This program originally aired online via Zoom on November 20th, 2025, at 12:30 pm Eastern.
Julie Salamon, New York Times best-selling author, sat down with author and staff writer of New York Times Magazine Jonathan Mahler to discuss his latest book, The Gods Of New York. Mahler’s book looks at the larger-than-life characters or “gods” that influenced New York City from 1986 to 1990. Over the course of the 1980s, New York City reinvented itself from a working-class city to a leader in global finance. Dramatic tabloid culture painted political and cultural figures as heroes and villains; personalities such as Ed Koch, Donald Trump, Al Sharpton, Rudy Giuliani, Larry Kramer, and Spike Lee captured the attention of the city and the nation. Mahler conducted over 200 interviews, immersed himself in the archives of Ed Koch, and scoured tabloids from the period to capture the feel of the city.
Topics covered in this discussion:
- The evolution of New York City’s identity from a working-class city to one of luxury and its roots in the 1980s.
- Impact and influence of tabloid culture in 1980s New York.
- Comparing Jonathan Mahler’s own The Gods of New York as a non-fiction version of Bonfire of the Vanities.
- The environment of 1940s and 1950s New York City was one of a strong city government, a significantly growing middle class, a strong working class, and affordable housing.
- New York City’s history of tribalism in politics, often stoked by tensions between race, ethnicity, class, and religion.
- The impact of immigration on politics.
- Female influencers during the period, such as Linda Fairestein and Bess Myerson.
- 1980s policies and the failure of the government to address homelessness and its connection to the city’s current crisis.
- The marketing and media used by the Zohran Mamdani campaign.
