Community² (Community Squared)

EP1: Mamdani, Taichi, and H Mart Cabbage: A Tale of Two Campaigns

What happens when a progressive candidate walks into Flushing? In this very first episode, we track NYC mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani's campaign trail, exploring how his team used Tai Chi and H Mart cabbage to connect with Chinese and Korean communities, why those efforts drew such mixed reactions, and what it was like to cover it all from our community newsroom. In This Episode: * How does Mamdani’s campaign stop at H Mart differ from Cuomo’s * When voters rely solely on ethnic-language media for information, whom do they tend to support? * Did Mamdani actually engage with ethnic media — and was it the right strategy? Timestamps: [00:00] Opening: What is Community² [05:14] Mamdani’s base in Flushing is larger than you’d think [12:00] After being ‘tormented’ as a fan, you end up becoming a die-hard [13:35] Polling station observations: The power of Chinese-language sources [14:16] Flushing but not Korean and Chinese communities [20:08] Cuomo's H Mart stop and three young people "on the other side" [23:00] A bitter sweet moment for community reporters [26:37] Compared with Tai Chi, food-based political campaigning feels boring [31:35] "It wasn’t easy to get in touch with Mamdani’s team. I expected some difficulty, but it turned out to be even harder than I thought." [42:07] Never underestimate the power of young people About Us: We are Yiyan and Eunbyul, two journalists deeply embedded in our Chinese and Korean communities in the U.S. We want to know each other’s community, cross checking if a politician says one thing to one community but the opposite to another. We want to know why we always face subtle or sometimes fierce tensions with one another. But ultimately, we want to know the thousands of hundreds of communities we don’t know-by juxtaposing and interweaving them with an open-minded eye. We want to know the cause and effect, and the “supply chain” from community to community, and finally, human lives within: their hopes, conflicts and transformations. Connect With Us:📧 community2podcast@gmail.com [community2podcast@gmail.com] 🎧 Subscribe Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/2hQNW17RDTHKDx2e1YyvdO⁠] Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/community/id1854791357] ☕ Buy us a coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/community2 [https://buymeacoffee.com/community2] Music:"Information Regime" by Fesliyan Studios https://www.fesliyanstudios.com [https://www.fesliyanstudios.com] Royalty-Free License Full disclosure: This is our first episode—it's a bit rough, runs a tad long, but we're committed to growing with it. Grow with us!