This Is Exactly How Trump Broke Our America
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What is Anand Giridharadas’ book *Man in the Mirror* about and why does it matter?
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through this story. This is about fear and disorder and safety and, in some ways, the kind of inner life of an authoritarian age, the kind of political emotions of the Trump era that we've been living in. This idea of taking matters into your own hands because no one's coming has sort of become the thread that connects Americans when so little does. And that's not what you want as your common culture.
I'm Joanna Coles. This is the Daily Beast podcast. Before I forget, please don't forget to smash your subscription button wherever you are, wherever you get your podcasts, Spotify, Apple, YouTube. We are independent media. We appreciate your support by subscribing because it allows us to have the sort of freewheeling conversations that we have today with the author of a book, which is about... an incident that happened in New York City, which is really a metaphor for what's happening across America. Then, rather brilliantly, he ties it to the Epstein files and the Jeffrey Epstein of it all. I'm talking about the author Anand Gurdadas and his book, Man in the Mirror, which is about the incident where a man gets on a subway car, is threatening and yelling, people are frightened, and a Marine takes him down and ends up choking him to death.
You will know the people involved as Jordan Neely and Daniel Penny. And Anand spends three years talking to everybody involved in that story to try and understand how it happened, how we can avoid it happening again. But really, what does it say about the America we are living in right now? So no time to waste. Let's get into it with Anand Gerdidas and his fantastic hair. If you like the support of a sports bra but hate wearing one all day, I know exactly what you mean. Most of them feel great for a workout, but after a few hours, the straps dig in, the band gets uncomfortable, there's a uniboob and you're ready to take it off. That's where Honey Love's Crossflex Activity Bra stands out from the pack.
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That's honeylove.com slash dailybeast. And after you check out, they'll ask you where you heard about them. Please support our show and tell them we sent you. Experience the new standard in comfort and support with Honey Love. Welcome, Anand Gurdadas, back to the podcast. I'm
so happy to be here
with you. Well, very pleased to have you back. We have talked endlessly about Jeffrey Epstein on this podcast, and I'm going to bring you back to talk about Epstein at the end of this conversation and whether or not a question I am really curious about, did the Epstein class get away with it? Did the Epstein files in the end turn out to be nothing but a whimper? And has Trump won the Epstein files? But leading up to that, we want to discuss your book, Man in the Mirror, which I'm particularly interested in because as you know, this involves an incident which happened at my local subway station, so I have much more sense of it happening.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is Anand Giridharadas’ book *Man in the Mirror* about and why does it matter?
0:01–7:20
2
How did the author investigate the Jordan Neely–Daniel Penny subway incident?
7:20–14:53
3
What does the 30‑second chokehold reveal about moral complexity in America?
14:53–22:32
4
Why does the sense of abandonment drive the “take matters into your own hands” mindset?
22:32–28:33
5
How are mental‑health, homelessness and public‑safety being addressed in New York City?
28:33–35:40
6
What connections does the story make between the subway case and the Epstein files?
35:40–43:22
7
How has the “abandonment” emotion shaped Trump’s political fortunes?
43:22–51:05
8
What solutions does Giridharadas propose for a society feeling abandoned and unsafe?
51:05–58:02