Staten Island seen in New York City on August 5, 2026.
(Marcin Golba / NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Staten Island is often referred to—by its inhabitants—as “the forgotten borough” of New York City. But who knew that in the 1990s, Staten Islanders literally tried to secede. Our guest this week, Ben Naddaff-Hafrey, is a journalist and senior producer for the Revisionist History podcast, and he’s created a brilliant new series called “The Staten Island Problem” that tells the history of this moment when New York City almost came apart.
Ben sees this story as an early example of the politics of resentment that dominates America today. To understand Staten Island is to understand the communities across our country that feel forgotten and disrespected, whose resentments Trump rode to power.
Oh, and obviously we also talk about how Staten Island—or Shaolin, as they call it—explains the Wu-Tang Clan, which totally fits perfectly well with the other themes and definitely isn’t just shoehorned in because it’s super interesting.
Click here to get started on Ben’s series.
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