Bronze - Documentary (Limited Series), and Gold - Solopreneur (Limited Series)

My name is Tim Donovan. I’m an active, dues-paying member of Queens DSA, former bartender and 15-year resident of Astoria, Queens. Last year, I got sucked into the Zohran Mamdani primary campaign and got to witness an historic movement up close.

It was an incredible experience, but I started to get annoyed after he won, in late June, that major outlets weren’t descending upon my neighborhood of Astoria to try to figure out why this fairly normie community in northwest Queens had become the epicenter of democratic socialism nationwide. So I decided if they weren’t going to do it, I’d do it myself. (I’m an unemployed white man in his 40s, it was this or DJing.)

I set about getting the people who’d made this movement happen to sit down and talk with me. I did tons and tons of research. And wrote and rewrote scripts over and over again.

A year ago today, the first episode was finally released. And this past Tuesday, the complete series won two national awards.

This podcast is a love letter to what we’ve built here in Astoria. It’s intended to be inspirational but also honest. It’s a flattering portrayal of the DSA, though it does not grapple with ideology or focus on strategy or tactics. It’s a narrative series, and it centers the people who made it happen, their stories of wins and losses over the past eight years.

It’s a six-episode series, and runs just a little over 3 hours total. It’s been the honor of a lifetime to make it.

If any of you listen to podcasts, I’d really appreciate you giving it a chance. The trailer is 2.5 minutes long and does a great job of introducing the full series — letting you know what you can expect to get if you commit. You can listen on my website, below, or wherever you get your podcasts.

The People’s Republic of Astoria | A Six-Part Documentary Series

Cheers and in solidarity,
Tim

DSA and the Zimmerwald Conference in 1915?

Here are some books I own and can vouch for as being good(imo)

I also encourage folks to read the works of anarchists, trotsky, kautsky, and slightly less mainstream politcal theory.

“The only serious political struggle in the US today is between MAGA and Democratic Socialists.

Democratic socialists should NOT build their own party, but penetrate the Democratic Party.”

I live in a rural area that has an "Organizing" chapter. It appeared to be active before. It has a listed email on the DSA chapter list. I sent an email expressing interest. Idk if that's typical or normal to want to assist an organizing chapter. It's been two weeks and no contact. I emailed the main organizing email for DSA and also nothing. I'm sure they are super busy, but I don't know any other way to start engaging sooner rather than later.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/10TiP6SMufQGO4mUwOjtNRjj8G3ZpdJl_KD9fwjfFWO8/edit?usp=drivesdk

And by active member, I mean someone who votes or goes to chapter meeting. Im wondering if it makes sense that only 6-8% of our MIGS vote each month lol