Zohran Mamdani rose to political fame — and the New York mayor's office — by wielding the power of social media. Now, Mamdani is embracing another form of technology that has the potential to bring him closer to his local constituency, and the broader national population, than ever before.
Polygon can exclusively confirm that Mayor Mamdani will launch a Twitch streaming series titled "Talk with the People," beginning on May 21 at 4 p.m. The series will also be available live on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, X, and Bluesky. However, Twitch, which began as a gaming platform and has since expanded to include politics and other non-gaming content, will be the home of "Talk with the People.” The Mayor will respond to questions from the public directly via the Twitch chat.
“With the launch of 'Talk with the People' we’re bringing City Hall to the platforms where New Yorkers already are — speaking directly with the people," Mayor Mamdani told Polygon in a written statement. "By launching the country’s first recurring cross-platform stream hosted by an elected official, where I’ll answer New Yorkers’ questions live on Twitch, we’re opening up a direct line of conversation between our government and the people, especially younger generations who’ve been ignored for too long.”
While "Talk with the People" might sound like a 21st-century version of Franklin D. Roosevelt's “Fireside Chats” radio broadcasts, a trailblazing use of the technology in the 1930s and '40s, the title is actually a reference to beloved socialist Mayor LaGuardia's 1940s radio show, called "Talk to the People," which harnessed what was then cutting-edge technology to skip past the middleman and speak directly to the citizens of New York.
Mayor Mamdani is taking things one step further by not only talking to, but with the people. Hopefully he's fluent in Twitch slang. Don't worry, Zohran: If someone drops this image in the chat, it's a good thing.
