Jacobin Radio Behind the News: Yuppies w/ Dylan Gottlieb
18 snips
May 4, 2026 
Ervand Abrahamian, historian of modern Iran, offers analysis of Iran’s politics and the war. Dylan Gottlieb, historian of urban culture and author of Yuppies, traces how yuppie culture transformed New York’s finance, law, dining and politics. They discuss financialization, gentrification, U.S. policy toward Iran, regional consequences, and how elite recruitment reshaped urban power.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Yuppie Model Became Template For Urban Inequality
- The 1980s financial regime re-centered America's economy on finance and gentrification, a model later emulated by other cities via 'creative class' pitches.
- Rising real estate values and elite urban consumption drove local and national inequality.
Downwardly Mobile Yuppies Could Shift Politics
- The yuppie era produced both upward mobility for some and downward mobility for others, creating potential cross-class political alliances.
- Gottlieb notes downwardly mobile young professionals now fuel groups like New York City DSA after cost pressures bite.
U.S. Iran Policy Lacked Expert Institutional Knowledge
- Ervand Abrahamian argues the Trump administration lacked Iran expertise and outsourced policy ideas to Netanyahu, producing reckless expectations about quick regime change.
- Abrahamian cites sidelined Iran experts and removal of security clearances as evidence the U.S. had no coherent Iran apparatus.
