About this episode

The episode explores Staten Island's secession movement and its implications in the context of New York City's political landscape in the early 1990s.

On the 250th anniversary of the United States, Revisionist History, bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell’s podcast about things overlooked and misunderstood, investigates the story of what was, at the time, the biggest secession movement in the U.S. since the Civil War. The Staten Island Problem reconstructs the battle for New York City amidst the turbulent early 1990s — the rise of Rudy Giuliani, the peak of the homicide rate, the Wu-Tang Clan, young Donald Trump, and the first Black mayor of New York — all through the prism of the city’s Forgotten Borough. Staten Island’s secession movement is an early example of the politics of resentment that dominates America today and asks: what do you do when a democracy looks like it’s falling apart? Here’s episode 1. David Dinkins, the first Black mayor of New York City, faces off with the borough president of Staten Island, and tries to hold his city together. Find more episodes of Revisionist History: The Staten Island Problem wherever you get podcasts . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Topics covered

• Staten Island
• New York City
• secession movement
• politics of resentment
• David Dinkins
• Rudy Giuliani
• 1990s

Keywords

• Staten Island
• New York City
• Malcolm Gladwell
• David Dinkins
• Rudy Giuliani
• secession
• politics
• 1990s
• Wu-Tang Clan
• Donald Trump

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Wu-Tang Clan

Books & works: Revisionist History

Places: Staten Island, New York City

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