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Fighting Fascism Podcast

Fighting Fascism Podcast

Can Staten Island Explain the Trump Age? (w/ Ben Naddaff-Hafrey)

Oct 5, 2026 · 1h 17m

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About this episode

Staten Island is often referred to—by its inhabitants—as the Forgotten Borough of New York City. But who knew that in the 1990s, Staten Islanders literally tried to secede. Our guest this week, Ben Naddaff-Hafrey, is a journalist and senior producer for the Revisionist History podcast, and he’s created a brilliant new series called The Staten Island Problem that tells the history of this moment when New York City almost came apart. Ben sees this story as an early example of the politics of resentment that dominates America today. To understand Staten Island is to understand the communities across our country that feel forgotten and disrespected, whose resentments Trump rode to power. Oh,…