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BIANNA GOLODRYGA, ANCHOR: Hello, everyone, and welcome to “Amanpour and Company.” Here’s what’s coming up.
Prince William, in his own words. From Rio de Janeiro, we bring you Christiane’s sit-down interview with the royal on climate and making a
better world for his children.
Then, Mamdani’s moment. We look at his historic win in New York and what the other election results tell us about the state of play today.
Plus, notes on being a man. Professor Scott Galloway talks to Hari Sreenivasan about why he believes American men are in crisis.
Welcome to the program, everyone. I’m Bianna Golodryga, New York, sitting in for Christiane Amanpour.
World leaders are heading to Brazil ahead of the upcoming U.N. Climate Summit there. COP30 will be held in Belem, the gateway to the Amazon, but
comes at a worrying time for climate action. Two-thirds of the nearly 200 countries that signed up to the 2015 Paris Climate Accord have failed to
meet a deadline to publish new climate plans, with officials now admitting that the target of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees above pre-
industrial levels is effectively dead.
So, is there somewhere to look for hope? One of the highest-profile attendees is Britain’s Prince William, and he is in Brazil to attend the
conference on behalf of the king. But before that, he’s hosting his own gathering for his annual Earthshot Prize. It’s in its fifth year and awards
$1.3 million to each of five prize winners who are finding on-the-ground solutions to repair our planet.
Today, Christiane moderates the Earthshot Impact Assembly, speaking to finalists and world leaders making a difference. And as part of that
assembly, she sat down with the man at the center of it all, Prince William.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, I mean, this has been very inspiring. A lot of incredible finalists, a lot of optimism
and action and really hope. You’ve been in the five years — this is a 10- year action project. I mean, I think you’ve sorted through thousands and thousands of finalists. You’ve got hundreds of partners and apparently 75
actual solutions. What have these tangible efforts done and are you satisfied with the progress so far midway?
PRINCE WILLIAM, Founder, Earthshot Prize: Christiane, I think it’s days like today that there’s a chance for a bit of a reflection as to, I can’t
quite believe we are at the halfway mark of the 10-year plan of the decade of change that Earthshot was there for.
I’m so pleased and impressed by what the Earthshot’s achieved but most of all by the finalists, the winners and all the Earthshot community that are
out here. They’ve risen to the challenge. They’ve managed to do everything that we’ve asked of them. They’ve managed to go and secure their deals.
They managed to scale their products. They’ve managed to build networks between each other and people they’ve never seen before. And I think we’ve
challenged them at every turn to be bolder, be better, be ambitious, reach for the stars.
The Earthshot’s job around that is to really be the glue that holds it all together. And I think when we first started talking about this as a
concept, optimism was the key word we always wanted to use because as you saw on the screen here, urgency and optimism equal action. And there’s an
awful lot of pessimism going around.
And I think you can feel today that the positivity and the sort of feeling of hope and we can do this from every single person. I mean, they’re the
brains and they’re the fantastic people who are going to do what we need to do. And they’re going to bring the planet into a better, healthier state
than it’s ever been before.
So, you know, the transformational impacts that these guys have had has been truly phenomenal but we are only halfway and we’ve got the five years
to go.
AMANPOUR: You’ve touched on not just the optimism and the impact but also essentially the community. It is a community that believes in the same
thing and is motivated. I know you believe in the power of community. Tell me a little bit more about that. Not just for Earthshot, but in general.
PRINCE WILLIAM: Yes, I think this space needed somewhere to come together. It was very fragmented. And I think for those who want to do good and those
who feel they can and as most of the solutions are highly commercial, this is not a philanthropic activity, you need to find that space, that
community where everyone can feel that they’ve got the space to grow, they’ve got the support and they’ve got the direction. Many of these guys
and girls, they’ve got incredible solutions but might need a little bit of help over here.
They might need a bit of mentoring over here. They might need an introduction over here. The Earthshot provides that family to allow them to
go on and be the best they can be.
AMANPOUR: I’m interested in the inspiration and the motivation behind you taking on this mission. Essentially, it is a mission. Today, there was an
amazing picture that’s gone viral all over the U.K. of you standing at the statue of Christ the Redeemer and they compare it to your mother standing
there back in 1991, I want to think it was that year. And she of course was prominent in — basically in humanitarian activities and mind clearing, but
your father also was prominent and some would say — many would say ahead of the curve on climate environmental conservation. Did he motivate you,
inspire you? Because it’s interesting to know how you got to this point.
PRINCE WILLIAM: I think it’s a combination of all of that. I’m very lucky to be in this position and use my platform for good. And whenever I’m doing
stuff, I’m constantly analyzing where best can I use my platform for the greatest impact. And talking about the Earthshot was always an idea that
positivity and a positive message to anyone brings out the best in them.
There’s a lot of negativity, a lot of telling people off, don’t do this, don’t do that, it doesn’t work. And as you can see, you give the right
people the right tools and resources, they flourish and the impact they can have is truly phenomenal.
AMANPOUR: What about storytelling? One thing I as a journalist see is that many powerful leaders, both political and in fact industry leaders, tend to
roll back climate progress, tend to demonize it, weaponize it, let’s say.
Obviously, they have a vested interest, but do you think there’s a dearth of this kind of storytelling that we’ve heard today, these kinds of
positive reinforcements? And I wonder what your view is on that and what you tell your own young children about climate and planet care.
PRINCE WILLIAM: I think exactly on that last point, Christiane, it’s really important that the next generation believe there is change coming
and there is hope that things can change and get better. I’ve always believed in that positivity and that positive message.
But I think I’m inspired by these guys, that’s what gets me up in the morning when I think about Earthshot, that’s what’s given me the motivation
and the energy to keep going. And the community that’s come around them has been truly phenomenal. I’d like it to be bigger and at many points this is
a rallying call for those businesses and those people who out there who may not have had contact with the Earthshot Prize before, may be interested,
they need to come and meet these people because once you’ve met them and you’ve heard them, you realize this is not anything that’s, you know, it’s
not philanthropic, it’s not a nice thing to have, they’re commercial products that are going to make life better, they’re going to create jobs,
they’re going to do incredible things for the planet and they’re going to make our lives better and healthier.
AMANPOUR: You and the Princess of Wales are also very, you have another big project which is mental health and I ask this in view of the children,
your children, the world’s children who are forced to watch on their iPhones wars, wildfires, you know, destruction, all sorts of really
difficult things that has affected them a lot. We even hear about children because of the climate disaster not wanting to grow up and get married and
having a family of their own.
What do you think about trying to mitigate that fear for them? Is it something like the earth shard? Is it the hope that you can tangibly show
people the action?
PRINCE WILLIAM: Definitely. Again, I think a world without hope and a world without positivity is a pretty depressing place. And I think it’s
really important that we produce solutions. We don’t just talk about things all the time, we’re actually producing solutions and these finalists, these
winners are producing solutions that we all need to see in here.
Climate anxiety is a real thing. I hear about it wherever I go now. Lots of younger generation are saying, what kind of a planet are we going to
inherit? And I think that message needs to go wider and louder and the younger generations need to be heard more. I mean, I had a fantastic
session with the youth of all parts of the world dealing in the environment and their message was very strong, which is that please let our voices be
heard more and we don’t want to be a box ticked. We want to be actually heard and seen and listened to.
And again, that inspires me that I’ve got to find out ways to help them be seen and heard more because there’s a lot of noise out there as you hinted
at, and we have to find ways for these brilliant people who are going to ultimately save us and the planet to restore and protect ourselves. We have
to find a way to allow them to be heard more.
AMANPOUR: So, you know that you’re somebody that people all over the world look to. They follow your every action, every word including some of the
stuff you’ve been doing recently publicly. I’ve watched with great interest the encounter you had with the great writer and producer Eugene Levy and
you talked about a lot of things and it looked to me like you were humanizing the monarchy and it was very interesting to hear where you
focus.
But something that drew a lot of interest was when you said to Eugene, I think it’s safe to say that change is on my agenda. Change for the good. I
embrace that and I enjoy that change. I don’t fear it. And you went on to say, I want to make sure that this is a job that impacts people’s lives for
the better. I want to create a world in which my son is proud of what we do.
And, you know, given the fact that, you know, there’s been a lot of change in your own family recently and you yourself have talked about this change,
just talk about that a little bit. Where do you see the change? What do you think needs to happen?
PRINCE WILLIAM: I think the Earthshot Prize is a classic example of change. Rather than talk about it, we’re doing it. And that’s where I want
it to be, is that these people in here are the true action heroes of our time and change will come by backing them, not by what I do. And so, I want
to surround myself with people who want to make change and do good in the world.
AMANPOUR: Is that what you meant when you told Eugene that you want your son to be proud of that kind of change?
PRINCE WILLIAM: Yes, I think it’s really important. Again, it’s — you have to provide a leadership and a vision that there’s good things to come
and that it’s not all negative. And for my children particularly, knowing that the planet’s going to be in a healthier, better state because of the
brilliant people in this room is something that I love to tell them when they go to bed. It’s like, it’s going to be great. Your future is going to
be as bright as the future’s gone by. And that’s a really important message for all of us to hear.
AMANPOUR: So, we heard from the mayor who gave you the keys to the city, Mayor Paes. We heard from the environmental minister. We’ve heard from the
indigenous community. And you’re going to Belem to give the COP speech on behalf of His Majesty the King. What do you think is special and why did
you choose Brazil and this city particularly for the Earthshot Prize this year?
PRINCE WILLIAM: Well, the mayor will kill me unless I do a big up piece for Brazil here. But obviously, Brazil, I mean, it’s incredible. We’ve all
seen it here. The natural beauty, the charm, the people, the environmental leadership that Brazil have produced is incredible. And you couldn’t find a
better place in Latin America to come to than Brazil for Earthshot.
Obviously, them hosting COP30 is a big deal. In Belem, the mouth of the Amazon, I think we felt very strongly that there was no other better
contender to host the Earthshot Prize to give that platform and to give that mouthpiece. You heard from some of the indigenous leaders. You heard
from the government. They really deeply care about the environment down here. And again, if we give them the tools and resources to impact that
change, then Brazil and the world will be a better place.
AMANPOUR: On that note, thank you so much. Your Royal Highness Prince William.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GOLODRYGA: All right. A message of hope from Prince William there. Also, today in Rio, Christiane spoke to one of the most outspoken world leaders
on climate change, Prime Minister Mia Mottley, whose country Barbados is on the front line of this crisis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIA MOTTLEY, BARBADIAN PRIME MINISTER: We’re going in the right direction, but not fast enough. This is a climate crisis, not just an emergency. And
the reality is that it takes cash to cure. It takes cash to build. You already know that we didn’t cause it, but we’re the ones who will be
increasing our debt to be able to fight it. You only have to look at what you saw in Jamaica, in Cuba, in Haiti, with Melissa.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Well, next, we turn back to the U.S., where the Democrats had an impressive sweep of election results across the country last night. By
far the most notable was the victory of Zohran Mamdani, an avowed Democratic Socialist who will become New York City’s first Muslim mayor and
its youngest in more than a century.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZOHRAN MAMDANI, NEW YORK MAYOR-ELECT: Conventional wisdom would tell you that I am far from the perfect candidate. I am young despite my best
efforts to grow older. I am Muslim. I am a Democratic Socialist. And most damning of all, I refuse to apologize for any of this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: In less than a year, he emerged from relative obscurity to topple the Cuomo political dynasty, offering a campaign that focused
relentlessly on affordability. In New Jersey and Virginia, Mikie Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger both defeated their GOP opponents for governor,
though with a much more moderate and centrist message than Mamdani.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKIE SHERRILL, NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR-ELECT: We’re going to follow Lady Liberty’s beacon. We’re not going to give in to our darker impulses. Here
in New Jersey, we know that this nation has not ever been, nor will it ever be, ruled by kings.
ABIGAIL SPANBERGER, VIRGINIA GOVERNOR-ELECT: We sent a message to the whole world that in 2025, Virginia chose pragmatism over partisanship. We
chose our commonwealth over chaos.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Let’s bring in two guests well-placed to assess this all. Brian Lehrer is a long-time journalist and radio host on WNYC, a familiar voice
to so many of us New Yorkers. And Ron Brownstein, another familiar face for all of our viewers, a veteran journalist and political analyst. Welcome,
both of you. And we’re all going to become familiar with the faces we’re going to be discussing in this next segment.
But let me start with you, Ron, because you wrote last night that this quote sent an unmistakable warning to Republicans. What was the number one
metric that you took away from last night’s results that convinces you this wasn’t perhaps just a blue state or even purple state one-off, but a real
message to Republicans?
RON BROWNSTEIN, BLOOMBERG OPINION COLUMNIST: Yes. The role of Donald Trump in the results. I mean, this was an election that showed that despite all
the, you know, oddities that surround Trump, the fundamental things apply.
In the 21st century, Bianna, without question, the dominant force in the outcome of off-year elections have been voter perceptions of the incumbent
president. And all year, strategists in both parties have questioned whether that relationship would hold this year because voters are really
down on Democrats. Democrats had their weakest public image probably since the late 1980s.
What we saw last night, I think, confirmed what I’ve written and what we’ve seen in other elections. Views of the party out of the White House don’t
matter nearly as much as assessments of the president who is actually in the White House. In Virginia, 58 percent of voters said they disapproved of
Trump, and over 90 percent of them voted for Abigail Spanberger. In New Jersey, it was 55 percent disapproving of Trump, and again, over 90 percent
voted for Mikie Sherrill.
Even Jay Jones, the scandal-tard Virginia attorney general candidate, won 89 percent of voters who disapproved of Trump. And what that says to
Republicans is that if you’re in a red state where Trump is popular, that’s fine, but if you’re in a purple or blue state where his approval rating is
well below 50 percent, you are going to face the conventional headwind that candidates face when a president from their own party is that unpopular.
That’s the message to Republicans. They really don’t want to hear it, but I think it’s pretty inescapable after last night’s results.
GOLODRYGA: And, Brian, from your perch, which notably is in a blue state and a blue city, nonetheless, what are you hearing from viewers and
listeners, and do you agree with Ron’s takeaway from last night?
BRIAN LEHRER, RADIO HOST, WNYC: I do agree with Ron’s takeaway. I think we saw it very much here. Mikie Sherrill the governor-elect of New Jersey was
on my radio show today for a little victory lap segment and she definitely hung the fact that she exceeded the polls. It was supposed to be a very
close race and she won by like 13 points on the fact that her opponent Republican Jack Ciattarelli hugged Trump so closely.
In their last televised debate they were each asked to grade the president’s performance in office so far this term. She gave him an F.
Ciattarelli gave him an A and I think that very much worked against Ciattarelli, especially as the government shutdown has worn on and people
SNAP benefits are being cut off. Trump also said he was terminating an important rail project between New York and New Jersey. And I think those
things came back to haunt the Republican even though he argued that he would be better positioned to work with Trump because he was in his party.
GOLODRYGA: Yes, Ron, New Jersey is an interesting case study here because though it went blue last year in ’24. It was closer than many Democrats
would have liked to see and thus there was a lot of concern within the party as to how this race would end up and as we just heard, you know, 13
points is a significant win for Mikie Sherrill. And you suggest, and I think you’re right here, it does show especially in a state like New Jersey
where we did see more black men, Hispanic men lean towards Trump independence as well in ’24 that their votes are still up for grabs.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes. Look, I think I think New Jersey was the most important outcome last night because as you suggest, Bianna, it really encapsulated
what happened in 2024. The most important gains Trump made in 2024 were among two groups working-class minorities nonwhite voters without a college
education and among young people, and he significantly improved among both groups in New Jersey in 2024.
Well, those gains roll back all across the country last night. You know, those non-college nonwhite voters were exhibit A for Republicans after 24
who wanted to argue that Trump had executed a lasting realignment in the electorate. Well, last night Mikie Sherrill won 76 percent of those non-
college nonwhite voters according to the exit polls and Abigail Spanberger won 85 percent of them in places like Passaic and Perth Amboy and Union
City Newark with large Hispanic and/or black populations, the gains Trump saw in ’24 were completely erased. Sherrill equaled or exceeded the
Democratic advantages from before that ’24 election something very similar in Virginia.
It doesn’t mean those voters are necessarily reliable Democrats again. It does mean though. I think that the predictions of realignment were
premature and they are now swing voters available to whichever side they think will do better at improving their lives. And right now, they don’t
think they’re getting that improvement in their daily finances that they voted for and expected under Trump.
GOLODRYGA: OK. Let’s talk about the earthquake just a few miles over a bridge or under a tunnel from New Jersey to New York and that is the
victory for Zohran Mandani. He went from a little-known assemblyman with not much experience at all to mayor-elect of the largest city in the
country with more than 50 percent of the vote and huge turnout.
And as we’ve been discussing throughout this campaign, he has embraced his being called a social Democrat. He’s taken pride in that and really focused
on shifting where the party was headed at least here in New York City and running an effective campaign not only because of his charisma, but also
because of the issues that he chose to run on.
Ron, first to you. What, if anything, do you think Democrats are picking up nationwide from this win? Is this a New York alone story or is this
something where we’re going to see others trying to mirror what he did?
BROWNSTEIN: So, I think in two respects. It’s a bigger than New York story. The generational change aspect of what happened last night is
unavoidable Democrats want younger more energetic leaders second a common theme between Mandani, Sherrill, and Spanberger is they focus on
affordability, cost of living issues, the same issues that boosted Trump in ’24 are now buffeting him and other Republicans.
I don’t think this means you are necessarily going to see socialist candidates running and winning all over the country or even in the 2028
Democratic primary. What it says to me is that there is a lane for that kind of candidate in the 2028 Democratic nomination field. I mean, Mamdani
clearly touched a cord among a segment of particularly younger Democrats. And what it says to me is that if a centrist is going to win, which I still
think is the most likely outcome, they’re going to have to win.
I mean, they’re going to have to run a good race because I think this shows there is an audience for this kind of message, even if I am skeptical —
still skeptical that it is a majority of Democratic primary voters nationwide much less and some of the purple states will have to win in
Senate and House contest next year.
GOLODRYGA: OK. Brian, well, for Mamdani the hard work begins in just a few weeks’ time for him because the honeymoon will be relatively short. His
term starts January 1st. He’s taking charge of a hundred billion dollar plus budget, about 300,000 city employees. Albany drops its budget in April
and then we’ll see what sort of support he gets from the state. He did get an endorsement from the governor, but if he doesn’t get his core policies
funded, everything that he’s promised on the campaign trail. What does that mean for him in his tenure?
LEHRER: I agree that success is going to be the measure of whether Mamdani style candidates pop up more around the country, as you and Ron were just
discussing. But I also agree with Ron that affordability trumped if you will just about every other consideration in this election in New York as
in New Jersey. And so, there are Zohran Mamdani may be a Democratic Socialist and Mikie Sherrill more of a moderate, but in a way, they won the
same way.
You know, I had all three New York City mayoral candidates on my show yesterday on Election Day for closing arguments and I asked each one of
them, what’s the one signature policy that you would like last-minute undecided voters to keep in mind of yours when they enter their polling
places? And Andrew Cuomo said I’ll add 5,000 police officers to the NYPD. Zohran Mamdani said, I will work hard to achieve universal free childcare
in New York City.
And I think that was really emblematic or let’s say the result of the election was really emblematic in how in a hope versus fear election hope
and affordability over concerns about crime actually — you know, definitely carried the day.
To your question about the state legislature, Mamdani did by the end have the governor and the two legislative leaders, the leaders of the two houses
of the New York State Legislature behind him, and I would think that they will try to help Mamdani achieve that number one goal, universal free
childcare. Maybe they will even do what Andrew Cuomo as governor did when Mayor Bill de Blasio back in 2014 was seen as audacious when he proposed
Universal 3k. And Cuomo adopted it and said, oh, yes Universal 3k for New York City. I want credit for this. I’m going to give it to the whole state.
Maybe Governor Hochul and the legislative leaders will do the same thing, but we’ll see.
And only if it succeeds may you see more Democratic Socialist candidates popping up to successfully, I think, challenge moderates and Democratic
primaries for Congress next year.
GOLODRYGA: Well, perhaps de Blasio was ahead of his time, but no one is defining him as America’s mayor or New York’s mayor. We know where his
popularity stood and on the issue of hope versus fear, you’ll recall it was just a few years ago at the height of the pandemic where this city was
really plagued by fear and concerns about crime.
So, on the one hand while Mamdani today may be saying his focus is on affordability and free child care there are concerns even though he walked
back his defund the police support, but now, you know, this is going to become his own problem. How does he balance that, Ron?
BROWNSTEIN: Well, I think I think one thing left of center Democrats have learned in urban settings across the country is that ensuring public safety
and not only public safety but public order in the broken windows kind of sense is kind of the fact — is kind of the ante for being out for the
voters allowing you to do anything else.
I mean, you cannot really be seen as failing to prioritize that mission. That doesn’t mean giving the police unions everything they want, but it
does mean I think keeping a front and center focus on people feeling safe and making progress against the inevitable, you know problems of crime and
disorder in big urban settings, and I think Mamdani — I think the evidence is very clear from coast to coast, whether some of the progressive DA’s or
some of the mayors who have been defeated, if you if you take your eye off that ball, it almost doesn’t matter what else you achieve.
But if you achieve that, these kind of left-leaning electorates and urban centers will give you a lot of rope to do the other things you want. And
we’ll see whether he has the political skill and kind of shrewdness to recognize that and to kind of follow the course that I think that has been
laid out more in the negative by other mayors who have failed to do so.
GOLODRYGA: Brian one more question before we move on on Mamdani, because obviously his foil here in this election was Donald Trump. And there’s a
complicated relationship between New York City, his hometown, and this mayor and this election here. Cuomo, I’m not sure, embraced that
endorsement that he got begrudgingly a couple of days ago on the eve of the election from President Trump. But we also know that President Trump has
not held back in terms of characterizing the entire Democratic Party as Zohran Mamdani. And his campaign and his platform calling him a communist.
Mamdani last night in his acceptance speech spoke directly to Trump. Here’s what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAMDANI: New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants, and as of tonight, led by an immigrant.
So, hear me, President Trump, when I say this, to get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Brian, a powerful statement, but is that a smart one or do you think this just gives President Trump even more opportunity or ammunition
to do what he has pledged to do if he doesn’t like what he sees from the mayor of New York City, and that is withhold federal funds from the city
and overall just make life more difficult for everyday New Yorkers?
LEHRER: Well, it’s a really good question, and you definitely captured the tone of Mamdani’s victory speech with that clip. And he even went further
and he spoke directly to President Trump and said four words of advice, turn up the volume. And I take that to mean as he’s really saying, bring it
on. He’s spoiling for a fight.
How Trump is going to respond to that certainly remains to be seen. What levers Trump actually has to hurt New York City in the name of hurting
Mamdani and making the whole Democratic Party look bad next year remains to be seen. But he may have many, and this mayor may not work out well for the
new mayor.
I do want to say that I thought that Trump’s endorsement of Cuomo may have been — and I can’t prove this, but I have a theory that maybe it was kind
of three-dimensional chess aimed at turning voters against Andrew Cuomo in New York, where Trump is very unpopular and helping Mamdani win rather than
actually trying to help Cuomo win because Trump may see more to gain in having Mamdani as a foil next year for the midterms than he has to lose in
seeing Mamdani as a Democratic socialist be elected mayor of New York.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. I’ve heard others really toy with that idea too. I mean, it’s a complicated one because it’s not that Cuomo and Trump are close
allies by any means, but they have worked together. They’ve known each other for many, many years. And some would say, listen, Trump really cares
about New York City. It’s a city where he comes from. But at the end of the day, you have a point too, the man just wants to win. And if that means
that it’s against a foil like Mamdani, you know, Cuomo be damned. We’ll see.
Ron, let me turn to the bigger dynamic within the Democratic Party because no doubt a victory, but it’s still undetermined what these victories mean
for the direction the party is headed in or should head in, because you had these two governor’s races where moderate candidates won. We obviously talk
about what happened here in New York City.
And it’s crazy how quickly time flies, because I was telling our producers this morning, I remember hearing sound from Abigail Spanberger, which I
thought came last year after the election, where there was audio released of her speaking to other Democrats about lessons learned for the party and
that they shouldn’t go too far-left and should not use the word socialist at all. Let’s play that sound. It actually was from 2020.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SPANBERGER: We want to talk about funding social services and ensuring good engagement and community policing. Let’s talk about what we are for.
And we need to not ever use the word socialist or socialism ever again. Because while people think it doesn’t matter, it does matter. And we lost
good member because of that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: I would venture to think her views haven’t changed much from that statement, Ron. So, what does this say about the fight for the soul
and the future of the Democratic Party that we’re about to see in the months and years to come?
BROWNSTEIN: Well, I think it’s going to be fought out like on the field, on the ballot box. You know, I mean, Mamdani is no more the leader of the
Democratic Party today than Rudy Giuliani was the leader of the Republican Party in the 1990s and the early 2000s. He’s the mayor of New York City.
And what works to get elected in a primary and a general election in New York City is very different than what will get you nominated, much less
elected statewide in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, Nevada, kind of the last swing states in American politics.
You know, as I said before, I think in 2028, I think the evidence is pretty clear that there is an audience in the Democratic coalition for the Mamdani
style politics, AOC style politics. It’s not at all clear that is a big enough audience to win a 2028 presidential nomination, but it is big enough
to kind of be the foundation of a candidacy.
So, if there is going to be a more centrist nominee in 2028, they’re going to have to find a way to run and win a big enough coalition, sort of the
way I think Gavin Newsom, by the way, is doing it by combining fighting Trump really hard with moving to the center on a lot of issues, what I call
confrontational centrism, and basically betting that if you are seen as standing up to Trump enough, it will liberate you from the obligation to
have to check a lot of left litmus tests in the primary process.
But, Bianna, this is going to be decided in Democratic primaries in 2026. It’s going to be decided above all in the Democratic primary for
presidential nomination in 2028. And, you know, that’s where it will be fought out and we’ll see which side prevails. I will bet that the nominee
looks more and sounds more like Spanberger and Sherrill than Mamdani today. I mean, I think that’s a fairly safe bet, but there’s no guarantee. And,
you know, someone actually has to deliver that on the field.
In some way, this debate is kind of exhausting and abstract, I think, because this will be decided state by state based on the nature of the
Democratic coalition in those states and what Democratic voters think can win in those states. James Carville once said to me, every voter is now a
political consultant. You know, they’re not only wondering about — they’re not only deciding on who they want, but particularly in these swing states,
who they think other people will accept. And I think that’s a factor that could limit the appeal of someone like Mamdani.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. OK. We got through so much. We still didn’t get through Prop 50 and redistricting. So, we’ll deal — we’ll talk about that in the
days to come. Brian Lehrer, Ron Brownstein, thank you so much. Really enjoyed this conversation.
BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having us.
GOLODRYGA: We’ll be right back after this short break.
Now, is society experiencing a crisis of masculinity? Our next guest argues that a host of cultural and economic issues have promoted
unhealthy perceptions of masculinity, resulting in toxic behaviors and relationships. NYU professor and podcast host Scott Galloway joins Hari
Sreenivasan to discuss his new book, concentrating on where conversations around masculinity have gone wrong.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARI SREENIVASAN, INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Bianna, thanks. Scott Galloway, thanks so much for joining us. You just wrote a book called
“Notes on Being a Man,” about the crisis affecting young boys and men. And on a recent podcast, you said, no group has fallen faster in America than
young men.
Lay out the kind of problem case for us. Why is this book necessary for young men today? I mean, why aren’t they being prioritized?
SCOTT GALLOWAY, AUTHOR, “NOTES ON BEING A MAN”, PROFESSOR, NYU STEM SCHOOL OF BUSINESS, and Host, “Prof G” Podcast, Co-host “Pivot” Podcast: Hari,
always good to see you. Thanks for having me. So, the data is pretty stark. If you go into a morgue and there’s five people who’ve died by suicide,
four are men. They are three times more likely to be addicted, three times more likely to be homeless. So, when we say we have a homeless problem and
an addiction problem, it would be fair to say we have a male homeless and a male addiction problem. One in seven men are now referred to as NEETs, and
that is neither employed in education or in training.
Only one in three men under the age of 30 is in a relationship, and two in three women under the age of 30 are in a relationship. And you think, well,
that’s mathematically impossible. It’s not because women are dating older, because they want more economically and emotionally viable men. And the
result is, I believe that we’re slowly but surely producing or evolving a new breed of or a new species of asocial, asexual males. It’s as if we’re
planning our own extinction.
And if you look at the most violent, looking to the ramifications here, if you look at the most violent and stable society in the world, they have a
preponderance of one thing, a disorderly amount of young men with a lack of economic or romantic opportunity. So, I think it’s a real problem. And
unfortunately, I think that the unearned privilege of men of my generation has resulted in a lack of empathy for young men who don’t have the same
opportunities that I had.
SREENIVASAN: You kind of break down parts of your code into three roles that men should be playing. They should protect, provide, and procreate.
Break that down for us.
GALLOWAY: Well, I think at a capitalist society, when I talk about not necessarily about the way the world should be, but the way it is, I think
men need to be economically viable. And I think a decent place to start as a man is to bring the focus and energy and discipline and pursue
certification such that you can be economically viable. Show the discipline that you can make some money and save more than you spend.
And assume that you should take economic responsibility, which sometimes means to get out of the way and be more supportive of your partner who
might be better at this whole money thing. Because I think, unfortunately, our society disproportionately evaluates women on their aesthetics, and it
disproportionately evaluates men on their economic viability.
But the whole shooting match, the whole reason you get strong, smart, certified, and establish some prosperity is that your default operating
system should be to move to protection. And that is, if you think about the most masculine jobs, whether it’s a fireman, a cop, or someone in the
military, at the end of the day, what they’re really doing is protecting.
And, Hari, I know you have kids. I feel most at ease and most as if I have purpose. When I know my kids are safe, my partner feels noticed. And I feel
good about myself. I protect myself. I protect my family. And then I can move to protecting the community, protecting the country. And then the
ultimate expression of masculinity, I think, is to plant trees the shade of which you won’t sit under. And then the final thing is procreation. And
this is more controversial, but I stand by it.
I think we have pathologized men’s interest in romantic and sexual relationships when it should be celebrated. And that is that fire of
wanting to have a relationship, wanting to have sex, wanting to have children, can be channeled, and it usually is, in very positive ways.
Wanting to be fit, wanting to dress well, wanting to groom, wanting to have a plan, wanting to demonstrate the ultimate secret weapon of mating from a
man’s perspective, in my view. And there’s research to show this. Have a kindness practice.
So, we’ve pathologized men’s interest in romantic and sexual relationships when I think it should be celebrated, as long as it’s channeled the right
way.
SREENIVASAN: When someone hears the procreate portion, the pillar here, they’re going to say, well, what is the role of women in the world
according to Galloway? What is his suggestion to young men on how they should interact with and perceive the other half of the species?
GALLOWAY: Well, I mentor some young men. And when I know they’ve come off the tracks is when they start blaming immigrants for their economic
problems and when they start blaming women for the romantic problems. And to the right’s credit, they recognize the problem with young men before
anybody. But their solution was to conflate masculinity with coarseness and cruelty and take America back to where it was in the ’50s when non-whites
and women had less opportunity. They’ve somehow decided that there’s an inverse correlation between women’s ascent and men’s descent. And that’s
just not true.
I think we have to teach our young boys that we should be celebrating, and men, our sisters and our mothers’ ascent. It’s absolutely wonderful. No
group has ascended faster than women globally. More are seeking tertiary education than men. And I think, unfortunately, because of these algorithms
and certain trends, popular trends in the media, the genders have done a great job of convincing themselves that it’s the other gender’s fault.
Men — a lot of men, unfortunately, in the manosphere want to blame women for their problems. Again, that’s toxic and just totally incorrect. But
also, quite frankly, there is a bit of a zeitgeist and an unhealthy theme online among young women that young men don’t have problems, they are the
problem. And also, on the far-right, while they conflate masculinity with coarseness and cruelty, the far-left’s answer to the masculinity crisis is
to tell young men to act more like a woman. I don’t think that’s helpful either.
So, I think the ultimate alliance is the following. I think men protect and I think women heal. And I think together they create wonderful, happy
households and more humanity. And I also feel compelled to say, Hari, that masculinity and femininity, which should be celebrated, both of them, are
not sequestered to the people born as males or females. I think there’s some women who demonstrate wonderful masculine features. And I think
there’s men that demonstrate wonderful feminine features.
So, let’s celebrate femininity, let’s celebrate masculinity, and let’s restore the greatest alliance in history. And that is the alliance between
men and women.
SREENIVASAN: And you talk a lot about your own life and the disadvantages and advantages that you had. And I can see a recent college grad watching
our conversation. And when it comes to economic opportunity, they can say, you know what, I read that book, Scott, and that’s pretty nice, but you
were able to afford an apartment. You didn’t have massive college debt hanging over your head. You didn’t know whether or not A.I. was going to
completely consolidate a lot of entry-level white-collar positions that I’m applying for today.
Is — how much of this is this disillusionment, I guess, for young men today, a circumstance of the climate that we’re living in?
GALLOWAY: My response to that would be that you’re 100 percent correct. I’ll just run through it. I got assisted lunch. I got into UCLA when there
was a 74 percent admissions rate. I was one of the 26 percent that didn’t get in. I applied again and I got in. The admissions rate this year will be
9 percent. I got Pell Grants. Immigrants built my company as I came of age during the internet.
If you look at 1945 to 2000, 5 percent of the population in America registered a third of the economic growth globally. And then all of that
massive prosperity was crammed into one-third of the population that was essentially white heterosexual males.
Let me be clear. I had unfair, unprecedented, historic advantage, historic wind in my sails. But that’s no reason to hold it. A 19-year-old is paying
the price for my privilege. So, we have a debt on a couple levels. One, we have an obligation to get involved in the lives of young men that aren’t
ours. The single point of failure for a young man coming off the tracks is when he loses a male role model. And they’re super easy to find, young men
without a male role model. Just ask around your office for single mothers.
You don’t have to be a CEO. You don’t have to be an adolescent psychiatrist. Does the kid want to come over and watch a ball game with me?
Would he be interested in coming over and hanging out? They are young men and boys everywhere. And it is so easy to add value.
And then part of that debt also is my generation to start paying it forward or paying it back, if you will, and stop these economic policies that keep
transferring wealth from young people to old. The two biggest tax deductions in our tax code are mortgage interest rate tax deduction and
capital gains. Who owns homes and stocks? People my age who rents and makes their money from current income? Young people. They’re the scariest
statistic in our society right now, Hari.
And the epicenter of — I think, the majority of what ails our nation is the following. For the first time in our nation’s history, a 30-year-old
man or woman isn’t doing as well as his or her parents were at the age of 30. These are solvable problems. Tax holidays, minimum wage of $25 an hour,
national service, tax deduction on current income as opposed to capital gains, universal child credit, universal childcare, which I think would
help young families. The $40 billion tax credit stripped out of the infrastructure bill, the $120 billion cost of living adjustment in the
social security plan flies right through Congress.
We need to stop — old people need to stop putting their hands in the pockets of young people. This isn’t rocket science. Tax credits, 8 million
homes in 10 years, bring the cost of education down and a tax policy that is truly progressive and stops stealing from young people.
SREENIVASAN: You talk about your dad who passed away earlier this year and how difficult that process was. And I wonder if just the process, the act
of writing this book was hard for you having to kind of rethink about the relationships that you had in your past with your mom, your dad. And, you
know, you lay out also that his life is a cautionary tale. Why?
GALLOWAY: Yes, this isn’t an easy thing to say about your father recently passed away. My father was not a high character person. He was married and
divorced four times. He left his last wife when she was in late-stage Parkinson’s a year away from passing away.
My sister and I — my father passed away about three months ago and my sister and I were going to have a service for him. And then we realized
nobody would come. He didn’t have a single friend. So, he left me and my mom when we were eight. He could have made our lives a lot easier and he
chose not to. So, he was a flawed person.
But what I would say is a huge unlock, not just for men, but for anybody, and has been a huge unlock in my life, is that about 20 or 30 years ago, I
decided to put away the scorecard. And instead of thinking, was my dad good or not good to me, meaning that should dictate what kind of son I am, I
just said, all right, what kind of son do I want to be? What kind of partner do I want to be? What kind of boss do I want to be? What kind of
friend do I want to be? And then hold myself to that standard and not have a scorecard.
And I decided I wanted to be a loving, generous son, and I was that. And I got huge reward out of my relationship with him the last 20 or 30 years.
And also, my father checked an evolutionary box for all men, and that is he was a much better father to me, as bad as he was, than his father was to
him. And he evolved, and he tried to get better.
But it is a cautionary tale, Hari, because as many blessings as my father had, it had not been for his son and his sister, he would have died under
bright lights surrounded by strangers. So, it’s a cautionary tale that if you don’t invest in relationships and you don’t give of yourself and you’re
selfish, you run the risk of leaving this world alone and of failing. And he kind of made the fatal mistake around raising children, and that is I do
believe that the best thing you can do for your sons is to treat their mother well. And my dad didn’t do that.
SREENIVASAN: You know, you end your book with essentially a letter to your sons. And I guess, what do you want them to know about the relationship
that you had with your parents and how that informed you as a parent to them? Because as you just talked about your dad, you’re very tender with
what your mom, the role that she played in your life, and especially the end of her life, when you had a far greater role as really a caregiver, and
— which is a completely different dynamic that most kids think will never happen to them.
GALLOWAY: I’m grateful I had my mom, when she was diagnosed with cancer for the third and final time, I moved in with her and it’s something
towards the end of her life. It’s something that I will cherish the rest of my life. What I want my sons to know is the following that, first and
foremost, I love them immensely.
And something I got from my mom is I think if you, in small and little ways, explicitly, implicitly, tell your kids, you just think they’re
wonderful, and my mom did that, I don’t think they can help but start to believe that themselves. And I think that’s the key to success is at the
end of the day, after being fired, after being rejected by a potential romantic partner, after losing money, you can look in the mirror and think,
I can add value to a company, I can make someone very happy and things will work out for me.
But also, to recognize that they have a debt, they have a debt, they were born in America, which gives them unprecedented agency. They were born into
wealth, which means they have an obligation to ensure that the ladder is not pulled up behind them. And finally, I end the letter with the
following, you know, take care of your mom, that’s it, that’s the whole shooting match. That was one of the — they are the thing I’m most proud
of, I’m proud of my economic security, but that’s just a means, the ends is the following. And what it means to be a man is to move from prosperity to
protection.
And that I hope that they recognize someday that that protection initially manifests itself in taking care of the mother. And then also what it really
means to be a man on a broader level is what I call surplus value. Do you absorb more complaints than you complain? Do you notice people? Are you the
kind of person that feels as if when someone cuts you off in traffic, you have to speed up and cut them off? When someone is rude to you at the
ticket counter at Delta, and I’m describing me as a younger man, and I’m not proud of this. Do you feel you need to get back in their face to
restore harmony to the universe because you’re so damn important?
When you get to the point where you notice more of people’s lives than you notice your own, you create more economic value than absorb, you listen to
more complaints, you break up more fights than you start, you add surplus value. That’s what it means to be a man. And that’s what I hope for my
boys. And again, see above, take care of your mother.
SREENIVASAN: Entrepreneur, podcaster, and author Scott Galloway, thanks so much. The book is called “Notes on Being a Man.”
GALLOWAY: Thank you, Hari.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GOLODRYGA: And finally, as leaders gather for the Earthshot Prize in Brazil, discussing the ways to repair our planet, scientists on the
Mediterranean Ocean and Mediterranean Coast are assessing the damage, not with high-tech equipment, but with nature.
Analysts at the Hellenic Center for Marine Research release thousands of mussels into the seas of Greece to detect growing microplastic levels and
measure the health of the oceans. The mussels reveal just how pervasive the plastics are, while providing a crucial tool to inform public safety
measures, showing the innovative ways people across the globe are approaching environmental crisis.
Well, that is it for now. If you ever miss our show, you can find the latest episode shortly after it airs on our podcast, and remember, you can
always catch us online, on our website, and all-over social media. Thanks so much for watching, and goodbye from New York.