Offline with Jon Favreau – Episode Summary
Episode Title: Zohran Mamdani’s Offline Campaign
Date: November 22, 2025
Host: Jon Favreau
Guests: Maya Honda (Campaign Manager) & Andrew Epstein (Creative Director) for Zohran Mamdani’s Mayoral Campaign

Episode Overview

This episode dives into how Zohran Mamdani’s surprising and sweeping mayoral victory in New York City was achieved—not just by progressive policies and Mamdani's charisma, but through an innovative, “offline” campaign that built real-world community and agency. Jon Favreau interviews Maya Honda and Andrew Epstein, unearthing the campaign’s philosophy: bridging smart digital outreach and grassroots fieldwork to move people off their screens and into real-world organizing, especially among disengaged and cynical voters. The conversation uncovers lessons for future campaigns about authenticity, treating voters with respect, and resisting the “slop” and spectacle dominating today’s online political culture.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. How and Why They Joined Mamdani’s Campaign

• Andrew Epstein: Met Zoran during previous political work; impressed by his authenticity and leadership. Joined as communications director before the campaign’s public launch in October 2024 (06:29).
• Maya Honda: Came on after the primary, drawn by mutual activist work and a “Brooklyn” introduction via rec soccer (08:16). Saw the race as a unique chance to broaden a progressive coalition.

2. Evolving Campaign Strategy & Philosophy

• Initial goals: Build and broaden the tent after a ranked choice primary.
• Had to stretch a limited (spending-capped) budget while exponentially increasing outreach for the general election—leading to innovative use of influencer and creator partnerships (10:10).
• Core value: Campaign as antidote to traditional, transactional politics, focusing on real community investment, fun, and mutual empowerment.

3. Smart Digital Outreach—The Video Strategy

• Viral Videos: Zoran's creative team produced documentary-style, visually rich, authentic videos—often visiting disillusioned, disengaged, or Trump-voting New Yorkers to ask directly “Why?” (12:18).

• Populist Approach: Videos gave authentic voice to people, especially those lost by Democratic messaging, and positioned Zoran as inseparable from his policy agenda, not just the cult of personality.

  “The campaign launched with a breakthrough video… asking people why they voted for Trump or didn’t vote at all, bringing them the campaign’s affordability agenda, and giving them a real, unfiltered platform.” (16:33, Andrew Epstein)

• Visual Language: Use of local filmmakers, warm tones, humor, creative risks, and messaging continuity across many contexts (27:33).

• Feedback Loop: The videos weren’t just ads; they primed voters for meaningful face-to-face conversations during canvassing.

  “Videos were the first knock on the door—if it lived only on the phone, Zoran would fade into the digital noise. The real difference was bringing that same message face to face.” (29:00, Andrew Epstein)

4. Field Organizing as the “Secret Sauce”

• DSA and partners spent years local organizing, training leaders, and building infrastructure—enabling a “dense” field program touching voters repeatedly (20:18).

• A massive, mostly volunteer-driven effort (13 full-time staff, 3 million doors knocked) made contact at a personal scale rarely seen in city politics (24:49).

  “You don’t build a 100,000 person volunteer list in one campaign—you build it over years, with durable organizing.” (20:44, Maya Honda)

• Targeted outreach to young voters, Muslim, and South Asian communities—gambled big on underappreciated “sleeping giants.” (21:28)

5. Building a Movement, Not Just a Candidate’s Brand

• Real-world gatherings—rallies, block parties, “DIY merch drops,” and constituent services events—helped foster belonging, empowerment, and agency, especially to Gen Z voters (33:48).

  “It’s honestly what I would prescribe for the loneliness epidemic.” (33:43, Maya reads attendee quote)

• Politics as shared project—not transactional: the campaign created community and mandate for the agenda, not just for Zoran (36:37).

  “The thing people received was a feeling of power, not just hope—it’s, ‘I knock on this door, we deliver the agenda.’” (36:37, Maya Honda)

6. Rejecting “Slop” Politics: Integrity, Respect for Voters, and Authenticity

• Deliberate alternative to AI-powered, cynical, sensational “slop” campaigns typified by Cuomo’s last-ditch negative efforts (39:58).

• Emphasized respect for voter intelligence—even “low information” voters: treating the electorate as nuanced, caring, and capable (02:16, 41:28).

  “Zoran treats New Yorkers… especially low-information voters… as though they are incredibly intelligent, and are able to understand nuance.” (02:16 & 41:28, Maya Honda)

• Campaign content focused on agenda, not candidate stardom, often featuring volunteers and supporters.

  “When people recognize Zoran, they don’t just shout his name—they shout the policies.” (32:01, Andrew Epstein)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Campaign’s Real-World Impact:

  “It wasn’t just hope, it was feeling empowered... that rare feeling of agency. That’s the energy we’ll use to deliver and demand the agenda.” (36:37, Maya Honda)

• On Treating Voters with Respect:

  “He calls it hugging the cactus… he was not afraid to treat people as though they could understand difficult concepts and explain things to them.” (02:16, Maya Honda)

• On Video Strategy Creating Real Engagement:

  “Videos were the first knock on the door… if it lived exclusively in that phone, Zoran would just be another influencer, but then you get a knock on the door from someone bringing you the same message, asking about your life.” (01:43 & 29:00, Andrew Epstein)

• On Building a Lasting Movement:

  “It’s not enough to run on it—we have to do it. The challenge for any left candidate is the decades of cynicism and failure producing our current predicament.” (58:49, Andrew Epstein)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Introduction & Guest Backgrounds: (05:54–09:14)
• Philosophy & Evolution of the Campaign: (10:10–12:18)
• Breakthrough Video and Digital Strategy: (12:18–16:33)
• The Field Program and Broadening the Electorate: (20:18–26:35)
• Creative/Aesthetic Video Approach: (27:33–30:45)
• Building Gen Z/IRL Community: (33:14–36:01)
• Rejection of “Slop” Political Messaging: (39:32–43:55)
• Lessons for Statewide/National Campaigns: (53:18–58:18)
• Confronting Cynicism and the Need to Deliver: (58:49–62:11)

Final Lessons & Takeaways

• Sustained, Rooted Organizing is Crucial: Real infrastructure isn’t built in one cycle.
• Offline Connections Trump Online Attention: IRL events and conversations create real, lasting agency.
• Treat Voters as Smart, Not as Data Points: Authentic, respectful outreach can motivate disengaged, cynical groups.
• Resist the Pull of Political “Slop”: A relentless positive vision, not trolls or clickbait, wins real mandates.
• Make the Agenda—and People—the Star: Center policies and movement, not just the candidate’s personality.

For anyone seeking to understand how to break through in today’s digital-political landscape—and build a campaign that feels genuine, joyful, and powerful—this episode is an indispensable, inspiring case study.