many differences of opinion, but two New Yorkers who also do love this city.”
“As long as someone can help the city, I’ll talk to him,” he added.
Climate change has been an almost daily stressor, the mayor told the audience. “We’ve been in office for close to ten months. And in that time, one out of three days, we have been in a flash flood emergency. One out of three days. And that is staggering to me, because it is a distillation of the fact that the climate crisis is fundamentally changing our day-to-day realities.”
Mamdani sees a sea change in climate messaging that can connect with the voting public. “For too long it has felt like the way that climate is treated in public discourse is almost as if it’s a concern that some can afford to have, while others have to deal with more immediate crises,” he told Garrison, pointing to real-world impacts like rising insurance rates and aging flood infrastructure. “This is not a luxury concern.”
In particular, Mamdani sees hope in the way data centers have galvanized local resistance across the country. “I think there are a lot of people who care about data centers who might not even understand that care is a climate concern,” he explained. “When you look at data centers and you look at the opposition to it, it goes beyond one party. It is one of the most bipartisan issues in this country right now. And that also shows that that, too, could be the coalition against the climate crisis.”
We’ll be back with another episode of our midterm pop-up podcast next week. Subscribe so you don’t miss a show: youtube.com/motherjones.