Challenges and Insights: Writing about 1980s New York

John welcomes Jonathan Mahler, New York Times Magazine staff writer and bestselling author of “The Bronx Is Burning,” to discuss his new book, “The Gods of New York: Egotists, Idealists, Opportunists, and the Birth of the Modern City: 1986-1990.” Mahler unpacks the reinvention of the Big Apple in the second half of the Eighties; riffs on the outsized characters (from Ed Koch and Rudy Giuliani to Larry Kramer, Al Sharpton, and, of course, Donald Trump) who played key roles in it; and argues that the rise of Zohran Mamdani signals an end to the 40-year era spawned by that transformation. He and Heilemann also reminisce about crossing paths as undergrads in 1987—first as teammates and then as cellmates.

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