On a Friday afternoon in mid-July, we grabbed the subway on 42nd Street and took the long ride—almost to the end of the line—to Astoria, the neighborhood that Mamdani represents in the New York State Legislature. We met him at an Afghan eatery that is one of his favorite hangouts: the Little Flower Cafe. As our conversation began, the candidate mentioned that, “it’s a joy to be here with you at Little Flower, because that’s the nickname of the greatest mayor in our history, Fiorello La Guardia, who took on these twin crises of anti-immigrant animus and the denial of dignity to working people, and did so with an understanding of what the fruition of democracy looked like.” That set the tone for our hour-long conversation, which featured frequent references to history and questions about Mamdani’s vision for governing, democratic socialism, and the direction of a national Democratic Party that doesn’t seem to know how to respond to him.

Nursing a pink chai, Mamdani took every question with an openness that struck us. But here’s the twist: While Mamdani was in good humor, and ready to speak boldly about this agenda, he was never glib. Rather, he did something that’s uncommon in modern political discourse. Again and again, after being asked a question, he would pause to think. The pauses were not uncomfortable or overly long, but it was clear that Mamdani wanted to respond with more than a recitation of talking points. His approach, in other words, is the antithesis to Donald Trump’s. We think you’ll feel this when you read our interview with him. We’re excited to share it along with the rest of our September issue.

—Katrina vanden Heuvel, Editor & Publisher and John Nichols, Executive Editor at The Nation

Not yet a subscriber of The Nation? Get one year of unlimited digital access for just $14.95.